Automation testing helps the application developers to closely integrate the development, testing, and production process. With this advanced testing mechanism, app developers can perform the development and testing stages simultaneously. Automation testing also has a critical role in improving the efficiency of debugging and troubleshooting cases. While the app developers are working on mobile testing tools like Appium, they can massively utilize the troubleshooting and debugging processes of automation testing. Moreover, the integration of advanced cloud platforms like LambdaTest further boosts the accuracy and dependability of these reports.
So, with this article, we are going to vividly describe how app developers can troubleshoot and debug the Appium test cases with LambdaTest. We will also understand some of the major benefits of this process and how the application developers can implement certain practices for utilizing the full potential of the test environment.
Master Troubleshooting and Debugging with LambdaTest
The Basics of Automation Testing
As the name suggests, it is the process of eliminating human involvement in the application testing process. Instead, the system will use a text file with predetermined parameters for emulating various forms of human communication. Based on these communications, the system will analyze the usability and stability of the application undergoing the development process. It is also possible to make significant changes in the test file for customizing the test cases according to the requirements of the app development project.
Now let us understand how the integration of automation testing can benefit the process of Debugging and Troubleshooting:
- With the help of test automation, the App developers can maintain an activity log to refer back to all the bugs and errors that have been detected in the core framework of the application.
- Automation testing helps the application developers to massively improve the test coverage and thus boosts the compatibility of the application during the debugging process.
- With the help of automation testing, it is possible to integrate continuous development and continuous integration for improving the synchronization with the testing and development teams. This integration further boosts the test analysis, debugging, and troubleshooting process.
- The process of test automation helps integrate parallel testing that further boosts the efficiency of the test cases allowing the app developers to conduct thousands of different test instances in just a few days.
Understanding Appium
Appium is an automation testing tool for verifying the proper performance of all the user interface elements present in a modern mobile app. The app developers can also verify the functioning of various mobile applications like native apps, hybrid apps, and mobile-based web apps. Appium uses a JSON wire protocol that is similar to the native JSON protocol used by the Selenium WebDriver. App developers can use parallel test execution with Appium testing to improve the efficiency of the test cases. Finally, while using this tool, it is possible to test the functioning of multiple mobile apps like Android, iOS, and even Windows apps.
Elaborating LambdaTest and Its Integration with Appium
Real device testing plays a critical role while working with mobile applications. However, the process of setting up and maintaining a real device testing lab is very expensive and hectic. Instead, the app developers can use various platforms like LambdaTest that provide access to real devices through cloud servers. Some of the other benefits of LambdaTest include the eradication of geolocation barriers and the integration of legacy devices.
With the help of LambdaTest real device testing cloud, the app developers can verify the app test cases on more than 3000+ real devices. LambdaTest uses parallel test execution to improve the efficiency of the Appium test cases. With the help of this platform’s real device cloud, app developers can access a secure and reliable testing platform for running the core test cases. LambdaTest also helps the developers with performing the troubleshooting and debugging processes on the test reports. This is because LambdaTest maintains a real-time activity log with multiple screenshots, videos, and test logs. Thus, app developers can quickly detect faulty elements and take accessory actions.
Now let us understand how the LambdaTest cloud benefits the process of Appium testing:
- While using LambdaTest real device cloud, the app developers can run the Appium test cases from anywhere in the world.
- This platform also allows the application developers to initiate multiple test instances on different configurations and machines at the same time.
- The LambdaTest real device cloud stores the test reports of previous test cases so that the app developers can always refer to them whenever they are rolling out an update to the application.
- The application developers can integrate multiple bug detector and tracker tools into the LambdaTest API to keep track of all the bugs and errors. LambdaTest also generates very visually appealing test reports that can be understood by even the non-technical teams of an app development company.
Importance of Troubleshooting and Debugging Appium Test Cases
Appium test cases work on mobile applications that can vary in multiple formats. For instance, mobile apps can have different screen sizes and resolutions hardware, and software configurations. Therefore, it is very common for test cases to have errors due to the misplacement of elements or other functional issues. So, the developers must pay proper attention to the troubleshooting and debugging processes. It will help them to ensure that the core framework of the app is devoid of all errors. This process in turn ensures a stable application to build a positive image for the company.
A Guide to Troubleshoot and Debug Appium Tests with LambdaTest
For troubleshooting and debugging Appium tests with LambdaTest, the app developers have to first integrate Appium with LambdaTest. So, we have created a guide with a few simple steps that will not only help complete this integration but also run the troubleshooting and debugging processes. They are as follows:
1. Ensuring the Desired Capabilities
The first step in this process is for the application developers to ensure that all their desired capabilities are properly configured in the app infrastructure. Some of the most important parameters include the specification of the browser, device, platform, and other settings. It is very important to remember that incorrect capabilities can lead to the failure of the test cases.
2. Verification of Test Scripts
Double-clicking on the test scripts will allow the application developers to access the syntax of the test. It will display all the syntax errors or the logical issues that are causing the test case to fail during the execution process. The use of appropriate locators will allow the app developers to ensure that they are interacting with the correct elements of the app.
3. Adding Explicit Waits
The app developers can use explicit waits to ensure the system automatically pauses the test cases until the execution of the previous element. This process helps to eliminate errors like false positives and false negatives. App developers have to enter the following code for initiating Explicit waits. However, this code will change depending on the preferred programming language of the developers.
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By
from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait
from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC
# Wait for an element to be visible before performing an action
wait = WebDriverWait(driver, 10) element = wait.until(EC.visibility_of_element_located((By.ID, “elementId”))) element.click()
4. Capturing Screenshots During Failures
Whenever a test case fails, the application developers can capture screenshots. This will help them to maintain a visual representation of the current status of the application. So, during the debugging process with Appium, they can easily track this element.
5. Use of Appium Inspectors
With the help of Appium Inspector, the application developers can easily identify and locate the elements present in the test case. It is very easy to integrate the Appium inspector with the LambdaTest API. The Code is as follows:
# Launch the app
desired_caps = { “platformName”: “Android”, “deviceName”: “deviceName”, “appPackage”: “appPackage”, “appActivity”: “appActivity” } driver = webdriver.Remote(lambda_url, desired_caps)
# Identify elements using Appium Inspector and use the locators in your test script
6. Logging the Test information
The application developers need to log the test information during the execution of the Appium test cases. This process will help the application developers to track back the status and progress of the app during their troubleshooting process.
def test_login(): print(“Starting login test…”)
try:
# Test steps
print(“Login successful.”) except Exception as e: print(f”Login failed: {e}”)
raise e
7. Inspecting the elements with LambdaTest Screenshot Features
The application developers can use LambdaTest’s screenshot feature to capture the current status of the application during the Appium test case execution process. This process will help the app developers automatically maintain a real-time activity log about the current status of the app. For this process the app developer simply has to enter the following code in the database:
def test_element_visibility(): element = driver.find_element(By.ID, “elementId”) if not element.is_displayed():
# Capture a screenshot
driver.save_screenshot(“element_not_visible.png”)
It is also important to refer to the official documentation and information of both LambdaTest and Appium to gather relevant information regarding the troubleshooting and debugging processes. This is because there are certain methods specific to Appium that might be useful regarding the customized requirements of the project. We also advise the developers to go through the sample tests that are featured on the LambdaTest website. This will help them to understand all the options available with LambdaTest. One of the best practices is to rerun the test cases whenever the app developers roll out any update to the core framework of the app. This is because, with this process, it is possible to ensure that the new features do not hamper the functioning of the already existing elements.
Lastly, all the code snippets that we mentioned in this article are meant to create a generalized idea. So, the developers will need to adapt these code snippets based on the customized requirements of their application, testing framework, and programming language.
The Conclusion
With this article, we discovered the process of performing troubleshooting and debugging Appium tests with LambdaTest. We also analyzed the importance of automation testing in the modern application development life cycle. In this regard, we would advise the application developers to constantly update their knowledge regarding all the innovations and trends in this market. We will also advise the app developers to collect adequate information about the requirements of their target audience. This will be very valuable data that will help customize the application accordingly. Finally, while choosing the automation testing tool the app must consider the requirements of their project and their preferences. This idea will allow them to pick the correct tool that will help them to use the full potential of their testing environment.
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