Verifications for Selenium WebDriver Java

Test automation verification annoyances conquered

Using regular unit test asserts in system level testing is problematic in many ways. System level testing is very time consuming compared to unit level testing. You have to deploy, install, configure, pre-populate database, initiate the system and maybe warm it up before you can trustworthily do any tests upon it. Asserts breaks execution even for minor problems - problems you might live with for weeks. Any test automation that always reports red will be perceived as annoying as it takes time to analyse the deviations for each build.

Hence any good logging framework for GUI level testing should include a few features:

• Test execution should continue even if deviations are encountered, but logging should be so extensive that you can analyse the deviation.
• If too many deviations from expected results (e.g., three) are encountered test execution should be aborted to save time for the whole test suite execution.
• You should be able to mark deviations as known issues while waiting for a fixed build to reach the system test environment. Marking a verification as a known problem should be easy and adaptable to data variations in results.

Last week I posted links to a logging wrapper for Selenium WebDriver. Some observant person noted that it contained logging states for verifications, and yes; a corresponding library for pre-cooked verifications exist. I've now pushed that too to maven central. It includes the features above. You may find the project page on GitHub here.