File Comparator

File Comparator is a test that will compare two files and will highlight all the differences.

Top of the screen with Automation Object (AO) ID, description and test type.

Variables

Variables are the container for values that can be used during testing. Each variable contains two values, the one that is calculated based on the left/right messages.

Variables & Variable processing

Create button allows variable creation.

Parameter name	Description	Example
Name	Variable technical name	VARIABLE_1
Description	Free text for variable description	Variable One
Type	Type of variable processing	Read & Replace Find message Custom
Scope	Scope determines the processing of procedures that generate unique values like, e.g., GUID or NUM_RANGE. Test Case Scope - variable is replaced with new values considering values from the currently processed test case. The variable value, which occurs multiple times in the test case payload, is replaced with the same new value. The variable value in different test cases from the currently processed test run is replaced with a new value for each test case. Test Run - variable is replaced with new values considering values from the currently processed test run. The variable value in different test cases from the currently processed test run is replaced with the same new value.	Test Case Test Run

Payload Validations

Right file is validated against left file. This configuration enables adding rules with exceptions that will allow for differences.

File Type	Processing
XML	XPath
JSON	JSONPath
Flat Files, X12, EDIFACT	Int4 Flat File Syntax or REGEX

Parameter name	Description	Example
Description	Free text for the exception rule	Field1
Expression Type	Expression type. Available options: unspecified XPath Flat expression This field is optional for all interfaces where there is a single type of output. However, for interfaces that output might be both XML and flat file, it is mandatory to specify the expression type.	XPath
Expression	Path pointing to the field/node where the exception should be applied.	//ORDER/DATE/text() (XPATH expression) or START_TAG(BGM+220+)&&END_TAG(+)&& (Flat file expression) or $.order.date (JSONPath expression) REGEX(BGM\+220\+(.)\+) (REGEX expression)*
Rule	Rule to be applied to the field.
Warning	Marks the compared fields with yellow color as a "warning".
Warning when different based on variable replacement	In case compared values are different Int4 Suite compares them with specified variable. If reference/current value pair from comparison matches variable values result is marked as "warning". Variable name used for checking the values has to be specified in the Processing Parameter column.
Warning when different based on value mapping object	In case compared values are different Int4 Suite compares them with specified values in the Mapping Object. If reference/current value pair from comparison matches mapping values result is marked as "warning". Mapping Object name used for checking the values has to be specified in the Processing Parameter column.
Ignore	Even if it is different in the content, it is not highlighted.
Parameter	Used in correlation with Warning Rules.

Execution Settings

Parameter name

Description

Example

Debug Log

Int4 Suite will provide additional, more technical information in Test Execution Report during the running of the test cases if this parameter is set. Therefore, it is recommended to set this option initially and deactivate it when object definition is confirmed after executing the first test cases

Display wait popup before validation

Wait Flag indicating if Int4 Suite should stop test case execution after sending test case message to middleware. Int4 Suite will show the confirmation box, and the user will decide to continue. This setting can execute manual follow-up actions before running the next test case or checking the validations.

This setup works only with Execute via SAP GUI option of execution

Delay between execution and validation

Parameter name	Description	Example
For each test case	Delay (in seconds) between test case execution ( sending message) and checking the results.	10
Once per test run	Delay (in seconds) between test run execution ( sending messages) and checking the results.	60

Number Ranges

The number ranges allow generating new values for variables. Those values are used to substitute original document numbers or other values in reference messages.

The number range used to replace the source system document number should always be configured to not overwrite the original number. It means that documents generated by Int4 Suite should have their own subset of the original document number. Usually, it might be a subset of the upper limit of the original number range.

It is essential that automated testing with Int4 Suite consume numbers that the source system will generate during manual testing. Additionally, if testing environment data is refreshed from the production system, more documents would be created in the testing environment. If the Int4 Suite number were configured in the same range, it would start creating duplicates.

For example, the original number range for document numbers from the source system is 560000 - 590000. It would be wise to set the Int4 Suite number range from 590000 to 600000. However, suppose the SAP backend system uses an external number range. It is essential to stay in the original range. In that case, the Int4 Suite number range may be set as 585000-590000, which gives space for 5000 testing documents. Using range from upper interval reduces the risk that the number will be overwritten.

Additionally, the good practice is to use prefixes or suffixes that will quickly separate source system documents and the ones created by Int4 Suite. It should always be used when there is no document number validation by the SAP backend.

Each Object Definition can contain an unlimited number of number ranges. This way, each variable declared in an object can use its specific number range.

Parameter name	Description	Example
Number range	Provide a name for the number range. This name would be passed as a parameter in variable processing for actions that will generate values from it.	NUM_RAN
Prefix	The alphanumeric characters to be appended at the beginning of the document number to separate original documents from source systems and the one created during Int4 Suite testing (optional).	INT4_
Low value	The first number of our range.	1
High value	The last number of our range.	999999
Current value	When the number range is used during testing, it would increment per each use.	23
Suffix	The alphanumeric characters to be appended at the end of the document number to separate original documents from source systems and the one created during Int4 Suite testing (optional).	_TEST
Add zeros	If this box is checked, zeros will be automatically appended to the beginning of the document number, such as 000500.
Incr. per Test Run	If this indicator is selected, the number range is incrementing once per test run. If multiple test cases with the same Automation Object exist in the test run, they will receive the same value.

Data Scrambling

A scramble list is a part of an automation object. For compliance purposes, for example, GDPR purposes, it's required to hide some of the test case fields. Thanks to the anonymizer feature, it's possible to select fields that hold sensitive values and decide what action should be taken to prevent them from being compromised.

Parameter name	Description	Example
Rule Type	Rule type. Available options: Test Case Creation - in case you want to scramble data during the creation of a test case Runtime - in case you want to scramble data during runtime - when the interface is executed, and additional data is loaded to test case data.	Test Case Creation
Rule	Specify scrambling rule name for identification.	NAME
Method	Choose a scrambling method from a list. Available methods: CONSTANT Replace value with constant The current value will contain the constant passed in the parameter. The constant should be provided as is without any brackets. GUID Generate GUID Generate random value in a GUID format. RANDOM Generate a random value Generates a random value. The value of the parameter defines the upper limit of the range. It is also possible to generate negative numbers. For example, passing -100 in parameter will generate random numbers from -1 to -100 HASH create a hash based on value Calculates a hash based on the given value using algorithm passed in parameter (default 'SHA1'). MASK - replace each character with constant Replace each character with a constant passed in parameter. For example, passing X in the parameter will replace scrambled data with X signs. CUSTOM - create custom method create a CUSTOM method (implementing an interface /INT4/Int4 Suite_IF_DATA_SCRMBL_METH).	HASH
Expression Type	Expression type. Available options: unspecified XPath Flat expression This field is optional for all interfaces where there is a single type of output. However, for interfaces that output might be both XML and flat file, it is mandatory to specify the expression type.	XPath
Expression	Path pointing to the field/node where the exception should be applied.	//ORDER/DATE/text() (XPATH expression) or START_TAG(BGM+220+)&&END_TAG(+)&& (Flat file expression) or $.order.date (JSONPath expression) REGEX(BGM\+220\+(.)\+) (REGEX expression)*
Parameter	Specify Processing Parameter suitable for a chosen scrambling method.	X (for Mask method), SHA1 (for HASH Method)

Parameters

Parameter name

Description

Example

Show XML in the original order (unsorted)

This flag determines if the lines of the file in the XML Comparison Report should be displayed in the original order or should be sorted alphabetically for a specific nodes.

Checked or 'X' - payload will not be sorted on the report

Unchecked or '' - payload will be sorted alphabetically (default value)