A method for testing an application comprising: receiving a test script including one or more instructions to test an application; emulating a user interaction with a user interface of said application, said emulating including executing a first portion of said one or more instructions in said test script; receiving an output including information displayed using said user interface in response to said user interaction; and performing verification processing for said output, said verification processing including executing a second portion of said one or more instructions in said test script, wherein a first instruction in said test script references a user interface data element without specifying a complete path for said user interface data element, wherein said complete path identifies a location of said user interface data element in said user interface, wherein said complete path identifying the location of said user interface data element includes three or more levels and information identifying one or more of said levels is omitted from said first instruction when referencing said user interface data element, and wherein said first instruction includes a partial path specification for said user interface data element, said partial path specification identifying a top of said three or more levels corresponding to a root in a hierarchy and a bottom of said three or more levels corresponding to a leaf in said hierarchy, wherein said first instruction includes a window identifier corresponding to said top level and a data element identifier for said user interface data element corresponding to said bottom level, wherein said hierarchy includes four levels and said partial path specification omits identification of all levels other than said top level and said bottom level, and wherein the method further comprises: searching for said user interface data element in said hierarchy, and wherein said first instruction includes criteria indicating a portion of the hierarchy to be excluded when searching for said user interface data element in said hierarchy, wherein said data element identifier is a name referenced by said application uniquely identifying said user interface data element from other user interface data elements. receiving a test script including one or more instructions to test an application; emulating a user interaction with a user interface of said application, said emulating including executing a first portion of said one or more instructions in said test script; receiving an output including information displayed using said user interface in response to said user interaction; and performing verification processing for said output, said verification processing including executing a second portion of said one or more instructions in said test script, wherein a first instruction in said test script references a user interface data element without specifying a complete path for said user interface data element, wherein said complete path identifies a location of said user interface data element in said user interface, wherein said complete path identifying the location of said user interface data element includes three or more levels and information identifying one or more of said levels is omitted from said first instruction when referencing said user interface data element, and wherein said first instruction includes a partial path specification for said user interface data element, said partial path specification identifying a top of said three or more levels corresponding to a root in a hierarchy and a bottom of said three or more levels corresponding to a leaf in said hierarchy, wherein said first instruction includes a window identifier corresponding to said top level and a data element identifier for said user interface data element corresponding to said bottom level, wherein said hierarchy includes four levels and said partial path specification omits identification of all levels other than said top level and said bottom level, and wherein the method further comprises: searching for said user interface data element in said hierarchy, and wherein said first instruction includes criteria indicating a portion of the hierarchy to be excluded when searching for said user interface data element in said hierarchy, wherein said data element identifier is a name referenced by said application uniquely identifying said user interface data element from other user interface data elements.