Robot Framework Object Builder POC

Table of Contents

• Robot Framework Object Builder POC
  • Table of Contents
  • Preface
  • Core Registry Structure
  • Register an App
    • Variables
    • Example Usage
  • Register Urls
  • Register Users
  • Register Pages
  • Object Registry
    • Folder Structure
    • YAML File Example
    • Object Builder Locator Strategies
  • Definition Registry
    • Folder Structure

Preface

This project demonstrates a Page Object builder approach enabling easy ability to add new page element locators and maintain existing locators. It's also possible to add element definitions which provides the paramters for asserting given elements within the app under test. It's easy to add new sites, pages and page objects.

Core Registry Structure

Below attempts to illustrate the core file structure utilised when registering new apps, pages, objects and definitions

└───Settings
│   │  _Settings.robot
│   │  AppRegistry.py
│   │
│   └───DataSets
│   │  │
│   │  └───ChallengingDom
│   │  │   │   
│   │  │   └───Dev
│   │  │   │   _DatasetRegistry.robot
│   │  │   │   MainPageDefinitions.yaml
│   │  │   │   UrlRegistry.yaml
│   │  │   │   UserRegistry.yaml
│   │  │   │
│   │  │   └───Staging
│   │  │   │   _DatasetRegistry.robot
│   │  │   │   MainPageDefinitions.yaml
│   │  │   │   UrlRegistry.yaml
│   │  │   │   UserRegistry.yaml
│   │  │   │
│   │  │   └───UAT
│   │  │   │   _DatasetRegistry.robot
│   │  │   │   MainPageDefinitions.yaml
│   │  │   │   UrlRegistry.yaml
│   │  │   │   UserRegistry.yaml
│   │  │   │
│   │  └───SwagLabs
│   │  │   │
│   │  │   └───Dev
│   │  │   │   _DatasetRegistry.robot
│   │  │   │   LoginPageDefinitions.yaml
│   │  │   │   ProductsPageDefinitions.yaml
│   │  │   │   ShoppingCartPageDefinitions.yaml
│   │  │   │   UrlRegistry.yaml
│   │  │   │   UserRegistry.yaml
│   │  │   │
│   │  │   └───Staging
│   │  │   │   _DatasetRegistry.robot
│   │  │   │   LoginPageDefinitions.yaml
│   │  │   │   ProductsPageDefinitions.yaml
│   │  │   │   ShoppingCartPageDefinitions.yaml
│   │  │   │   UrlRegistry.yaml
│   │  │   │   UserRegistry.yaml
│   │  │   │
│   │  │   └───UAT
│   │  │   │   _DatasetRegistry.robot
│   │  │   │   LoginPageDefinitions.yaml
│   │  │   │   ProductsPageDefinitions.yaml
│   │  │   │   ShoppingCartPageDefinitions.yaml
│   │  │   │   UrlRegistry.yaml
│   │  │   │   UserRegistry.yaml
│
└───Resources
│   │
│   └───PO   
│       └───ObjectRegistry
│       │   └───ChallengingDom
│       │   │   │   MainPage.yaml 
│       │   │   
│       │   └───SwagLabs
│       │       │   LoginPage.yaml
│       │       │   ProductsPage.yaml
│       │
│       └───PageRegistry
│       │   │   _ChallengingDomVariables.robot
│       │   │   _SwagLabsVariables.robot

---

Register an App

\\Settings\AppRegistry.py

Variables

Variable	Description
app3	Dictionary containing the setting variables for core app values
default_page	The landing page of the app, name can be personal preference but will be referenced in further stages
dynamic_url_contains	Partial text of a dynamic url, None if App doesn't have dynamic pages
dynamic_page_name	Name reference for dynamic page, personal preference but will be referenced in further stages

---

Example Usage

In the below example, "ExampleApp" in get_variables() is the ${target_app} this variable can be set at command line e.g. robot -d reports -v target_app:ExampleApp -t "My Test Case" .

app3 = {
    'default_page': 'MainPage',
    'dynamic_url_contains': None,
    'dynamic_page_name': None
    }

def get_variables(arg):
    if arg == 'SwagLabs':
        return app1
    elif arg == 'ChallengingDom':
        return app2
    elif arg == 'ExampleApp':
        return app3

---

Register Urls

\\Settings\DataSets\{target_app}\{environment}\UrlRegistry.yaml

URL's are registered at the App -> Environment level within a Dataset, because of this, it is important that the ${target_app} and ${environment} variables match with the folder structure.

Property	Description
BaseUrl	Takes a set of target app names as key and main url as values
UrlsToPages	Maps page urls to a page name, page names can be personal preference but will be referenced in further stages.

Each url key/value should be entered under target app name as below:

BaseUrl:
  ExampleApp: https://www.example_app.com/
UrlsToPages:
  MainPage: BaseUrl
  ExamplePage: example_page
  AnotherExamplePage: hello_world.html

---

Register Users

\\Settings\DataSets\{target_app}\{environment}\UserRegistry.yaml

For registering new users. Add a login type such as Default, Locked, Invalid etc. The user names and passwords will go under the user types as per the example below.

UserLogins:
  Default:
    UserName: standard_user
    Password: secret_sauce
  Locked: 
    UserName: locked_out_user
    Password: secret_sauce
  Problem:
    UserName: problem_user
    Password: secret_sauce
  Glitched:
    UserName: performance_glitch_user
    Password: secret_sauce 

---

Register Pages

\\PO\PageRegistry\_ExampleAppVariables.robot

Add a file e.g. _ExampleAppVariables.robot to the PageRegistry - This will contain references to yaml files (Page Object and Definition files). Note the name of the file is important, it should be prefixed with underscore followed by the target app name and suffixed with "Variables" e.g. "_${target_app}Variables.robot"

The contents of the file will reference yaml variable files for element definitions (contains a "blueprint" of the types of values to assert for specified objects) and page objects (yaml file containing locators)

The file content would look similar to this:

*** Settings ***
Variables  ../ObjectRegistry/${target_app}/ExamplePage.yaml

---

Object Registry

The Object Registry is a repository containing yaml files, each yaml file is based on a page of the app and contains the page object element locators defined in various forms.

Folder Structure

When adding a Object Registry yaml file, the directory structure is important - As seen in Register Pages section, the yaml is referenced within ../ObjectRegistry/${target_app}/ExamplePage.yaml

Therefore continuing with the example we would add a new folder ExampleApp under ObjectRegistry folder

---

YAML File Example

LoginPage_Objects:
  Username:
    LocatorStrategy: XPathLookup
    Xpath: //input[@data-test="username"]
  Password:
    LocatorStrategy: WithAttribute
    ElementType: input
    Attribute: data-test
    Name: password

Object Builder Locator Strategies

LocatorStrategy	Description
ParentReferenceWithXpathLookup	Reference a parent element as prefix - child locator directly added as xpath
ParentReferenceWithContainsAttribute	Reference a parent element as prefix - child locator built with contains attribute
ParentReferenceWithType	Reference a parent element as prefix - child is simply an element type
ParentReferenceWithAttribute	Reference a parent element as prefix - child locator built with attribute
ParentReferenceWithText	Reference a parent element as prefix - child locator built with expected text
XPathLookup	direct xpath lookup
WithAttribute	built with attribute
WithText	built with expected text
WithContainsAttribute	built with contains attribute
SelectFromGroupByCSSProperty	References an element group and RF keyword will run to derive correct element from the group based on CCS properties

---

Definition Registry

The definition registry yaml files aim to describe the behaviour and properties/attributes of locators on a page with the intention to guide the automation in asserting page specifics in a simple, maintainable manner. The definition files are stored in datasets allowing plenty of room for scalability and enhancements.

Folder Structure

When adding a Definition Registry yaml file, the directory structure is important. The definition files are stored in datasets which can differ at an environment level

\\Settings\DataSets\{target_app}\{environment}\ExamplePageDefinitions.yaml

\\Settings\DataSets\{target_app}\{environment}\AnotherExamplePageDefinitions.yaml

Each of the environment directories will contain a _Definitions.robot file to import the variables from the yaml's

\\Settings\DataSets\{target_app}\{environment}\_Definitions.robot

*** Settings ***
Variables  ExamplePageDefinitions.yaml
Variables  AnotherExamplePageDefinitions.yaml

LoginPage_Definitions:
  Username:
    ElementCountShouldBe: 1
  Password:
    ElementCountShouldBe: 1
  LoginButton:
    ElementCountShouldBe: 1
  LoginCredentials:
    ElementCountShouldBe: 1
    ShouldContain:
      - standard_user
      - locked_out_user
      - problem_user
      - performance_glitch_user
  AcceptedUsernamesTitle:
    ElementCountShouldBe: 1
    ShouldContain:
      - Accepted usernames are

Note that locator attribute should be named the same as the object in the ObjectRegistry

ObjectRegistry

LoginPage_Objects:
  Username:
    LocatorStrategy: XPathLookup
    Xpath: //input[@data-test="username"]

DefinitionRegistry

LoginPage_Definitions:
  Username:
    ElementCountShouldBe: 1