General – Wiebe Elsinga

Functional testing for Android

W.Elsinga — Tue, 26 Nov 2013 02:18:52 +0000

Applying functional testing is not a new technique during the development of Java software. Writing functional tests gives you a good understanding about the stability of an application or system, during code modifications or if new features are added. But what about using functional testing when developing an Android application, it is also easy to achieve?

“And, is the application still works?” or “Is the application broken?”, these are questions that developers should be able to answer if a code change has been made or an improvement has been added. This is no different when developing an Android application. Also, the use of TDD (Test Driven Development), in which first the test is written, after which the code follows, is good practice. Automated functional testing has become part of software development. Using Selenium and Fitnesse for testing Java application, combined with Jenkins has become avery day pratice to most Java developers. So you would expect that this would differ during the development of Android app. Unfortunately this is not (yet) the case. Because of the relatively rapid growth of Android, these testing methods aren’t yet mature enough.

Lets look at four testing framework that can be used during Android app development:

How to install the specific framework is not part of this article. With the use of code examples pros and cons will be explained for the specific framework.

The Android application that is being tested is a simple calculator. The common test scenario we will be implementing is testing if ‘1’ + ‘3’ gives a result of ‘4’.

UIAutomator

The Google test framework UIAutomator makes it possible to write simple Java (and JUnit) functional tests. The framework is not tied to the application that needs to be tested, but also has access to the Android platform itself.
This makes it possible to adjust your Android emulator or physical phone settings while running your test(s). This means that you can test the behavior of the test application if, for example, the internet connection is being switched off.

UiObject allAppsButton = new UiObject(new UiSelector().description("Apps"));
allAppsButton.clickAndWaitForNewWindow();

UiObject appsTab = new UiObject(new UiSelector().text("Apps"));
appsTab.click();

UiScrollable appViews = new UiScrollable(new UiSelector().scrollable(true));
appViews.setAsHorizontalList();

UiObject calculatorApp = appViews.getChildByText(new UiSelector().className(android.widget.TextView.class.getName()), "Calculator app");
calculatorApp.clickAndWaitForNewWindow();

UiObject oneButton = new UiObject(new UiSelector().text("1"));
oneButton.click();

UiObject plusButton = new UiObject(new UiSelector().text("+"));
plusButton.click();

UiObject threeButton = new UiObject(new UiSelector().text("3"));
threeButton.click();

UiObject eqButton = new UiObject(new UiSelector().text("="));
eqButton.click();

UiObject text = new UiObject(new UiSelector().className("android.widget.EditText").text("4"));
assertTrue(text.exists());

Unfortunately there is little documentation available. Also the framework only supports Android 4.1 or higher.
In short:

Fully control device
Code written in Java
Extends JUnit framework
Easy to read
Only for Android 4.1 and higher
Little documentation available

Robolectric

The Java-based testing framework Robolectric is the best of the tested frameworks in terms of performance. This is because it is not running on a device or on the Android emulator, but uses his own visual UI simulator. As a result, the delaying factor of starting an emulator or installing the app on a device has no influence on running the test(s). This makes Robolectric a good choice for TDD.

@RunWith(RobolectricTestRunner.class)
public class MainActivityTest
{
private MainActivity _activity;

@Before
public void setUp() throws Exception
{
_activity = Robolectric.buildActivity(MainActivity.class).create().get();
}

@Test
public void testAdding() throws Exception
{
Button btnOne = (Button) _activity.findViewById(R.id.num_1);
Button btnAdd = (Button) _activity.findViewById(R.id.op_add);
Button btnThree = (Button) _activity.findViewById(R.id.num_3);
Button btnEquals = (Button) _activity.findViewById(R.id.op_equ);

btnOne.performClick();
btnAdd.performClick();
btnThree.performClick();
btnEquals.performClick();

EditText resultText = (EditText) _activity.findViewById(R.id.editText1);
assertEquals("4", resultText.getText().toString());
}
}

Because Robolectric uses a non-visual UI simulator its not possible to test a problem which only occurs on say a Samsung device.
In short:

Does not require emulator or device
Code written in Java
Extends JUnit framework
Fastest in terms of performance
Does not run on actual device

Robotium

The idea behind Robotium is that a functional test should description what the user sees and can do. This framework is a good choice if you are just “black box” testing your application. Besides extensive documentation, there are some well described examples available and the API is easy to use.

public class MainActivityTest extends ActivityInstrumentationTestCase2
{

private Solo _solo;

public MainActivityTest()
{
super(MainActivity.class);
}

@Override
protected void setUp() throws Exception
{
super.setUp();
_solo = new Solo(getInstrumentation(), getActivity());
}

public void testAdding()
{
_solo.assertCurrentActivity("Is app started", MainActivity.class);
_solo.clickOnButton("CLR");
_solo.clickOnButton("1");
_solo.clickOnButton("+");
_solo.clickOnButton("3");
_solo.clickOnButton("=");

EditText editText = (EditText) getActivity().findViewById(com.elsinga.calculator.R.id.editText1);
assertEquals("4", editText.getText().toString());
}
}

In short:

APIs are easy to use
Tests are text-based
Good for “black box” testing

Calabash-Android

Like Robotium, the functional tests described in Calabash Android is written as “What you see you test”. The only difference is that the tests are not written in Java, but in Cucumber (a text-based structure). This makes it possible that tests can be written/used by non developers. A drawback, because test(s) aren’t written in Java, is that “debugging” a failing test is not possible.

Feature: Adding

Scenario: add
I should see "1"
Then I press "1"
And I press "+"
And I press "3"
And I press "="
Then I see "4"

In short:

Well documented
Test(s) can be writen/used bij non developers
What you see, you test
‘Debuggen’ of tests isn’t possible

Conclusion

Functional testing of Android applications is possible. Which test framework you want to use, dependents on the what you want to do with it. To choice with one fits best, ask yourself who is going to make the tests, what needs to be tested and/or on which device the tests are running on.In any cast, there is enough choice to start writing functional tests.

Source code can be found here

It’s going to be a great year (I hope)

W.Elsinga — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 07:16:30 +0000

When starting a new year I always get the urge to rethink my goal, do doesn’t right!. Questions that go thru my mind are: am I still going where I want to go, do I need to change my direction, what will bring the new year. And like every year I can still say I’m going the right direction.
Like last year I’m hoping to give more talks on conferences, and visit others. And regarding our “side project”, the Dutch Android User Group things are going awesome. We are planning new meet-ups, and will turn into a Foundation.

So I hope I will see you soon at one of our meet-ups this year.

Android 4.2 minnor bug

W.Elsinga — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 08:02:14 +0000

Looks like Android 4.2. has a “minnor” Bug. They aren’t celebrating Christmas at Google because Android 4.2 lacks the month of December.

Must read: ItudeMobile

W.Elsinga — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 21:37:00 +0000

Did you look at the media channels of Itude Mobile already?. You don’t know Itude Mobile!

From 2005 Itude Mobile has provided mobile websites and mobile applications to a variety of organisations such as Cordys, BinckBank, Alex.nl and content providers such as Tonetastic. These applications and websites provide complex and highly integrated functions to consumers in a secure and user-friendly way.

Here are their channels

Goodbye Mr. Jobs

W.Elsinga — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 21:40:51 +0000

Apple’s website announces the sad news that Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs has passed away. Jobs was 56 years old, and had been struggling with complications related to pancreatic cancer over the past several years. Apple leaves the following message on their website in tribute to Jobs

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.

Functioneel Testen voor Android

W.Elsinga — Thu, 06 May 2010 03:49:40 +0000

Zoals vele collega’s ben ook ik bezig met het ontwikkelen van een Android applicatie. Na 4 uurtjes was daar toch mijn eerste Android app.
Ja en als goede software ontwikkelaar natuurlijk doet, unit-testen. Met JUnit de code getest. Maar ik wou ook de “frond-end” functionaliteit testen, en daar stookte het.

Tijdens mijn dagelijkse ontwikkel werkzaamheden maak ik Web applicaties en lever ik middels Selenium ook functionele testen op. Helaas ben ik tot de conclusie gekomen dat dit nog ontbreekt bij het ontwikkelen van Android applicaties.

Ik heb gekeken of Positron (een Google code project) iets is. Positron voorziet in het uitvoeren van Android Activiteiten om zodoende een test scenario na te spelen.
Ik heb ook gekeken naar Robotium. Dit is nou precies wat ik zoek, dus ben nu bezig om dit te gebruiken om functionele test te maken.

[qrcodetag/]

Twitter

W.Elsinga — Thu, 06 May 2010 01:40:44 +0000

Het is er dan toch van gekomen, ondergetekende zit nu ook op twitter.

Footballfans.eu

W.Elsinga — Thu, 06 May 2010 00:24:12 +0000

het WK voetbal komt eraan, mooi moment om eens te kijken welke site we in de gaten moeten houden als het gaat om uitslagen.
Oké, ik moet toegeven dat voetbal niet echt een sport is waar ik warm voor loop, maar ach het nationalisme neemt bij mij toe bij evenementen zoals het EK en WK. Dus dan moet ik natuurlijk bij blijven met de uitslagen.

De site footballfans.eu biedt perfect de mogelijkheid op uitslagen te volgen. Eigenlijk biedt deze site nog veel meer. In de tijd van social networks/communities is dit een perfect voorbeeld van hoe informatie wordt aangeboden voor (in dit geval) voetbal fans. Niet alleen de uitslagen, maar ook de beleving die een voetbal fan heeft met bijvoorbeeld de club komt hier voor tot zijn recht.

Zelfs foto’s tijdens wedstrijden kunnen ge-upload worden en zo deelt iedereen de beleving op dat moment.

God en de IT

W.Elsinga — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 23:30:07 +0000

Een opmerkelijk interview dat de makers van Podtech.net met zuster Zoebelein hebben geeft antwoordt hoe God denkt over de IT. Zuster Judith Zoebelein is sinds 1995 verantwoordelijk voor de website van het Vaticaan.

Een mooie opmerking is dat ze veel overeenkomsten ziet tussen IT en geloof. Ze heeft het over het mysterie van God en het mysterie van internet.

“Het mysterie van de mens is het mysterie van zijn Schepper. En internet is een uiting van dat mysterie.”

Play

Bronvermelding: Nu.nl (www.nu.nl), Podtech (www.podtech.net)