PyCharm's support for Robot Framework

Introduction

This article will show you how to run tests written in Robot Framework in PyCharm.

First, we will demonstrate the selection of Python interpreter , then editing the configuration

We will also consider support for Robot Framework syntax and imports in PyCharm

Support for .robot files

To highlight the syntax of .robot files and drill deeper into the code, simply install the Intellibot or Intellibot patched for Selenium plugin. In order to highlight the syntax of .robot files and be able to fall down deeper into the code, you previously had to install the Intellibot or Intellibot patched for Selenium plugin

They did good syntax highlighting, but did not allow you to fall down into keyword sources or Python libraries.

A modern solution to these problems is the Hyper RobotFramework Support plugin

Support for .resource files

If you need support for .resource files, PyCharm offered to install Robot Framework Language Server.

But with the advent of Hyper, this need disappeared.

Language Server had to be configured immediately after installation

Python interpreter

If you use the environment that is automatically created by PyCharm - continue working with it.

If you prefer to create your own virtual environment for Python - do it the way you are used to.

In this example, the environment was created using venv

python -m venv venv

If the interpreter is not selected yet:

In the lower right corner of the window PyCharm click

Add New Interpreter → Add Local Interpreter…

Select Existing in the Environment field and specify the path to the newly created virtual environment

C:\Users\Andrei\robot\venv\Scripts\python.exe

If the interpreter is not selected yet:

Click on the lower right corner of the window PyCharm

Click Add New Interpreter

Click Add Local Interpreter…

Select the interpreter from the drop-down list, or click …

Specify the path to python.exe from your virtual environment

The name of the interpreter should appear in the lower right corner

Installing Robot Framework

After the interpreter is selected , make sure that the Robot Framework itself is installed in it.

If the robot is not installed, install it either with the command

python -m pip install robotframework

Or through the interpreter settings:

Go to the interpreter settings either through the lower right corner or through

Settings → Project → Python Interpreter

Click +

In the search box, type robotframework

Click Install Package

Click Close

robotframework should appear in the list of installed packages

Running a simple test

Tests can be run in the PyCharm terminal by running the command

python -m robot my_test.robot

By a simple test we mean a test that does not import external resources and libraries. That is, it does not require manipulations with the system path .

To run tests using SHIFT + F10 or the button - you need to edit the file launch configuration

Edit Configurations…

If the configuration has not been set up it will be displayed as Current File

Click on the configuration name, for example, Current File

Select Edit Configurations…

Click +

Select Robot from the list

Name the configuration and select the desired interpreter

In the script field, click on file search

Specify the path to robot.exe from your virtual environment

C:\Users\Andrei\robot\venv\Scripts\robot.exe


Or specify the path to run.py

C:/Users/Andrei/robot/venv/Lib/site-packages/robot/run.py

In Script parameters specify the file before the test and click OK

Working directory will leave empty for now, we'll talk about it here

The configuration name should appear in the top panel of the PyCharm window, where Current File used to be

Now, if the test does not import external libraries, it can be run with one click on the button

Another example of setting up a configuration:

Open the desired .robot file and next to the start button select

Edit Configuration …

In PyCharm Community Edition I use the following settings

• Module name: robot.run - unfortunately I forgot why robot.run is here
• Script parameters: -v browser:chrome --test "*" C:/AutoTest/project/tests/robot/tests/demo.robot
• Environment:
  • Environment variables:
    • PYTHONPATH: C:\AutoTest\project\tests\robot\libraries,C:\AutoTest\project\gen-py,C:\AutoTest\project\tests\robot\resources
    • PYTHONBUFFERED: 1
  • Python interpreter: C:\AutoTest\project\venv\Scripts\python.exe
  • Working directory: C:\AutoTest\project
  • ✅ Add content roots to PYTHONPATH
  • ✅ Add source roots to PYTHONPATH

In PyCharm Professional, some fields have a different name or order.

• Name: demo.robot
• Run: C:\AutoTest\project\venv\Scripts\python.exe
• Script: C:/AutoTest/project/venv/Lib/site-packages/robot/run.py
• Script parameters: -v browser:chrome --test "*" C:/AutoTest/project/tests/robot/tests/demo.robot
• Working directory: C:\AutoTest\project
• Environment variables:
  
  PYTHONPATH: C:\AutoTest\project\tests\robot\libraries,C:\AutoTest\project\gen-py,C:\AutoTest\project\tests\robot\resources
  PYTHONBUFFERED: 1
• Add content roots to PYTHONPATH ✕
• Add source roots to PYTHONPATH ✕

Running tests with libraries

To proceed to configuring PyCharm to run robot tests, add all paths to libraries and resources to the interpreter.

File → Settings → Project → Project Interpreter →= ⌵ → Show all → Select the desired interpreter → There are five icons in the right toolbar, click the folder tree icon → + → Select the directory → OK

For example

C:\AutoTest\project\tests\robot\Libraries (added by user) C:\AutoTest\project\tests\robot\Resources (added by user) C:\AutoTest\project\tests\robot (added by user) C:\AutoTest\project\gen-py (added by user)

Running tests with options

To use test run options in PyCharm, for example, --include they must be specified in the configuration

Working directory

Using Working directory, you can specify the directory from which tests will be run.

This can be useful if you decide to run tests intended for running in a CI/CD pipeline. For example, in Jenkins or GitHub Actions

These tests can rely on a specific directory on the runner. For example:

# common.py from robot.libraries.BuiltIn import BuiltIn _built_in = BuiltIn() def get_robot_variable(variable_name: str) -> Any: return _built_in.get_variable_value("${" + variable_name + "}") N_FTR_RSRCS: Path = Path(get_robot_variable("EXECDIR")).joinpath("xyz", "Resources", "n_ftr")

The code above assumes that the tests are run from a directory parent to xyz. It is not specified explicitly, but let's assume that it is autotests.

If the robot is located in the project structure so that it sees, for example, a directory parent to autotests as EXECDIR, then a space will appear in the path.

repo_name | `--autotests | |-- __init__.py | `-- xyz | |-- __init__.py | `-- Resources | `-- n_ftr `-- venv

The error that Python will return will look something like this:

FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory

To avoid it, you need to explicitly specify the path to autotests in the Working directory