Table of Contents
Learn how to test iOS applications.
Table of Contents
![[Warning]](images/warning.png) | iOS Application Testing |
|---|---|
Note that iOS apps can only be tested on Apple hardware—either on the devices themselves or inside the iOS Simulator that runs on macOS. |
![[Note]](images/note.png) | Web Testing |
|---|---|
If you want to test web applications on iOS (e.g., Safari applications), you will need to use the Squish for Web edition and do some additional setup. After installing Squish for Web, see the iOS web-specific installation instructions. Testing web applications on iOS is the same as for any other web platform. Please see Browsers on mobile devices (Section 3.7.9) for details on web testing on mobile devices and see Tutorial: Starting to Test Web Applications (Section 4.6.1) for the tutorial on Squish for Web. |
This tutorial will show you how to create, run, and modify tests for an example iOS application. In the process you will learn about Squish's most frequently used features so that by the end of the tutorial you will be able to start writing your own tests for your own applications.
This chapter presents many of the major concepts behind Squish and provides the information you need to get started using Squish for testing your own applications. This tutorial does not discuss all of Squish's features, and those that it does cover are not covered in full detail. After reading this tutorial we recommend reading the User Guide (Chapter 5), and at least skimming the API Reference Manual (Chapter 6) and the Tools Reference Manual (Chapter 7), so that you are familiar with all the features that Squish has to offer, even if you don't need to use them all straight away.
This tutorial is divided into several sections. If you are new to Squish it is best to read all of them. If you are already using Squish you might want to just skim the tutorial, stopping only to read those sections that cover any new features that you haven't used before—or you could just skip straight to the User Guide (Chapter 5).
Often, after we show how to achieve something using the IDE we will follow with an explanation of how to do the same thing using the command line tools. Using an IDE is the easiest and best way to start, but once you build up lots of tests you will want to automate them, (e.g., doing nightly runs of your regression test suite), so it is worth knowing how to use the command line tools since they can be run from batch files or shell scripts.
For this chapter we will use a simple Elements application as
our AUT. The application is shipped with Squish in
SQUISHDIR/examples/ios/elements. This is a very basic
application that shows information about the elements (Hydrogen, Helium,
etc.), and that allows users to scroll through the elements by name or
by category or to search for an element by typing in some search text.
Despite the application's simplicity, it has many of the key features
that most standard iOS applications have: buttons to click, a list to
scroll, and an edit box for entering text. All the ideas and practices
that you learn to test this application can easily be adapted to your
own applications. And naturally, the User Guide (Chapter 5) has
many more examples.
The screenshot shows the application in action; the left hand image shows an element being displayed and the right hand image shows the application's main window.
The iOS Elements.app example in the simulator.
| Using the Examples |
|---|---|
The first time you try running a test for one of the example AUTs you might get a fatal error that begins “Squish couldn't find the AUT to start...”. If this occurs, click the toolbar button, and in the Application Under Test (AUT) section choose the AUT from the combobox if it is available, or click the button and navigate to the AUT's executable via the finder dialog that pops up. (Some versions of Squish will automatically pop up this dialog if no AUT is specified.) This only needs to be done once per example AUT. (This doesn't arise when testing your own AUTs.) |
In the following sections we will create a test suite and then create some tests, but first we will very briefly review some key Squish concepts.
To perform testing, two things are required:
an application to test—known as the Application Under Test (AUT), and
a test script that exercises the AUT.
One fundamental aspect of Squish's approach is that the AUT and the test script that exercises it are always executed in two separate processes. This ensures that even if the AUT crashes, it should not crash Squish. (In such cases the test script will fail gracefully and log an error message.) In addition to insulating Squish and test scripts from AUT crashes, running the AUT and the test script in separate processes brings other benefits. For example, it makes it easier to store the test scripts in a central location, and it also makes it possible to perform remote testing on different machines and platforms. The ability to do remote testing is particularly useful for testing AUTs that run on multiple platforms, and also when testing AUTs that run on embedded devices.
Squish runs a small server (squishserver) that handles the communication between the AUT and the test script. The test script is executed by the squishrunner tool, which in turn connects to the squishserver. The squishserver starts the AUT and injects the Squish hook into it. The hook is a small library that makes the AUT's live running objects accessible and that can communicate with the squishserver. With the hook in place, the squishserver can query AUT objects regarding their state and can execute commands—all on behalf of the squishrunner. And the squishrunner itself requests that the AUT performs whatever actions the test script specifies. All the communication takes place using network sockets which means that everything can be done on a single machine, or the test script can be executed on one machine and the AUT can be tested over the network on another machine.
The following diagram illustrates how the individual Squish tools work together.
From the test engineer's perspective this separation is not noticeable, since all the communication is handled transparently behind the scenes.
Tests can be written and executed using the Squish IDE, in which case the squishserver is started and stopped automatically, and the test results are displayed in the Squish IDE's Test Results view (Section 8.2.18). The following diagram illustrates what happens behind the scenes when the Squish IDE is used.
The Squish tools can also be used from the command line without the Squish IDE—this is useful for those testers who prefer to use their own tools (for example, their favorite editor), and also for performing automatic batch testing (for example, when running regression tests overnight). In these cases, the squishserver must be started manually, and stopped when all the testing is complete (or, if preferred, started and stopped for each test).
| Terminology |
|---|---|
The Squish documentation mostly uses the term widget when referring to GUI objects (i.e., buttons, menus, menu items, labels, table controls, etc). Windows users might be more familiar with the terms control and container, but here we use the term widget for both. Similarly, macOS users may be used to the term view; again, we use the term widget for this concept. |
A test suite is a collection of one or more test cases (tests). Using a test suite is convenient since it makes it easy to share tests scripts and test data between tests.
Start up the Squish IDE, either by clicking or double-clicking
the squishide icon, or by launching squishide from the taskbar menu
or by executing open squishide.app on the command
line—whichever you prefer. Once
Squish starts up, you might be greeted with a Welcome Page
in case you're starting the squishide for the first time. Click the
Workbench button in the upper right to dismiss it. Then, the
squishide will look similar to the screenshot—but probably
slightly different depending on the macOS version, colors, fonts, and
theme that you use, and so on.
Once Squish has started click | to pop-up the New Test Suite wizard shown below.
Enter a name for your test suite and choose the folder where you want
the test suite to be stored. In the screenshot we have called the test
suite suite_py and put it in a
squish-ios-test folder; the actual example code is
in Squish's examples/ios/elements folder. (For
your own tests you might use a more meaningful name such as
"suite_elements"; we chose "suite_py" because for the sake of the
tutorial we will create several suites, one for each scripting language
that Squish supports.) Naturally, you can choose whatever name and
folder you prefer. Once the details are complete, click
to go on to the Toolkit (or Scripting
Language) page.
If you get this wizard page, click the toolkit your AUT uses. For this example, you must click iOS since we are testing a iOS application. Then click to go to the Scripting Language page.
Choose whichever scripting language you want—the only constraint is that you can only use one scripting language per test suite. (So if you want to use multiple scripting languages, just create multiple test suites, one for each scripting language you want to use.) The functionality offered by Squish is the same for all languages. Having chosen a scripting language, click once more to get to the wizard's last page.
If you are creating a new test suite for an AUT that Squish already
knows about, simply click the combobox to drop-down the list of AUTs and
choose the one you want. If the combobox is empty or your AUT isn't
listed, click the button to the right
of the combobox—this will pop-up a file open dialog from which you
can choose your AUT. In the case of iOS programs, the AUT is the
application's executable (e.g., Elements on
iOS). Once you have chosen the AUT, click
and Squish will create a sub-folder with
the same name as the test suite, and will create a file inside that
folder called suite.conf that contains the test
suite's configuration details. Squish will also register the AUT with
the squishserver. The wizard will then close and Squish's IDE will
look similar to the screenshot below.
We are now ready to start creating tests. Read on to learn how to create test suites without using the IDE, or skip ahead to Recording Tests and Verification Points (Section 4.9.1.3) if you prefer.
| For command-line users |
|---|---|
To create a new test suite from the command line, two steps are necessary: first, register the AUT with squishserver, and second, create a directory and configuration file for the test suite.
|
We are now ready to record our first test.
Squish records tests using the scripting language that was specified for the test suite. Once a test has been recorded, we can run the test and Squish will faithfully repeat all the actions that we performed when recording the test, but without the pauses that humans are prone to but which computers don't need. It is also possible—and very common—to edit recorded tests, or to copy parts of recorded tests into manually created tests, as we will see later on in the tutorial.
Recordings are made into existing test cases. We begin by
creating a New Script Test Case.
There are two ways we can do this. One way
is to click |. This will pop up the New Squish Test Case wizard (Section 8.3.10)—simply enter the name
for the test case and then click . Another
way is to click (
) (to the right of the Test
Cases in the Test Suites view); this will
create a new test case with a default name (which you can easily change).
Give the new test case the name “tst_general”.
Squish automatically creates a sub-folder inside the test suite's
folder with this name and also a test file, for example
test.py. (If we had chosen JavaScript as our
scripting language the file would be called
test.js, and correspondingly for Perl, Ruby, or Tcl.)
| Note |
|---|---|
If you get a sample |
To make the test script file (e.g., test.js) appear
in an Editor view (Section 8.2.6), click—or double-click
depending on the ||
setting—the test case. This selects the Script as the active one
and makes visible its corresponding (
) and (
) buttons.
The checkboxes are used to control which test cases are
run when the (
) toolbar button is clicked; we can also run
a single test case by clicking its () button. If the test case is not
currently active, the button may be invisible until the mouse is hovered over
it.
Initially, the
script's main() logs "Hello World" to the test results. If
we were to create a test manually (as we will do later on in the tutorial), we
must create a main function, and we
should import the same imports at the top.
The name "main" is special to Squish. Tests may contain as many functions
and other code as we like (providing it is legal for the scripting language), but when the
test is executed (i.e., run), Squish always executes the
main function. It is also possible to share commonly used code
between test scripts—this is covered in the User Guide (Chapter 5). (In fact, two other function names are special
to Squish, cleanup and init; see Tester-Created Special Functions (Section 6.1) for details.)
Once the new test case has been created, we are free to write
test code manually, or to record a test. Clicking on the test case's
() replaces the test's code with a new recording.
It is also possible to record snippets and insert them into existing test
cases, covered in Users Guide and not in this tutorial.
| For command-line users |
|---|---|
Creating a new test case from the command line is an easy two-step process: first, create a test case directory; and second, create a test case script with the same elements (imports, main() function) that the IDE does when it creates a hello-world script in that language.
|
Before we dive into recording let's briefly review our very simple test scenario:
Click the Elements by name option.
Click the Argon element.
Verify that the Category is “Noble Gases”
Return to the main window.
Click Search.
Enter a search term of “pluto” and click the Search button.
Verify that element 94, Plutonium is found.
Finish.
We are now ready to record our first test. Click the ()
to the right of the tst_general test case shown in the Test Suites view (Section 8.2.19)'s Test Cases list. This will cause
Squish to run the AUT so that you can interact with it. Once the
simulator has started and the Elements AUT is
running, perform the following actions—and don't worry about how
long it takes since Squish doesn't record idle time:
Click the item. Once the list of elements appears, click the item.
When the Argon screen appears you want to verify that it has the correct Category. For this verification you will take a slightly long-winded approach. First, click the toolbar button in the Squish Control Bar Window (Section 8.1.3) (the second button from the left) and select .
This makes the Squish IDE reappear. In the Application Objects view, expand the
Elementsitem (by clicking its gray triangle), then theUI_Window_0item, then theUILayoutContainerView_0item, then theUINavigationTransitionView_0item, then theUIViewControllerWrapperView_0item, and then theUITableView_0item. Now the table's items should be visible. Now expand theCategory_UITableViewCell_8item and then theUITableViewCellContentView_0item. Now click theNoble Gases_UITableViewLabel_0item. At last we've found the item we want. (Don't worry, when you do the next verification you'll make Squish find the item for you!)In the Properties view expand the label's text property. Now click the checkbox beside the stringValue subproperty. Squish should now look similar to the screenshot.
The Squish IDE showing a verification point about to be insertedNow click the button. This will insert the Category verification into the recorded script. The Squish IDE will disappear and you can continue to record interactions with the AUT.
Back in the Elements AUT, click to return to the list of elements by name, then click to return to the main window.
Click the item and in the Search window enter the text “pluto” in the Name Contains line edit. Then click the button.
When the Search Results appears you want to verify that element 94, Plutonium was found. This time, you will make Squish find the relevant object for you. Once again click the toolbar button in the Squish Control Bar and choose . As before, this will make the Squish IDE appear.
In the Application Objects view click the Object Picker (
). This will make the Squish IDE
disappear. Hover the mouse over the “94: Plutonium (Pu)”
text in the Search Results window and click this text. The Squish IDE will now
reappear and Squish will have found and highlighted the relevant
widget.
In the Properties view, expand the widget's text property. Now click the checkbox beside the stringValue subproperty. Squish should now look similar to the screenshot.
The Squish IDE showing a verification point about to be insertedNow click the button. This will insert the verification into the recorded script. The Squish IDE will disappear and you can continue to record interactions with the AUT.
We have now finished our test and inserted the verifications. Click the toolbar button in the Squish Control Bar. The Elements AUT and the simulator will stop and the Squish IDE will reappear.
Once you stop recording, the recorded test will appear in Squish's IDE as the screenshot illustrates. (Note that the exact code that is recorded will vary depending on how you interact with the AUT and which scripting language you have chosen.)
After recording is finished, you can play it back to see
that it works as expected by clicking the tst_general's
button in the Test Cases view.
If the recorded test doesn't appear, click (or double-click depending on
your platform and settings) the tst_general test
case—or click the test.py file in the Test Case
Resources list—this will make Squish show the test's
test.py file in an editor window as shown in the
screenshot.
Now that we've recorded the test, we are able to play it back, i.e., run it. This in itself is useful in that if the play back failed it might mean that the application has been broken. Furthermore, the two verifications we put in will be checked on play back as the screenshot shows.
Inserting verification points during test recording is very convenient. Here we inserted two separately, but we can insert as many as we like as often as we like during the test recording process. However, sometimes we might forget to insert a verification, or later on we might want to insert a new verification. We can easily insert additional verifications into a recorded test script as we will see in the next section, Inserting Additional Verification Points (Section 4.9.1.4).
Before going further, we will look at how to record a test from the command line. Then we will see how to run a test, and we will also look at some of the code that Squish generated to record the test and discuss some of its features.
| For command-line users |
|---|---|
First and foremost, the squishserver must always be running when recording or running a test. This is handled automatically by the Squish IDE, but for command line users the squishserver must be started manually. (See squishserver (Section 7.4.4) for further details.) To record a test from the command line we execute the squishrunner program and specify the test suite we want to record inside and the name we want to give to the test case. For example (assuming we are in the directory that contains the test suite's directory): squishrunner --testsuite suite_py --record tst_general --useWaitFor
It is always best to record using the |
Running the Test
To run a test case in the IDE just click the () that appears
when the test case is hovered or selected in the Test Suites view (Section 8.2.19).
When we have two or more test cases, we can run them all, one after another,
(or only those that are checked) by clicking ().
| For command-line users |
|---|---|
As noted earlier, the squishserver must always be running when
recording or running a test, or the To play back a recorded test from the command line we, execute the squishrunner program and specify the path to the test suite we want to play, and optionally the test case. For example (assuming we are in the directory that contains the test suite's directory): squishrunner --testsuite suite_py --testcase tst_general --local |
If you look at the code in the screenshot (or the code snippet shown
below) you will see that it consists of lots of waitForObject calls as parameters to various
other calls such as tapObject and
type. The waitForObject function waits until a GUI object
is ready to be interacted with (i.e., becomes visible and enabled), and
is then followed by some function that interacts with the object. The
typical interactions are click
a button, or type in some text. (For a complete overview of
Squish's script commands see the User Guide (Chapter 5), the
API Reference Manual (Chapter 6), and the Tools Reference Manual (Chapter 7). Objects are
identified by names that Squish generates. (See How to Identify and Access Objects (Section 5.1) for full details.)
| Scripting Language Support |
|---|---|
Although the screenshots only show the Python test suite in action, for the code snippets quoted here and throughout the tutorial, we show the code for all the scripting languages that Squish supports. In practice you would normally only use one of them of course, so feel free to just look at the snippets in the language you are interested in and skip the others. (In the HTML version of this manual you can use the combobox at the top of the page to select the language you use—this will hide the code snippets in other languages.) |
import names
def main():
startApplication("Elements")
tapObject(waitForObject(names.elements_by_name_UITableViewCell))
tapObject(waitForObject(names.argon_Ar_UITableViewCell))
test.compare(waitForObjectExists(names.noble_Gases_UILabel).text.stringValue, "Noble Gases")
tapObject(waitForObject(names.name_UINavigationItemButtonView))
snooze(1)
tapObject(waitForObject(names.main_UINavigationItemButtonView))
tapObject(waitForObject(names.search_UITableViewCell))
tapObject(waitForObject(names.name_Contains_UITextField), 113, 14)
type(waitForObject(names.name_Contains_UITextField), "pluto")
tapObject(waitForObject(names.search_UINavigationButton))
test.compare(waitForObjectExists(names.o94_Plutonium_Pu_UITableViewCell).text.stringValue, "94: Plutonium (Pu)")
import * as names from 'names.js';
function main()
{
startApplication("Elements");
tapObject(waitForObject(names.elementsByNameUITableViewCell));
tapObject(waitForObject(names.argonArUITableViewCell));
test.compare(waitForObjectExists(names.nobleGasesUILabel).text.stringValue,
"Noble Gases");
tapObject(waitForObject(names.nameUINavigationItemButtonView));
snooze(1);
tapObject(waitForObject(names.mainUINavigationItemButtonView));
tapObject(waitForObject(names.searchUITableViewCell));
tapObject(waitForObject(names.nameContainsUITextField), 113, 14);
type(waitForObject(names.nameContainsUITextField), "pluto");
tapObject(waitForObject(names.searchUINavigationButton));
test.compare(waitForObjectExists(names.o94PlutoniumPuUITableViewCell).text.stringValue,
"94: Plutonium (Pu)");
}
require 'names.pl';
sub main {
startApplication("Elements");
tapObject(waitForObject($Names::elements_by_name_uitableviewcell));
tapObject(waitForObject($Names::argon_ar_uitableviewcell));
test::compare(waitForObjectExists($Names::noble_gases_uilabel)->text->stringValue,
"Noble Gases");
tapObject(waitForObject($Names::name_uinavigationitembuttonview));
snooze(1);
tapObject(waitForObject($Names::main_uinavigationitembuttonview));
tapObject(waitForObject($Names::search_uitableviewcell));
tapObject(waitForObject($Names::name_contains_uitextfield), 113, 14);
type(waitForObject($Names::name_contains_uitextfield), "pluto");
tapObject(waitForObject($Names::search_uinavigationbutton));
test::compare(waitForObjectExists($Names::o94_plutonium_pu_uitableviewcell)->text->stringValue,
"94: Plutonium (Pu)");
}
require 'names';
# encoding: UTF-8
require 'squish'
include Squish
def main
startApplication("Elements")
tapObject(waitForObject(Names::Elements_by_name_UITableViewCell))
tapObject(waitForObject(Names::Argon_Ar_UITableViewCell))
Test.compare(waitForObjectExists(Names::Noble_Gases_UILabel).text.stringValue,
"Noble Gases")
tapObject(waitForObject(Names::Name_UINavigationItemButtonView))
snooze(1)
tapObject(waitForObject(Names::Main_UINavigationItemButtonView))
tapObject(waitForObject(Names::Search_UITableViewCell))
tapObject(waitForObject(Names::Name_Contains_UITextField), 113, 14)
type(waitForObject(Names::Name_Contains_UITextField), "pluto")
tapObject(waitForObject(Names::Search_UINavigationButton))
Test.compare(waitForObjectExists(Names::O94_Plutonium_Pu_UITableViewCell).text.stringValue,
"94: Plutonium (Pu)")
end
source [findFile "scripts" "names.tcl"]
proc main {} {
startApplication "Elements"
invoke tapObject [waitForObject $names::Elements_by_name_UITableViewCell]
invoke tapObject [waitForObject $names::Argon_Ar_UITableViewCell]
test compare [property get [property get \
[waitForObjectExists $names::Noble_Gases_UILabel] text] stringValue] "Noble Gases"
invoke tapObject [waitForObject $names::Name_UINavigationItemButtonView]
snooze 1
invoke tapObject [waitForObject $names::Main_UINavigationItemButtonView]
invoke tapObject [waitForObject $names::Search_UITableViewCell]
invoke tapObject [waitForObject $names::Name_Contains_UITextField] 113 14
invoke type [waitForObject $names::Name_Contains_UITextField] "pluto"
invoke tapObject [waitForObject $names::Search_UINavigationButton]
test compare [property get [property get \
[waitForObjectExists $names::94_Plutonium_Pu_UITableViewCell] text] stringValue] \
"94: Plutonium (Pu)"
}
We have quoted the entire test script here since it is so short. Every
Squish test must have a main function which is what
Squish calls to begin the test. Here the recorded test script begins
in the standard way by calling the startApplication function.
The rest of the function calls are concerned with replaying the
interactions that were recorded, in this case, clicking widgets and
typing in text using the tapObject
and type functions.
| Object Names |
|---|---|
Squish recordings refer to objects using variables that begin with a
|
![[Tip]](images/tip.png) | Editor Context Menu |
|---|---|
When a Symbolic Name is under the cursor, the editor's context menu allows you to , showing its entry in the Object Map, or , which places its inline key-value representation in your desired script language at the cursor, allowing you to hand-edit the values and properties in your script. |
In the previous section we saw how easy it is to insert verification
points during the recording of test scripts. Verification points can
also be inserted into existing test scripts, either by setting a
breakpoint and using the Squish IDE, or simply by editing a test script and
putting in calls to Squish's test functions such as test.compare and test.verify.
Squish supports many kinds of verification points: those that verify that object properties have particular values—known as "Object Property Verifications"; those that verify that an entire table has the contents we expect—known as "Table Verifications"; those that verify that two images match—known as "Screenshot Verifications"; and a hybrid verification type that includes properties and screenshots from multiple objects, known as "Visual Verifications". In addition, it is possible to verify that a search image exists somewhere on the screen, or that certain text is found by OCR. The most commonly used kind is object property verifications, and it is these that we will cover in the tutorial. For further reading, see How to Create and Use Verification Points (Section 5.22)).
Regular (non-scriptified) property
verification points are stored as XML files in the test case or test suite
resources, and contain the value(s) that need to be passed to
test.compare(). These verification points can be reused across test
cases, and can verify many values in a single line of script code.
Scriptified property verification points are direct
calls to the test.compare function, with two
arguments—the value of a particular property for a particular
object, and an expected value. We can manually insert calls to the test.compare function in a recorded or hand
written script, or we can get Squish to insert them for us using scriptified
verification points. In the previous section we showed how to use the Squish IDE to insert
verifications during recording. Here we will first show how to use the
Squish IDE to insert verifications into an existing test script, and then we
will show how to insert a verification by hand.
Before asking Squish to insert verification points, it is best to make
sure that we have a list of what we want to verify and when. There are many
potential verifications we could add to the tst_general
test case, but since our concern here is simply to show how to do it, we
will only do two—we will verify that the Argon element's Symbol is
“Ar” and that its Number is 18. We will put these
verifications immediately after the one we inserted during recording
that verified its Category.
To insert a verification point using the IDE we start by putting a break point in the script (whether recorded or manually written—it does not matter to Squish), at the point where we want to verify.
For clarity we have created a new test called tst_argon.
First we clicked the Squish IDE's () button, then we renamed the test, and
finally we copied and pasted the entire tst_general's code into the
new test. So, at this point both tests have the same code, but we will modify the
tst_argon test by adding new verifications to it. (In
practice you would just add the verifications to an existing test.)
The Squish IDE showing the tst_argon test case with a breakpoint
As the above screenshot shows, we have set a breakpoint at line 9. This is done simply by Ctrl+Clicking the line number and then clicking the menu item in the context menu. We chose this line because it follows the first verification point we added during recording, so at this point the details of Argon will be visible on the screen. (Note that your line number may be different if you recorded the test in a different way.)
Having set the breakpoint, we now run the test as usual by clicking the button, or by clicking the | menu option. Unlike a normal test run the test will stop when the breakpoint is reached (i.e., at line 9, or at whatever line you set), and Squish's main window will reappear (which will probably obscure the AUT). At this point the Squish IDE will automatically switch to the Squish Test Debugging Perspective (Section 8.1.2.3).
| Perspectives and Views |
|---|---|
The Squish IDE works just like the Eclipse IDE. If you aren't used to Eclipse it is crucial to understand these key concepts: Views and Perspectives. In Eclipse (and therefore in the Squish IDE), a View is essentially a child window (perhaps a dock window, or a tab in an existing window). And a Perspective is a collection of Views arranged together. Both are accessible through the menu. The Squish IDE is supplied with three Perspectives—the Squish Test Management Perspective (Section 8.1.2.2) (which is the Perspective that the Squish IDE starts with, and the one we have seen in all previous screenshots), Squish Test Debugging Perspective (Section 8.1.2.3), and Squish Spy Perspective (Section 8.1.2.1). You can change these Perspectives to include additional Views (or to get rid of any Views that you don't want), and you can create your own Perspectives with exactly the Views you want. So if your windows change dramatically it just means that the Perspective changed; you can always use the menu to change back to the Perspective you want. In practice, Squish will automatically change perspective to reflect the current situation, so it isn't really necessary to change perspective manually. |
As the screenshot below shows, when Squish stops at a breakpoint the Squish IDE automatically changes to the Squish Test Debugging Perspective (Section 8.1.2.3). The perspective shows the Variables view (Section 8.2.21), the Editor view (Section 8.2.6), the Debug view (Section 8.2.5), the Application Objects view (Section 8.2.1), and the Properties view (Section 8.2.12), Methods view (Section 8.2.9), and Test Results view (Section 8.2.18).
To insert a verification point, we can use the Object Picker () or expand tree nodes in
the Application Objects view until we find the object we
want to verify. In this example we want to verify the Symbol's
UILabel's text, so we expand items all the way to the
UITableView, and then the Symbol's UITableViewCell.
Once we have selected the appropriate UILabel we expand its
text in the Properties view (Section 8.2.12) view
and check the stringValue subproperty.
To add the verification point we must click the verification point editor's button. After the insertion the test replay remains stopped: we can either continue by clicking the toolbar button in the Debug view (or press F8), or we can stop by clicking the toolbar button. This is to allow us to enter more verifications. In this example we have finished for now, so either resume or terminate the test.
Incidentally, the normal Squish Test Management Perspective (Section 8.1.2.2) can be returned to at any time by choosing it from the menu (or by clicking its toolbar button), although the Squish IDE will automatically return to it if you stop the script or run it to completion.
Once we have finished inserting verifications we should now disable the break point. Just Ctrl+Click the break point and click the menu option in the context menu. We are now ready to run the test without any breakpoints but with the verification points in place. Click the button. This time we will get some test results—as the screenshot shows—all of which we have expanded to show their details. (We have also selected the lines of code that Squish inserted to perform the verification—notice that the code is structurally identical to the code inserted during recording.)
Another way to insert verification points is to insert them in code
form. In theory we can just add our own calls to Squish's test
functions such as test.compare and test.verify anywhere we like in an existing
script. In practice, it is best to make sure that Squish knows about
the objects we want to verify first so that it can find them when the
test is run. This involves a very similar procedure as using the Squish IDE.
First we set a breakpoint where we intend adding our verifications. Then
we run the test script until it stops. Next, we navigate in the
Application Objects view (Section 8.2.1) until we find the
object we want to verify. At this point it is wise to
Ctrl+Click the
object we are interested in and click the context menu option. This will ensure that Squish
can access the object. Then
Ctrl+Click again
and click the
context menu option—this gives us the name of
the object that Squish will use to identify it. Now we can edit the
test script to add in our own verification and finish or stop the
execution. (Don't forget to disable the break point once it isn't needed
any more.)
Although we can write our test script code to be exactly the same style as the automatically generated code, it is usually clearer and easier to do things in a slightly different style, as we will explain in a moment.
For our manually added verification we want to check that Argon's number
is “18” in the relevant UILabel. The
screenshot shows the two lines of code we entered to get this new
verification, plus the results of running the test script.
When writing scripts by hand, we use Squish's test
module's functions to verify conditions at certain points during our
test script's execution. As the screenshot (and the code snippets below)
show, we begin by retrieving a reference to the object we are interested
in. Using the waitForObject function is
standard practice for manually written test scripts. This function waits
for the object to be available (i.e., visible and enabled), and then
returns a reference to it. (Otherwise it times out and raises a
catchable exception.) We then use this reference to access the item's
properties and methods—in this case the UILabel's
stringValue subproperty—and verify that the value is
what we expect it to be using the test.compare
function.
Here is the code for all the Argon verifications for all the scripting languages that Squish supports. Naturally, you only need to look at the code for the language that you will be using for your own tests.
test.compare(waitForObjectExists(names.noble_Gases_UILabel).text.stringValue, "Noble Gases")
test.compare(waitForObjectExists(names.ar_UILabel).text.stringValue, "Ar")
label = waitForObject(names.o18_UILabel)
test.compare(label.text.stringValue, "18")
test.compare(waitForObjectExists(names.nobleGasesUILabel).text.stringValue,
"Noble Gases");
test.compare(waitForObjectExists(names.arUILabel).text.stringValue, "Ar");
var label = waitForObject(names.o18UILabel);
test.compare(label.text.stringValue, "18")
test::compare(waitForObjectExists($Names::noble_gases_uilabel)->text->stringValue,
"Noble Gases");
test::compare(waitForObjectExists($Names::ar_uilabel)->text->stringValue, "Ar");
my $label = waitForObject($Names::o18_uilabel);
test::compare($label->text->stringValue, "18");
Test.compare(waitForObjectExists(Names::Noble_Gases_UILabel).text.stringValue,
"Noble Gases")
Test.compare(waitForObjectExists(Names::Ar_UILabel).text.stringValue, "Ar")
label = waitForObject(Names::O18_UILabel)
Test.compare(label.text.stringValue, "18")
test compare [property get [property get \
[waitForObjectExists $names::Noble_Gases_UILabel] text] stringValue] "Noble Gases"
test compare [property get [property get \
[waitForObjectExists $names::Ar_UILabel] text] stringValue] "Ar"
set label [waitForObject $names::18_UILabel]
test compare [property get [property get $label text] stringValue] "18"
The coding pattern is very simple: we retrieve a reference to the object
we are interested in and then verify its properties using one of
Squish's verification functions. (Recall that we got the
UILabel's symbolic name from the clipboard where we'd
pasted it earlier.) And we can, of course, call methods on the object to
interact with it if we wish.
For complete coverage of verification points, see How to Create and Use Verification Points (Section 5.22) in the User Guide (Chapter 5).
After each test run finishes, the test results—including those for the verification points—are shown in the Test Results view at the bottom of the Squish IDE.
This is a detailed report of the test run and would also contain details of any failures or errors, etc. If you click on a Test Results item, the Squish IDE highlights the script line which generated the test result. And if you expand a Test Results item, you can see additional details of the test.
We have now completed the tutorial! Squish can of course do much more than we have shown here, but the aim has been to get you started with basic testing as quickly and easily as possible. The User Guide (Chapter 5) provides many more examples, including those that show how tests can interact with particular widgets, as well as how to do data-driven and keyword-driven testing.
The API Reference Manual (Chapter 6) and Tools Reference Manual (Chapter 7) give full details of Squish's testing API and the numerous functions it offers to make testing as easy and efficient as possible. It is well worth reading the User Guide (Chapter 5) and at least skimming the API Reference Manual (Chapter 6) and Tools Reference Manual (Chapter 7)—especially since the time invested will be repaid because you'll know what functionality Squish provides out of the box and can avoid reinventing things that are already available.
Squish for iOS allows you to test your iOS apps in the iOS Simulator that is included in Xcode installations. This makes it much easier and more convenient to test iOS AUTs without having to use an actual iOS device.
![[Important]](images/important.png) | Important |
|---|---|
|
There are further options in the test suite that allow you to control how the iOS Simulator is started. In order to use these, open the test suite settings in the Squish IDE and enter one or more of the following options into the Launcher Arguments: line edit:
--device-id=<uuid>If you are using Xcode 6 or later, you can specify the device ID of the simulated device to be used.Use | in Xcode to see the device IDs for the simulated devices available. Or run Squish's
iphonelaunchercommand with the option--list-devicesin the terminal to determine the device ID.You can't use the
--deviceor--sdkin conjunction with this option since the device ID already defines the simulated hardware and SDK and these value can't be overriden.--device=<device-family>If your application is a universal application (i.e. runs on both, the iPhone and the iPad), you can use this option to specify if Squish start the application in a simulated iPhone or iPad. For<device-family>you can use eitheriPhoneoriPad.If you are using Xcode 5.0 or newer, you have more fine grained control over the exact device type and you can also specify
iPhone-retina-3.5-inch,iPhone-retina-4-inchandiPad-retinaas the<device-family>.--sdk=<version>Squish tries to automatically determine the iOS SDK version that was used to when compiling the app. If this fails or if you want to start the simulator with a different SDK, use this option to overwrite the automatically determined version.For example, if your want to enforce the app to start with SDK 4.2, specify the option
--sdk=4.2.
It is perfectly possible—albeit slightly less convenient—to
test iOS Apps on an actual iPhone or iPad device. To do this you must add
a Squish-specific wrapper library to Xcode, make a small modification
to your application's main function, and make sure that
your Mac is set up correctly.
| Important |
|---|---|
Your desktop computer and the iOS device communicate through a TCP/IP network connection. So the device has to be reachable from the desktop computer and the other way round. Especially the iOS device connects to the squishserver running on the desktop computer. So if you have any active firewall, you have to disable it or at least allow connections from the iOS device to the squishserver. |
First you must modify your application's main function
that it calls Squish's squish_allowAttaching function when
running for testing. Here is a typical main function for iOS
applications with the necessary modifications (the modifications are shown
in bold). Please note that depending on
your concrete source code, the main function might vary and
you should not simply copy the below code; rather modify your existing
source code to add the highlighted lines at the appropriate places.
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h> #import "AppDelegate.h" #if defined(SQUISH_TESTING) && !TARGET_IPHONE_SIMULATORextern bool squish_allowAttaching(unsigned short port);
#endif int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { NSAutoreleasePool * pool = [[NSAutoreleasePool alloc] init]; #if defined(SQUISH_TESTING) && !TARGET_IPHONE_SIMULATOR squish_allowAttaching(11233);
#endif int retVal = UIApplicationMain(argc, argv, nil, NSStringFromClass([AppDelegate class])); [pool release]; return retVal; }
| The And the |
| We need to call the |
| Add a call to |
| Swift-only projects |
|---|---|
If you have a Swift-only project, you lack the
#if defined(SQUISH_TESTING) && !TARGET_IPHONE_SIMULATOR
#include <stdbool.h>
extern bool squish_allowAttaching(unsigned short port);
__attribute__((constructor)) static void initializer()
{
squish_allowAttaching(11233);
}
#endif
|
After the modifications to the application's main
function, we also have to link the app against the static library
libsquishioswrapper.a that is shipped with the
Squish package and can be found in the package's lib/arm
directory.
| Note |
|---|---|
The following steps use Xcode 7.3. Different Xcode versions might vary slightly in the exact user interface steps (especially with respect to the screenshots), but the overall process is the same for all Xcode versions. |
First we create a new build configuration in the Xcode project. This allows us to easily switch between Squish builds of your application and normal builds of your application (without the modifications required by Squish): click on the project to open the project settings. In the Info tab of the project's settings, you can choose to duplicate an existing build configuration. You can base your builds on any of existing build configurations; in our example we choose to duplicate the "Release" build configuration (i.e. we base the Squish specific configuration on release builds).
Give the new build configuration a name, for our example we simply choose "Squish".
Next, we have to make sure that the compiler defines
SQUISH_TESTING when we build the project with the "Squish"
build configuration (this is the define we are checking for in our modified
main function):
Choose the target app you want to test with Squish (in the example the Elements target).
Switch to the Build Settings tab in the project settings.
Ensure that All build settings are displayed (and not only the Basic ones).
Search for the "Other C Flags" build settings.
Make sure to expand the Other C Flags entry
Select the Squish build configuration.
Double click on the Other C Flags entry of the Squish build configuration in the column for your target (in the example the Elements column).
Click the button in the popup to add a new flag.
Enter the flag
-DSQUISH_TESTINGand click outside the popup to accept the new setting.
Then, we also have to add the Squish static library to the linker flags:
Search for the "Other Linker Flags" build settings.
Make sure to expand the Other Linker Flags.
Select the Squish build configuration.
Double click on the Other Linker Flags entry of the Squish build configuration in the column for your target (in the example the Elements column).
Click the button in the popup to add the new flags.
Enter the following flags (the order is important):
-lc++-liconv-lz-force_load<squishdir>/lib/arm/libsquishioswrapper.a
and click outside the popup to accept the changes. Make sure that you replace <squishdir> by the full path (or relative path) to the directory of your Squish installation. Alterantively, you can also copy the library into the project directory of your application and specify the
libsquishioswrapper.awithout any path.
| Important |
|---|---|
When you are updating your Squish installation to a new version,
you have to make sure that you are using the
|
Then, you have to disable bitcode support for the "Squish" configuration:
Search for the "Bitcode" build settings.
Make sure to expand the Enable Bitcode.
Select the Squish build configuration.
Change the setting to No for the Squish build configuration in the column for your target (in the example the Elements column).
The last step is to really build the iOS app with the newly created "Squish" configuration. For this, we create a separate scheme in Xcode. This allows us to quickly change between building for Squish testing and for other purposes of the application.
Choose New Scheme... from the scheme popup in Xcode.
Give the newly created scheme a good name, in the example we use "Elements (Squish)", stressing that this builds the Elements app for Squish testing.
The newly created scheme has default settings. So we now need to edit the scheme and change the build configuration to be used. So make sure that the new scheme is the active one and choose Edit Scheme... from the popup.
In the dialog to edit the schemes, make sure that you selected the Run action. Then change the Build Configuration: setting to Squish. You should do the same thing for the other actions that take a build configuration as well (i.e. for Test, Profile, Analyze, and Archive). So all builds done with the "Elements (Squish)" scheme build the app in a way that it is suitable for testing with Squish.
Now you only have to build the app for your device and install it there and you can start testing it on a physical device (after you follow the last steps of setting up a testsuite in Squish on the your desktop computer).
As a quick test to see if all the above modifications are correct,
execute the app on the device through Xcode's debugger. Take a closer look
at the debugger console in Xcode: if you see the message
Listening on port 11233 for incoming
connections on startup of the app, then the modifications
were correct. If you don't see this message, you missed one of the above
steps.
Although the iOS application you want to test will run on the iOS device, Squish itself runs on a computer. Here is how to set up the computer to support iOS testing.
You have to turn off the firewall on the computer. Naturally it is very important that you turn the firewall back on after the testing is finished!
Register the host and port number of the iOS device as an attachable AUT. This is done inside the Squish IDE; click the || menu item, then click the Attachable AUTs item. Now click the button. Give the configuration a name, for example, “iPhoneDevice”. Enter the iOS device's IP address as the host and for the port give the number used when calling the
squish_allowAttachingfunction (e.g., 11233).
Now that the computer is set up you can play back or create tests for your iOS applications.
If you want to play back tests you created with the simulator, you have to
change the startApplication("iPhoneApp") in your test script
to attachToApplication("iPhoneDevice") (or using whatever
configuration name you chose if different).
Now you can start the application on the device and then replay the test script you recorded on the iOS Simulator.
You can also record the test directly on the device. In this case, please open the test suite settings of your iOS test suite and make sure that the selection for the AUT is <No Application>. Then start the application on the device and if you choose to record a test case in the Squish IDE, you are asked the application. Choose iPhoneDevice (attachable) (or whatever name you used when registering the attachable AUT). Now all user interactions you do on the device are recorded until you end the recording in the Squish IDE's control bar.
| Important |
|---|---|
The iOS devices are pretty much locked down so it is not possible for Squish to start (or end) the AUT. So the application has to be started manually and when you execute a test script make sure that the application is running in the foreground and that the device is not locked or sleeping. If you keep the application running, you can execute multiple test cases after each other and each test case then connects to the same application. This means that you have to ensure in your test cases that the application is left in a state that the next test case can run successfully (or you have to write your test cases in a way that on start, they bring the application into a well-known state). |
Table of Contents
This tutorial will show you how to create, run, and modify Behavior Driven Development (BDD) tests for an example application. You will learn about Squish's most frequently used features. By the end of the tutorial you will be able to write your own tests for your own applications.
For this chapter we will use the Elements app as our Application Under
Test (AUT). This app searches and displays information on chemical elements. You
find it in Squish's examples/ios directory. The
screenshot shows the application in action.
The iOS Elements example.
Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) is an extension of the Test-Driven Development approach which puts the definition of acceptance criteria at the beginning of the development process as opposed to writing tests after the software has been developed. With possible cycles of code changes done after testing.
Behavior Driven Tests are built out of a set of Feature files, which
describe product features through the expected application behavior in one or many
Scenarios. Each Scenario is built out of a sequence
of steps which represent actions or verifications that need to be
tested for that Scenario.
BDD focuses on expected application behavior, not on implementation details. Therefore BDD tests are described in a human-readable Domain Specific Language (DSL). As this language is not technical, such tests can be created not only by programmers, but also by product owners, testers or business analysts. Additionally, during the product development, such tests serve as living product documentation. For Squish usage, BDD tests shall be created using Gherkin syntax. The previously written product specification (BDD tests) can be turned into executable tests. This step by step tutorial presents automating BDD tests with Squish IDE support.
Gherkin files describe product features through the expected application behavior in one or many Scenarios. An example showing the searching feature of the elements example application.
Feature: Searching for elements
As a user I want to search for elements and get correct results.
Scenario: Initial state of the search view
Given elements application is running
When I switch to the search view
Then the search field is empty
Most of the above is free form text (does not have to be English). It's just the
Feature/Scenario structure and the leading keywords
like Given, And, When
and Then that are fixed. Each of those keywords marks a
step, defining preconditions, user actions or expected results. The application
behavior description above can be passed to software developers to implement
these features and at the same time the same description can be passed to
software testers to implement automated tests.
First, we need to create a Test Suite, which is a container for all Test Cases. Start the Squish IDE and select |. Please follow the New Test Suite wizard, provide a Test Suite name, choose the iOS Toolkit and scripting language of your choice and finally register Elements app as AUT. Please refer to Creating a Test Suite (Section 4.9.1.2) for more details about creating new Test Suites.
Squish offers two types of Test Cases: "Script Test Case" and "BDD Test Case". As "Script Test Case" is the default one, in order to create new "BDD Test Case" we need to use the context menu by clicking on the expander next to button and choosing the option . The Squish IDE will remember your choice and the "BDD Test Case" will become the default when clicking on the button in the future.
The newly created BDD Test Case consists of a test.feature file
(filled with a Gherkin template while creating a new BDD test case), a file named
test.(py|js|pl|rb|tcl) which will drive the execution (there is no need
to edit this file), and a Test Suite Resources file named steps/steps.(py|js|pl|rb|tcl)
where step implementation code will be placed.
We need to replace the Gherkin template with a Feature for the addressbook example application. To do this, copy the Feature
description below and paste it into the Feature file.
Feature: Searching for elements
As a user I want to search for elements and get correct results.
Scenario: Initial state of the search view
Given elements application is running
When I switch to the search view
Then the search field is empty
When editing the test.feature file, a
warning No implementation found is displayed for each
undefined step. The implementations are in the
steps subdirectory, in Test Case Resources,
or in Test Suite Resources. Running our
Feature test now will currently fail at the first step with a
No Matching Step Definition and the following
steps will be skipped.
In order to record the Scenario, press the
() next to the respective Scenario that
is listed in the Scenarios tab in Test Case Resources view.
This will cause Squish to run the AUT so that we can interact with it. Additionally,
the Control Bar is displayed with a list of all steps that need to be
recorded. Now all interaction with the AUT or any verification points added to
the script will be recorded under the first step Given elements application is
running (which is bolded in the step list on the Control Bar). Since Squish automatically
records the start of the application, we are already done with our first step.
When we are done with each step, we can move to the next
undefined step (playing back the ones that were previously defined)
by clicking on the (
) arrow button
in the Control Bar that is located to the left of the current step.
Now the step When I switch to the search view is active.
Record the necessary action by clicking the Search menu item
in the AUT. Clicking on the arrow button in front of the current step in the Control Bar
( ())
again proceeds to the recording of the last step, the search field is
empty. To record this verification, click on while
recording, and select . In the
Application Objects view, navigate or use the Object Picker ()
to select (not check) the text field for the search. In the
Properties view expand the widget's
text property. Now click the checkbox beside the
stringValue subproperty and insert the verification
point. Finally, click on the last () arrow button in the
Control Bar.
As a result, Squish will generate the following step
definitions in the steps.* file (at
Test Suites+Test Suite
Resources):
@Given("elements application is running")
def step(context):
startApplication("Elements")
@When("I switch to the search view")
def step(context):
tapObject(waitForObject(names.search_UILabel), 179, 9)
@Then("the search field is empty")
def step(context):
test.compare(waitForObjectExists(names.name_Contains_UITextField).text, "")
Given("elements application is running", function(context) {
startApplication("Elements");
});
When("I switch to the search view", function(context) {
tapObject(waitForObject(names.searchUILabel), 179, 9);
});
Then("the search field is empty", function(context) {
test.compare(waitForObjectExists(names.nameContainsUITextField).text, "");
});
Given("elements application is running", sub {
my $context = shift;
startApplication("Elements");
});
When("I switch to the search view", sub {
my $context = shift;
tapObject(waitForObject($Names::search_uilabel), 179, 9);
});
Then("the search field is empty", sub {
my $context = shift;
test::compare(waitForObjectExists($Names::name_contains_uitextfield)->text, "");
});
Given("elements application is running") do |context|
startApplication("Elements")
end
When("I switch to the search view") do |context|
tapObject(waitForObject(Names::Search_UILabel), 179, 9)
end
Then("the search field is empty") do |context|
Test.compare(waitForObjectExists(Names::Name_Contains_UITextField).text, "")
end
Given "elements application is running" {context} {
startApplication "Elements"
}
When "I switch to the search view" {context} {
invoke tapObject [waitForObject $names::Search_UILabel] 179 9
}
Then "the search field is empty" {context} {
test compare [property get [waitForObjectExists $names::Name_Contains_UITextField] text] ""
}
The application is automatically started at the beginning of the first step due
to the recorded startApplication() call. At the end of each
Scenario, the onScenarioEnd hook is called, causing
detach() to be called on the application context.
Because the AUT was started with startApplication(),
this causes it to terminate.
This hook function is found in the file bdd_hooks.(py|js|pl|rb|tcl),
which is located in the Scripts tab of the Test
Suite Resources view. You can define additional hook functions here.
For a list of all available hooks, please refer to Performing Actions During Test Execution Via Hooks (Section 6.19.10).
@OnScenarioEnd
def OnScenarioEnd():
for ctx in applicationContextList():
ctx.detach()
OnScenarioEnd(function(context) {
applicationContextList().forEach(function(ctx) { ctx.detach(); });
});
OnScenarioEnd(sub {
foreach (applicationContextList()) {
$_->detach();
}
});
OnScenarioEnd do |context|
applicationContextList().each { |ctx| ctx.detach() }
end
OnScenarioEnd {context} {
foreach ctx [applicationContextList] {
applicationContext $ctx detach
}
}
So far, our steps did not use any parameters, and all values were
hardcoded. Squish has different types of parameters like
any, integer or word, allowing our
step definitions to be more reusable. Let us add a
new Scenario to our Feature file which
will provide step parameters for both the Test Data and the expected results.
Copy the below section into your Feature file.
Scenario: State after searching with exact match
Given elements application is running
When I switch to the search view
And I enter 'helium' into the search field and tap Search
Then '1' entries should be present
After auto-saving
the Feature file, the Squish IDE provides a hint that only 2
steps need to be implemented: And I enter 'helium' into the
search field and tap Search and Then '1' entries should be present.
The remaining steps already have a matching step implementation.
To record the missing steps, hit the () next to the
test case name in the Test Suites view. The script will play until it gets to
the missing step and then prompt you to implement it. Click on
() to move to the next step. For the second missing step, we
can record an object property verification like we did with the step
the search field is empty.
Now we parametrize the generated step implementation by replacing the values
with parameter types.
Since we want to be able to add different names, replace
'helium' with '|word|'.
Note that each parameter will be passed to the step implementation function in
the order of appearance in the descriptive name of the step. Finish
parametrizing by editing to look like this example step:
@When("I enter '|word|' into the search field and tap Search")
def step(context, search):
tapObject(waitForObject(names.name_Contains_UITextField), 25, 13)
type(waitForObject(names.name_Contains_UITextField), search)
tapObject(waitForObject(names.search_UINavigationButton))
# synchronization: wait until search result view is visible
waitFor("not object.exists(names.name_Contains_UITextField)", 10000)
context.userData["search"] = search
@Then("'|integer|' entries should be present")
def step(context, numOfEntries):
test.compare(waitForObjectExists(names.o_UITableView).numberOfRowsInSection_(0), numOfEntries)
When("I enter '|word|' into the search field and tap Search", function(context, search) {
tapObject(waitForObject(names.nameContainsUITextField), 25, 13);
type(waitForObject(names.nameContainsUITextField), search);
tapObject(waitForObject(names.searchUINavigationButton));
// synchronization: wait until search result view is visible
waitFor("!object.exists(names.nameContainsUITextField)", 10000);
context.userData["search"] = search;
});
Then("'|integer|' entries should be present", function(context, numOfEntries) {
test.compare(waitForObjectExists(names.uITableView).numberOfRowsInSection_(0), numOfEntries);
});
When("I enter '|word|' into the search field and tap Search", sub {
my $context = shift;
my $search = shift;
tapObject(waitForObject($Names::name_contains_uitextfield), 25, 13);
type(waitForObject($Names::name_contains_uitextfield), $search);
tapObject(waitForObject($Names::search_uinavigationbutton));
# synchronization: wait until search result view is visible
waitFor("!object::exists(\$Names::name_contains_uitextfield)", 10000);
$context->{userData}{"search"} = $search;
});
Then("'|integer|' entries should be present", sub {
my $context = shift;
my $numOfEntries = shift;
test::compare(waitForObjectExists($Names::o_uitableview)->numberOfRowsInSection_(0), $numOfEntries);
});
When("I enter '|word|' into the search field and tap Search") do |context, search|
tapObject(waitForObject(Names::Name_Contains_UITextField), 25, 13)
type(waitForObject(Names::Name_Contains_UITextField), search)
tapObject(waitForObject(Names::Search_UINavigationButton))
# synchronization: wait until search result view is visible
waitFor("!Squish::Object.exists(Names::Name_Contains_UITextField)", 10000);
context.userData[:search] = search
end
Then("'|integer|' entries should be present") do |context, numOfEntries|
Test.compare(waitForObjectExists(Names::O_UITableView).numberOfRowsInSection_(0), numOfEntries)
end
When "I enter '|word|' into the search field and tap Search" {context search} {
invoke tapObject [waitForObject $names::Name_Contains_UITextField] 25 13
invoke type [waitForObject $names::Name_Contains_UITextField] $search
invoke tapObject [waitForObject $names::Search_UINavigationButton]
# synchronization: wait until search result view is visible
waitFor { ![object exists $names::Name_Contains_UITextField] } 10000
set userData [$context userData]
dict set userData "search" $search
$context userData $userData
}
Then "'|integer|' entries should be present" {context numOfEntries} {
test compare [invoke [waitForObjectExists $names::UITableView] numberOfRowsInSection_ 0] $numOfEntries
}
The next Scenario will test a search result with multiple elements
found. Instead of using multiple steps for verifying this, we use a single step and pass a
table as an argument to the step.
Scenario: State after searching with multiple matches
Given elements application is running
When I switch to the search view
And I enter 'he' into the search field and tap Search
Then the following entries should be present
| Number | Symbol | Name |
| 2 | He | Helium |
| 44 | Ru | Ruthenium |
| 75 | Re | Rhenium |
| 104 | Rf | Rutherfordium |
| 116 | Uuh | Ununhexium |
The step implementation to handle such tables looks like this:
@Then("the following entries should be present")
def step(context):
table = context.table
table.pop(0) # Drop initial row with column headers
tableView = waitForObject(names.o_UITableView)
dataSource = tableView.dataSource
numberOfRows = tableView.numberOfRowsInSection_(0)
test.compare(numberOfRows, len(table))
for i in range(numberOfRows):
number = table[i][0]
symbol = table[i][1]
name = table[i][2]
expectedText = number + ": " + name + " (" + symbol + ")"
indexPath = NSIndexPath.indexPathForRow_inSection_(i, 0)
cell = dataSource.tableView_cellForRowAtIndexPath_(tableView, indexPath)
test.compare(cell.text, expectedText)
Then("the following entries should be present", function(context) {
var table = context.table;
table.shift(); // Drop initial row with column headers
var tableView = waitForObject(names.uITableView);
var dataSource = tableView.dataSource;
var numberOfRows = tableView.numberOfRowsInSection_(0);
test.compare(numberOfRows, table.length);
for (var i = 0; i < table.length; ++i) {
var number = table[i][0];
var symbol = table[i][1];
var name = table[i][2];
var expectedText = number + ": " + name + " (" + symbol + ")";
var indexPath = NSIndexPath.indexPathForRow_inSection_(i, 0);
var cell = dataSource.tableView_cellForRowAtIndexPath_(tableView, indexPath);
test.compare(cell.text, expectedText);
}
});
Then("the following entries should be present", sub {
my $context = shift;
my $table = $context->{'table'};
shift(@{$table}); # Drop initial row with column headers
my $tableView = waitForObject($Names::o_uitableview);
my $dataSource = $tableView->dataSource;
my $numberOfRows = $tableView->numberOfRowsInSection_(0);
test::compare($numberOfRows, scalar @{$table});
for (my $i = 0; $i < @{$table}; $i++) {
my $number = @{@{$table}[$i]}[0];
my $symbol = @{@{$table}[$i]}[1];
my $name = @{@{$table}[$i]}[2];
my $expectedText = $number . ": " . $name . " (" . $symbol . ")";
my $indexPath = NSIndexPath::indexPathForRow_inSection_($i, 0);
my $cell = $dataSource->tableView_cellForRowAtIndexPath_($tableView, $indexPath);
test::compare($cell->text, $expectedText);
}
});
Then("the following entries should be present") do |context|
table = context.table
table.shift # Drop initial row with column headers
tableView = waitForObject(Names::O_UITableView)
dataSource = tableView.dataSource
numberOfRows = tableView.numberOfRowsInSection_(0)
Test.compare(numberOfRows, table.length)
for i in 0...numberOfRows do
number = table[i][0]
symbol = table[i][1]
name = table[i][2]
expectedText = number + ": " + name + " (" + symbol + ")"
indexPath = NSIndexPath.indexPathForRow_inSection_(i, 0)
cell = dataSource.tableView_cellForRowAtIndexPath_(tableView, indexPath)
Test.compare(cell.text, expectedText)
end
end
Then "the following entries should be present" {context} {
# Drop initial row with column headers
set table [$context table]
set table [lrange $table 1 end]
set tableView [waitForObject $names::UITableView]
set dataSource [property get $tableView dataSource]
set numberOfRows [invoke $tableView numberOfRowsInSection_ 0]
test compare $numberOfRows [llength $table]
for {set i 0} {$i < $numberOfRows} {incr i} {
set number [lindex $table $i 0]
set symbol [lindex $table $i 1]
set name [lindex $table $i 2]
set expectedText "$number: $name ($symbol)"
set indexPath [invoke NSIndexPath indexPathForRow_inSection_ $i 0]
set cell [invoke $dataSource tableView_cellForRowAtIndexPath_ $tableView $indexPath]
test compare [property get $cell text] $expectedText
}
}
Lets add a new Scenario to the
Feature file. This time we would like to check that in
the detailed search results, the title of the detail view is the same as
our search term. Because we enter data into the search field in one Step
and verify them in another, we must share information about entered data
among those Steps in order to perform a verification.
Scenario: State of the details when searching
Given elements application is running
When I switch to the search view
And I enter 'Carbon' into the search field and tap Search
And I tap on the first search result
Then the previously entered search term is the title of the view
To share this data, the context.userData property can be used.
@When("I enter '|word|' into the search field and tap Search")
def step(context, search):
tapObject(waitForObject(names.name_Contains_UITextField), 25, 13)
type(waitForObject(names.name_Contains_UITextField), search)
tapObject(waitForObject(names.search_UINavigationButton))
# synchronization: wait until search result view is visible
waitFor("not object.exists(names.name_Contains_UITextField)", 10000)
context.userData["search"] = search
When("I enter '|word|' into the search field and tap Search", function(context, search) {
tapObject(waitForObject(names.nameContainsUITextField), 25, 13);
type(waitForObject(names.nameContainsUITextField), search);
tapObject(waitForObject(names.searchUINavigationButton));
// synchronization: wait until search result view is visible
waitFor("!object.exists(names.nameContainsUITextField)", 10000);
context.userData["search"] = search;
});
When("I enter '|word|' into the search field and tap Search", sub {
my $context = shift;
my $search = shift;
tapObject(waitForObject($Names::name_contains_uitextfield), 25, 13);
type(waitForObject($Names::name_contains_uitextfield), $search);
tapObject(waitForObject($Names::search_uinavigationbutton));
# synchronization: wait until search result view is visible
waitFor("!object::exists(\$Names::name_contains_uitextfield)", 10000);
$context->{userData}{"search"} = $search;
});
When("I enter '|word|' into the search field and tap Search") do |context, search|
tapObject(waitForObject(Names::Name_Contains_UITextField), 25, 13)
type(waitForObject(Names::Name_Contains_UITextField), search)
tapObject(waitForObject(Names::Search_UINavigationButton))
# synchronization: wait until search result view is visible
waitFor("!Squish::Object.exists(Names::Name_Contains_UITextField)", 10000);
context.userData[:search] = search
end
When "I enter '|word|' into the search field and tap Search" {context search} {
invoke tapObject [waitForObject $names::Name_Contains_UITextField] 25 13
invoke type [waitForObject $names::Name_Contains_UITextField] $search
invoke tapObject [waitForObject $names::Search_UINavigationButton]
# synchronization: wait until search result view is visible
waitFor { ![object exists $names::Name_Contains_UITextField] } 10000
set userData [$context userData]
dict set userData "search" $search
$context userData $userData
}
All data stored in context.userData can be accessed in all
steps and Hooks in all Scenarios
of the given Feature. Finally, we need to implement
the step Then the previously entered search term is the title of
the view.
@Then("the previously entered search term is the title of the view")
def step(context):
# synchronization: wait until the search result view is not visible
waitFor('waitForObjectExists(names.o_UINavigationItemView).title != "Search Results"', 10000)
test.compare(waitForObjectExists(names.o_UINavigationItemView).title, context.userData["search"])
Then("the previously entered search term is the title of the view", function(context) {
// synchronization: wait until the search result view is not visible
waitFor('waitForObjectExists(names.uINavigationItemView).title != "Search Results"', 10000);
test.compare(waitForObjectExists(names.uINavigationItemView).title, context.userData["search"]);
});
Then("the previously entered search term is the title of the view", sub {
my $context = shift;
# synchronization: wait until the search result view is not visible
waitFor("waitForObjectExists(\$Names::o_uinavigationitemview).title ne \"Search Results\"", 10000);
test::compare(waitForObjectExists($Names::o_uinavigationitemview)->title, $context->{userData}{"search"});
});
Then("the previously entered search term is the title of the view") do |context|
# synchronization: wait until the search result view is not visible
waitFor('waitForObjectExists(Names::O_UINavigationItemView).title != "Search Results"', 10000)
Test.compare(waitForObjectExists(Names::O_UINavigationItemView).title, context.userData[:search])
end
Then "the previously entered search term is the title of the view" {context} {
# synchronization: wait until the search result view is not visible
waitFor { [property get [waitForObjectExists $names::UINavigationItemView] title] != "Search Results" } 10000
test compare [property get [waitForObjectExists $names::UINavigationItemView] title] [dict get [$context userData] "search"]
}
Assume our Feature contains the following two Scenarios:
Scenario: State after searching with exact match
Given elements application is running
When I switch to the search view
And I enter 'Hydrogen' into the search field and tap Search
Then the entry '1: Hydrogen (H)' should be present
Scenario: State after searching with exact match
Given elements application is running
When I switch to the search view
And I enter 'Helium' into the search field and tap Search
Then the entry '2: Helium (He)' should be present
As we can see, those Scenarios perform the same actions using different
test data. The same can be achieved by using a Scenario Outline (a
Scenario template with placeholders) and Examples (a table with
parameters).
Scenario Outline: Doing a search with exact match multiple times
Given elements application is running
When I switch to the search view
And I enter '<Name>' into the search field and tap Search
Then the entry '<Number>: <Name> (<Symbol>)' should be present
Examples:
| Name | Number | Symbol |
| Hydrogen | 1 | H |
| Helium | 2 | He |
| Carbon | 6 | C |
Please note that the OnScenarioEnd hook will be executed at the end of
each loop iteration in a Scenario Outline.
In the Squish IDE, users can execute all Scenarios in a
Feature, or execute only one selected Scenario. In
order to execute all Scenarios, the proper Test Case has to be
executed by clicking on the button in the Test Suites view.
In order to execute only one Scenario, you need to open the
Feature file, right-click on the given Scenario and
choose . An alternative approach is to click on the
button next to the respective Scenario in
the Scenarios tab in Test Case Resources.
After a Scenario is executed, the Feature file is
colored according to the execution results. More detailed information (like logs) can
be found in the Test Results View.
Squish offers the possibility to pause an execution of a Test Case at any point in
order to check script variables, spy application objects or run custom
code in the Squish script console. To do this, a breakpoint has to be placed before
starting the execution, either in the Feature file at any line
containing a step or at any line of executed code (i.e. in middle of
step definition code).
After the breakpoint is reached, you can inspect all application objects and their properties. If a breakpoint is placed at a step definition or a hook is reached, then you can additionally add Verification Points or record code snippets.
BDD test maintainability can be increased by reusing step definitions in test cases located in another directory. For more information, see collectStepDefinitions().
This chapter is aimed at users that have existing Squish script-based tests and who would like to introduce Behavior Driven Testing. The first section describes how to keep the existing tests and add new tests with the BDD approach. The second section describes how to convert existing tests to BDD.
The first option is to keep any existing Squish tests and extend them by
adding new BDD tests. It's possible to have a Test Suite containing
script-based Test Cases and also BDD Test Cases. Simply open an existing
Test Suite with Test Cases and choose New BDD Test
Case option from drop down list.
Assuming your existing Test Cases make use of a library and you are calling shared functions to interact with the AUT, those functions can also be used from step implementations. In the example below, a function is used from multiple script-based Test Cases:
def switchToSearchView():
tapObject(waitForObject(":Search_UITableViewLabel"), 179, 9)
function switchToSearchView(){
tapObject(waitForObject(":Search_UITableViewLabel"), 179, 9);
}
sub switchToSearchView{
tapObject(waitForObject(":Search_UITableViewLabel"), 179, 9);
}
def switchToSearchView
tapObject(waitForObject(":Search_UITableViewLabel"), 179, 9)
end
proc switchToSearchView {} {
invoke tapObject [waitForObject ":Search_UITableViewLabel"] 179 9
}
New BDD Test Cases can easily use the same function:
@When("I switch to the search view")
def step(context):
switchToSearchView()
When("I switch to the search view", function(context) {
switchToSearchView();
});
When("I switch to the search view", sub {
my $context = shift;
switchToSearchView();
});
When("I switch to the search view") do |context|
switchToSearchView()
end
When "I switch to the search view" {context} {
switchToSearchView
}
The second option is to convert an existing Test Suite that contains
script-based Tests into behavior driven tests. Since a Test Suite
can contain script-based Test Cases and BDD Tests, migration can be done
gradually. A Test Suite containing a mix of both test case
types can be executed and results analyzed without any extra effort required.
The first step is to review all Test Cases of the existing Test Suite
and group them by the Feature they test. Each script-based Test Case will
be transformed into a Scenario, which is a part of a
Feature. For example, assume we have 5 script-based tests. After
review, we realize that they examine two Features.
Therefore, when migration is completed, our Test Suite will contain two BDD Test Cases,
each of them containing one Feature. Each Feature
will contain multiple Scenarios. In our example the first
Feature contains three Scenarios and the second
Feature contains two Scenarios.
At the beginning, open a Test Suite in the Squish IDE that contains
script-based Squish tests that are planned to be migrated to BDD. Next, create a
new Test Case by choosing option from the
context menu. Each BDD Test Case contains a test.feature file
that can be filled with maximum one Feature. Next, open the
test.feature file to describe the Features
using the Gherkin language. Following the syntax from the template, edit the
Feature name and optionally provide a short description. Next,
analyze which actions and verifications are performed in the script-based Test Case that
need to be migrated. This is how an example test case for the
Elements application might look:
def main():
startApplication("Elements")
tapObject(waitForObject(names.search_UILabel), 179, 9)
test.compare(waitForObjectExists(names.name_Contains_UITextField).text, "")
function main() {
startApplication("Elements");
tapObject(waitForObject(names.searchUILabel), 179, 9);
test.compare(waitForObjectExists(names.nameContainsUITextField).text, "");
}
sub main {
startApplication("Elements");
tapObject(waitForObject($Names::search_uilabel), 179, 9);
test::compare(waitForObjectExists($Names::name_contains_uitextfield)->text, "");
}
def main
startApplication("Elements")
tapObject(waitForObject(Names::Search_UILabel), 179, 9)
test.compare(waitForObjectExists(Names::Name_Contains_UITextField).text, "")
end
proc main {} {
startApplication "Elements"
invoke tapObject [waitForObject $names::Search_UILabel] 179 9
test compare [property get [waitForObjectExists $names::Name_Contains_UITextField] text] ""
}
After analyzing the above Test Case we can create
the following Scenario and add it to
test.feature:
Scenario: Initial state of the search view
Given elements application is running
When I switch to the search view
Then the search field is empty
Next, right-click on the Scenario and choose the option
from the context menu. This
will create a skeleton of step definitions:
@Given("elements application is running")
def step(context):
test.warning("TODO implement elements application is running")
@When("I switch to the search view")
def step(context):
test.warning("TODO implement I switch to the search view")
@Then("the search field is empty")
def step(context):
test.warning("TODO implement the search field is empty")
Given("elements application is running", function(context) {
test.warning("TODO implement elements application is running");
});
When("I switch to the search view", function(context) {
test.warning("TODO implement I switch to the search view");
});
Then("the search field is empty", function(context) {
test.warning("TODO implement the search field is empty");
});
Given("elements application is running", sub {
my $context = shift;
test::warning("TODO implement elements application is running");
});
When("I switch to the search view", sub {
my $context = shift;
test::warning("TODO implement I switch to the search view");
});
Then("the search field is empty", sub {
my $context = shift;
test::warning("TODO implement the search field is empty");
});
Given("elements application is running") do |context|
Test.warning "TODO implement elements application is running"
end
When("I switch to the search view") do |context|
Test.warning "TODO implement I switch to the search view"
end
Then("the search field is empty") do |context|
Test.warning "TODO implement the search field is empty"
end
Given "elements application is running" {context} {
test warning "TODO implement elements application is running"
}
When "I switch to the search view" {context} {
test warning "TODO implement I switch to the search view"
}
Then "the search field is empty" {context} {
test warning "TODO implement the search field is empty"
}
Now we put code snippets from the script-based Test Case into respective
step definitions and remove the lines containing
test.warning. If your script-based Tests make use of shared scripts, you
can call those functions from the step definitions as well. For
example, the final result could look like this:
@Given("elements application is running")
def step(context):
startApplication("Elements")
@When("I switch to the search view")
def step(context):
tapObject(waitForObject(names.search_UILabel), 179, 9)
@Then("the search field is empty")
def step(context):
test.compare(waitForObjectExists(names.name_Contains_UITextField).text, "")
Given("elements application is running", function(context) {
startApplication("Elements");
});
When("I switch to the search view", function(context) {
tapObject(waitForObject(names.searchUILabel), 179, 9);
});
Then("the search field is empty", function(context) {
test.compare(waitForObjectExists(names.nameContainsUITextField).text, "");
});
Given("elements application is running", sub {
my $context = shift;
startApplication("Elements");
});
When("I switch to the search view", sub {
my $context = shift;
tapObject(waitForObject($Names::search_uilabel), 179, 9);
});
Then("the search field is empty", sub {
my $context = shift;
test::compare(waitForObjectExists($Names::name_contains_uitextfield)->text, "");
});
Given("elements application is running") do |context|
startApplication("Elements")
end
When("I switch to the search view") do |context|
tapObject(waitForObject(Names::Search_UILabel), 179, 9)
end
Then("the search field is empty") do |context|
Test.compare(waitForObjectExists(Names::Name_Contains_UITextField).text, "")
end
Given "elements application is running" {context} {
startApplication "Elements"
}
When "I switch to the search view" {context} {
invoke tapObject [waitForObject $names::Search_UILabel] 179 9
}
Then "the search field is empty" {context} {
test compare [property get [waitForObjectExists $names::Name_Contains_UITextField] text] ""
}
The above example was simplified for this tutorial. In order to take full advantage of Behavior Driven Testing in Squish, please familiarize yourself with the section Behavior Driven Testing (Section 6.19) in API Reference Manual (Chapter 6).
[14] Each AUT must be registered with the squishserver so that test scripts do not need to include the AUT's path, thus making the tests platform-independent. Another benefit of registering is that AUTs can be tested without the Squish IDE—for example, when doing regression testing.