Test Automation using Selenium

(A Guide for Beginners)

1. Introduction

Selenium is an open-source tool that is used for

test automation. It is licensed under Apache

License 2.0. Selenium is a suite of tools that

helps in automating only web applications.

The purpose of this document is to describe

standards to be followed when designing and

developing framework code. This document will

help ensure consistency across the code,

resulting in increased usability and

maintainability of the developed code. This

document provides test automation guidelines to

leverage Selenium WebDriver features to foster

a continuous, consistent and standard

automation approach.

Pre-Requisite:

Ensure you have java installed in your

system.

Download Eclipse

Download Test-NG Plug-in and install it.

2. Scope

This tutorial is designed for software testing

professionals who would like to learn the basics

of Selenium through practical examples. The

tutorial contains enough ingredients to get you

started with Selenium from where you can take

yourself to higher levels of expertise.

3. Selenium Suit

Selenium IDE - Selenium Integrated

Development Environment (IDE) is a Firefox

plugin that lets testers to record their actions as

they follow the workflow that they need to test.

Selenium RC - Selenium Remote Control (RC)

was the flagship testing framework that allowed

more than simple browser actions and linear

execution. It makes use of the full power of

programming languages such as Java, C#, PHP,

Python, Ruby and PERL to create more complex

tests.

Selenium WebDriver - Selenium WebDriver is

the successor to Selenium RC which sends

commands directly to the browser and retrieves

results.

Selenium Grid - Selenium Grid is a tool used to

run parallel tests across different machines and

different browsers simultaneously which results

in minimized execution time.

4. Framework Design and development

Fig 1.0

Driver: Driver block is responsible to initilise all the required objects to run the script. For example: WebDriver Object or Properties object. Pages: Pages are representation of functionalities presented in AUT pages in form of java classes.

Test Scenario: Test scenarios are actual test cases written in TestNG framework.

Configuration Files: Configuration files, or config files configure the initial settings for Automation like URL for Applicaiton under Test (AUT), User name, password etc.

Recovery: While executing the Selenium scripts, we might get some Unexpected errors. In order to recover the test and continue executing the rest of the script from these unexpected errors,

Recovery Scenarios are used.

HTML reports: TestNG has the ability to generate reports in HTML format and by default; it generates a different type of report for its test execution. This includes an HTML and an XML report output. Without TestNG, Static HTML

report can also be created where the HTML tag with information can be written in a HTML page.

5. Naming Conventions

Data Type Prefix Example

Boolean bln blnFlag

Integer int intCount

Long lng lngRowNumber

Double dbl dblWeight

Object obj objCurrent

Single sng sngPosition

String str strCurPage

Array arr arrCellData

Variant vnt vntPropValue

User-Defined Type udt udtTransaction

Scope Prefix Example

Global g gStrAppPath

Module-Level m mintRowCount

Static s svntFlag

Variable Passed by r rintValue

Reference

Variables Passed byv vintValue

Values

Local to the None strCurPage

Function

The constant names should be initial capped with

underscores between words as shown in the

following example : gstrApplication_Path

6. Activities

The following major activities in each phase of automation must be estimated.

Automation Initiation

Tool/Framework Feasibility Study

Environment Setup

POC

Framework Design/Implement

Design and Implement Various Framework Components

Testing the Framework Components and End to End Testing

Training Resources on the Framework/Tool

Environment Setup

Training

Training Resources on the Framework/Tool

Script Development Phase

Script Creation

Script Debugging

Script Review

Review Comments Incorporation

Script Execution Phase

Environment Setup

Result Analysis

7. Functions

Names:

The function name should start with def followed

by the name of the function.

When arguments are passed to the function, the

variable naming standards should indicate

whether it is passed by value or passed by

reference.

Example: def GetObject (strObjectname)

Header:

The function or procedure header should contain

the following:

Name of the project

Name of the function

Name of the author

Description of the function/procedure

Date of creation

List of input parameters with their description

Name of the person modifying it

Date of modification

Example:

************************************************** #Project Name : Test #Function Name : importdata.rb()

#Author : Open Source

#Description : This function handles the Suite Run, Object Repository, Keyword Driver and creating Reports.

#Date of creation :

#Input Parameters:

#Name of person modifying: Tester #Date of modification:

**************************************************

8. Function Complexity Framework code should be designed and developed with minimal possible loops and conditions for reduced complexity and enhanced maintainability.

9. Function Structures The following tips provide guidance for creating easy-to-read and easy-to-maintain code.

Modularize the code for increased reusability and reduced redundancy.

Code should be well-indented with tabs. (Tab width should be 4).

Values passed and returned to the functions should use simple variables.

Reduce the use of global variables within the function. The scope of the variable should be decided based on the standards.

10. Comment Standards

6.1 Framework Code Header Comments

The framework code header should contain the following:

The copyright and proprietary information

Name of the framework code

Author of the code

Name of the reviewer

Date of creation

Version number

Every change to the framework code should be documented in the modification history. A modification history should contain the following:

Name of the person who changed the code

Date of change

Version

Changed function/event

Change description

6.2 Line Comments

Significant lines in the code should be provided with inline comments to better explain the line of code's purpose and make it easier for subsequent developers to understand the code faster and more thoroughly.

Example:

#Open the Object Repository Excel sheet @@ObjBook= @@excel.workbooks.open(@@Object_Rep)

11. General Guidelines

a. Use an ampersand (&) for concatenating

strings instead of +.

b. Set the objects to nothing for cleaning

the memory.

c. Declare only one variable in a line.

d. There should not be more than 80

characters per line.

e. The code should be properly indented.

f. Declare variables using appropriate data

types.

g. Avoid using the variant data type.

h. Use procedures instead of functions if

there is no return value.

References

1. http://www.seleniumhq.org 2. http://www.qaautomation.net 3. http://mestachs.wordpress.com/2012/08/

13/selenium-best-practices

Vamsi Mohan is a research scholar in

Scope management, India. He is an

architect and consultant, managed end to

end development of multinational

projects. An extensive experience in full

project lifecycle, software development,

application design and architecture,

documentation and project planning,

database design, systems analysis and

database optimization, conversion &

integration, technical support; testing and

implementation of various strategies in

BFSI, CRM and Telecom domains.PH-

919901261246. E-mail:

vamsi.mohan@yahoo.co.in