Tools for functional test automation (such as QuickTest Pro from Mercury Interactive or e-Tester from Empirix) provide features that allow you create and run functional test scripts. These features include:

Test script recording. Rather than composing a script in a text editor, you start a recorder and perform a series of steps in the application. The test tool records the session in a script, which you can replay later to execute the test.

Automated test execution. Rather than manually performing the tasks in the test script each time, you start the test using a test tool and let it run on its own.

Data value parameterization. You can use variables in your test script that pull in data values from an external table during test execution. This allows you to avoid hard-coding data values into a test script.

Reusable tests. Multiple testers can share tests across multiple cycles of application testing. Result tracking. The test tool records important statistics that allow you to identify functional errors.

Not all functional test automation tools have all of these features, and some have more. For more information on available features, refer to the documentation for your testing tool.