July 2014 Summaries

The Appium Bootcamp series is a collection of posts that cover various aspects of mobile app testing with Appium. The third post in the series focuses on interrogating an app to find the best locators, which are used to identify and interact with elements within the app. Two approaches to finding locators are discussed: using the Appium Console and the Inspector. The Appium Console provides a host of readily available commands that can help quickly identify elements in the app's user interface. These commands include `page`, `page_class`, `text`, `id`, and others, which can be used to filter the output down to specific elements or properties. The Inspector is another tool that can be used to interrogate an app, providing a visual representation of the app's elements and their properties. Both approaches are useful for finding locators, but the Appium Console provides more detailed information about each element's properties, such as its name, label, value, and ID. By using these tools, developers can identify the best locators to use in their automated tests, making it easier to write effective test scripts.

Sauce Labs' Chris Wren recently conducted an interview with Vlad Filippov, a developer at Mozilla, on his blog. The conversation centered around open source and front-end web development topics.

Cloud9 has released a new version of its web-based IDE that allows users to instantly preview their projects in any browser supported by Sauce Labs. The integration adds an option to the drop-down menu, allowing users to select from various browsers and see if their responsive websites work as expected on different devices. This feature can be accessed directly within the Cloud9 interface without leaving the IDE, making it a convenient addition to the development workflow.

Angular $resource allows developers to create custom methods for data models by extending the prototype of the resource model. This approach is more efficient than other methods, as it only requires adding behavior to individual job instances, rather than duplicating code across multiple instances. The example uses `angular.extend()` to add a `getResult()` method to each job instance, allowing developers to easily iterate over the jobs and display their outcome in a template. The revised controller also takes advantage of the promise returned by `$resource`, making it simpler for developers to handle data loading and rendering. This approach makes $resource a more attractive option for teams with simple applications or those who want to implement custom behavior without excessive code duplication.

This is the second post in a series called Appium Bootcamp by noted Selenium expert Dave Haeffner, which covers mobile test automation with Appium. To get started, install Ruby and set up necessary Appium client libraries, then run `gem install appium_console` to install the required gems. The Appium Console is an interactive prompt that enables sending commands to Appium in real-time and receiving a response. A pre-compiled test app is available for iOS and Android, or you can compile it from source. To configure your app to run on Appium, create an `appium.txt` file with necessary configurations such as platform name, app path, device name, and capabilities. Launching the Console involves starting the Appium server using the Appium GUI, then running `arc` in a terminal window with the `appium.txt` file to launch the app and connect it to the Appium server. With this setup, you can interact with your app and test its functionality using Appium.

This is an introduction to Appium Bootcamp, a series of posts by noted Selenium expert Dave Haeffner that aims to help newcomers to mobile test automation with Appium. The first post covers the basics of Appium, its architecture, and how it can be used to test mobile apps on various platforms. It also provides instructions on setting up Appium for iOS and Android, installing the necessary libraries, and running a GUI wrapper for easy configuration. Additionally, it introduces the concept of inspectors, which enable users to record and playback user actions, and discusses the importance of choosing a programming language and client bindings for Appium. The post concludes by emphasizing the need to set up Appium correctly before proceeding with writing tests and automating test runs.

The team at Sauce Labs has been updating their stack and refactored the list of jobs all customers see when they first log into their account. They chose Angular as their frontend MVC framework and data binding option, but struggled with modeling their data using the built-in $http service. After building a proof of concept using three different AngularJS data modeling techniques - $http, $resource, and Restangular - they found that Restangular was the most suitable approach for their needs. The main benefits of using Restangular include its promise-based design, clean code, and feature-rich functionality. However, it may be overkill for basic operations and carries additional third-party dependencies. The team is looking forward to seeing how Restangular progresses and whether it will become a good fit for them at Sauce Labs.