[Wtr-general] Are there any References to Ruby/Watir written byTesters?

[Cain, Mark]

My $.02

 

I have found the unittests invaluable for leaning a Watir as well as
automation test case structure.  I have ripped-off...borrowed...some
much from that source, and customized for my need, I can't even begin to
tell you!  The learning curve can be steep down the automation path, but
if you are like me and have to repeat running test cases that you know
could be automated, when it is worth it!  Especially if you don't get
enough time to adequately test what you have to right now, using
'personal slaves' like Watir, Selenium, Ruby, etc, to help you do your
job better, is working smarter not harder!  

 

A recurring theme throughout this tread is to start small-and oh how
true that is.  Start out small, if you have text fields on your page
look at the unittests for text fields (textfileds*.rb and
textAreafields*.rb), see how to use them and swipe whatever code you
find useful-changing attribute names to match you're your target test.
Get that working and then expand.  Before you know it you will have a
solid group of reusable tests.  You can always 'refactor' your test as
your skills improve.  Two very useful Watir methods I have found are
"show_all_objects" and "flash" you can find these listed in the Watir
API doc installed with Watir.

 

One last note, monitor this site and you will see postings of utilities,
code snippets, better ways of doing things, breakthroughs others have,
links to useful resources, etc.  Whenever I see something I think might
be useful now or later, I save it off, name it something useful I will
remember later, and keep it a working folder-and use it all the time.

 

--Mark

 

________________________________

From: wtr-general-bounces at rubyforge.org
[mailto:wtr-general-bounces at rubyforge.org] On Behalf Of Paul Carvalho
Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2006 9:54 PM
To: wtr-general at rubyforge.org
Subject: [Wtr-general] Are there any References to Ruby/Watir written
byTesters?

 

Hello there, before everyone jumps all over me, please allow me to
explain..

I have been evaluating Ruby and Watir for about a week now and I think
it will do what we want it to.  Not completely sure yet -- there are
still some features to check out, but it's looking good. 

One thing that I have noticed is that it has been a struggle for me to
do what I want with Ruby and Watir.  That's because all the references
are geared towards programmers and not testers.  The Ruby Cheat Sheet is
_almost_ close to being an exception.  The only reference book I know is
called "Programming Ruby, The Pragmatic Programmer's Guide"... *not*
something like "Testing with Ruby, The Pragmatic Tester's Guide." 

You see, I know what I want to test, but the documentation is not
structured in such a way as to help me accomplish that.  It's kind of
like wanting to drive to a different city and all I have for reference
is a book with a description of all the road signs.  So, if I didn't
already know what direction to head in and the general rules of the
road, the documentation alone certainly wouldn't help me get there. 

If I didn't have any prior programming experience and some familiarity
with OO design, I'm pretty sure that I would have given up on evaluating
Ruby & Watir after the first day.  I'm persistent, if nothing else, and
sometimes it pays off.  Actually, if it weren't for this mailing list,
I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't have gotten as far as I have.  (Thank
you all for your time and help, by the way.)  The technical API
reference is just about next to useless for me and I may as well be
reading an Auto Mechanic's Guide in Esperanto. 

Quoting from the "Forward" of the "Pragmatic Programmer's Guide", "Ruby
is designed to make programming not only easy, but also fun. It allows
you to concentrate on the creative side of programming, with less
stress."  Hmm, ya, that's nice.  I don't really care about the creative
side of programming.  I'm pretty sure that I'm being paid to be a
creative *tester*, and not a creative programmer.  Does Ruby/Watir help
me do that?  No, not really.  I still haven't figured out how to
structure a decent test case in Watir, let alone script it. 

I believe that there currently is a big gap between the users of Ruby &
Watir and the rest of the Tester community who could probably be making
use of it.  The Ruby and Watir languages just aren't translated into
Tester-speak. 

Does anyone know of any efforts, either planned or in-progress, to
address this gap?  If so, I would be very interested in participating in
the review of the documentation.  Heck, if I had the time and a lot more
experience with Ruby & Watir, I'd write it myself! 

Please don't take this as a slight against Watir.  I think that Watir is
a tremendously important framework for Ruby, and without it I *know*
that I wouldn't be evaluating Ruby right now.  (Excellent job on the
part of the developers and contributors who continue to improve and
expand the framework.  Please keep up the good work.)  I just think that
it would likely be more popular if the documentation was less
programmer-centric.  I know it would help me be more productive. 

Thoughts?

Paul.

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