Test PDF files

To create such a test case, follow these steps:

1. Scan your PDF to create modules. A module is the technical representation of a specific part of your PDF. It contains the necessary technical information that Tosca Cloud needs to steer your PDF.

2. Create a new, empty test case.

3. Design your test case to build an automated test sequence. You can add various design elements to your test case, such as the modules you just created by scanning or logic elements.

4. Tosca Cloud automatically adds two attributes to every PDF module you create by scanning. You also need to fill these out in your test case:

   • Target PDF: Enter the absolute path to the file you want to test. Use action mode Input.

   • PDF password: Enter the password, if the file is password-protected. Use action mode Input.

Work with PDF controls

A control is a screen element in your application under test. For example, a button, text box, menu entry, or table cell. And when you use a module in your test case, you need to tell Tosca Cloud what to do with these controls.

For information on supported controls for PDF, check out PDF controls.

To compare PDF files, use Tosca Cloud's standard modules for PDF. Standard modules are pre-built modules for common tasks that Tosca Cloud provides out of the box.

You can find the PDF modules in the left panel of the test case building area, under Modules.

To create a comparison test case, follow these steps:

1. Create a new, empty test case.

2. Add the module PDF 1:1 Compare to your test case and fill out the resulting test step.

3. You can exclude certain elements from comparison:

   • Text patterns. For example, if you want to verify that two documents are the same except for the product name.

   • Entire areas. For example, if you want to verify that your documents have the same paragraphs on specific pages.

   To do so, you need to perform additional actions. Please choose your use case:

   I want to exclude text patterns from comparison.

   Excluding text patterns is useful when you want to ignore unique strings of text or patterns.

   To exclude a pattern from comparison, fill out the following test steps:

   • Excluded Text > Excluded Pattern > Pattern: Specify the string of text you want to exclude from the comparison. You can use regular expressions to specify unique patterns. We recommend you use RegExr to verify your regular expressions.

     Note that if you use special characters in this pattern but intend to use them as ordinary characters, you have to escape them.

   • Excluded Text > Excluded Pattern > Use Regex: Specify whether the pattern contains regular expressions.

   I want to exclude areas from comparison.

   Excluding areas is useful when you only need to compare specific page elements instead of entire pages.

   To exclude an area from comparison, follow these steps:

   1. Scan the PDF file that serves as the reference file in your comparison.

   2. Define one or more excluded areas. To do so, identify them by their absolute position.

   3. Scanning creates a new module with your excluded areas as controls in this module. Open the details page of the module and select an "excluded" control. Then, copy the value of the property Dimension.

   4. In your test case, perform the following actions: 

      • Paste the dimension into Excluded Areas > Area to Exclude > Dimensions.

      • Optionally, define which pages the excluded area is on. To do so, fill out Excluded Areas > Area to Exclude > Page(s).

   5. To exclude multiple areas, repeat the copy and paste operation with additional Excluded Areas test steps.

Check your report

Tosca Cloud creates comparison reports for actual test runs, but not for trial runs.

To view a comparison report, go to the Test runs page and open the details view of your test run. You can find your report under Attachments.

To find broken links, follow these steps:

1. Create a new, empty test case.

2. Add the module Check PDF for broken links to your test case and fill out the resulting test step.

This helps you find any links that return client error responses (400-499) or server error responses (500-599).

To test barcodes and QR codes, follow these steps:

1. Create a new, empty test case.

2. Add the module Barcode reader to your test case and fill out the resulting test step.

To extract links from a PDF, follow these steps:

1. Create a new, empty test case.

2. Add the module Extract links to your test case and fill out the resulting test step.