This article is for Robotium beginners.Robotium is a test automation tool for android application programmers.This presentation explains you basics of robotium and writing test cases for all UI components.

1. Robotium
Test FrameWork
-Sampath Muddineni

2. Session Agenda
• Robotium… What is it?
• Where to get it and how to set it up
• “Normal” Android unit testing background
• Why Robotium is needed
• Using Robotium
• Robotium Tips/Tricks/Issues
• Complimentary tools
• Further Resources
• Q&A

3. Robotium – what is it?
• An open source test framework
• Used to write black or white box tests (emphasis is on black box)
• White box testing – testing software that knows and tests the internal
structures or workings of an application
• Black box testing – testing software functionality without knowledge of an
application (perhaps where the source code is not even available)
• Tests can be executed on an Android Virtual Device (AVD) or real device
• Built on Java (and Android) and JUnit (the Android Test Framework)
• In fact, it may be more appropriate to call Robotium an extension to the
Android test framework

4. Robotium Project Setup
• Install and setup JDK
• Install and setup Eclipse (optional)
• Install and setup Android Standard Development Kit (SDK)
• Supports Android 1.6 (API level 4) and above
• Install and setup Android Development Tools (ADT) for Eclipse (optional)
• Create Android AVD or attach device by USB
• Create an Android Test Project
• Download Robotium JAR and add to project classpath
• robotium-solo-X.X.jar (version 3.6 the latest as of this writing)
• From code.google.com/p/robotium/downloads/list

5. Background-Android JUnit Testing
• Android testing is based on JUnit
• You create test suites, classes (test cases), methods
• Organize tests into a Android Test project
• No annotations
• Test case classes can extend good-old-fashion JUnit3 TestCase
• To call Android APIs, base class must extend AndroidTestCase
• Use JUnit Assert class to check/display test results
• Execute tests using an SDK provided InstrumentationTestRunner
• android.test.InstrumentationTestRunner
• Usually handled automatically via IDE

6. Android Test Architecture

7. Robotium Project Setup

8. The “App” Used to Demo Today
Name should be in format : Last name,First name
Email Should end with “.com”
Should choose atleast one radio button
Should contain only numbers
Should choose atleast one checkbox

9. Robotium Project Setup
• Prerequisites
• Install and setup JDK
• Install and setup Eclipse (optional)
• Install and setup Android Standard Development Kit (SDK)
• Supports Android 1.6 (API level 4) and above
• Install and setup Android Development Tools (ADT) for Eclipse (optional)
• Create Android AVD or attach device by USB
• Create an Android Test Project
• Download Robotium JAR and add to project classpath
• robotium-solo-X.X.jar (version 3.6 the latest as of this writing)

10. Example Junit Test

11. Example Junit Test (Continued)

12. Robotium Solo API
• Robotium is all baked into one class - Solo – with many methods:
• clickX methods: clickOnButton, clickOnImage, clickOnText,…
• clickLongX methods: clickLongInList, clickLongOnScreen, clickLongOnText,…
• enterText
• drag
• getX methods: getButton, getCurrentActivity, getImage, getEditText, …
• goBack
• isX methods: isCheckBoxChecked, isRadioButtonChecked,isSpinnerTextSelected,
isTextChecked,…
• pressX methods: pressMenuItem, pressMenuItem, pressSpinnerItem, …
• scrollX methods: scrollToTop, scrollToBottom, …
• searchX methods: searchButton, searchEditText, searchText, …
• waitForX methods: waitForActivity, waitForText, …

13. Some Robotium commands
• clickOnButton(String regex)
• clickInList(int line)
• enterText(int index, String text)
• searchText(String regex)
• clickOnMenuItem(String regex)
• getCurrentActivity()
• goBack(), goBackToActivity(String name)

14. Example Robotium commands
public void testAdd() {
solo.enterText(0, "5");
solo.enterText(1,"3");
solo.clickOnButton("Add");
assertTrue(solo.searchEditText("8.0"));
}

15. Tips / Tricks / Issues
Robotium (and all JUnit tests) operate in the
same process (DVM) as the original app
• Robotium only works with the activities and views within the defined app
• For example: Can’t use intent to launch another app and test activity work
from that app
The popup keyboard is accomplished with a
bitmap in Android
• Robotium (or any unit test software) doesn’t see the “keys” as buttons or
anything.

16. Tips / Tricks / Issues
Use waitFor methods liberally.
• Especially if new screen opens or changes to what is displayed are
occurring.
• The waitFor methods tell Robotium to wait for a condition to happen
before the execution continues.
public void testGoodLogin() {
solo.enterText(0, “username");
solo.enterText(1, “password");
String label = res.getString(R.string.login_button_label); solo.clickOnButton(label);
String title = res.getString(R.string.title_activity_systemv); solo.waitForText(title);
solo.assertCurrentActivity("systemv", SystemVActivity.class); solo.getCurrentActivity().finish();
}

17. Tips / Tricks / Issues
RadioButtons are Buttons, EditText are Text,
etc…
• Getting the proper widget by index can be more
difficult
• Use of index also makes the test case more brittle
due to potential layout changes
• Consider clickOnButton(“Clear”) vs.
clickOnButton(6)

18. Tips / Tricks / Issues
Resources in Android are at a premium
(especially when test cases and App code are
running in same DVM).
• Use solo.finishOpenedActivities() in your tearDown method.
• It closes all the opened activities.
• Frees resources for the next tests
• Robotium has some difficulty with animations
• Robotium doesn’t work with status bar notifications

19. Tips / Tricks / Issues
Black Box Testing (when all you have is the
APK file) is a little more tricky.
• Recall in the demo, the test application wants the main activity name?
public TestDataCollectionActivity() {
super(DataCollectionActivity.class);
}
• You may not know this for a 3rd party/black box app.
• You can get the activity name by loading the APK to an AVD or device, running it, and watching the
logcat.
• The APK file has to have the same certificate signature as the test project.
• Probably have to delete the signature and then resign the APK with the Android debug key
signature.
•It’s easier than it sounds.

20. Tips / Tricks / Issues
• Robotium can automatically take screenshots
• solo.takeScreenshot( )
• Robotium can be run from the command line (using adb shell)
• adb shell am instrument -w com.android.foo/android.test.InstrumentationTestRunner
• Robotium can test with localized strings
• solo.getString(localized_resource_string_id)
• Code coverage is a bit lackluster at this time
• Can be done with special ant task and command line tools
• Robotium does not work on Flash or Web apps.

21. Tips / Tricks / Issues
Benefits
● Easy to write, shorter code
● Automatic timing and delays
● Automatically follows current Activity
● Automatically finds Views
● Automatically makes own decisions
● when to scroll etc.
● No modification to Android platform
● Test execution is fast

22. Tips / Tricks / Issues
Required to know implementation details
● You often have to manually add Thread.sleep(500) to make tests work
● Large apps can be very complex to test
● Tests run slowly like if it would be done manually

23. Queriers??????????

24. Thank You