The automation of an interactive system can significantly reduce its cost. However, the automation process may involve rather complex decision making based on the analysis of the application responses. Ultimately, if the automated system cannot resolve a particular situation, it should be programmed to report an error and request manual intervention.

VRT-plus is an efficient tool for the automation of interactive applications. The entire automation procedure can be implemented using VRT-script language and executed by the VRT-exec interpreter. The script controls session flow and can handle virtually any exceptional situation, including even sporadic application errors. When necessary, script can direct interpreter to emit various alerts and terminate. The automated session is typically recorded in a log file and can be later analyzed using VRT-scan utility.

VRT-script supports variety of commands necessary for an efficient run-time analysis of the captured application output. The script can access the contents of the terminal screen by specifying the row and column address of the target screen area, allowing to implement a complex decision making code. The script developer can also take advantage of the ability of VRT-script to search the screen for a particular pattern. Finally, the output stream can be accessed directly from the output buffer allowing to intercept data that "flash" on the screen (e.g., data written on the screen and then erased). This feature is instrumental in locating error messages.

If used to its extent, VRT-plus functionality allows to "tailor" scripts so that they are made to behave like an intelligent user with the ability to make inputting decisions depending on application behavior. Careful scripting is rewarded by obtaining automation sequences that can dispense with manual keystrokes.