PragPub 2009-12: Issue #6 by The Pragmatic Bookshelf

Author:The Pragmatic Bookshelf
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: PragPub—Monthly Magazine
Publisher: The Pragmatic Bookshelf, LLC
Published: 2009-12-01T05:00:00+00:00

Here’s How It Works

Armed with Castro, you have everything you need to create your own automated screencast. It can be as simple as:

Install and launch a vncserver. (Hint: Google it.)

$ [sudo] easy_install castro

Write a simple Python script:

from castro import Castro

c = Castro()

c.start()

# Do something awesome!

c.stop()

Of course, you would replace “# Do something awesome!” with your own code, which could be a Selenium test you want to record.

Take a Look

For this article, I wrote a test script that shows how you can convert a simple Google search into an automated screencast. The test script is written using the Selenium 2.0 API. In Selenium 2.0, the WebDriver project is merging with the Selenium project.

The video can be viewed online, as can the screenplay that generated the video. I still had to manually upload the video to Vimeo. Perhaps you can help me improve Castro to automatically upload to video services like YouTube and Vimeo?

At Sauce Labs, we use Castro to record a video of every Selenium test run in our cloud. (And we’ve now recorded hundreds of thousands of tests in production.) We’re just at the beginning of what we can do in this space, but already, customers have embedded these video results into their continuous integration systems. When the tests fail, the videos serve as debugging aids. When the tests pass, the videos give visual confirmation the features work as designed.

With tools like Selenium and Castro, plus a little imagination, you now have the power to transform “plain old tests” into something far more exciting and even more useful. And from now on, remember, you’re not a “tester” anymore, you’re a “screenwriter.” If screencast automation catches on, they’ll need to create a new Emmy Award for test automation.

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