Platform Independent Automation

While evaluating function testing automation tool for my company, I faced a major problem. The tool had to be 'multi-platform'. Our application ran on Windows, Linux, Apple so does this means three diffrent tools, three diffrent scripts for each test case, triple effort. Luckily there was a solution and I found it in Eggplant (no not the vegitable).

TestPlant's User Interface Testing Automation Tool Eggplant, solves this problem as it works on the VnC (virtual network computing). It can be installed on Windows or Apple machine, and it connects to any OS through VnC. All the automation it does is on the VnC window, which is just like remote desktop in windows.

Like other automation tool this is neither dependent on the OS on which application is running nor on the technology the application is build on. How? This tool looks for the objects as images and finds these objects on the desktop image it recieves from VnC. For eg. if you want to search for an icon on the desktop. The image of that icon will be the object and the tool will look for the icon image within the desktop image.

What about Text? With the OCR capability build in it can read text from the remote machine, also if the text is selectable, it'll read it from the selection. The scripts can be written in an English-Like language called 'Sense Talk', which is although weird for a programmer, but good for testers who dont have much development experience. It also has an image doctor to handle changes in object between builds.

So far so good, although it has some amazing features I am still not sure about few things like

• Its text handling capabilities. I mean what if we have a data in the table on our SUT, can we access the data by using rows and column, something like ReadTextFromTable(2,4)? It will require extra handling.
  
• How will it search the object that are hidden by scrollbars, means I have to scroll to view the object? It Will this require extra handling
• What about controls like combo-boxes or listboxes, will it be able to select an item in combo-box like any other tool
• Other tools will work if the text on the button has changed but its name remains same, but this will not, you will need to recapture the object.
• What if my application needs to disconnect from the network between the test? This will result in disconnecting VnC connection.
  

All-in-all I was impressed with the idea. So impressed that my developer instinct forced me to write my own tool as an experiment on the same technology, let see how far I reach. Will keep you updated on that.