Overview
MS-Test was developed for internal use in Microsoft but became a commercial product at the beginning of 1992. MS-Test automated the process of testing Windows applications. It combined a Windows development language Basic with a testing oriented API.
Tests known as scripts were written in Test Basic, a form of the BASIC programming language. The API was predominantly wrapped around Windows API functions. Test scripts could be created with capture/replay, in particular by the Windows Recorder tool. However its dominant strength was that scripts could be coded and compiled. Either an individual script could be run, or a group of them run in sequence by a test driver. Among the innovations for the test driver was the ability to customize the batch execution with the inclusion of custom designed dialog boxes and menus. These were built with the User Interface Editor.
Customers had to purchase Visual Test to develop scripts, but it offered free and unlimited redistribution of compiled scripts. The ability to use OLE Automation allowed enterprising individuals to expand beyond basic functional testing into load testing. A script could create 10's of browsers, drive them, feed them with data, collect statistics and monitor the state of the test.
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