How to Create Custom Test Reports in Selenium Automation

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Automation testing has become the current industry standard for ensuring that you're completing all the test cases not only in the stipulated time but also maintaining the standards of the development process. The main reason for such an occurrence is that modern apps are so complex that manual testing teams need help to complete them efficiently. This is because the one-stop modern apps need constant access to multiple elements simultaneously. For this process, the developers have to verify the proper functioning of the individual elements and the combined framework. So, with the help of automation testing, the developers can easily accomplish this goal. During the initial years of the automation industry, Selenium was the only possible option and had complete autonomy over the market.

Selenium still manages to maintain a top position even after ten years. Generating proper test reports helps the developers realize the full potential of Selenium automation testing. We will focus on some key factors that can help the developers customize their test reports. Let us begin the discussion with the basics of Selenium-based automation testing.

 

The base of Test Automation

To describe simply, we can analyze automated testing as eliminating the need to involve human developers during the application testing process. This is because, with the help of this advanced system, the system can independently execute the testing processes with the help of a specific text file. This text file will consist of different parameters and datasets that will help the test bench during the automation testing process. The data parameters are essential to verify the proper user interaction capabilities of the application. With the help of these parameters, the system will act like a normal user and interact with the web application. It is worth mentioning that the developers can change all the parameters in the test file according to the requirements of the app development project. Reusing sections of automation test files in future projects is also straightforward.

However, like any other element of the app development market, test automation isn't devoid of shortcomings. It is essential to mention that the major flaw of automation testing is that it requires a lot of investment during the initial integration. This is because, during this time, the developers have to set up the test bench and integrate separate plugins, libraries, and dependencies to get started with the test automation process. Moreover, the developers must consider the steep learning curve that comes with test automation. During this process, the developers and testers must get accustomed to all the modern automation testing practices. During this process, testers also have to create a basic idea about the functioning of the application and the development process.

 

Developing an Idea for Selenium

As mentioned earlier, Selenium is one of the most dominant names in the automation testing field. Since its initial introduction in 2004, Selenium has undergone several major updates to ensure that all the features are relevant to modern application development practices. An interesting fact about Selenium is that its initial name was JavaScriptTestRunner due to its dependency on this well-known programming language. Regarding this segment, we would like to break the myth that Selenium is a standalone tool. In reality, Selenium is a test suite consisting of multiple tools that focus on different application development areas. We will discuss these tools more in the latter part of this article.

Similar to test automation, Selenium also has a significant disadvantage. The massive drawback of Selenium is that the developers can use this test suite only for initiating and executing automation testing on web apps. Considering the diversity of the modern market that consists of various applications like native apps, hybrid apps, and cross-platform apps, this limitation can massively cripple the application development capabilities of a company. So a multiplatform developing company must have access to other test frameworks to ensure a smooth application development and testing process. Now let us discuss the significant features of all the tools present in the Selenium suite:

- Selenium Grid: This Grid helps the developers to initiate and execute the automation test cases in a parallel format. With the parallel testing format, the developers can initiate multiple test configurations simultaneously. It is a very beneficial facility when app developers are working on complex apps with thousands of different elements.

- Selenium WebDriver: Many industry experts believe the Selenium WebDriver is the core component of the test suite. With this tool, the developers can start the testing process and allocate the automation test cases to the elements. Selenium WebDriver is superior to the previously deprecated Selenium RC. This is because the Selenium WebDriver can natively interact with all web browser elements.

- Selenium IDE: The word IDE symbolizes an Integrated Development Environment. With these tools, the developers can easily create the automation test files that the system will use for initiating and executing the test cases. For this process, the app developers must use the application like a normal user. Based on the interaction, the system automatically generates the test cases in real time. Since the test cases are based on real-time interaction, they are highly accurate and help to analyze the proper capabilities of the web application.

 

Creating Custom test Reports with Selenium Automation Testing

We recommend the developers convert the test reports into an HTML format to customize them properly. This is because the HTML format is not only very easy to understand but also very easy to customize. So the developers have to simply follow the following steps to generate a customized Selenium automation testing report:

- The first step in this process is to execute the test cases and gather the required statistics after completing the validation process. The developers must put all the necessary information to be reflected in the final test report.

- The next step in this process is to convert all the data into an HTML format. For this process, the developers simply have to enter a specific command into the terminal window of Selenium. The developers can also implement custom reporting functions with the help of the reporter method. This is because, with the help of this method, the developers can store the final Test reports in such a format that they can use in future processes.

- The developers must ensure they're replacing all the default TestNG assertions with the custom reporting methods we have just created.

- After this step, the developers finally have to create a class named test reports. This class will store all the final reports and display their results with the help of the HTML file. It's also essential for the developers to specify methods that will be used to store all the screenshots consisting of the bugs and errors detected during the test execution process.

 

Influence of Platforms and Tools in Test Automation

As we already mentioned, introducing test automation can be overwhelming for new testers. However, various platforms and tools can help to simplify this process. Moreover, these platforms allow additional features to improve the accuracy and dependability of the test cases. A good example is the reference to cloud testing platforms. The developers can eliminate the need for a physical test bench with these platforms. This is because these platforms help the developers to accomplish similar goals while executing the test cases over the cloud. With these platforms, the developers can initiate automation test cases on specific platforms and devices that are no longer available in the industry. We can understand more about the benefits of using a cloud platform by diverting our focus toward LambdaTest as a reference point:

To complete the introduction process, we can describe LambdaTest as a secure cross-browser compatibility platform that helps developers to complete the process on web apps. Cross-browser testing is the new industry standard for ensuring that you provide the best user experience to your customers. This is because, with this advanced testing process, the developers can ensure a stable web app performance irrespective of the user's change in the operating system, browser version, or the complete device hardware. This Platform has advanced features like parallel test execution to improve its efficiency by almost 15 times. With this platform, the developers can import test cases from Selenium and other popular frameworks like Playwright and Cypress.

This cloud platform also helps companies to ensure the proper execution of internally hosted web apps that are meant for a company's operations. Lastly, including hundreds of real devices along with the existing simulators and emulators helps to massively improve the dependability and accuracy of the final test reports.

 

Conclusion

Considering all the factors discussed in this article, we can easily say that Selenium-based automation testing is one of the vital practices in a modern application development process. With these advanced techniques, developers can ensure that they are providing the best end-user experience to their customers. Moreover, accurate test reports can help the developers to confirm the application is ready to be forwarded to the production phase. We recommend the developers keep their knowledge and skills updated according to all the innovations coming to the market annually. In this segment, app development companies are also critical in spreading proper awareness and the required knowledge. Lastly, choosing the correct test automation tools that complement your development practices is crucial.

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