Verify Data Layer: Test Recorder (Deprecated)

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Introduction

The Test Recorder tool is deprecated and and no longer supported.

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Test Recorder is a Tealium Tools utility built for recording step-by-step workflows like checkout, newsletter sign-up, product views, etc. You record a Test by mimicking page views, clicks, or mouseovers in the order that it takes the visitor to complete the workflow. When you run the Test, Verify reproduces the steps and extracts the relevant pageview- and event-level variables for every step.

The Test Recorder tool requires the following two variables to be present on the page. Without these variables, the tool will not record any steps.

• page_type: Required for recording page views
• event_name: Required for recording link events

Prerequisites

• Tealium Tools Extension: Download this extension from Chrome Webstore and install it, if you haven't already done so.
• Save Existing Version permissions: You will require the permission to perform a "Save" action in the applicable Tealium iQ profile. Please contact your account Administrator to obtain the permission. 
• utag.js version 4.36 or later: Upgrading the utag.js to versions 4.36 and later will help you get the most out of this functionality (how to upgrade?).

How to record a Test

1. Launch the Verify - Test Recorder

1.1 Open the Chrome browser and load the webpage where you want to start recording Test.
1.2 Launch the Tealium Tools Extension and click Verify - Test Recorder.

1.3 The Test Recorder screen will appear. Notice that the Record Test as a new visitor option is checked by default. This will remove all first-party cookies and clean up the local storage before recording begins.

Before you begin, make sure that the variables page_type and event_name are present on the page. They are required for capturing page views and link events. Without them, the Test Recorder will not record any steps.

2. Record one or more steps

2.1 Click Start Recording.

2.2 The page is reloaded following which a dialog box prompts you to add or skip the step. This dialog box reappears whenever a new page loads or the recording action fires the utag.view and utag.link calls.

• Skip This Step: Verify will not run the step nor collect any variables for the view/event.
• Add this Step: Verify will run this step and collect any variables for the view/event. This is your chance to review the variables and provide a suitable step Title (optional yet recommended).

2.3 To include additional steps, keep recording more actions.

Insert Custom JavaScript (Recommended for advanced users only)

For any reason, if the action cannot be mimicked or otherwise occurs infrequently, you have the option to include it using JavaScript code. Simply click Insert Custom JavaScript and enter your snippet in the editor. This is optional and only recommended for advanced users.

3. Stop recording

Click Stop Recording if you want to halt recording any page views or link events.

At this point, you can do one of the following three:

• Assign the Data Layer Spec: Clicking this button will completely terminate the recording and allow you to start compiling the Spec.
• Clear recording: Clicking this button will discard all the steps you just recorded. You can then start over with a new recording.
• Continue recording: Clicking this button will resume the earlier recording provided the webpage is in the same state before you terminated the recording. Any actions taken when the recording was stopped will not show up in your Test.

4. Assign Data Layer Specs

This allows you to review the collected variables and save them as a Spec in your Tealium iQ profile.

4.1 Click Assign Data Layer Specs. Carefully review the Spec details and any underlying UDO variables.

4.3 Click Continue if the Test Recorder has successfully saved the Spec in your Tealium iQ profile.

If there are errors in the Spec that need attention, Test recorder will not allow you to continue unless they are resolved.

Scenario/Error	What it means	What to do next
Spec: Unidentified	The Spec does not exist in your Tealium iQ profile	Edit the Requirements and/or the Spec's Title as needed. Then click Save.
Multiple Specs are listed in a dropdown	Test Recorder has detected duplicate Spec types and values for a step.	Each entry identified by the Spec's UID. Select the appropriate Spec in the list. Then click Save.

Alternately, you can assign Specs without leaving the comfort of Tealium iQ. See the Data Layer Spec article for more information.

5. Save the Test

5.1 Enter a Title and provide optional notes.

5.2 Click Save Test. This is followed by a success message popup.

Test Recorder -Advanced Settings

Recommended for advanced users only. Do not change them unless you want to record customized CSS selectors.

• Ignore Class Prefixes: This should contain any CSS class prefixes that you want the Test Recorder to ignore while recording; multiple entries should be comma-separated.
• Ignore ID prefixes: This should contain any CSS ID prefixes that you want the Test Recorder to ignore while recording; multiple entries should be comma-separated.
• HTML Attributes: Enter any Attributes that are acceptable during the recording; multiple entries should be comma-separated.

How to run a Test

6.1 In Tealium iQ, go to My iQ tab and click Verify Data Layer.

6.2 Click Refresh to reload the newly-added Test.

6.3 Expand the Test and click the Run Test using list.

Currently, you can run the Test with the Page Default option only. This means the environment that utag.js is pointing to will decide where the Test should run. For example, the Test will run in the Dev environment if the utag.js on the page points to ".../dev/utag.js".

In the future enhancements, you will able to select any of the default environments: Dev, QA, Prod.

6.4 This prompts an alert message at the top, confirming the Test has been scheduled.

Note: The Test may run immediately or later on depending on the number of Tests already in the queue waiting to run.

How to read Test reports

When the Test is complete, you will receive an email with a summary of the Test Report. To read the report in detail,

1. Navigate to Verify Data Layer under My iQ tab.

2. At a glance, you can tell whether a Test has passed or failed: green indicates success whereas red indicates failure. Drop-down your desired Test and click on the report to review it.

The report summary includes a wealth of information about the Test:

1. Browser: Browser used for running Verify Tests.

2. Navigation: Indicates whether or not the Verify tool was able to mimic the steps.

3. UDO: Indicates whether or not the UDO was detected on the page.

4. Spec: Indicates whether or not the Spec was detected in your Tealium iQ profile.

5. List of all the Variables that were verified.

6. Displays the value that was expected for the Variable.