Architecture of Robot Framework tests

Introduction

In this article, you can learn the basics of Robot Framework test architecture.

It is assumed that you know the material of the article «Robot Framework Basics»

The official recommendations for the project structure can be studied here

Custom Keywords

Let's start by creating our own keywords inside the same file with tests.

robot/ `-- Tests `-- ebay `-- BasicSearch.robot

You can declare your own keywords in the Keywords section.

In this case, the Test Case will be shorter and easier to read.

*** Settings *** Documentation Basic Search Functionality Library SeleniumLibrary *** Variables *** *** Test Cases *** Verify basic search functionality for eBay [Documentation] This test case verifies the basic search [Tags] Functional Start TestCase Verify Search Results Finish TestCase *** Keywords *** Start TestCase Open Browser https://www.ebay.com chrome Input Text //*[@id="gh-ac"] mobile Verify Search Results Click Element id:gh-btn Page Should Contain results for mobile Finish TestCase Close Browser

robot -d results Tests/eBay/BasicSearch.robot

The -d option specifies the directory in which the log.html , output.xml and report.html

============================================================================== BasicSearch :: Basic Search Functionality ============================================================================== Verify basic search functionality for eBay :: This test case verif... DevTools listening on ws://127.0.0.1:65225/devtools/browser/bf56f09f-36d7-45c1-80a8-88687db70932 Verify basic search functionality for eBay :: This test case verif... | PASS | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ BasicSearch :: Basic Search Functionality | PASS | 1 test, 1 passed, 0 failed ============================================================================== Output: /home/andrei/robot/Tests/ebay/results/output.xml Log: /home/andrei/robot/Tests/ebay/results/log.html Report: /home/andrei/robot/Tests/ebay/results/report.html

.resource

In modern versions of Robot Framework, files that contain keywords but are not intended to run tests themselves are usually created with the .resource extension

Unlike libraries, a resource cannot be renamed using as when imported.

The discussion about adding this feature is underway in issue 2104

From the official documentation it follows that .resource is now preferable to .robot

Resource files can use the .robot extension as well, but using the dedicated .resource extension is recommended and may be mandated in the future.

Files containing non-ASCII characters must be saved using the UTF-8 encoding.

Move Keywords to separate file

Storing everything in one file quickly becomes inconvenient.

It is recommended to leave the tests themselves in a file with the extension .robot , you can leave the original BasicSearch.robot and divide Keywords into two groups - general and related to the project.

In Robot Framework, a special extension is used for these purposes .resource which you can read about in the previous paragraph

The project structure with separate resources will look like this original way:

robot/ |-- Resources | |-- CommonFunctionality.resource | `-- eBayUserDefinedKeywords.resource `-- Tests `-- ebay `-- BasicSearch.robot

BasicSearch.robot

*** Settings *** Documentation Basic Search Functionality Resource ../../Resources/CommonFunctionality.resource Resource ../../Resources/eBayUserDefinedKeywords.resource *** Variables *** *** Test Cases *** Verify basic search functionality for eBay [Documentation] This test case verifies the basic search [Tags] Functional Start TestCase Verify Search Results Finish TestCase

Please note that in the file BasicSearch.robot you no longer need to include SeleniumLibrary and write Keywords

In the file CommonFunctionality.resource we will take out such common actions as opening the browser, closing the browser, and so on

*** Settings *** Library SeleniumLibrary *** Keywords *** Start TestCase Open Browser https://www.ebay.com chrome Maximize Browser Window Finish TestCase Close Browser

Pay attention to line 3. Custom keys contain keys from the SeleniumLibrary library, so it needs to be connected in the settings.

In the file eBayUserDefinedKeywords.resource we will put everything that relates specifically to this project

*** Settings *** Library SeleniumLibrary *** Keywords *** Verify Search Results Input Text //*[@id="gh-ac"] mobile Click Element id:gh-btn Page Should Contain results for mobile Filter Results By Condition Mouse Over //*[@id="w7"] Sleep 3s Mouse Down //*[@id="w7"]/div/ul/li[2] Click Element //*[@id="w7"]/div/ul/li[2] Verify Filter Results Element Should Contain //*[@id="srp-river-results-query_answer1-w0-x-carous

robot -d results Tests/eBay/BasicSearch.robot

If you get an error No keyword with name 'Start TestCase' found

- make sure that at the beginning BasicSearch.robot you specified the correct path to the files using Resourse CommonFunctionality.resource , eBayUserDefinedKeywords.resource

*** Settings *** Documentation Basic Search Functionality Resource ../../Resources/CommonFunctionality.resource Resource ../../Resources/eBayUserDefinedKeywords.resource

Test Setup and Test Teardown

The code from the previous example will work fine if successful.

However, if the result is FAIL, the browser will not close automatically.

To save yourself the trouble of cleaning up the environment in case of failure, use Test Setup and Test Teardown

*** Settings *** Documentation Basic Search Functionality Resource ../../Resources/CommonFunctionality.robot Resource ../../Resources/eBayUserDefinedKeywords.robot Test Setup Start TestCase Test Teardown Finish TestCase *** Variables *** *** Test Cases *** Verify basic search functionality for eBay [Documentation] This test case verifies the basic search [Tags] Functional Verify Search Results Filter Results By Condition Verify Filter Results

Explicitly specify the source of the keyword

If user keys are repeated in different files, a conflict is possible.

To avoid this, you can explicitly specify the source of your Keyword.

eBayUserDefinedKeywords.Verify Search Results eBayUserDefinedKeywords.Filter Results By Condition eBayUserDefinedKeywords.Verify Filter Results

Include your Python library

Basics

Robot Framework allows you to do a lot of complex tests without going beyond the .robot files.

However, I am one of those RF users who prefer to shift the main load to Python libraries, and keep .robot files as simple as possible.

Libraries are usually stored in the lib, libraries, lib, Libraries, and similar directories. You can import by specifying a relative path.

In my experience, in Linux systems, you don't need to specify .py after the library. I will do this first for clarity and compatibility.

*** Settings *** Library ../libraries/app.py

If the library has a function some_name(), then it should be called from the robot without brackets, replacing the underscore with a space and making the first letters of words capital - that is, like Some Name

Simple example

Let's look at a simple example: a Python library issues one or another url. Robot will check the title.

In the part the test runs will be PASS, in the part FAIL

ext_py_lib/ |-- browser |-- libraries | `-- unstable_url.py `-- tests `-- test_title.robot

from random import randrange def get_unstable_url() -> str: if randrange(2) == 1: return "https://www.urn.su" else: return "https://www.heihei.ru"

*** Settings *** Documentation Example that opens single page Library Browser ... enable_playwright_debug=${True} ... auto_closing_level=TEST ... retry_assertions_for=0:00:03 Library ../libraries/unstable_url.py Force Tags ui *** Variables *** *** Keywords *** Test Setup Tasks Start Chromium Browser Test Teardown Tasks Close Browser Start Chromium Browser New Browser browser=chromium headless=True New Context viewport={'width': 1920, 'height': 1080} ignoreHTTPSErrors=True *** Test Cases *** Starting a browser with a page [Tags] title ${url} = Get Unstable Url New Page ${url} Get Title == URN.SU Close Browser

robot tests

============================================================================== Tests ============================================================================== Tests.Test Title :: Example that opens single page ============================================================================== Starting a browser with a page | PASS | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tests.Test Title :: Example that opens single page | PASS | 1 test, 1 passed, 0 failed ============================================================================== Tests | PASS | 1 test, 1 passed, 0 failed ============================================================================== Output: C:\Users\Andrei\robot\ext_py_lib\output.xml Log: C:\Users\Andrei\robot\ext_py_lib\log.html Report: C:\Users\Andrei\robot\ext_py_lib\report.html

robot tests

============================================================================== Tests ============================================================================== Tests.Test Title :: Example that opens single page ============================================================================== Starting a browser with a page | FAIL | Title 'HeiHei.ru' (str) should be 'URN.SU' (str) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tests.Test Title :: Example that opens single page | FAIL | 1 test, 0 passed, 1 failed ============================================================================== Tests | FAIL | 1 test, 0 passed, 1 failed ============================================================================== Output: C:\Users\Andrei\robot\ext_py_lib\output.xml Log: C:\Users\Andrei\robot\ext_py_lib\log.html Report: C:\Users\Andrei\robot\ext_py_lib\report.html

For information on how to add the ability to write to the robot log and/or console for Python functions, read here

Path to libraries

In the previous example, the libraries were in the libraries directory and the tests were in tests so the library import looked like this original way

Library ../libraries/unstable_url.py

If subdirectories appear in the tests directory, the import from there will look like

Library ../../libraries/unstable_url.py

or even like this

Library ../../../libraries/unstable_url.py

To avoid relative import, you can use one of the methods described below

--pythonpath

Using the --pythonpath option, you can temporarily add the path to the libraries to PYTHONPATH

Starting with this example, we will specify the libraries without .py

Library unstable_url

robot --pythonpath /c/Users/Andrei/robot/ext_py_lib/libraries test_unstable_title.robot

--argumentfile

To avoid entering the path manually, you can save it in the so-called argumentfile

Let's create a file all_arguments.robot and add the following code there

--pythonpath /c/Users/Andrei/robot/ext_py_lib/libraries test_unstable_title.robot

To use this file, we will use the --argumentfile option.

robot --argumentfile all_arguments.robot test_unstable_title.robot

Official documentation

Dockerfile

If your environment is created using Docker , then the path to the libraries can be specified in Dockerfile

An example that works in one of my projects:

… ENV TEST_DIR=/opt ENV PYTHON_DIR=/user/local/bin/python ENV ROBOT_RESOURCES=/opt/robot/src/resources ENV ROBOT_LIBRARIES=/opt/robot/src/libraries ENV PYTHONPATH=$TEST_DIR:$PYTHON_DIR:$ROBOT_RESOURCES:$ROBOT_LIBRARIES …

More complex example

Example of testing Desktop application using the library PyWinAuto you can study here

Related Articles
	Robot Framework
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	Logs
	__init__.robot
	Create custom .py libs
	Path to libs and resources
	Keyword as decorator
	Template
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	Demo with pywinauto