NetSurf
NetSurf Integration Testing

Table of Contents

Overview

The monkey frontend is used to perform complex tests involving operating the browser as a user might (opening windows, navigating to websites and rendering the contents etc.)

A test is written as a set of operations in a yaml file. These files are parsed and executed by the monkey driver script.

There are very few tests within the NetSurf repository. The large majority of integration tests are instead held within the netsurf-test repository.

To allow more effective use of these tests additional infrastructure has been constructed to allow groupings of tests to be run. This is used extensively by the CI system to perform integration testing on every commit.

The infrastructure also provides for special CGI scripts which have known behaviours such as delays or returning specific content to extend test capabilities.

Running a test

An individual test can be run using the monkey_driver.py python script from within the NetSurf repository

$ make TARGET=monkey
$ ./test/monkey_driver.py -m ./nsmonkey -t test/monkey-tests/start-stop.yaml

The command actually executed can be augmented using the wrapper switch, this allows the test to be run under a debugger or profiler.

For example to wrap execution under valgrind memory checker

$ ./test/monkey_driver.py -m ./nsmonkey -w 'valgrind -v --track-origins=yes' -t test/monkey-tests/start-stop.yaml

Running more than one test

Each test is a member of a group and the tests within each group are run together. Groups are listed within division index files. A group of tests may occur within more than one division.

To run the integration tests the monkey-see-monkey-do python script is used. It downloads the test plan for a division from the NetSurf test infrastructure and executes it.

$ ./test/monkey-see-monkey-do
Fetching tests...
Parsing tests...
Running tests...
Start group: initial
  [ Basic checks that the browser can start and stop ]
  => Run test: start-stop-no-js.yaml
  => Run test: basic-navigation.yaml
  => Run test: start-stop.yaml
Start group: no-networking
  [ Tests that require no networking ]
  => Run test: resource-scheme.yaml
Start group: ecmascript
  [ ECMAScript tests ]
PASS

If no division is specified on the command line the "default" division is used. Other divisions are specified with the d switch for example to specify the "short-internet" division:

$ ./test/monkey-see-monkey-do -d short-internet

Additionally the g switch allows the limiting of tests within a single group to be executed.

$ ./test/monkey-see-monkey-do -g no-networking
Fetching tests...
Parsing tests...
Running tests...
Start group: no-networking
  [ Tests that require no networking ]
  => Run test: resource-scheme.yaml
PASS

Test files

Each test is a individual YAML file and consists of associative arrays (key/value pairs), lists and comments.

As a minimum a test must contain an associative array with keys for title, group and steps. The steps key must contain a list of test operations as a value.

Each operation is an associative list and must, as a minimum, contain an action key with a suitable value.

A minimal test that simply starts the browser without JavaScript and then quits it without ever opening a window to browse to a page

title: start and stop browser without JS
group: initial
steps:
- action: launch
  options:
  - enable_javascript=0
- action: quit

Actions

launch

Start a browser instance. A test will generally have a single launch action paired with a quit action.

Additional command line parameters may be set using the launch-options key the value of which must be a list of command line arguments to be passed to the browser (without their leading hyphens)

The environment of the browser can be altered with the environment key the value is an associative array of environment variables which will be added to the browsers environment variables.

User options may be set using the options key with a value containing a list of options to set. These options allow operation with differing user choices to be tested without a separate Choices file.

The language key sets the LANGUAGE environment variable which controls the browsers user interface language. Note this is distinct from the language the browser requests from HTTP servers which is controlled with the accept_language user option.

The following launch action would start a browser:

- action: launch
launch-options:
- verbose
environment:
NETSURFRES: /home/netsurf/resources
options:
- enable_javascript=0
- send_referer=0
language: en

window-new

Open a new browser window. The test may open as many browser windows as necessary and they are usually paired with a window-close action

The browser must have been previously launched or this action will assert the test with a failure.

The tag key must also be present with a value (unique for all window-new actions). The value is used to identify subsequent operations in this window.

As an example this will open a new window which can subsequently be referred to with the win1 identifier:

- action: window-new
  tag: win1

window-close

Closes a previously opened window. The window is identified with the window key, the value of this must be a previously created window identifier or an assert will occur.

- action: window-close
  window: win1

navigate

Cause a window to start navigating to a new URL.

The window to be navigated is identified with the window key, the value of this must be a previously created window identifier or an assert will occur.

The URL to navigate to navigate to is controlled either by the url or repeaturl key. The url value is directly used as the address to navigate to.

- action: navigate
  window: win1
  url: about:about

The repeaturl value is used as a repeat action identifier allowing navigation in a loop with different values.

- action: repeat
  values:
  - https://www.google.com/
  - https://apple.com/
  - https://microsoft.com/
  tag: urls
- action: navigate
  window: win1
  repeaturl: urls

reload

Cause a window to (re)navigate to the current URL

The window to be navigated is identified with the window key, the value of this must be a previously created window identifier or an assert will occur.

- action: reload
      window: win1

stop

Cause a window to immediately stop any navigation.

The window to be navigated is identified with the window key, the value of this must be a previously created window identifier or an assert will occur.

- action: stop
      window: win1

sleep-ms

Wait for time to pass before continuing to next action.

The value of the time key is either the duration to wait for in milliseconds or a repeat action identifier.

The optional conditions key may contain a list of conditionals used to terminate the delay early. If a repeat action identifier is in use the loop is terminated if a condition is met.

For example to wait 10 seconds:

- action: sleep-ms
  time: 10000

if a repeat action identifier is used the delay duration is the current iteration value and the delay is timed from when the current iteration started.

The sleep-ms action here delays by 50 milliseconds more each iteration until the window navigation is complete when the sleep-ms action is delaying.

- action: repeat
  min: 0
  step: 50
  tag: sleepytimer
  steps:
  - action: launch
  - action: window-new
    tag: win1
   - action: navigate
    window: win1
    url: about:about
  - action: sleep-ms
    time: sleepytimer
    conditions:
    - window: win1
      status: complete
  - action: quit

block

Wait for conditions to be met before continuing. This is similar to the sleep-ms action except that it will wait forever for the conditions to be met.

The conditions key must contain a list of conditionals used to terminate the block.

- action: block
  conditions:
  - window: win1
    status: complete

valid status values are complete or loading.

repeat

Repeat a set of actions.

The identifier of the repeat action is set with the tag key and must be present and unique among repeat action identifiers.

The actions to be repeated are placed in the steps list which may include any action and behaves just like the top level list.

An iterator context is created for the repeat loop. The iterator can either be configured as a numeric value or as a list of values.

The numeric iterator is controlled with the min ,step and max keys. All these keys are integer values and their presence is optional.

The min value is the initial value of the iterator which defaults to 0.

The step value controls how much the iterator is incremented on every loop with default value of 1.

The loop terminates if the max value is exceeded. If no max value is specified the loop is infinite (i.e. no default) but may still be terminated by the sleep-ms action

- action: repeat
  min: 0
  step: 50
  max: 100
  tag: loopvar
  steps:
  - action: launch
  - action: quit

A value iterator has a values key containing a list. On each iteration of the loop a new value is available and can be used by the navigate action.

Note that min ,step and max are ignored if there is a values key

- action: repeat
  values:
  - https://www.google.com/
  - https://www.blogger.com/
  - https://apple.com/
  - https://microsoft.com/
  tag: urls
  steps:
  - action: navigate
    window: win1
    repeaturl: urls
  - action: block
    conditions:
    - window: win1
      status: complete

timer-start

Start a timer.

The identifier for the timer is set with the timer key.

- action: timer-start
  timer: timer1

timer-restart

Re-start a timer

The identifier for the timer is set with the timer key.

- action: timer-restart
  timer: timer1

timer-stop

Stop a timer

The identifier for the timer is set with the timer key.

- action: timer-stop
  timer: timer1

timer-check

Check a timer meets a condition.

The identifier for the timer is set with the timer key.

The conditional is set with the condition key which must be present.

plot-check

Perform a plot of a previously navigated window.

The window to be rendered is identified with the window key, the value of this must be a previously created window identifier or an assert will occur.

The area key allows control of the area to be redraw. The parameters are on two forms:

An optional list of checks may be specified with the checks key. If any check is not satisfied an assert will occur and the test will fail. Multiple checks can be specified and all most pass successfully.

The checks available are:

- action: plot-check
  window: win1
      area: extent
  checks:
  - text-contains: NetSurf
  - text-contains: Browser
      - text-not-contains: Chrome
  - bitmap-count: 1

click

Perform a user mouse click on a specified window.

The window to be clicked is identified with the window key, the value of this must be a previously created window identifier or an assert will occur.

The target key contains an associative array which is used to select the location of the mouse operation in the window. The key text can be used to select text to be operated upon which matches the first occurrence of the text. The key bitmap has an integer value to select the index of the image to click.

The optional button key selects which button is pressed it can take the value left or right. The default if not specified is left

The optional kind key selects which button operation to be performed it can take the value single, double or triple. The default if not specified is single

- action: click
  window: win1
  target:
    text: "about:Choices"

wait-loading

Wait for the navigated page to start loading before moving to the next action.

The window to be waited upon is identified with the window key, the value of this must be a previously created window identifier or an assert will occur.

- action: wait-loading
  window: win1

add-auth

Add basic authentication details for a navigation.

The keys url, realm, username and password must be given. When a basic authentication challenge occurs that matches the url and realm parameters the associated username and password are returned to answer the challenge.

- action: add-auth
  url: http://test.netsurf-browser.org/cgi-bin/auth.cgi?user=foo&pass=bar
  realm: Fake Realm
  username: foo
  password: bar

remove-auth

Remove a previously added authentication details.

- action: remove-auth
  url: http://test.netsurf-browser.org/cgi-bin/auth.cgi?user=foo&pass=bar
  realm: Fake Realm
  username: foo
  password: bar

clear-log

Clear log for a window.

The window to be cleared is identified with the window key, the value of this must be a previously created window identifier or an assert will occur.

wait-log

Wait for string to appear in log output.

The window to be waited upon is identified with the window key, the value of this must be a previously created window identifier or an assert will occur.

The keys source foldable level and substring must be specified

js-exec

Execute javascript in a window.

The window to be execute within is identified with the window key, the value of this must be a previously created window identifier or an assert will occur.

The cmd key contains the javascript to execute.

page-info-state

Check the page information status matches an expected value.

The window to be checked is identified with the window key, the value of this must be a previously created window identifier or an assert will occur.

The value of the match key is compared to the windows page information status and an assert occurs if there is a mismatch.

quit

This causes a previously launched browser instance to exit cleanly.