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Introduction
Hello Ninja! Welcome to our article. In this article, we will discuss Katalon Studio. It is a test automation tool that eases the process of software testing. When an application is developed, it must be tested. The application may have some bugs that need to be fixed before deploying. Do you want to know how it is done? Great, then you are at the right place. Coding Ninjas have you covered.
This article will discuss how to enhance variable testing and manage Test Data in Katalon Studio.
But before getting started, let’s first understand Katalon studio.
What is Katalon Studio?
Katalon Studio is a software platform for Test Automation and Management. Katalon Studio is not an open-source platform but is built on top of other open-source testing automation frameworks like Selenium and Appium. Katalon Studio provides a specialized IDE(integrated development environment) interface for web, mobile, desktop, and API application testing.
Testing can be a lengthy process and requires similar tasks that can be automated. This is where Katalon Studio comes into the picture. It creates and reuses automated test scripts for user interfaces without programming. It does not require you to write code for the tests, reducing efforts. It is a great help for quality assurance and testing engineers.
Now let us understand what testing data is.
What is testing data in Katalon Studio?
When you perform tests on an application, it may require some input or data to perform testing; this data is called testing data. The data is used to perform the functions you want to test. For example, if you are testing the login page, you need an id and password for testing the login process. So, the various instances of id and password used to perform the testing are called the testing data.
Now, there are many tests to be performed for a single function. In this case, we use the test variables. The test variable is like a container that holds the data for testing. Or you can say that the test variables hold the testing data.
Enhanced Variable Binding is a feature in Katalon Studio that enables us to obtain old variable binding behaviors. We have seen that the testing data is stored in test variables. The testing data is obtained from various sources, and like any programming language, you can also set the data types for the read test data values.
You can choose the type of data to be read for testing. For example, if you set the variable type as integer, boolean, or string, the data will be read as 1, True, and one for each data type, respectively.
Integer
String
Boolean
1
one
True
The old test data will continue to be read as a string to make sure that the existing data cases do not break.
By doing so, you can configure the variable binding at the time when data is loaded in Katalon Studio; this eases and fastens the whole process.
In Katalon Studio, you get an option called bind to test case as string. This option specifies whether or not you want to read the test data as a string. If this option is enabled, the test data is read as a string, and all the methods that expect a different data type value will fail because of the type error.
If this option is disabled, the data is read as per their data type, and the methods work as expected.
Let us see how this works for the above example.
Variable binding for Test Data with option bind to test case as string enabled
Enable the bind to test case as string option and create a Test Data with the above data.
Credit: katalon.com
You will find the errors as shown below when you run the test cases.
Credit: katalon.com
The errors is because we have enabled the bind to test case as stringoption, and hence the test data is read as a string. When the test cases are executed, and the data type does not match the expected data type, the following error occurs.
Variable binding for Test Data with option bind to test case as string disabled
Create the Test Data and do not enable the bind to test case as stringoption.
Credit: katalon.com
When the same thing is performed with the bind to test case as stringoption disabled, you will see no errors, and the tests run perfectly.
Credit: katalon.com
Since we have disabled this option, the data is read as the intended data type, and the test runs fine.
Manage Test Data
We have seen how crucial the Test Data is for testing. The whole process of testing depends upon the Test Data. It requires sufficient data to test the application, and sometimes we need to import this data from various sources like Excel files or CSV(comma-separated values) files.
Let us understand how to import Test Data from different sources.
Create an Excel Test Data
Step1. Open the main menu and select File > New > Test Data. A New Test Data dialog box will appear on the screen. You can give a name to the data you are about to import. Select the data type as an Excel file and click OK.
Credit: katalon.com
Step2. Select the Excel file from the device on the browse menu.
Credit: katalon.com
Step3. You will find the preview of the data in the below box.
Credit: katalon.com
Step4. After previewing, you can Save the Test Data. This imported data can now be used in your projects in Katalon Studio.
Voila! You have imported the data from the Excel file. Great, let's move on to CSV files.
Create a CSV Test Data
Step1. Open the main menu and select File > New > Test Data. A New Test Data dialog box will appear on the screen. You can give a name to the data you are about to import. Select the data type as CSV file and click OK.
Credit: katalon.com
Step2. Select the desired CSV file from the device on the browse menu.
Credit: katalon.com
Step3. You will find the preview of the data in the below box.
Credit: katalon.com
Step4. After previewing, you can Save the Test Data. This imported data can now be used in your projects in Katalon Studio.
Voila! You have imported the data from the CSV file.
Create an Internal Test Data
Internal Test Data means you have to specify the number of rows and columns, as well as the data as per your needs. You can add any number of rows and columns and input any data value.
Step1. Open the main menu and select File > New > Test Data. A New Test Data dialog box will appear on the screen. You can give a name to the data you are about to import. Select the data type as Internal Data and click OK.
Credit: katalon.com
Step2. An editor view will appear. You can add the rows, columns, and data values in this editor view panel. Click on the + icon in the first row to add a new column.
Credit: katalon.com
Step3. Click on the + icon to insert a new row.
Credit: katalon.com
Step4. Add the values for each cell by clicking on it and typing it yourself.
Credit: katalon.com
Step5. Right-click on the cell or column to edit the rows or columns using the context menu.
Credit: katalon.com
Step6. When you are satisfied with the Test Data, you can Save it. This imported data can now be used in your projects in Katalon Studio.
Voila! You have imported the data using the Internal Data option.
Create a Database Data
Using this option, you can import the data from a database directly into your Katalon Studio. Data can be massive, and typing it using the Internal Data option may be inconvenient. In such cases, importing data from the Database is a great option. Let’s understand how to import data in this manner.
Step1. Open the main menu and select File > New > Test Data. A New Test Data dialog box will appear on the screen. You can give a name to the data you are about to import. Select the data type as Database Data and click OK.
Credit: katalon.com
Step2. The next is to establish database connectivity and write the query. For this, click on Edit Query.
Credit: katalon.com
Step3. The Database connection and Query settings dialogue box will appear. In this box, mention the database details and query to fetch the data from the database and import it to Katalon Studio.
Credit: katalon.com
Step4. You will find the preview of the fetched data in the below box.
Credit: katalon.com
Step5. Verify the data in the preview and Save it. This imported data can now be used in your projects in Katalon Studio.
Voila! You have imported the data using the Database Data option.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Software Testing?
Software Testing is a part of software development where minor bugs in the softwares are found and fixed. When an application is developed, it must be tested. The application may have some bugs that need to be fixed before deploying.
Is it easy to use Katalon Studio? If yes, why?
Yes, using Katalon Studio to automate and manage testing for your applications is easy because it does not require advanced coding skills. The tests are automated and hence reduce the efforts of writing the code yourself.
Is Katalon Studio open source?
No, Katalon Studio is not open source. Although it is free and you can use it to automate testing for your web, mobile, desktop, or API testing. It is easy to use test automation platform.
What are CSV files?
CSV stands for Comma separated files. It is a text file where the data is stored, and a comma separates elements. It is another representation of tabular format where each newline gives a new row, and comma separates the elements in different columns.
Why do we need to perform testing on any application?
When an application is developed, it may have some bugs. It may work unexpectedly in some cases. We need to perform testing to ensure that the application works fine for all the possible input values.
Conclusion
This article discussed two important topics of Katalon Studio. We have discussed how to enhance variable testing by using data type binding. We also discussed how to manage the test data in Katalon Studio.
To learn more about Katalon Studio, check out our other articles.
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