1. Automated Testing Frameworks
Testing frameworks are principles or recommendations for creating and designing test cases. They can lower test maintenance costs by providing a consistent test language and reporting framework for applications under test. Frameworks will integrate tests to other aspects of the software development lifecycle (SDLC), such as requirements and errors, making it easier for teams to detect and fix errors.
However, not all testing frameworks are automation frameworks which are essential to remember when creating the latter. A testing framework comprises all the tools and procedures used in application development, along with the requirements for your application, testing activities such as human and automated tests, test environments, and so much more.
Automated testing frameworks are designed to improve automated processes. They provide faster cycles through test reusability and by separating test data from logic, which speeds up test design and maintenance. As there are so many different types of automated testing frameworks, it’s critical that you pick one that’s perfect for you. A well-structured one can improve your team’s productivity by increasing test correctness, maximising test coverage, and minimising costs and maintenance – eventually offering you a greater return on equity (ROI).
2. Essential Things to Remember Before Writing an Automation Framework
Before writing the framework, people should understand the test automation’s basic requirements and flows. This requirement is significant because it can prevent designers from designing a defective architecture for the framework.
The test automation framework should be,
- Reliable
- Code reusable
- Extendable
3. The Steps to Creating a Successful User Interface Automated Testing Framework
Follow the subsequent stages outlined in this blog to establish a solid automated testing framework and set yourself and your team up for long-term success.
3.1 Plan, Organize and Configure Source Control
Create and organise a folder structure for your test assets first. You’ll like to keep different assets, such as tests, name mapping requirements, and scripts, distinct from one another and generate the documents you’ll require within each one. You’ll want to create files for each sort of script in your ‘Scripts’ folder, for example, event scripts, operations, tools, and verifications. Also, remember to save your data in a file.
This structure will allow your team members to rapidly access your assets and ensure that your tests are consistent when updates are made. When you organise your investments in this way, you may return to the project at any moment without having to sift through much data. Your test folders will be templatised, allowing you to clone them across projects.
Ensure you’re using a source control management system (SCM) like Git or Mercurial to keep your work while you go through these first steps. You don’t want to lose any job or time if you make a mistake. You can use tools like going back in time if necessary.
3.2 Become acquainted with the application.
Step two is to get to know the application beyond what the specifications can tell you. Reading documentation that defines what the app should and shouldn’t do will only get you so far.
Perform exploratory testing to gain a better understanding of internal workflows. This exercise will verify that you have a thoroughly understood operation. After that, you’ll need to develop a method for discovering your UI items or changing these you have. This could include creating basic name mapping properties or writing scripts for the activities required to identify objects, depending on the technology you’re using.
3.3 Establish Your Testing Environments and Collect Data
After that, college ct data you’ll be testing and setting up your environments. Setting up configurations that may be used in multiple domains is essential to success. Admit that event handlers have become your new best buddy.
An event handler is a code function that works as a monitor, waiting for an event to occur so that a script, or a sequence of hands, can be triggered. Consider a typical banking application. A notification will appear after a specific idle time, asking if you require additional time. If you don’t react, it will log you out automatically for security reasons. Your event handler is the function that activates the scripts for the inactive notification and the logging out process. You’ll want this process to happen regardless of which environment you’re in, whether it’s Windows 10 or Windows 7, and your end-user will also expect it.
Without the requirement for a distinct set of tests for each environment, event handlers will allow you to execute activities that respond to an event. They are guidelines on how a system should operate without the details, and they will allow you to add sophistication to your tests without having to handle them directly. You’d be able to update any dynamic object identification properties, such as URLs and file names.
Your framework will be able to manage this with the help of event handlers if you change the name of your application and need to point it to a different location or update how it’s installed. Testing ensures that components of the Program operate as expected and that the framework offers the necessary tools.
Now it’s time to look at your test data. The data should be kept distinct from the tests in your framework. Keep your attributes and connections universal – not test particular – and use your repositories to store data. This will enable you to exchange your data objects between scripts and use your data across all of your services, saving you time and work in the future.
3.4 Establish a Smoke Testing Project
It’s critical to build up a smoke test project before building your utilities and validations. They’ll become the most crucial tests you’ll run to ensure your utilities are working correctly.
Smoke tests, also known as build verification tests, ensure that an application’s most critical functions function as planned and evaluate whether additional testing is required. If a smoke test passes, it signifies that all of your application’s necessary components are functional, and you can move on to more in-depth testing. If it fails, it means that the most basic functionality of your program is already broken.
When it occurs, you should request that it be fixed first. More testing at this point would be a waste of time.
Your smoke test suite will need to extend as your software evolves or improves its capabilities. It only takes one bug to render an application unusable and damage a company’s reputation.
3.5 Build On-Screen Triggers Utilities
You’ll need to construct shared utilities for familiar standard user interface (UI) tasks like menu navigation and text input fields after familiarizing yourself with the program, obtaining data, and establishing your environment. These are the fundamental components of your tests, which you can put together to generate test logic.
This may be as simple as dragging and dropping items into a keyword test based on your program. As a result, your framework will be capable of driving your test flow and verifications, requiring minimal changes to individual tests.
This will allow team members who aren’t automation engineers or programmers to comprehend what’s going on in your test reports. They’ll be able to tell whether failures are an asset, a problem, or a genuine application bug, which is why it’s crucial to separate your framework data from your test data.
3.6 Create and Manage Verifications
The next step is to put up your verifications, which should follow the same principle of arranging your data and being shareable. Let’s imagine you’re testing your application’s functioning and the requirements for a text field alter. Your tests will need to be changed if you’re validating that the text field only takes numeric characters and not text.
In situations like this, you don’t want to be trapped manually updating every single test. You’d change the verify section of your text field in one place, allowing you to run 50 tests that cover a variety of circumstances. Any UI verifications you include in your activities should be optional. If a field accepts an input correctly and the test passes, you won’t have to verify the action every time.
It’s also a good idea to share your verification information. To link items together, different input utilities should be able to accept data items created in earlier processes. This will also allow you to make changes in one section, which will then be propagated across your entire framework — emphasising the significance of segregating framework data from actual test data once more.
3.7 Create your logging and reporting system.
The logging and reporting system is the final component of your UI automation architecture. All of your exploratory actions, data preparation, and environment and verification construction should be recorded, not the build process.
Before each verification, record a message describing what you’re confirming and the inevitable output. It will help make these messages accessible so that non-technical people may read your log and figure out where and why a failure happened. Errors should not be mysterious, and no one should be left guessing why they occurred.
This step’s objective is to facilitate your stand workflow, including what you’re logging and want. Automating reporting will allow you to spend less time bringing reports and more time studying the data. You can automate the email sending procedure if you wish to export your test logs to disseminate throughout your network or on a web server. You’ll want to know right away if a test fails. Why wait to extract the reports manually is used to ensure that the functionality of an application is appropriate. Frameworks make it simple to create and build tests. You’ll be able to construct a solid UI automation framework that will lay the groundwork for long-term success if you follow these stages.
4. Conclusion
The test automation framework has become an integral component of a software testing life cycle for all businesses. It’s not easy to create an automated UI testing framework. It’s time-consuming and difficult. Your framework should serve as a broad guideline for your testing process, including everything from the standard language you want to write code and scripts to the procedures and tools you intend to employ. When selecting an agency, look for one that is adaptable and offers out-of-the-box compatibility for multiple languages.
Though this article explains what automation testing is and how to begin automation testing in your business from beginning to conclusion.
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