CSC/ECE 517 Fall 2014/ch1a22as

Background:

Test automation is the use of software to control the execution of tests, the comparison of actual outcomes to predicted outcomes, the setting up of test preconditions, and other test control and test reporting functions.GUI testing framework generates user interface events such as keystrokes and mouse clicks, and observes the changes that result in the user interface, to validate that the observable behaviour of the program is correct.

At its basic, GUI test automation works like robot clicking buttons and entering, validating data on the client app/web page. There are pitfalls with automation,it is not as easy as getting tests automated and then no more work needs to be done. Test Automation is a development discipline as it uses scripting languages to instruct the tool hot to interact with your application. As such careful consideration needs to be paid to

Exception handling for bugs that occur during testing cycles(i.e, unexpected error messages during a test run). How the tool synchronizes with your application(e.g. if there are slow response times from your environment) The level of maintenance required to keep the tests up to date with changes in the application GUI(i.e, new buttons, data fields, custom controls etc)

Any test automation framework is a set of assumptions, concepts and tools that provide support for automating the major activities in the testing process. The main advantage of a framework is

Increased Productivity Easy and Reduced maintenance effort consistent automation development across projects process driven than person driven approach controlled maintenance of automation artefacts