Robot Framework
| Developer(s) | Pekka Klärck, Janne Harkonen et. al. |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 2.6.3
/ September 30, 2011 |
| Repository | |
| Written in | Python |
| Operating system | Cross-platform |
| Type | Software testing tool |
| License | Apache License 2.0 |
| Website | www |
The Robot Framework is a generic test automation framework for acceptance testing and acceptance test-driven development (ATDD). It has easy-to-use tabular test data syntax and utilizes the keyword-driven testing approach.[1]
Test cases are persisted in plain text or HTML files and can be edited with any text editor. There is also a graphical tool, the so called Robot IDE (RIDE)[2]. It offers additional features like code completion and much more.
History
The basic ideas for the Robot Framework were shaped in the Pekka Klärcks master thesis[3] in 2005. A first version was developed at Nokia Siemens Networks in the same year. Version 2.0 was released as open source on June 24, 2008.
The framework is written using the Python programming language and has an active community. It is released under Apache License 2.0 and can be downloaded from the project's homepage.
Add-ons
There are a lot of extensions to the Robot Framework, e.g. the SeleniumLibrary[4] for testing web applications.
These libraries are best implemented in Python, but using Java is also possible.
Examples
The following test case implements a Hello World example:
| Log | Hello World |
Log is a build-in keyword that logs the given parameter to the test report generated by the Robot Framework.
With the help of the SeleniumLibrary[4], writing tests for web applications is very easy too:
| Open Browser | http://www.google.com | ie |
| Input Text | id=lst-ib | Robot Framework |
| Click Button | Google Search |
This test opens a new browser window and performs an internet search.