Web-based testing has its place, but to work with any part of mobile outside the browser, we need to connect with mobile devices in some way. Your choices are physical devices (smart phones, tablets), emulators, virtual machines, or devices in the cloud. We’ll start with TestComplete setup and then connect a physical Android device.
Before Installing the Mobile Module
Be aware that installing TestComplete Android support requires first installing Java Platform (JDK) and the Android SDK. I have the Java Platform jdk-7u80-windows-x64 installed from here, that goes along with the Android SDK that you can get by installing Android Studio here. If you don’t want the Android Studio IDE, but just want the SDK Tools, look at the Other Download Options section on the same download page. I find the IDE useful for exploring Java source code, creating Android certificates, using emulators, debugging and updating Java Packages.
Setting Up TestComplete
In TestComplete, verify that you have the Mobile module enabled under File > Install Extensions. If you don’t see the Mobile category, re-run the installation to choose it.
Add a button to show TestComplete’s Mobile Screen emulator. First right-click the toolbar and select Customize… from the context menu. Select the Commands tab, the Mobile category and drag Show Mobile Screen to your toolbar. You should also add the Run Mobile Troubleshooter command, just in case.
Connecting a Physical Android Device
To get our feet wet, let’s hook up an Android phone. You will need a USB data cable (not just a power USB cable) to connect the PC that TestComplete runs on to the device.
Note: From a recent forum thread discussing various combinations of device/USB/local machine/remote machine I’ll quote Alex Karas, “Right now TestComplete can access only devices attached via USB to the same machine where TestComplete is running.” Succinct and to the point.
Your device should be visible on the PC in File Explorer, otherwise you’ll need to download and install drivers for your particular device. I’m using a Samsung Note 4 shown below in the File Explorer:
Note: In a weak moment I installed the Verizon tools on the PC running TestComplete. That hasn’t caused problems so far, but you may want to avoid service provider add-on tools if possible. In some cases, providers include their own version of adb.exe (Android Debug Bridge) that TestComplete depends on to talk with the device.
Next, you’ll need to enable Developer options on the phone by clicking the Settings > About Phone > Build number seven times. Developer options will show when you back out of the About Phone screen. In Developer options, enable USB debugging and Stay awake. Depending on your Android version, the location of the options may vary slightly. Check out this reference from the Android developers site for more details.
Make sure the device is running one of the Android versions listed below. You can check on your device at Settings > About Phone > Android Version. I’m running 5.0.1 for this example.
| Code Name | Version | API Level |
| Marshmallow | 6.0 | API level 23 |
| Lollipop | 5.1 | API level 22 |
| Lollipop | 5.0 | API level 21 |
| KitKat | 4.4 – 4.4.4 | API level 19 |
| Jelly Bean | 4.3.x | API level 18 |
| Jelly Bean | 4.2.x | API level 17 |
| Jelly Bean | 4.1.x | API level 16 |
| Ice Cream Sandwich | 4.0.3 – 4.0.4 | API level 15, NDK 8 (Limitations) |
| Ice Cream Sandwich | 4.0.1 – 4.0.2 | API level 14, NDK 7 (Limitations) |
Connect your device to the PC running using the USB cable, then click the Show Mobile Screen button. If you get an error “Cannot connect to device with the ID xxx”, then check your steps. Then try the Run Mobile Troubleshooter toolbar command. It has an option to restart ADB (Android Debug Bridge) to get TestComplete talking with your device. When all is well, the Mobile Screen shows up and the Object Browser shows the Mobile node with your device under it. Don’t expect to see any detail under the Device node just yet.
If you look at the Device properties, several are marked as errors with the message “The Android agent is not available on the current device”.
It’s a quick fix to click the Enable TestComplete Android Agent… link from the banner on the Mobile Screen. This installs a TestComplete package on the device that populates the Connections, CurrentLocaleName, GPS, and Sensors properties. These properties are available even for image-based tests.
Wrap Up
In this installment, we configured TestComplete and a single Android device. Next up, we’ll poke at the Mobile Screen a bit. See you tomorrow.
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