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Automated Build Studio 6 User Manual - Downloads

1. Keyboard shortcuts can be customized via the Customize Keyboard dialog You can define your own shortcuts or select one of the predefined key mapping schemes MS Visual Studio IDE or Borland IDE Creating a Macro Your macro is simply your current work site in Automated Build Studio It unifies operations to be executed and variables and constants that will be used by the operations To create a new macro use the New Macro command of the File New menu A gt Automated Build Studio New Macro New E Open Recent Append From Open Library gt Operation Save Ctrl 5 Save s Save Library Close RVR TA Macro Properties Source Control Install Extensions Exit Microsoft Source Server Aathantirmda After the macro is created you can add operations to it and modify their properties and create and modify macro constants and variables and so on Adding Removing and Arranging Operations in a Macro Automated Build Studio offers a lot of operations that can be used in macros Before adding an operation to a macro you should locate that operation in the Operations panel You can do this in either of the following ways smartbear com Automated Build Studio Getting Started l3 e Expand the category holding the desired operation in the Operations panel Some categories may be invisible within the panel so to reach them you should scroll the panel
2. 3 Check the Just submit build request option see the image below and log in gt Automated Build Studio Web Interface oy SMARTREAR To log into the Automated Build Studio press Log In E will authenticate you using the user name and password of your Windows account Authenticate by OS Remember me on this computer EM Just submit build request Log in 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 48 Index 4 In the ensuing Add Build Request dialog check the macros macro presets whose run you want to request enter the request description and choose the request priority Low Normal default or High Add Build Request Select presets for which post build request ED patemptimedia Solution bxp E E Uze Debug configuration Debug Es Use Release configuration Release D E DATemptiMuch o Money bxp D E D Tempi QuizProject bxp New feature added filters in the Item Explorer pane Priority Low Normal High Cancel Click OK to submit your request 5 To submit another request repeat step 4 6 After you have submitted all the needed requests click Cancel to log off the Web Interface smartbear com Automated Build Studio Automated Build Studio Client Server and Web Interface 49 If you are already logged into Automated Build Studio Web Interface do the following 1 In the Macros section select the macro or macro preset whose execution you want
3. or e Search for the operation by typing the operation name in the Search box at the top of the Operations panel Automated Build Studio will search for the operation while you are typing and display operation that match the search pattern in the Operations panel 42 Operations F ES n E Search ini al Set INI Value E Get INI Value Bi INI File Enumerator dz Wait for INI File Mercurial Init 4 Initialization E cvs Init L To stop the search and restore normal categories display select x Clear Search Once you have located the desired operation in the Operation panel you can add it to the macro in any of the following ways e Double click the desired operation in the Operations panel The new operation will be added to the macro below the currently selected operation e Click the desired operation in the Operations panel then switch to the Macro panel If you place the mouse cursor over an operation in the macro the cursor will include an arrow that points upwards or downwards depending upon over which part upper or lower of that operation the mouse cursor is currently located If you click that operation the new operation will be added before or after it according to the arrow direction in the mouse cursor If you click below the list of operations the new operation will be added to the end of the macro To remove the chosen operation from the macro eith
4. hands on solutions code plug ins etc Automated Build Studio Samples A good way to get started using Automated Build Studio is to explore sample macros that are included with the Build Studio installation By default samples are located in the lt Automated Build Studio gt Samples folder For detailed information on samples and features they demonstrate see Automated Build Studio help smartbear com Automated Build Studio Getting Started I Getting Started The Getting Started topics describe actions you may need to perform to create macros with Automated Build Studio Note Automated Build Studio can be integrated into Microsoft Visual Studio This integration allows developers to create configure and run macros without leaving the Visual Studio IDE For this purpose Automated Build Studio s panels and toolbars are incorporated into Visual Studio This document provides information on how to work with Automated Build Studio running as a standalone application For information on how to work with Automated Build Studio integrated into Visual Studio see Automated Build Studio help provided with the Automated Build Studio integrated version Basic Concepts Automated Build Studio is a management tool that allows creating visual macros to automate the build test and release processes of software projects A macro is an analogue of a project in development tools like Microsoft Visual Studio or Borland Delphi You can sav
5. Automated Build Studio Using Scripts in Operation Properties 39 You can also concatenate values of two or more script statements using the language specific syntax For instance the following string specifies the current date and time ABS et Serpe Dabeltoorm Now S PS TimetoSer Nom PulSiene am one Semp e pare POSEN On e en iaimeos Er NOW Mer NTa Cr ipe Se cience Pe e eiee ae a E nos S 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 40 Index Macro Configurations About Macro Configurations Why Use Configurations Often when you make a build or an installation by using Automated Build Studio you need to create different versions of the same build installation for instance a debug checked version a demo version or a release version Typically macros that generate these versions slightly differ from each other there are just some changes in the logic operation properties and in the values of constants and stored variables You can create an individual macro to generate each version independently but this is inefficient because these macros will have lots of identical parts Since all of these versions pertain to the same product the most reasonable solution is to have a single macro that would generate all of the versions This is achieved via macro configurations Macro configurations allow you to re use the same logic with different data sets This is like passing different pa
6. By default the Edit Tasks dialog lists all the tasks that were created on your computer the computer name is shown in the dialog caption Edit Tasks BUILDER Name Run Daily Build The task has not run vet Run CPPProject Build The task has not run yet Before creating a new task select the computer where the task will run To be able to manage time and event triggered tasks on a remote computer you must have appropriate permissions on that computer the easiest way to get them is to add you to the Administrators group on the remote computer Since your task will run Automated Macro Player Automated Build Studio must be installed on the remote computer Since your task will be performed by the Automated Build Studio Service the service must be running on the remote computer Now let s create a new task e Click Add in the Edit Tasks dialog This will call the Edit Task dialog e In the dialog specify the task name the macro that the task will run and other task parameters For more information see Automated Build Studio help fd If your task will run on a remote computer make sure that the path to the macro file is specific to that computer 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 24 Continuous Integration Creating the task s triggers Now we are ready to specify triggers for our task Each trigger defines conditions under which the task that will run the macro will be la
7. Charts can help you analyze the ratio of successful and failed runs the duration of macro runs and the frequency of macro runs over a desired period of time For more information see Charts Overview in the Automated Build Studio help e Automatic notifications Your macros can automatically notify you about the results of their execution Automated Build Studio offers a number of operations for sending notifications via the net send command Windows Messenger MSN Messenger Windows Live Messenger ICQ and e mail You can also e mail reports with attached execution logs See the Sending Notifications help topic e Integration with Microsoft Visual Studio Automated Build Studio can be tightly integrated into the Microsoft Visual Studio IDE This integration offers developers full control over Automated Build Studio from within the Visual Studio IDE You can also run Build Studio macros directly from MSBuild projects and Visual Studio Team Explorer see Running Automated Build Studio Macros From MSBuild Projects and Running Automated Build Studio Macros From Visual Studio Team Explorer help topics e Single macro for generating various application versions Quite often it is needed to build several versions of an application from the same sources for example the debug demo and release versions of the product Using macro configurations you can have a single macro that will generate all the desired versions There is no need to create
8. File Enumerator operation you should not use the signs File Enumerator Operation Properties Name or mask of file s with dir Read only Ml system E Hidden BM Archive E Indude subdirectories Result the name of the current file Variable that holds the total number of files Using Variables and Constants in Script Operations You can set the value of a variable in your macro either by using the Set Reset Variable Value operation in your macro or by writing a script From the script s point of view macro variables are public variables that are visible within the entire macro To address a variable use the following syntax Variables variable name value Using the Variables variable_name format when referring to the macro s variables allows you to avoid confusing variable names if your script holds local variables that are declared using the same names To address a constant use the Constants object Localwaz Consrames constante mame Macro variables cannot be used as loop variables in scripts A loop variable should be a local script variable Also macro variables cannot be used to store object references They can only store ordinary values numbers strings dates and so on 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 36 Index To change the value of a macro variable you can either assign the desired value to the variable directly or use the ABSUti
9. Files With Zip Archive Name C Work 2 SEL i La Folders ABS Work Folder Backup ABS_1 zip Mask C Program Files SmartBear Automated Build Studio Bin Extensions E Execute the operation Dependent Group Create the second archive __ Execute the operation Pack Files With Zip Archive Name C Work Lal Folders ABS Work Folder Backup ABS 2 7ip Mask C Program By default the Log panel shows all messages that were posted to the log during the given run To view only messages of certain categories use the Message Filter dialog To call it select HE Message Filter from the context menu or from the Log toolbar the Log panel toolbar Using the Log Navigation toolbar the Log panel toolbar you can quickly locate messages of a particular type in the Log panel This can be useful when the macro 1s complex and its log is extremely large To do this first select the desired type of messages in the Select Message dropdown list box on the toolbar you can select among errors warnings informative messages or messages from operations of a particular type CY EM WW Message oo Then using the El Go to First Message El Go to Previous Message Go to Next Message and c Go to Last Message buttons on the toolbar navigate through messages of the chosen type until you find the message you need smartbear com Automated Build Studio Getting Started 21 Instead of investigating the contents of one log in the Log panel
10. If you want to execute several operations or groups of operations on multiple remote computers in parallel you can place several Remote Group operations under a concurrent Group operation see Concurrent Execution of Operations In this case the Remote Group operations are run simultaneously on the corresponding remote computers However you may also want to execute an operation or group of operations on any of the computers available for this purpose This can be achieved by using the Remote Execution Stack operation For information on how to configure the operation see Automated Build Studio help smartbear com Automated Build Studio Build Strategies 21 Note that when executing the Remote Execution Stack Build Studio distributes its direct child operations among the available computers If you need to execute a group of operations rather than a single Operation on a remote computer you should first add the Group operation as a child of the Remote Execution Stack operation and then add the desired operations as children of the Group operation like on the image below galt se gt e 2 Operation Description t setup Connections Configures connections to remote computers E Group Configures build options 7 Gg Remote Execution Stack E 5 Group Clears working folders fiil Remove Directory Clears the source folder 3 it Remove Directory Clears the output folder Group Obtains source files from the VSS database i IE
11. Standard Operation Desaipion UniqueName StopE Enab D Once your maqo is loaded into pd 7 V EE Group EI Run Submacro Automated Build Studio you can lt All gt do the following id gt Add ti to gt operations to your lt All gt macro lt All gt gt Modify operation lt All gt properties lt All gt Use macro configurations iQ Remove Directory Clears the source folder E 59 Remove Directory Clears the output folder f Run Library Submacro l 7 EE Group Obtains source files fro Initialization 7 EE Get Latest Version From VSS Finalization h Get Latest Version From VSS ae Group Generates a version inf 3 Script Reads version info from lt All gt gt Run your macro a gt Delete File s Deletes the file with ver lt All gt gt Control the macro run O Script EE Group Stores variables holding Set Reset Variable Value V q Write to File i Log Message l 7 EE Group Application building 5 For Loop 7 GB Compile C Builder XE3 Project 7 ES Group Increments the build ve While Loop V EP Check Out File s From VSS Checks out the version i List Enumerator 7 SS Script lt All gt gt Modify macro properties IS SSS S88 lt All gt gt Analyze macro runs lt All gt Please select what you would like lt All gt to do lt All gt lt All gt lt All gt lt All gt lt All gt
12. be divided into smaller tasks each of which can be run on a separate computer at the same time as other tasks These build processes whose workload is distributed among several cooperative computers within the network are called distributed builds Distributed builds essentially reduce the project build time due to the fact that the build tasks are executed simultaneously on several computers Using distributed builds you can expect the build performance to speed up depending on the number of computers you use in the build In this way you can run your builds faster and more often which 1s an essential part of the continuous integration strategy In Build Studio distributed builds can be organized by using special operations in the Remote Macro Execution category e Remote Group Executes a group of operations on a specific remote computer e Remote Execution Stack Executes its child operations in parallel on the specified remote computers that are available at that time e Remote Macro Command Lets you execute a specific macro on a remote computer Within the Remote Group and Remote Execution Stack operations you can use the same operations that are used in typical macros The only difference is that the properties of these operations such as file names and paths must be specified with regard to the remote computer on which they will be run The remote operations logs are also transferred to the main computer o
13. gt Automated y Build Studio USER MANUAL Copyright Notice Automated Build Studio as described in this on line help system 1s licensed under the software license agreement distributed with the product The software may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of its license 2013 SmartBear Software All rights reserved No part of this help can be reproduced stored in any retrieval system copied or modified transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical including photocopying and recording for purposes others than the purchaser s personal use All SmartBear product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of SmartBear Software All other trademarks service marks and trade names mentioned in this Help system or elsewhere in the Automated Build Studio software package are the property of their respective owners Table of Contents 3 Table of Contents ENTRODUCTIRON sarc cescccctcatevenccascecescecssesnseneccescasaceugeccasssicasisssssecesssdcesabeackessessccaussevataseosticssssessessiessscasseess 5 OIN PNR RR ND RD DN RO DOR RR O EN 5 BY SU a Dad IN Si L RR DE TETI A E SE DR RN DENNIS ERR DRE RC 8 TS UHI SN OU occ cetaceans A E EAE E S EAE AT AEAEE a 9 Automated Build Smidio Samples secuscazsesccucuawadesacsdaseu sar auscaesysu use EEE EENE KE EENE EEEE EENE 10 GETING STARI ED iicseiedevactswscesseden cee serteccneadecevucwwaicawsadeadeccatee dee sadeaevnctiascacendin
14. informative message default Automated Build Studio can also post messages about execution of particular operations to the Summary panel simply enable the Log to summary property for all the operations you want to trace The panel is used to compare logs For this purpose it displays the logs of two macro runs the current run and the previous successful run and displays the differences between the two logs In addition this panel always logs all the errors and warnings that occur during the macro run This lets you quickly find the cause of the problem 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 20 Analyzing Results of Macro Runs Analyzing Results of Macro Runs When you run a macro in Automated Build Studio the results of the macro run are shown in the Log panel at runtime and after the run is over Log ta Error Message B a id E Time with Children g Execute the operation Dependent Group Create dear the directory 0 2 sec where archives will be created EA Execute the operation If Directory Exists Directory Name C Work Disec E Folders ABS Work Folder Backup mm Execute the operation Remove Directory Directory Name 0 1 sec C Work Folders ABS Work Folder Backup 4 Execute the operation Create Directory Directory Name C Work 0 0 sec Folders ABS Work Folder Backup E Execute the operation Dependent Group Create the first archive 2 SEC Execute the operation Pack
15. lt All gt Increments the version J If Then 7 Check In File s to vss Checks in the version in 2 Switch 7 E Group Notifies that the applica 7 hi Execute Program Sends notifications lt All gt 7 E Group Launches the compiled lt All gt he Else J E Execute Program Launches the compiled lt All gt If Previous Operation Fails 9 EE Group Clears the source folder lt All gt pl Try Watches et ad eS Wad Pg Catch Expression Finally MH Label S Go to Label af Case IS A a S SS S888 E Most of Build Studio s screen area is occupied by panels Operations Macro Log Summary and Assistant Each panel serves a separate purpose in your work with Build Studio e The Operations panel contains operations you can add to your macro The operations are organized into categories e The Macro panel holds operations that you added to the macro e The Log panel displays results of the macro execution Automated Build Studio monitors every macro run and logs the name of every operation that was executed as well as the time spent on executing each operation along with all of its child operations e Like the Log panel the Summary panel displays results of the macro execution but in the comparative form you can simultaneously view results both of
16. main facility is a dedicated Windows service called Automated Build Studio Service lt Automated Build Studio gt Bin AutomatedBuildService exe You can configure this service via Build Studio s user interface to track all of the changes 1n files stored 1n a definite repository To reduce the amount of time spent on interaction between the service and the repository and to lower the use of resources the service does not poll the repository constantly 1t does this at certain time intervals smartbear com Automated Build Studio Build Strategies 23 Continuous Integration Steps The process of continuous integration provided by the Build Studio can be divided into several stages Preliminary steps First you need to perform the following preparations e Make sure that the Automated Build Studio Service is running e Prepare an appropriate macro that will build the project out of the latest source files run a set of unit functional regression and other tests and then report the build and test results to the respective users and to the log This macro must be saved to a file Unsaved macros cannot be used for continuous integration Creating a task Click it Tasks Continuous Integration on the Tasks toolbar of Automated Build Studio to call the Edit Tasks dialog The dialog lets you create several tasks that the Automated Build Studio Service should perform Each of these tasks is intended to run an existing macro in certain conditions
17. or select it using the Variables and Constants dialog You can also type the symbol in the property field and select the desired variable from the appeared window When using variables and constants keep in mind the following Ifa variable or constant is used to specify a property value the variable constant name must be enclosed in symbols for instance Value_Var If the operation saves a property value to a variable do not enclose the variable name in symbols For more information see Using Variables and Constants in Operation Properties Using scripts To specify string properties you can also use single line script statements For instance if you want to specify an operation property as the return value of the DateToStr built in script function type the Script DateToStr Date string in the property field Note A script line must always start with the Script prefix For more information see Using Scripts in Operation Properties Using Scripts in Operation Properties You can use single line script statements to specify operation properties that can have a string value If you specify a script statement 1n the property edit box Automated Build Studio will execute 1t during macro execution and will assign the return value to the operation property The rules of script writing are the same that are used in the Script operation A script line can be written in one of the three supported scripting languages De
18. so all of the dependent groups in the macro unless some of them are disabled will be executed when you run the macro Dependencies only define the groups execution order When you run the macro containing dependent groups Build Studio analyzes the dependencies between them builds the macro flow graph and executes dependent groups according to this graph Where possible groups are executed in parallel in order to improve the macro performance and speed it up Typically the Dependent Group operations should be the top level operations in your macro so that the macro consists of dependent groups Optionally they can be grouped by using the Group operations this grouping does not affect the execution order of dependent groups Any other macro operations except for Dependent Groups their parents and children and operations mentioned in the Remarks section are ignored The order in which you arrange the Dependent Group operations in your macro does not matter and does not affect their execution order which is completely determined by the group s interdependencies How Dependent Groups Work When Automated Build Studio or Automated Macro Player runs a macro that consists of dependent groups it first forms the macro dependency graph and ensures that there are no circular references between dependent groups If Automated Build Studio finds a circular reference it displays an error message that n
19. source code of your project has been modified This will help you continuously maintain the integrity of your codebase it will be much easier to find errors that appeared after modifying the source code because you will always know which source files were changed for this build It is also recommended that each build be tested and reported appropriately By following this strategy you will always be able to provide developers and users with a working build compiled using the latest versions of the source files The strategy is called continuous integration http www extremeprogramming org rules integrateoften html It works well 1f e Your code is stored in a central location preferably a source code control product like Visual SourceSafe Build Studio macros can access different source control repositories e You have automated your build process say by writing an appropriate Build Studio macro e You have included tests unit functional regression etc in the codebase as part of the project optional These tests can be run as part of the build macro e Notifications about the build and test results are sent to respective users automatically You can do this by including the appropriate operations in your macro As you can see Automated Build Studio supports all of the prerequisites of continuous integration In addition it includes facilities that allow you to practice continuous integration of your projects in full The
20. tabbed page of the dialog you can specify the macro file name description the utility to be used to execute the macro you can choose either Automated Build Studio or Automated Macro Player and the command line arguments for the utility 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 44 Index Note that the macro file name is specified in terms of the remote computer There is no need to share the folder on the remote computer where the macro 1s located 1n order to access the macro file e On the Identification page you can specify the user name domam and password that will be used to connect to the remote computer Note that the specified account must have permissions to run executables on the server computer e On the Permissions page you can specify users or user groups which are allowed to execute the macro and monitor the macro run These users and groups must be registered on the server with the Server Settings dialog e Click OK in the Add Macro dialog to save changes and add the macro to the Client panel If you add the same macro several times Automated Build Studio will create macro presets and display them as child nodes of the macro node The presets differ from each other by the parameters specified in the Add Macro dialog EIS BIS ds rs Name Configur Las 6 D Tempt Media Solution bxp Use Release configuration Run mode Player Account Tester Parameters Release Use D
21. the configurations t fa dom PR Description Remove Directory Clears the working folder Directory Name YoSourceDir 4 E f Get Latest Version From V55 Obtains the source files from l Gy INI File VS5IniFile Project VSSProject Working Folder sSourceDir File name or mask Compile Visual Studio Solution Builds the application lt All gt Solution 5olutionFile Yo Signing Code SignTool Signs the application modules diigi smartbear com Automated Build Studio Automated Build Studio Client Server and Web Interface 43 Automated Build Studio Client Server and Web Interface Automated Build Studio lets you start and monitor macros working on other computers 1n the network The remote computers where the macro 1s running are called servers The computers where you control the remote macro execution are called clients Automated Build Studio is not divided into Client and Server parts Once you installed Build Studio on your workstation it can function like a server and a client The server provides information needed for remote macro runs and the client sends commands to the server You can manage remote macros directly from the Client panel of Automated Build Studio You can also manage macro runs without installing Automated Build Studio the Automated Build Studio Web Interface installed on the server lets you control macro runs through your web browser To transfer data and comm
22. to request 2 Switch to the Requests tab and click Eb Add Request The Add Build Request dialog appears 3 In the dialog check the macros macro presets whose run you want to request enter the request description choose the request priority and click OK l Two notes e The request description is required it is not possible to submit an empty request e If the macro list is empty it is most probably that you do not have the Run macros permission and you have enabled the Hide non available macros in build request dialog option in the Client Settings Disable this option and try submitting your request again 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 50 Index Script Writing General Information The Script operation lets you include scripts in your macros A script is a single script language procedure or function A script can be written in one of the three supported scripting languages e DelphiScript e VBScript e JScript All three supported scripting languages use only OLE compatible data types and cannot use pointers DelphiScript support is built in Automated Build Studio VBScript and JScript are supported by DLLs of the same name supplied with Windows or Internet Explorer To run VBScript or JScript in Automated Build Studio Internet Explorer 5 0 or higher must be installed on the machine If you do not have IE 5 or higher you can install the Microsoft scripting components directly For det
23. will be passed to the applications launched by the macro System constants Specify paths to applications installed on the computer and provide information about the current macro file Automated Build Studio loads values of system constants at startup These values can neither be changed in Build Studio nor at runtime The main purpose of system constants is to make macros easier and portable For example if your macro somehow utilizes the path to the folder where the macro file resides you can use the ABSOPENEDPROJECTDIR constant to obtain this path so that you will not have to change anything in your macro in order for it to be successfully run from another folder Remarks Three things you should keep in mind about variables Since variable names are used to address variables in scripts the variable name must match the naming rules used in the scripting language you chose for the script To make the variable name suitable for any supported scripting language follow this simple rule when naming a variable a name can include only letters digits and underscores and must begin with a letter Variables and constants use the same namespace so you cannot create a global local or stored variable that has the same name as an environment variable system constant or an existing ordinary constant Neither global local stored nor environment variables can be used as loop variables 1n scripts Using Variables and Constants in Operation Pr
24. AutomatedBuildStudio exe uses the following command line arguments which are case insensitive file_name Launches Build Studio and loads the specified macro bbp or bxp file into it ns Opens Automated Build Studio without displaying the splash screen Run or R Must be specified after file name This will run the specified macro upon loading Build Studio After the macro finishes Automated Build Studio will stay open RunAndExit or RE See Run This option does the same as Run but closes Build Studio after the macro finishes Multirun If you run a macro from the command line that is if the command line contains the Run or RunAndExit arguments Automated Build Studio will check whether the macro is already running If it is Build Studio will block the run from the command line To change this default behavior and enable running several instances of the macro concurrently use the Multirun command line argument If this argument is specified Automated Build Studio does not check whether the macro is running or not SilentMode ErrorAndWarningMode or ErrorOnlyMode You can use one of these arguments to specify which message boxes and dialogs Automated Build Studio will display during a macro run SilentMode If this argument is specified Automated Build Studio will neither display any dialogs nor inform you about any errors and warnings that occurred during a macro run ErrorAndWarningMode If this
25. Fj i Remove Directory Clears the output folder Group Obtains source files from th Qh Get Latest Version From VSS 2 Get Latest Version From VSS I 7 Group Generates a version info file M 45 Script Reads version info from a fil x Delete File s Deletes the file with version E 4 Group Stores variables holding ver E q Write to File E Group Application building The panel pops up when you move the mouse over the caption For more information on auto hiding and docking panels see Docking m Automated Build Studio help In Automated Build Studio panels you can also e Resize columns by dragging the separator between column headers e Swap columns by dragging their headers from one location to another e Add and remove columns to the panel The general view and behavior of Automated Build Studio panels can be modified 1n the User Interface dialog O 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 14 Adding Removing and Arranging Operations in a Macro Toolbars and keyboard shortcuts in Automated Build Studio can also be customized at will You can easily dock toolbars to any other edge of the Automated Build Studio window by dragging them to the desired edge of the window To remove or add buttons you can either call the Toolbar Customization window or use the Quick Customization feature You can also create your own toolbars For a complete overview see Toolbars Customization in Automated Build Studio help
26. From VSS Compile Visual C 2010 Project Compile Delphi XE4 Project Send E Mail etc that let you perform each step of the process you are automating After the macro 1s ready you can run it either manually or at certain points in time That 1s you commission Build Studio with all the work and responsibility it will automatically run the macro whenever you need 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 6 Overview Major Features Among the many features that make Automated Build Studio the ultimate build and release management tool are Visually constructed macros As we have said above a macro includes operations each of which 1s responsible for a separate step of the process you want to automate Even 1f you are not familiar with programming you will find creating macros very easy with the visual macro designer of Automated Build Studio A wide range of available operations with support for popular modern tools Automated Build Studio includes more than 800 built in operations that let you automate almost any task taking source files from source control compiling applications uploading files to FTP servers running and stopping virtual and cloud machines and so on For a list of all available operations see the List of Operations help topic To perform specific actions that cannot be performed by using standard operations you can write custom script routines in VBScript JScript and DelphiScript or you can cre
27. P Get Latest Version From v55 Group Application building FI MA Compile Visual C 2012 Project E Group E E Group E Group Notifies that the application has been built successfully ERR i Execute Program Sends notifications e Submacro Notifies that the application hasn t been built successfully Export Errors From Log Exports the log to the ERRORS variable Ip Execute Program Sends notifications You can also group operations to be run remotely by using the Dependent Group operations In this case however the Remote Execution Stack behavior will be a little different 1t will not run all of the groups concurrently but distribute and execute them in the order that is defined by the group s dependencies See Operation Dependencies for details Running Macros on a Remote Computer Besides executing a group of operations on a remote computer you can also run a whole macro remotely For this purpose use the Remote Macro Command operation For information on how to configure the operation see Automated Build Studio help If a macro that you wish to run on a remote computer has yet to be uploaded to that computer you should first upload it In macros you can do this using the Upload Macro operation Note The logs of remote macro runs are stored on the remote computer 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 28 Operation Dep
28. S RR ROSTO PDR 9 Frequently asked questions 0c0cccceeeeeeeeees 9 G Getting SUpport sunccncusdusanadunsaatuauenanseeneddannandeassecansac 9 Global varidDl S siccntasatanae saite sissaa nans 32 I Inserting one macro into another 17 J ST a EEEIEE OI dn 50 L Loading macros quastosstaesdesigdesatoneadndsa uiafonadntafag s 17 Local WAALS eers 32 Log panelerna aa Rn ee Poet er erenrDennoeeere 20 Logging macro TUNS cceeeeeeeeesesseeeeseseseseees 19 M Macro configurations ccccccccceceeeeeeeeeeeeeees 40 DMO ORIG apical es weasel re 40 Specifying valussa niri 42 Macro preSets ccccccsssesseeceecceeeeeeeseeeceeeeeeaeeees 44 Macro TUAS vis0cesccescoenscoscneshorszcesnnesbonesoocsonaresace 18 20 Analyzing results of macro runs 20 How to run a macro 1 0 ceeeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 18 Pausing macro runs 18 Stopping macro TUNS eee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 18 N ACT OS acces meun rosa Tas Raso ToaaIa eseaec one sane ssaeseeecs 14 17 Changing operation properties 16 Configurations 3c pasnesasenuesdamnsiedaasadnundannensedensanss 40 Creating a new MaC Osise 14 Dependencies between operations 28 Automated Build Studio Index Inserting one macro into another 17 Logging Macro TINS iss dada 19 Using variables and constants 32 Modifying operation propert
29. The top level objects defined in Automated Build Studio are smartbear com Automated Build Studio Script Writing Object ABSUtils Budo En Constants and Variables Log Operations Utilities 2013 SmartBear Software 51 Description Contains methods that perform operations specific to Automated Build Studio and provides scripting access to the all of the macro operations Lets your scripts call routines that are built into Automated Build Studio See List of Built In Routines in the Automated Build Studio help Provides access to variables and constants defined for a macro in Automated Build Studio See Using Variables and Constants in Macros Use methods of this object to post custom messages to Automated Build Studio s Log panel from scripts Provides access to Automated Build Studio operations from scripts In order for a script to call an operation this operation must have a unique name Makes certain functions and variables of the Borland VCL SysUtils unit available to your scripts See Utilities Object List of Supported Functions and Utilities Object List of Supported Variables and Constants in the Automated Build Studio help http support smartbear com 52 Index Automated Build Studio Command Line and Exit Codes Automated Build Studio Command Line and Exit Codes Command Line Arguments Automated Build Studio Command Line Automated Build Studio lt Automated Build Studio gt Bin
30. acro Player 52 54 Command line arguments 52 aS o E E E E 54 B BASIC CONCODIS enseina ses 11 Build TEQUESTS RR 46 Build SUALG SIGS s cseasasasross ra nitanaias atas nam san Ada a cada Adao 22 C Changing operation properties 16 Changing operations order in macros 14 Child Operations cccccccccccccsccccceceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 11 CAS A E E EES 43 Command line arguments 52 Concurrent execution of operations 29 Configurations seicsririscsninicen ienien s 40 POU Gsasscesascereceasgadesenetenncasacescseosaecsesssonievee tenes 40 Specifying values 42 ROIS ANOS saa sincera E 32 ATOU e E 32 Using 18 MACIOS circaria aas 32 Using in operation properties 33 Using in SCTIPtS cccceeeeeeeesessessessssessesseeeees 35 smartbear com Index Contacting Technical Support team 9 Continuous integration cccccsesesesseeeseeeeeeees 22 Creating a new MACTO ee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeteeeteeeeeees 14 D D lphiSci Pioen nee enor ener nee meer sense nen any 50 Dependencies between macro operations 28 Distributed builds wc ee 25 E Environment attribute ccccccceesssseseeeeeeees 32 Environment variables cc ccccceesseeseeeeeeeeees 32 PRI COGS sassasassactavassonastanorseesntensasaretesassadooansioie 54 F PAO oases eos pasa snes RS
31. ailed information on scripting languages see e VBScript http msdn microsoft com en us library ms950396 aspx e JScript http msdn microsoft com en us library ms950396 aspx e DelphiScript DelphiScript Description in Automated Build Studio help What can your scripts do in Automated Build Studio They are used mainly to solve the following problems e To perform specific actions that cannot be executed with existing operations e To assign values to macro variables Note Macro variables cannot be used as loop variables A loop variable should be a local script variable e To call operations existing in the macro and access their properties e To work with internal and external objects Automated Build Studio s Object Model can help you better understand how you can use scripts to work with different objects Object Model In most cases scripts deal with internal objects of Automated Build Studio and external objects of other applications via OLE COM interfaces process variables defined in the macro call operations that exist in the macro and access properties of these operations Automated Build Studio treats each variable constant or operation as an object Each object can have one parent and one or several child objects Automated Build Studio contains a number of top level objects which you can address in scripts directly To get access to other objects you should use methods and properties of the top level objects
32. ands between the server and client computers the Automated Build Studio Service is needed This service is shipped with Build Studio and is installed by the Automated Build Studio installation program So after you installed Automated Build Studio on a computer this computer automatically becomes a server which can be controlled by a remote instance of Automated Build Studio Automated Build Studio Client Server Functionality To start and monitor macros working on other computers in the network use the Client panel in Automated Build Studio Connecting to the Server To run a macro on a remote computer you have to first connect to this computer To do this e Switch to the Client panel e In the Location box displayed on the Macro page specify the connection which you will use You can either select an existing connection from the dropdown list or create a new connection by clicking the Location box s ellipsis button and using the subsequent Connections dialog In this dialog you can choose the desired connection type and specify the user name domain and password for the connection Registering Macros After you have connected to a server you can choose the macro which you will run on the remote computer To do this e Click 4 Add Macro on the toolbar or the Client panel or right click somewhere within the panel s Macro page and choose Add Macro from the context menu This will call the Add Macro dialog e On the General
33. argument is used Automated Build Studio will not display dialogs but it will show error and warning messages ErrorOnlyMode If this argument is used Automated Build Studio will not display any dialogs and message boxes except for error messages smartbear com Automated Build Studio Automated Build Studio Command Line and Exit Codes 53 variable_name variable_value or variable_name variable_value Initializes the specified variable with the given value The variable must exist in the macro you are running If the variable value holds spaces the entire value must be enclosed in double quotes This command line argument is valid only if it is used with the Run or RunAndExit arguments To initialize several variables you can use this argument several times in the same command line configuration_name Runs the macro 1n the specified configuration If the configuration name includes spaces it must be enclosed in double quotes configuration name To batch run the macro in several configurations at once use this argument several times in the same command line If this argument is not specified the active configuration which is saved in the macro will be used all Runs a macro using all existing macro configurations Note To determine which parameters were passed to Build Studio in its command line add a Script operation to you macro and use the ParamSt rand ParamCount functions in the script Here are some examples of run
34. ate custom operations Automated Build Studio offers native integration with other SmartBear s testing profiling and team collaboration products allowing you to fully automate your build profile test and deploy processes You can find these operations in the SmartBear amp AutomatedQA Tools category For a full list of compilers source control systems test tools and other applications supported by Automated Build Studio see Supported Tools in the Automated Build Studio help Distributed builds Automated Build Studio provides you with the ability to distribute the execution of macro operations among multiple computers Using this feature you can dramatically reduce the project build time perform multi platform builds start automated tests on multiple computers in parallel and so on See Distributed Builds Overview Besides physical computers you can also use virtual and cloud machines in your distributed builds Automated Build Studio supports the most popular virtual and cloud environments and provides special operations for managing virtual and cloud computers directly from your macros Remote macro execution control Automated Build Studio includes special features that let you easily run macros located on remote computers and monitor these runs Using Automated Build Studio Web Interface you can control remote macros through your web browser even without installing Automated Build Studio on your machine For complete information
35. contact information the product name and version are specified automatically in the appropriate fields when you proceed to this web page from the Contact Support Team dialog You only need to describe your problem in the appropriate fields Click Submit in the Contact Support Form to submit the request The support team will answer you via e mail and all further communication will be made via e mail However to start the conversation please use the Contact Support Team dialog in Automated Build Studio and the Contact Support Form on our web site For information on our support policies please visit our web site http support smartbear com More support resources You can also ask questions search for answers exchange comments and suggestions on our forums http community smartbear com You may find answers to your question in the list of the frequently asked questions which 1s available at http support smartbear com faq Learn more about using Automated Build Studio from technical papers and blogs published at http support smartbear com articles http blog smartbear com Make sure you regularly visit the SmartBear Web site http smartbear com where you will find News More recent support options including frequently asked questions on our products Technical papers from SmartBear Downloads such as plug ins and free tools from SmartBear Hot Stuff contributed by experienced users and the AQA team
36. d RunAndExit which are simply ignored by the Macro Player Automated Build Studio Service Command Line Automated Build Studio s installation also includes an Automated Build Studio Service This 1s a Windows service lt Automated Build Studio gt Bin AutomatedBuildService exe that is used to provide client server functionality and continuous integration support It dispatches data and commands between client and server machines stores results of macro runs traces task triggers and starts a task when the trigger events or conditions are accomplished 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 54 Index Automated Build Studio Command Line and Exit Codes AutomatedBuildService exe accepts the following command line arguments trace on and trace off For some triggers the Automated Build Studio Service can post logs on request to resources they trace All logs are collected in the lt Automated Build Studio gt Bin Extensions folder except for the Microsoft Visual SourceSafe File Change triggers logs which are posted to the VSSLog subfolder of this folder The log files format depends on the trigger type and it usually includes the entire command line of the launched process it is used to check the state of the traced resource the process response the request date and time and the latest date and time of the traced resource obtained during the check New records are appended to the log file that is stored for eac
37. djust the connections to these computers For information on the operation and how to use it to configure connections see Automated Build Studio help Distributing Operations Among Remote Computers An essential part of creating distributed build macros is to decide which build tasks should be split into smaller ones and to distribute them among remote computers Automated Build Studio does not automatically distribute the compile process among remote computers If you need to distribute the compile process you should manually create and configure individual projects for building each project module You can distribute the remote build tasks among specific computers or among those specified computers that are available at that time Again these computers must have all of the needed software for performing the corresponding operations For example if you want to distribute the compile process among several computers the compiler must be installed on all of them dt When specifying properties of operations that are executed on a remote computer remember that file names and paths must be specified in the terms of that computer Running Operations on a Specific Remote Computer If you wish to execute a group of operations on a specific remote computer use the Remote Group operation For information on how to configure the operation see Automated Build Studio help Running Operations on Several Remote Computers Concurrently
38. e and load macros into Automated Build Studio insert one macro into another run macros debug them check the results and perform other actions Note Besides editing macros you can also use Automated Build Studio to modify MSBuild projects When you open an MSBuild project in Automated Build Studio the latter switches into a special edit mode that supports only MSBuild related features This document contains information only on creating and editing macros For information on editing MSBuild projects see Working With MSBuild Projects section in the Automated Build Studio help Automated Build Studio macros consist of operations An operation performs an elementary action such as copying files or compiling a project We use the word operation as a general term For some operations it would be better to use the term statement for others the term function or procedure All the operations that you can use in your macros are displayed in the Operations panel They are organized into categories The Macro panel holds operations that you added to the macro For each operation it displays the operation name description and two check boxes the left box specifies if Build Studio will execute the operation the right check box specifies whether the macro stops running if an error occurs during execution of this operation Some operations can have child operations For example child operations of the For Loop ope
39. e computer Viewing Results After the macro execution 1s over the State column of the Macro page will indicate the macro run results Failed or Success The Configuration column will show the configuration used to build the macro Last run will indicate the date and time of the run start Execution time the run duration Connection aoa EB Name state Configuration Last run Execution time History of Media Solution Success Release 10 17 2013 13 21 36 00 00 21 af Much o Money Success Release 10 17 2013 13 21 48 00 00 08 Show tad Tax Calculator Failure Release 10 17 2013 13 23 57 00 00 11 Show Quiz Project Success Release 10 17 2013 13 23 16 00 00 28 Show To view detailed information on macro run results click the word Failed or Success displayed in the State column Automated Build Studio will load the run results to the Log and Summary panel To view the history of macro runs choose the desired macro in the Macro page and then click Show in the History column of that page Build Studio will retrieve the history of the macro runs from the remote computer and then it will display the History page with the retrieved data Automated Build Studio Web Interface Automated Build Studio s Client Server Web Interface lets you control macros running on the server computer through your Internet browser that 1s without installing Automated Build Studio on client computers The Web Interface module is installed o
40. e next operation only starts after the previous operation is finished When groups of operations are run concurrently Automated Build Studio starts the next operation in a separate thread without waiting for the previous operation to complete As a result the CPU is used more effectively and less time is needed to execute macros Concurrent execution of operations can greatly improve performance in the following cases e A macro is executed on a multiprocessor computer A processor can only execute one thread at a time So on a computer with a single processor only one thread can be executed at a time whereas a computer with ten processors can execute ten threads at a time e A macro contains operations that require a lot of time for example the Get Latest Version operations for large projects file uploads and downloads database queries and so on When this 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 30 Concurrent Execution of Operations type of an operation is being executed other operations cannot be started until that operation is finished Putting an operation in a concurrently running group will allow other operations to run simultaneously with this operation and it will not block them e A macro contains operations that perform data transmission over a network for example operations of the FTP HTTP and other groups When running concurrently each operation uses a separate connection so that the ov
41. ebug configuration Run mode Player Parameters Debug Automated Build Studio also supports auto registering of macros With the Automatically register all macros that are run on the server option enabled the tool will register any macro that will be started on the remote computer After you have added the macro to the panel you can run it on the remote computer and monitor the macro run Running Macro and Monitoring the Run To run a macro added to the Client panel e Choose the desired macro in the Macro page of the panel e Right click the selected macro and select Run from the context menu or click the Run button on the panel s toolbar Automated Build Studio will start running the macro on the remote computer The State column of the Macro page will indicate the run status To view detailed information on the macro s execution progress select the desired macro in the Macro page and switch to the Progress page This page indicates the execution progress using progress group defined in the macro being run If the macro does not contain progress groups the page will be empty smartbear com Automated Build Studio Automated Build Studio Client Server and Web Interface 45 Note The Client panel will monitor all macro runs those that will be initiated from the Client panel and those that will be initiated outside of it In other words you will see macro runs that will be started by a user who will log on the remot
42. endencies Running Distributed Build Macros Once you have configured the build servers that will participate in the distributed build and the computer that will host the build you can run the build macro Automated Build Studio macros can be run in several ways e You can run Automated Build Studio on the host computer and start the macro directly from Build Studio e You can run the macro on the host computer from the command line using either Automated Build Studio or Automated Macro Player e You can schedule the macro to run at specific times on the host computer e You can start the macro on the host computer from another computer using the Automated Build Studio Client Server functionality e You can run the macro on the host computer via the Automated Build Studio Web Interface Operation Dependencies About the Dependent Group Operation To let you set dependencies between macro operations Automated Build Studio provides a special Dependent Group operation The purpose of this operation is to separate a group of operations that need to be executed prior to or after another operation group The Dependent Group s properties include a list of the group s prerequisites that is groups that need to be finished in order for the given group to start In a way these dependencies are analogue to target dependencies in makefiles used by the make tools However unlike makefiles Build Studio macros do not have targets
43. ent attribute enabled is passed to the process launched by the macro and serves as an environment variable for that process Thread relative This attribute is useful if the variable is supposed to be used in several concurrently executed operations If the variable has this attribute set each macro execution thread gets its own copy of the variable so that the variable can be referred in different threads without causing a resource conflict e Local variables As follows from their name are available only in a particular local scope They can be defined in the Group Dependent Group or Submacro operation and will be visible only to operations that belong to that group submacro Outside the group submacro where a local variable is defined it does not exist and any references to it will cause an error Similar to global variables local ones can have default values which you can specify in the properties of the Group or Submacro operation Variables are initialized with these values when Automated Build Studio executes operations in which local variables are defined smartbear com Automated Build Studio Using Scripts in Operation Properties 33 Stored variables Are very similar to global variables The only difference is that the values of stored variables are saved between macro runs Stored variables are useful for instance to keep the build number which could easily be incremented in any of the next runs The value
44. er select Remove Operation from the context menu or from the Edit menu or press Del To delete all the operations at once select Clear All from the context menu or from the Edit menu Child Operations Some operations may have child operations For instance While Loop For Loop or If Then For loop operations it means that child operations will be run within the loop body For If Then it means that child operations will be executed provided that the if condition is True To make an operation a child one simply drag the operation from the left or right panel and drop it over another operation you want to be the parent To change operations relationships you can also use the Indent and Un Indent items of the Edit toolbar or the Edit menu of Automated Build Studio In 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 16 Modifying Operation Properties addition you can press Ctrl Right or Ctrl Left these shortcuts can be customized in the Customize Keyboard dialog You can select operations within the macro and drag them along the tree move the selected operation to another place copy the operation or make one operation a child of another Order of Operations Note that by default operations are executed in the same order they are displayed in the Macro panel of Build Studio from top to bottom except for Initialization Finalization and Submacro operations It is also possible to run certain operat
45. erall bandwidth is greater than the serial operation s execution when all operations use the same connection Generally almost all operations provided by Automated Build Studio can be run concurrently however there are technical and logical restrictions described below Here are some examples of the operations that should be run concurrently e To split long running tasks into smaller tasks For example an operation that obtains source files from a Source Control System SCS can be divided into several same operations each obtaining a certain part of the source files Running concurrently these operations will take less time than a single operation that performs the whole task e Run the operations that do not depend on each other and do not use the same resources concurrently For example if your macro contains the Remove Directory operation that cleans temporary folders and the Upload File s to FTP operation that uploads one or several files to an FTP server you can group them so that they run concurrently Usually the best performance is achieved when a multi threaded macro is run on a multiprocessor computer In this case Automated Build Studio automatically schedules macro threads across available processors which Automated Build Studio is allowed to run on in the most effective way Organizing Concurrent Execution of Operations There are two ways to organize concurrent execution of macro operations e You can configure
46. g a new item option of your macro is enabled this dialog is called automatically upon adding an operation Otherwise you should call the dialog manually To call the dialog do one of the following e Right click the desired operation in your macro and then select Properties from the context menu e Double click the operation in the Macro panel e Select the desired operation and press Enter Compile Visual Studio Solution Operation Properties 4 Previous Next P Release Propertes Description Builds the application Enabled Begin a progress group Stop execution if operation fails Log to summary Support configurations Unique name Run submacro if operation fails 6 None Global submacro Selected submacro Timeout Don t check timeout Use common timeout 6 Set timeout for this operation The dialog holds several tabbed pages The first page Properties holds properties common for all operations the other pages hold properties specific to the selected operation For information on properties that are specific to a certain operation see the description of that operation After you finish editing operation properties you can select Run Check from the main menu of Automated Build Studio to verify that the properties are set correctly Saving and Loading Macros In Automated Build Studio to save changes made to your macro select File Save from Build Studio s main menu or press Ctrl S
47. h trigger The trace on argument enables logging of triggers activity The trace off argument disables trigger logging poolsize N This argument sets the number of tasks it can range between 1 and 30 that can be run simultaneously by AutomatedBuildService exe By default this number is 5 service Registers the AutomatedBuildService exe process as a Windows service if it is not yet registered and runs this service Before the service is run it reads the values passed in the poolsize and or trace command line arguments restart Starts the Automated Build Studio Service if it is not running and restarts it if 1t is already running stop Stops the Automated Build Studio Service exit Use this argument with the poolsize and trace arguments to pass their values to AutomatedBuildService exe when it is launched as a stand alone application not as a service The argument passes values but does not run an instance of AutomatedBuildService exe with newly set parameters Exit Codes Both Automated Build Studio and Automated Macro Player provide the following exit codes which report on the results of the last run Exit Code Description 0 The last run was executed successfully l An error occurred in a macro during the last run Normally these codes are of use when Automated Build Studio or the Automated Macro Player is launched from a batch file smartbear com Automated Build Studio More Information About A
48. ies 16 Multi threaded execution of operations 29 O Openin MACIOS menera S 17 Operation properties ana a 16 37 Operations ADOI snenia aca DS ole na 11 Adding operation to macros ccc 14 Changing the operations order in macros 14 Dependencies between operations 28 Removing from macros 14 Operations panel ce ee eee alone 11 Order of operations in macros Changing of 14 P Pane S PORREIRO RPE RR 11 Paraense sao a a 25 Parallel execution of operations 29 R Removing operations from macros 14 Results of Matro TUS ressos i 20 RRUMMING MACIOS sussa sair assassinas aa dada 18 Analyzing results of macro runs 20 From command line eeeeeeeeseeeeesesteeeees 52 How to run Macros 1 0 0 ccceeeeeececceeeeeeeeeeeeeaeees 18 S Sample S ae N qd 10 2013 SmartBear Software 57 Savino MMACKOS aseene R 17 Scripts in Automated Build Studio 50 Using in operation properties 37 Using variables and constants in scripts 35 SERVER sis nai Das ii LEAR nadas 43 US ME pq 66 RR DOR ERROR e SOR 52 Specifying operation properties 37 Stored V Al AD ICS esnan Da Da ua 32 2106 06 9 8 RO DOR ote nee ee er DONE READ nen re DR 9 System regure mem Serres a EA R 8 System VAL ADIES ais e sd pa 32 T Technical Suppo
49. ild Studio Client Server Functionality ccccccccccccccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 43 Automated Build Studio Web Interface ccccecceccecceccccccccccescescceccecseccecceccecceccscescescescuscascuscesees 45 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 4 Table of Contents Duo RC OU SG assessor dra T apr Pe cl PR a A O E a wee 46 SCRIPE WRITING ausnisisinisa sina os instar danada dan ida sat a a da adubo aae 50 AUTOMATED BUILD STUDIO COMMAND LINE AND EXIT CODES ccsccccssssssssseeees 52 Command Tie At OUI nisi E eee ee eee 52 EXT COGS oras paras Radar E ane ac tare ans eua ea aes Sonate stare ssa eds eae 54 MORE INFORMATION ABOUT AUTOMATED BUILD STUDIO cccssssssssssccsssssssssecees 55 INDE X enea od ad cod da do a pd id a da 56 smartbear com Automated Build Studio by SmartBear Software Introduction 5 Introduction Overview Automated Build Studio by SmartBear Software Automated Build Studio is a powerful build and release management system that provides an easy way to automate the build test and release processes of software projects Its intuitive interface and unprecedented flexibility allows even inexperienced users to create complex visual macros that can automate repetitive or day to day tasks with the single click of a button This topic is devoted to the main functions of Automated Build Studio It provides you with a simple conceptual map of
50. ions or groups of operations concurrently To learn more see Concurrent Execution of Operations To change the order of operations in the macro use the iT Move Up and Move Down items on the Edit toolbar or the Edit menu press Ctrl Up or Ctrl Down or simply drag and drop an operation to the desired location The operation being dragged is placed before or after the operation on which it is dropped the exact new location of the dragged operation is indicated by an arrow in the mouse cursor which is displayed when you hover the cursor over an existing operation before dropping You can copy the chosen operation to another location just keep Ctrl pressed when dragging the operation Modifying Operation Properties Each operation has a number of properties that let you specify the actual actions that the operation performs For instance if you want your macro to compile a C project you should at least specify the project name in the operation properties Therefore once you have added an operation to your macro your next step is to modify the properties of this operation You can modify operation properties via Automated Build Studio s user interface or programmatically from scripts In most cases you will change the operation properties via the user interface smartbear com Automated Build Studio Getting Started ty The operation s properties are set in the Operation Properties dialog If the Show Properties dialog when addin
51. lphiScript VBScript or JScript All three supported scripting languages use only OLE compatible data types and cannot use pointers For more information see Script Writing When you use a script in operation properties the following requirements must be met You can specify only a single line script statement The statement must return a string otherwise errors will occur during the operation run 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 38 IndexSpecifying Operation Properties Overview e A script line must start with the Script prefix Otherwise Automated Build Studio will treat the script line as a string value For instance m the figure below you can see that we use the Script DateToStr Now string to specify the end date of the analyzed period AQtrace Report Enumerator Operation Properties For all products For selected product In operation properties you can specify script lines that e Evaluate simple mathematical expressions For instance Script 100 200 In this case the operation property will be set to 300 e Call built in script functions For instance Script DateToStr Date An operation property value will be specified as a string containing the specified date e Call any methods and properties of internal and external objects For instance Script Variables MyVariable An operation property value will be specified as the value of the MyVariable variable smartbear com
52. ls SetVariableValue method ABSUtils SetVariableValue variable name value for all configs The difference from this method and the usual assignment operation is that depending on the last parameter for all configs it only changes the variable value in the current configuration or in all of the macro configurations at once The latter can be useful when modifying values of stored variables A similar method ABSUtils ResetVariableValue lets you reset a macro variable to its default value As you may notice these two methods are scripting analogues of the Set Reset Variable Value operation smartbear com Automated Build Studio Using Scripts in Operation Properties 37 Specifying Operation Properties Specifying Operation Properties Overview One of the ways to specify operation properties is to use the Operation Properties dialog In the dialog you can type operation properties values or specify them in the following ways Using special dialogs You call these dialogs by clicking the ellipsis button to the right of a property s edit box In general these dialogs are used to specify files and directories These can also be dialogs that allow you to create a list of files that will be specified as a property value or select the desired value from the available list Using variables and constants You can specify a constant or a variable that holds the desired value You can specify the desired variable or constant manually
53. n be started for a group of operations An optimal number of concurrent operations depends on the configuration of your computer 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 32 Index Using Variables and Constants in Macros About Variables and Constants Macros in Automated Build Studio can contain variables and constants that you can use to set values for operation properties To create or check values of variables and constants use commands of the Variables menu Variables Tasks Options Try Variables Stored Variables Constants System Constants Environment Variables e Ti ARMS Ts Note that both variables and constants can be used in scripts About Variables Variables let you make your macros more flexible and powerful They can be used to specify values of Operation properties such as file names build numbers and so on as well as to store the operation result and output They are also accessible in scripts and serve as ordinary script variables There are four types of variables that can be used in macros e Global variables Are accessible from any operation in your macro It 1s possible to provide default values for global variables the variables will be assigned with these values at the beginning of the macro run Additionally global macro variables can have two attributes Environment This attribute determines how a variable is used A variable that has its environm
54. n the server computer and generates web pages that you access through your Internet browser To view a page generated by the Web interface open your Internet browser and navigate to the following page http ServerName_or_IP AutomatedBuildStudioWeb As you can see you can specify the server computer using either its name or IP address AutomatedBuildStudioWeb is the virtual directory holding the pages generated by the Web Interface module After you enter the specified address you will see the Login page asking you to specify the authentication parameters for login Specify the user name and password to log in as a local Automated Build 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 46 Index Studio user Alternatively you can enable the Authenticate by OS check box to use your current Windows logon settings The next page after the Login page is very similar to Automated Build Studio s Client panel You can use it in the same manner as you use the Client panel For more information see Using the Client Server Functionality and Automated Build Studio Client Server Common Tasks in Automated Build Studio help Build Requests Automated Build Studio provides users with the possibility to request build runs This enables the users who cannot start builds directly due to insufficient permissions trigger builds along with authorized users just in a different way Users can submit build requests via a special fo
55. nce the execution returns to the main macro They are included 1n the macro log which 1s displayed in the Log panel and taken into account in the macro summary Creating Distributed Builds Macros that perform distributed builds are similar to other build macros with the difference that some of their tasks are split into smaller tasks that are distributed for running on multiple remote computers The key 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 26 Distributed Builds point in creating distributed build macros is to specify a set of computers that can participate in distributed builds and to divide a single build task into several independent tasks Configuring Remote Computers The computers that participate in the distributed build must be configured in a special way First the remote computers must have all of the needed software such as compilers build tools and helper utilities installed and properly configured In addition Automated Build Studio must be installed on these computers and the Automated Build Studio Service must be running on them this service is used to transmit data between the host computer where the build macro is running and the remote computers where the individual macro tasks are executed Connecting to Remote Computers From Macros Automated Build Studio provides a special Setup Connections operation that can be used to specify a set of remote computers for the distributed build and to a
56. next time you open a saved macro the last used configuration will be active 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 42 Index Specifying Configuration Dependent Values In order for a macro operation to support different property value sets in different macro configurations its Support configurations property must be enabled Compile Visual Studio Solution Operation Properties 4p Previous Next Release Properties Parse Output Description Enabled Begin a progress group Stop execution if operation fails Log to summary Support configurations Unique name Macro variables and constants are configuration aware by default To set values specific for a configuration e First activate the desired configuration e Then specify the needed values for operation properties variables and constants The changes you make will be applied to the selected configuration only and will not affect the other configurations If you need to specify or modify a certain value in all the configurations at once select lt All Configurations gt from the configuration list and make the desired changes Operations that have different property values in different configurations are indicated with a tick in the Different Configuration Settings column of the Macro panel As a result you can quickly identify operations that have configuration specific property values and those having the same property values in all
57. ning Automated Build Studio with command line arguments e Use the following command line to run Automated Build Studio load the specified macro My bbp in it and start the macro execution for the Release configuration Ge nene ed Eat Siecle Vesa AUT Oma Cle and Ud TO esc l gt mor k Macros My bbp Run Release e The following line commands Automated Build Studio to run without the splash screen to load the specified macro My bbp to start its execution to initialize the ProjectDir variable and to exit when the macro execution 1s over PUTON e cbud homuct Ove lt ee Ce moLk Meaeios Wyble Cn RunAndE aie VE soe e pps MC Nive Pao secius Automated Macro Player Command Line The installation of Automated Build Studio also includes Automated Macro Player This is a console application lt Automated Build Studio gt Bin AutomatedMacroPlayer exe that is used to run the macro you have constructed using Build Studio When calling the Macro Player via the command line you can pass it the name of a file that holds a macro and the Macro Player will start running this macro immediately using the active configuration Because it is easier and faster than Build Studio the Macro Player is a good solution to run the macros you have already checked thoroughly and proved to be reliable In addition to the macro file name you can pass the Macro Player all the other parameters that are supported by AutomatedBuildStudio exe except for ns Run an
58. operation has child operations they are logged as child nodes of their parent operation s node If an operation fails to execute Automated Build Studio will log information about the error that has occurred F Log Lele F ES g3 Error Message j a Sample Macro Message Time with Children a Execute the operation Dependent Group Create dear the directory 0 2 sec T where archives will be created Execute the operation If Directory Exists Directory Name C Work 0 1s5ec E Folders ABS Work FolderiBackup im Execute the operation Remove Directory Directory Name 0 1 sec C Work Folders ABS Work Folder Backup 4 Execute the operation Create Directory Directory Name C Work 0 0 sec Folders ABS Work Folder Backup E Execute the operation Dependent Group Create the first archive 2 SEC Execute the operation Pack Files With Zip Archive Name C Work 2 SEC Ea Folders ABS Work Folder Backup ABS_1 zip Mask C Program Files SmartBear Automated Build Studio Bin Extensions E Execute the operation Dependent Group Create the second archive __ Exemte the operation Pack Files With Zip Archive Name C Work 42 Folders ABS Work Folder Backup ABS_2 zip Mask C Program You can post your custom messages to the log To do this use the Log Message operation The operation s properties let you specify what kind of message you would like to post error warning or an
59. operations that use the same resources for example if the operations save their results to the same file or Build Studio variable In this case a resource may be blocked or 1t may be accidentally changed by another operation This can cause errors during the operation s smartbear com Automated Build Studio Build Strategies 31 execution To avoid these errors do not concurrently run those operations that use and modify the same resources Another solution is to use thread relative variables These variables allow you to have different values for different threads The issue described above results in another restriction if an operation s API requires exclusive access to a resource then the operations implemented via the same API cannot run concurrently Currently this restriction applies to Team Coherence operations from the Issue Tracking and Team Coherence categories These operations should not be executed concurrently otherwise an error may occur In addition a great number of concurrently running operations require a lot of operating system resources in order to keep track of all threads When switching between the threads the system saves the context of the current thread and restores the context of the next thread These actions can take a significant part of the processor s time which will eliminate the benefits of concurrent operation execution Automated Build Studio lets you limit the number of threads that ca
60. operties You can use variables and constants in almost any operation property The way you specify a variable or constant name depends on the purpose of the variable constant 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 34 Index If you use a variable or constant to specify a property value you should enclose the variable constant name with the signs Otherwise Automated Build Studio will treat the variable constant name as a string value For instance on the following figure we use the MyProjectName variable to specify the Visual Basic project to be compiled Compile Visual Basic 6 0 Project Operation Properties Project SoM yProjecthame Load settings before compiling 7 Check and correct references E Output full build log Note To specify the character in the property value use the string To concatenate values of two or more variables or constants simply put them one after another For instance if one variable holds the file name and another one holds the file path the following string will return the entire file name SFile Path VarssFile Name _Var You can concatenate two or more constants in the same way you concatenate variables You can also concatenate constants with variables and strings smartbear com Automated Build Studio Using Scripts in Operation Properties 35 If you use a variable to save an operation result for example to save a file name returned by the
61. otifies you about the found loop In this case you will need to correct the dependencies to be able to run the macro If the macro structure is consistent Build Studio picks out those Dependent Group operations that do not have dependencies specified and runs them concurrently Once the execution of a particular Dependent Group finishes Automated Build Studio starts executing groups that depend on the finished group If a smartbear com Automated Build Studio Build Strategies 29 specific Dependent Group operation depends on several groups it 1s only executed after all of the latter groups have been completed If dependent groups are children of the Remote Execution Stack operation the situation is similar In this case Automated Build Studio automatically distributes dependent groups among remote build servers according to the operation dependencies If the number of groups to be run at a certain moment exceeds the Maximum thread count property of the macro then only the first Maximum thread count groups are started the rest are queued For example if the Maximum thread count is set to 1 dependent groups will be executed serially one after another of course according to their dependencies Remarks There are a few limitations applied to macros that consist of dependent groups e Circular references between dependent groups are not allowed Automated Build Studio cannot run a macro 1f it contain
62. ou can run your macro using the Automated Macro Player a command line utility that was specifically designed for running macros e You can run your macro right in Automated Build Studio You can run your macro in Automated Build Studio in one of the following manners e Press p Run on the Standard toolbar e Select p Run from the Run menu e Right click within the Macro panel and select p Run from the context menu e Press F5 the shortcut for running macros can be changed via the Customize Keyboard dialog After that Automated Build Studio will start executing the macro Note that it will execute only those operations that are checked in the Macro panel Unchecked operations will not be executed If you uncheck a parent operation its child operations will not be executed either To pause the macro execution select Pause from the Standard toolbar or from the Run menu Pressing Stop will stop the macro execution Automated Build Studio logs each macro run and displays the results in the Log and Summary panels For more information on this see Logging Macro Runs smartbear com Automated Build Studio Getting Started 19 Logging Macro Runs Automated Build Studio generates full detail logs of macro runs These logs help you isolate the errors that might arise during the macro execution By default when Automated Build Studio is executing a macro it shows the name of each operation being executed in the Log panel If an
63. port team or try to search for the needed information using the help resources located on SmartBear s Web site forums blogs technical papers To submit your question to the support team 1 Select Help Contact Support Team from Automated Build Studio s main menu This will invoke the Contact Support Team dialog 2 Optional In the dialog select the Attach system information to my support request check box 1f you want Automated Build Studio to collect some system information and attach it to your request To preview the collected system information and make a decision whether you want to send it to our support team click the View the system information file contents link at the bottom of the dialog This will invoke the System Information dialog in which you can preview the information to be attached to the request If you do not want to attach this information to your request clear the check box However we recommend that you attach this information since it can help our support team solve your problem quicker 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 10 Automated Build Studio Samples 3 Click the Continue button in the Contact Support Team dialog Automated Build Studio will load the web page with the Contact Support Form from the SmartBear Web site to your web browser http support smartbear com message prod Automated 20Build 20Studio Fill in the required fields in this web form Note that your
64. rameters to a function to get different results For example you can create the Release configuration that builds your product with optimizations turned on and the Debug configuration that builds it with debug information included and with no optimizations To sum up using macro configurations has the following benefits e You can re use the same logic and the same macro for building several versions of your product or even several closely related products e Whenever you need to change the common logic of your build processes or fix a problem in them you modify a single macro If you had several identical macros you would have to update each of them What Data Configurations Include A macro configuration includes the following e Property values of all operations included in the macro e Values and Environment attributes of all variables stored variables and constants defined in the macro Note that the set of macro operations variables and constants is shared among all configurations So 1f you add or remove a macro operation variable or constant in one configuration 1t will be added or deleted in other configurations as well All information about configurations both the configuration names and configuration specific values is stored in the macro file Stored variables however can store their values in a separate file this can be useful if these values need to be computer dependent for example working folder path
65. ration will be executed as the loop body Child operations are displayed as child nodes of their parent operation Child operations can also have child operations which in turn can also have their child operations etc That is the operation list in the macro has a tree like structure By default Automated Build Studio executes the operations in the same order as they appear in the Macro panel from top to bottom This is called serial execution But you can also configure the macro so that Build Studio executes some operations or groups of operations concurrently This lets you perform 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 12 User Interface Overview different tasks at the same time For more information on how to run macro operations concurrently see Concurrent Execution of Operations User Interface Overview The user interface of Automated Build Studio consists of panels the main menu and toolbars The general layout is as follows E pr 4 Automated Build Studio C Program Files SmartBear Automated Build Studio Samples Macros CompileCPPProject CompileCPPProject bxp 2 Sars File Edit View Run Debug Variables Tasks Options Try Help New bil b o gt da O Dll za Start Page Macro Log and Summary Charts Client Assistant Aa es 49 Operations P E 7 X acro gt ES amp Working with Macros A Search ps e 4 j A Es po Wor kir 1g with Macros
66. rm in Automated Build Studio s Web Interface In this form the users can choose one or several build macros or macro presets that they want to run specify the request description and priority The description can for instance include the list of bugs fixed new features implemented or specify a reason why the user needs a new build The request priority is analyzed by certain build triggers which require higher priority requests to start the build than lower priority ones All submitted requests are collected by the server and processed by build triggers Once the trigger condition is met the build is started You can monitor and manage the build execution in the same way as if you have directly started the build For example you can pause the build and resume it at a later time view the build progress and so on To submit a new build request The way you can submit build requests depends on whether you are already logged into Automated Build Studio Web Interface or not If you are not currently logged into Automated Build Studio Web Interface follow these steps 1 Launch your web browser and go to the Automated Build Studio Server Web Interface login page the default address is http ServerName_or_IP AutomatedBuildStudioWeb 2 Enter your user name and password or check Authenticate by OS to log in using your Windows account smartbear com Automated Build Studio Automated Build Studio Client Server and Web Interface 47
67. rsion it is made an internal part of the product executable When it is possible that the plug in could be updated it is left external such as the database access plug ins Others will be added to SmartBear Web site http smartbear com and users can write their own plug ins using the supplied interface documentation and libraries for instance user can create plug ins that will add certain operations to Build Studio 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 8 System Requirements System Requirements Supported Operating Systems Microsoft Windows 8 both 32 bit and 64 bit editions Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Microsoft Windows 7 both 32 bit and 64 bit editions Microsoft Windows Vista both 32 bit and 64 bit editions Microsoft Windows Server 2008 both 32 bit and 64 bit editions Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 1s also supported Microsoft Windows XP both 32 bit and 64 bit editions Microsoft Windows Server 2003 both 32 bit and 64 bit editions Microsoft Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 or later In order for Automated Build Studio to be able to function on Windows Server 2008 R2 the WoW64 component is required The Server Core installation option for Windows Server 2008 R2 does not install WoW64 by default so you should install it yourself Minimal System Requirements Intel Pentium H 450 MHz or higher Microsoft Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 or later Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 0 or la
68. rt ss asissaicanssapisgenizas adendo bdsasa a lara 9 Thread relative attribute oniinn t 32 U User interface OVErVICW ccccccceceeeeeseeeessstnneees 12 Using the Client Server functionality 43 Using variables and constants in scripts 35 V PV CENA SU RPE REG EEE RNP 1 32 ABOU ein RR RR RR 32 Usmena OS ss sa aaa 32 Using in operation properties 33 Using in SCHPIS nacenan anea 35 MESS ChIP U au itlesieecasi Gd eterna a a 50 Viewing results of macro runs 20 W Web Interface ADOUL suar nada seaaia nino 45 Writing scripts m Automated Build Studio 50 http support smartbear com
69. run where the macro might fail or an operation might be executed with an error or warning The second run displayed is the previous run of the same macro where there were no failures Automated Build Studio automatically compares the contents of the two logs and highlights the differences between them in the Summary panel This lets you quickly find out why something went wrong in the macro O 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 22 Continuous Integration Build Strategies Continuous Integration Continuous Integration Support When more than one developer 1s working on a software project from time to time the team members need to integrate their changes to the project s codebase and then run a build to see if the renewed code can be built and if the build succeeds and if it works without errors These builds they indicate the health status of the entire project are called integrated builds Normally they are performed occasionally for example right before the deadline or regularly for instance weekly or daily It is hard to locate errors that arise 1n integrated builds that are performed rarely since the number of changes introduced between the previous and current builds may be tremendous To reduce the number of errors revealed in integrated builds and to make it is easier to find errors you should perform these builds as often as possible Ideally builds should be performed right after the
70. s of stored variables can be saved either in the macro file or in a separate bvars file this file will be created in the same folder that contains the macro file The latter can be useful for instance if you need to have computer dependent values of stored variables Environment variables Environment variables contain information about the system environment and the currently logged on user These variables are defined by Windows programs and users and cannot be created in Automated Build Studio Build Studio loads the list of environment variables when it starts You can change values of environment variables in your macros however these changes will only be visible to Automated Build Studio and applications started by your macro Also Build Studio will restore original values of environment variables at the end of the macro run About Constants Constants are very similar to variables however their values cannot be changed during the macro run There are two types of constants Ordinary constants Specify arbitrary values that are supposed to remain unchanged during the whole macro run Examples of such constant values are paths to the folder containing the application s source files and to the output folder your company information to be written to the application modules and so on Ordinary constants can have the Environment attribute which defiles how a constant is used All constants that have this attribute set
71. s on the development and production machines smartbear com Automated Build Studio Macro Configurations 41 Managing Macro Configurations Each Automated Build Studio macro has at least one configuration The default configuration name 1s Release You can create any number of additional configurations if necessary each with a unique name You can also remove the configurations that are no longer needed in your build All configurations defined 1n the current macro are displayed in the Select Active Configuration list on the Configurations toolbar You can quickly change the active configuration by selecting the desired configuration from the list Release s 3 lt All Configurations Release Debug Demo When a specific configuration is active changes made to the operation properties are applied to that configuration only see Specifying Configuration Dependent Values You can also switch between different macro configurations while modifying operation properties macro variables or constants in the appropriate dialogs These dialogs have the Configuration list so you can quickly change the active macro configuration 1f necessary Note however that the active configuration selected in these dialogs is preserved only while the dialog is open After you close the dialog the active configuration previously selected in the macro is restored The name of the active configuration is saved to the macro file so the
72. s two or more Dependent Group operations that depend on each other To check the macro consistency you can use the Run Check command of Automated Build Studio s main menu If Automated Build Studio finds any circular references between dependent groups it will display an error message notifying you about the found loop path e If the macro contains dependent groups any macro operations other than Dependent Groups including their parents and children are ignored However there are a few exceptions to this rule The Initialization and Finalization operations are executed before and after all of the dependent groups respectively The Submacro operation defines a submacro that can be run from within a dependent group through the Run Submacro operation The Setup Connection operation is used to establish connections to remote computers to be used during the build e The a Run From Selected command cannot be used for macros that consist of dependent groups The Run to Cursor command however is still available Concurrent Execution of Operations With Automated Build Studio you can organize concurrent execution of macro operations and thus perform different tasks at the same time Concurrent or multithreading execution lets you improve the performance of Automated Build Studio macros and reduce the macro execution time When macro operations are run in a series they are executed within the same thread so th
73. see the Automated Build Studio Client Server Overview help topic You can also start and control remote builds directly from your macros by using operations of the Remote Macro Execution category Concurrent execution of operations Automated Build Studio lets you organize threads in your macro and run various operations concurrently This can significantly speed up the macro execution especially on computers with multiple CPUs For complete information on using this feature see Concurrent Execution of Operations Scheduled and event triggered macro runs Automated Build Studio has a built in Task Scheduler that lets you schedule macro runs at your desire You can also configure Automated Build Studio so that it automatically runs the appropriate macro when some event occurs for instance when a source file of your project is changed under source code control See Continuous Integration Advanced macro run monitoring and charts Automated Build Studio generates detailed logs of macro runs It automatically compares results of the current macro run with the last successful smartbear com Automated Build Studio Introduction 1 run thus letting you know 1f something 1s going wrong For information on macro logs see Logging Macro Runs Automated Build Studio also collects information about macro runs performed on your computer and other computers within your network and displays this information in a graphical form in the Charts panel
74. soft Visual Studio and extends various parts of this product Working With MSBuild Projects Describes how to view and modify MSBuild projects m Automated Build Studio Working With Automated Build Studio via COM Describes how to connect to and work with Automated Build Studio s subsystems via COM Working With Source Control System Describes how to work with macros stored in a source control system directly from the Automated Build Studio IDE O 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 56 Index DOD TICS aar pea A E E E E EEA 17 95 9 9 TLCS ARE NI NE PN DD E 17 A Adding operations to Macros ccc 14 Adjusting operations in macros 14 Analyzing results of macro runs 20 Automated Build Studio cccceessssccceceeeeeeeeees 5 Basic CONCEDIS esaquasarensissortapiisar cas aata again a 11 Command line arguments cccccccsseeeeeees 52 EU COD E RES TT 54 I PND RR ERRA ROD PR ER 9 PO GUIS enS 9 Getting support 00 cccccccccceceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 9 OCT ais iaulewcdiamdeuconniecs 5 Si O A E P E A 10 Automated Build Studio Client Server 43 45 Using the Client Server functionality 43 Web TI T1 ACS eresse anii 45 Automated Build Studio Service Command line arguments cccccccsssseeeeees 52 OVON VV casracisonna cao aio sacana doando pas 43 Automated Build Studio System requirements 8 Automated M
75. teecetieCivendseivecavdisadesdesieces 11 Bane CONC Pcs ery a nas nce sige assis os ee yang sc se ang da a ang es tate des ane ean clue angina tates aes 11 User nterface ON CENTENA nie aa A a a a 12 Hr i Oh IE HCE ac ec tau occa E E A EE E A E 14 Adding Removing and Arranging Operations in a Macro cccccccccccccceeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 14 Modifying Operation Properties cccccccccsssseesesseeeeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeeeeeeeeeeeeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 16 Saving and Wey 6 UY As 2167 0 cae ean ee eae 17 PRET Ma OS sso DAE RSI A RR DS OD SD EETA 18 TOGO Macro RUAS ssa isso sas cores sess ose E seated saan Saad aw eset Dorada nada 19 Analyzing Results OF Macro RUNS soci casevcsinsescnsatdeasensisasinniatewaneselnsessubatduiahwesbtabiabateuanwseiaeseebatduaiwestiasetieniens 20 BUILDS ERATI GES ass assa EEN 22 Continous Taie sra Oisin ENNE T A EE E REE OEE 22 Continuous Integration SUD POM l sussen a E E EE EE EN E E 22 CONTINUOUS Imegration SICDS seiners eier a aE Ai eaa e ar eKA EA datada ie anen anda 23 Distributed Builds DN O RU ra r a E E RN RR 25 About Distributed Build s c cccccccecccccucoccoccacceccscaccaccecoscaccnscscccacceccecascasceccecaccnscecsecancecscaccascecoscass 25 Creating Distributed Builds qaueeiass tonsnassscruncesedesnanetaancowsdensaaseasueduaetuatieedae pia sta ted neuad ada iai sta 25 Operation IDC OCICS asa gas arena esa perenne T SUOR adora 28 Concurrent Execu
76. ter Microsoft Internet Information Services ver 6 0 or later Microsoft NET Framework 2 0 or later 128 MB of RAM 100 MB hard disk space VGA 640 x 480 or higher resolution monitor Mouse or other pointing device Note Microsoft Internet Information Services should be installed prior to Microsoft NET Framework smartbear com Automated Build Studio Introduction 9 Recommended System Requirements e Intel Pentium III 800 MHz or higher e Microsoft Windows XP or later e Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 0 or later e Microsoft Internet Information Services ver 6 0 or later e Microsoft NET Framework 2 0 or later e 256 MB of RAM e 150 MB hard disk space e SXGA 1280 x 1024 or higher resolution monitor e Mouse or other pointing device Note Microsoft Internet Information Services should be installed prior to Microsoft NET Framework Additional Requirements To install Automated Build Studio Web Interface the following software needs to be installed on the computer e Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional with Service Pack 4 or later e Microsoft Data Access Components 2 8 or later e Adobe Flash Player 8 or later Automated Build Studio s demo version includes all the features available in the registered version but has a 100 operations per macro limit and can be used only during a 30 day trial period Getting Support If you have questions problems or just need help with Automated Build Studio contact our sup
77. the current macro run and of the previous run that was finished without failures in the macro Thus if the macro fails or an error smartbear com Automated Build Studio Getting Started 13 warning occurs in an operation you can quickly see what caused this malfunction in comparison with the run where there were no such problems e The Charts panel displays statistics on macro runs performed on your computer For more information on this see Charts in the Automated Build Studio help e The Client panel is used to control the macro run on remote computers For more information on this see the Automated Build Studio Client Server help topic e The Assistant panel helps you get started with Build Studio s user interface and provides a quick way to perform common tasks that arise when you are working with Build Studio Customizing the Panel Layout The size and layout of panels are not fixed You can change the size of panels their position and docking hide panels and make them visible Customizing panel layout in Automated Build Studio is similar to customizing panels in Microsoft Visual Studio For instance you can hide panels by clicking the button in the panel caption This will minimize the panel along one of the sides of Build Studio s window so only the panel caption remains visible Operation Description E 7 Group Clears working folders Hii Remove Directory Clears the source folder
78. the product To learn how to use these functions see Getting Started A good way to learn how to use the product is to explore samples that come with Build Studio See Automated Build Studio Samples for more information on them Why Automated Builds In the current state of software development with projects becoming more and more complex building testing and releasing of software projects consumes an ever increasing amount of time and resources Building the application manually quite often becomes tedious prone to errors and inefficient in terms of both time and money A typical build process includes a number of steps e Getting latest versions of source files from a version control system e Specifying build options e Recompiling libraries and packages that are used by the application e Building the application e Building the installation e Notifying co workers that a new build 1s available e Starting the testing process and so forth It 1s quite easy to make a mistake when performing these steps For example you may specify wrong build version number or compile the application using inappropriate options Automated Build Studio lets you optimize the build test and release processes and allows you to focus on more important issues Using Build Studio you spend a certain amount of time on a task only once on creating a macro for that task A macro unifies elementary operations for example Copy File s Get Latest Version
79. this shortcut can be changed via the Customize Keyboard dialog To save the macro under another name select File Save As 2013 SmartBear Software http support smartbear com 18 Running Macros Automated Build Studio can save macros in one of the following formats Format Description bbp The Automated Build Studio project file Stores data in binary form bxp The Automated Build Studio project file Stores data in XML format To open a macro that already exists select File Open from the main menu This will call the standard Open File dialog where you can select the desired file Note If you open a macro created with any of the earlier versions of Automated Build Studio it will be converted to a new format and you will no longer be able to use this macro in other versions To open a macro that you have previously saved select the File Recent item in the main menu of Automated Build Studio To append an Automated Build Studio macro from a file to the currently open macro use File Append From item in the main menu of Automated Build Studio Operations of the chosen macro will be added to the end of the current macro Note that you may not append a macro to the currently open macro but run it using the Execute Macro operation Running Macros Once you have created a macro you can run it e You can launch a macro at certain points in time by passing the macro name to Automated Build Studio via the command line e Y
80. three macros You can create only one macro and choose the desired configuration before the run See Macro Configurations in this document e Command line and COM automation Through the command line you can control and run Automated Build Studio in a completely hands off fashion inside a make file or a batch file The Automated Build Studio installation package includes a console resource friendly utility AutomatedMacroPlayer exe that simply running of macros created in Automated Build Studio This executable uses the same command line arguments which Build Studio uses For information on the arguments see Command Line Interface section in the Automated Build Studio help e Automated Build Studio can also be automated via COM from third party applications or scripts defined in other programs For more information on Build Studio s COM interfaces see Working With Automated Build Studio via COM section in the Automated Build Studio help e Macro debugger To help you find and eliminate errors Automated Build Studio includes a built in macro debugger that supports breakpoints stepping over operations watches expression evaluation and other debugging features See the Debugging Macros in Automated Build Studio help topic Plug Ins Automated Build Studio has an open COM based architecture Most of the features you see in the product are supported through plug ins When the plug in is meant to remain for the life of the current ve
81. tion of Operations ccccccscsssessssssessesesssesesessseeessesseseeeesseeseeeeeseeseeeeeeeeeeeeseeeeeeeeees 29 USING VARIABLES AND CONSTANTS IN MACROS u ccccccsscsscsscsscscccsccsccccccccccccccccceccesees 32 About Variables and Constants cc ccccscccccecceccecceccecceccccescecceeceeceeceeccecseceeceeccescessescscscescuscascascesees 32 Using Variables and Constants in Operation Properties cccccccccccceceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 33 Using Variables and Constants in Script Operations ccccccccceceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 25 SPECIFYING OPERATION PROPERTIES ccccccccscccsccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccces 37 Specifying Operation Properties Overview ccccccccccceceeecceeeeececeeeececeeececeeccececeeseeeeeceeeseeeeeeeeeseeeeeeeas 37 Using Scripts in Operation Properties cccccccssssssssessssesssseeesseseeesseeseeeseeseeeeeeeeeseseeeeeeseeeeeeeeeeeseeeens 37 MACRO CONFIGURA TIONS seesesessesescsecocesesecccseseocoseseocoseseseososeceosoceseocoseseceoseseseososeseocosesescosesesecsoses 40 About Macro Configurations ccccccccecccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 40 Specifying Configuration Dependent Values arara 42 AUTOMATED BUILD STUDIO CLIENT SERVER AND WEB INTERFACE cecceee 43 Automated Bu
82. uild Studio s executable lt Automated Build Studio gt Bin AutomatedBuildStudio exe 1s not needed until you wish to configure the task list again Upon running a task you can view the status of this run in Windows Event Viewer Note Windows Event Viewer will display those tasks that were executed If a task is fired by a trigger it will be only displayed if the trigger fired Additionally the Automated Build Studio Service can be configured via the command line A full list of arguments that a service can accept is given in the Automated Build Studio help Only those arguments that relate to task execution are mentioned below e trace on and trace off Enables or disables the logging of resource usage for the Microsoft Visual SourceSafe File Change PVCS File Change StarTeam File Change Subversion File Change Surround SCM File Change Team Coherence File Change and Vault File Change trigger types Generally the logs contain the command line of the launched process it is used to check the state of the traced resource the process response the request date and time and the latest date and time of the traced resource obtained during the check e poolsize N Defines a number of tasks that can run simultaneously The N value must range within the 1 30 interval the default value is 5 e exit Closes the AutomatedBuildService exe when it is launched as a stand alone process and stores the values of the poolsize and trace arg
83. uments to the registry smartbear com Automated Build Studio Build Strategies 25 Note on Team Build Integration You can use the scheme described above for extending continuous integration features that are provided by Team Foundation Build 2008 and higher If Automated Build Studio is integrated with Team Foundation Build you can use the macros to extend the build targets and specify the custom sequence of actions to be performed during the build run for more information on Team Build integration and extending build targets with Automated Build studio macros see Team Build Integration in the Automated Build Studio help Those macros are stored in the source control repository and are registered with the UsingTask element in the proj file You can automate the build run as described above to run it every time the macros used for target extending are changed create a macro that runs the build triggered by macros files changing in the source control repository You can also use this scheme to provide the continuous integration feature for Team Foundation 2005 that does not have its own continuous integration support Distributed Builds About Distributed Builds A process of building an application includes several tasks such as getting the latest version of source files from a version control system compiling the source files creating the installation package and others Some of these tasks mostly compilation of source files can
84. unched e Choose the Triggers node on the left of the dialog and switch to the details pane e Click Add to create a new trigger in the task e Specify the trigger s name and type For a complete list of triggers and for information on their properties refer to the Tracing Task Triggers and Trigger Properties topics m Automated Build Studio help Specify the trigger s parameters Creating the task s blockers If you want to block the task execution 1n some cases for instance at night when your developers do not change the files under Visual SourceSafe add appropriate blockers blocking triggers to the task To work with the task s blockers first select the Blockers node on the left of the Edit Task dialog You can manage blockers create delete and modify their properties in the same way you do this with triggers When a blocker is fired all triggers defined for the task are ignored Final steps Information about each task you create via the Edit Tasks dialog is saved to a task file the name of the file is the task name 1n the lt Automated Build Studio gt Bin Tasks folder This is actually an xml file with a definite structure Thus you can modify the list of tasks and their properties by creating deleting and modifying these task files provided that you keep the valid structure of each file To be able to run the prepared tasks the Automated Build Studio Service must be running In this instance B
85. utomated Build Studio 55 More Information About Automated Build Studio To get more information on advanced management features of Automated Build Studio or get a detailed description of all available operations please refer to the following sections in Automated Build Studio Help Operation References Provides a detailed description of all operations that exist m Automated Build Studio Descriptions of operations are grouped by categories to which appropriate operations belong Scheduling Macro Runs Describes how to schedule macro runs to trigger them at a specified time Script Writing Provides detailed information on how to create scripts in macros Handling Errors in Macros Describes how you can handle errors occurring during macro runs Debugging Macros and Scripts Describes how to trace macro execution and find and fix errors in macros and scripts Exporting Macro Results Describes how to export macro results displayed in the Log and Summary panels to a file Macro Libraries Describes how to organize frequently used macros submacros and operations into macro libraries and use these libraries in macros Creating Custom Operations Describes how to create custom operations for Automated Build Studio Custom operations will help you perform tasks that cannot be accomplished with standard operations Integration With Microsoft Visual Studio and MSBuild Describes how Automated Build Studio integrates into Micro
86. you can use a different approach when analyzing macro runs To do this switch to the Summary panel which displays logs on two different runs at the same time a Summary O Back Eq Export J Next Difference 4 Previous Difference _ Macro Run Successful 10 17 2013 16 25 10 17 2013 16 25 10 17 2015 16 24 Release Conti Release BUILDER BUILDER Tester l Tester sec 4 sec Pack Files With Zip 2 sec Pack Files With Zi Operation start Time Executio Re Operation start Time Executic Create Directory 10 17 2013 0 0 sec Create Directory 10 17 2013 fe Directory Name 16 25 03 if 4 Directory Name 16 24 58 C Work Folders ABS C Work Folders ABS Work Folder Backup Work Folder Backup Pack Files With Zip 10 17 2013 2 sec Pack Files With Zip 10 17 2013 2 sec Archive Name 15 25 03 Archive Name 16 24 58 C Work Folders ABS C Work Folders ABS Work Work E Folder Backup ABS_1 if Fel Folder Backup ABS_ 1 ip Mask C Program i zip Mask C Program Files SmartBear Autom Files SmartBear Autom gf 10 17 2013 16 25 Message Time nith chi i 10 17 2013 16 24 E Execute the operation Dependent Group Create a list of the D isec E created archives Er Execute the operation Write to File File name C Work 0 0 sec Folders ABS Work Folder l rchiveList txt cM Execute the operation File Enumerator File Name C Work FalderctARS Wark Enldarigadna inh rar The first run 1s the current
87. your macro so that Automated Build Studio automatically parallelizes the operations execution e You can directly specify which operations should be run in parallel The former approach requires re structuring your macro file and specifying the dependencies between different operation groups When running this macro Automated Build Studio or Automated Macro Player automatically determines the macro execution flow and where possible parallelizes the execution of certain operation groups While the former approach affects execution of the whole macro the latter one lets you adjust the execution of specific operations These operations should be grouped into a Group operation with the Run child operations asynchronously property turned on Unlike the rest of the macro where operations run step by step these grouped operations will be executed in parallel Possible Issues with Concurrent Execution of Operations There are a number of things that you should keep in mind when organizing concurrent execution of operations in your macro Reasoning from the macro execution logic you should not run concurrently those operations that depend on each other For example an operation that prepares resources for a certain task and an operation that performs this task should not be run concurrently because when the latter operation starts it may turn out that the resources are not prepared for it Issues may occur if you have concurrent

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