Automation Testing is widely used in Regression Testing to reduce the man effort on Full cycle Testing. Let us see some of the important aspects of Automation Testing.
þ What is Automation Testing:
Executing the test cases using scripting language (vbscript, perl) or programming language (java, C#) to test application/software without manual intervention.
Here are the some of the tools and it's languages,
Automation Tools | Languages used | Scripting Language | Programming Language |
QTP | Vb script | Scripting language codes are interpreted at run-time. This means that every time we run the program, a separate program needs to read the code, interpret it, and then follow the instructions in the code. | Programming language codes are compiled before it is run. Once it is compiled, it can run any number of times. Because compiled code are already been interpreted into machine language, so it is typically faster than scripting language. |
Rational Robot | SQABasic | Basic knowledge is enough to write the code. Technical experts are not required. | Highly technical knowledge is required to write complex code. |
Silk Test | 4Test, Silk4j | Some of the Scripting languages do not require declaring the variables. | Programming language requires you to declare your variables and give them explicit types |
Test Complete | VBScript, Jscript, Delphi, C++, C# | Debugging the code is very easy. Only part of the code can be executed. | Debugging takes time as full code needs to be compiled before executing. |
Selenium | Java, Ruby, Groovy, Python, PHP, Perl, C# | Ruby, PHP, ASP, JSP, JavaScript, VBScript, etc. | C, C++, VB, Java, C#, etc. |
þ When Automation Testing is used:
ØMostly used for repeated testing (Regression Testing)
ØTransactional or workflow related application for long runs
ØTo reduce Man effort on the repeated tasks
þ Automation Tool selection:
Selecting Automation tool is very much important before starting any new automation in a corporate. There a lot of commercial & open source tools are available in the market. Some of them I know are listed here,
Commercial Tools: QTP, Rational Robot, Silk Test, Test Complete
Open Source Tools: Selenium, Fitnesse, Watir, Cucumber, JMeter, Jemmey, etc...
Refer the below sites to get to know about more tools.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_GUI_testing_tools
http://www.softwareqatest.com/qatweb1.html
Proof of concept (POF) should be first activity while selecting the automation tool. Almost all the commercial testing tools offer Trail version of their product and this should help in developing few script and find out any issues, before choosing the automation tool. Apart from that, automation requirement for the company, budget, application/environment, technical resource availability and tool support should be considered for the selection.
þ QTP vs Silk Test comparison: QTP Silk Test Vendor HP Micro Focus Operating system ♪ Windows 2000 Professional ♪ Windows XP Professional ♪ Windows Server 2003 ♪ Windows Vista ♪ Windows Server 2008 ♪ Windows 7 ♪ Windows 2000 Professional ♪ Windows XP Professional ♪ Windows Vista ♪ Windows Server 2008 ♪ Windows 7 ♪ Red Hat Linux ♪ Solaris Language Vbscript 4Test, Silk4j Object stored Object repository ♪ Per test (.mtr) ♪ Shared (.tsr) ♪ Frame file (.inc) Object Information ♪ Mandatory properties ♪ Assistive properties ♪ Ordinal identifiers (index, location) ♪ Smart Identification Tags or Multitags ♪ Caption ♪ Prior text ♪ Index ♪ Window ID ♪ Location Recovery Steps ♪ Trigger Event ♪ Recover operation ♪ Post recovery Build-in recovery system. It reaches to DefaultBaseState of the test case. Very powerful compare to QTP. Verification/ Check Points ♪ Standard Checkpoint ♪ Image Checkpoint ♪ Table Checkpoint ♪ Page Checkpoint ♪ Text Checkpoint ♪ Text Area Checkpoint ♪ Bitmap Checkpoint ♪ Database Checkpoint ♪ Accessibility Checkpoint ♪ XML Checkpoint VerifyProperties() method External Library Function can be included in an external .vbs file. Not possible. Environment Variable .ini & .xml files .opt (options file) File Types .vbs – library file .mts – Code file Default.xls – Data file .pln – Test plan .t – Test script .inc – Frame file .res – Result file Basic Steps ♪ Creating Test script ● Recording (or) ● Adding Objects to repository ● Developing scripts ♪ Running Test ♪ Analyzing Test Result ♪ Debugging ♪ Creating Test Plan ♪ Recording Test Frame ♪ Creating Test cases ● Reach to base state ● TC steps & reach verification point ● Add verification points ● Return to original state ♪ Running Test cases/Test Plan