3 Unique Ways to Generate Reports in Selenium

This Selenium tutorial describes three cutting-edge techniques that can help you generate reports that are user-friendly, intuitive, and informative.

A perfect test automation tool is what you need for the successful execution of the testing requirements in the Agile process. And there are multiple factors that play a critical role in the formation of a robust automation framework. One such element is reporting.

The automation reports not only make you aware of the status of the success or failure but also help you in finding out the potential bugs. So, you should mindfully choose how you are going to generate reports in the Selenium Webdriver project. That’s where this post would lead you to make a decision.

Introduction

Before we proceed with the topic, it is essential that you understand with clarity – What is the purpose of reporting? The simple reason behind this is a good test report serves as a health certificate for your Project. Once you show it to management, they can make decisions to ship it to the customer or allow the team to focus on the shortcomings cited in the report.

What are the essential qualities of a good test report?

• Brevity –
  • A report should be short and concise.
  • It should reveal the total number of successes as well as failures.
• Trackability –
  • Captures all the footprints that could lead to the root cause of a failure.
• Traceability –
  • It must provide the ability to review the following.
    • Historical data for test cases and failures
    • Age of a particular defect
• Sharable –
  • It should support a format that you can share through email or integrate with CI tools like Jenkins/Bamboo.
• Test coverage –
  • It should highlight the test coverage for the following.
    • Test coverage of the module under test.
    • Test coverage of the application under test.

Now you would have gained a fair idea of the fact that a good test report can maximize the returns on investment. Let’s move our focus to three techniques that you may use to generate reports in Selenium Webdriver. Here are the quick links that can navigate you to the report generation methods of your choice.

• TestNG HTML Report Generation.
• JUnit-Style Report Generation.
  • Simple JUnit Reports, and
  • Convert JUnit to HTML Reports.
• Generating Extent HTML Reports.

3 Techniques to Generate Reports in Selenium Webdriver.

Selenium Webdriver doesn’t have a built-in reporting feature, but there are plugins like TestNG and JUnit that can add this functionality.

1- Generate Reports Using TestNG.

TestNG library brings a very convenient reporting feature. Once you execute the tests, TestNG generates a test output folder at the root of the project. It combines two kinds of reports.

Detailed report.

You can find this report in the <index.html> file. It combines detailed information like the errors, test groups, execution time, step-by-step logs, and TestNG XML file.

 Summary report.

It is the trimmed version and informs about the number of “Passed”/”Failed”/”Skipped” cases. You can see it from the <emailable-report.html> file. It’s an email-friendly report which you can embed and share with the stakeholders.

1.1- Steps to Generate Reports Using TestNG.

Step#1 Select the TestNG Reporting Interface.

The TestNG framework provides two methods for generating reports in a Selenium project.

1. The most common method is using the TestNG <ITestListener> Interface.
2. Another method is to use the <IReporter> Interface.

In this blog post, we’ll cover the application of the <ITestListener> Interface. You’ll have to create a TestNG project in Eclipse. You can refer to our below post that teaches how to create a basic TestNG project.

Also Read: Learn to Create a TestNG Project in Eclipse

Step#2 Generate Reports Using the <ITestListener> Interface.

import org.testng.ITestContext;
import org.testng.ITestListener;
import org.testng.ITestResult;

public class GenerateReport implements ITestListener {

    @Override
    public void onStart(ITestContext arg0) {

        System.out.println("+Begin test: " + arg0.getName());
    }

    @Override
    public void onTestStart(ITestResult arg0) {

        System.out.println(" Starting test: " + arg0.getName());
    }

    @Override
    public void onTestSuccess(ITestResult arg0) {

        System.out.println(" Test passed: " + arg0.getName());
    }

    @Override
    public void onTestFailure(ITestResult arg0) {

        System.out.println(" Test failed: " + arg0.getName());
    }

    @Override
    public void onTestSkipped(ITestResult arg0) {

        System.out.println(" Test ignored: " + arg0.getName());
    }

    @Override
    public void onFinish(ITestContext arg0) {

        System.out.println("-End test: " + arg0.getName());
    }

    @Override
    public void onTestFailedButWithinSuccessPercentage(ITestResult arg0) {

        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
    }
}

Step#3 Verify the Report Generation Process.

import org.testng.Assert;
import org.testng.annotations.Listeners;
import org.testng.annotations.Test;

@Listeners(GenerateReport.class)
public class VerifyReportTest {

    @Test
    public void testSimulation0() {

        Assert.assertTrue(true);

    }

    @Test
    public void testSimulation00() {

        Assert.assertTrue(false);

    }

    // Test case <testSimulation000> depends on the intentionally
    // failed test case <testSimulation00>

    @Test(dependsOnMethods = "testSimulation00")
    public void testSimulation000() {

    }
}

2- Generate Reports Using JUnit.

JUnit is another useful framework that can add the ability to generate reports in Selenium. It provides the JUnit <TestWatcher> class to introduce reporting ability.

The JUnit’s TestWatcher class has the <failed()> and <succeeded()> methods which you can override. The JVM would call them automatically whenever it smells a pass or failure.

2.1- Steps to Generate Reports in JUnit style.

We’ve just summarized the summary of the steps that you can use to generate reports using the JUnit plugin.

1. Create a new Java class (name it JUnitTestReporter) that applies the JUnit rules with the help of the TestWatcher() class.
2. Override the <succeeded()> method so that the names of passed tests could be displayed at the console with the <Passed> status.
3. Override the <failed()> method so that the names of the failed tests could appear in the console with the <Failed> status.
4. Create a sample test class as <JUnitSampleTest> which must extend the <JUnitTestReporter> class to utilize the overridden <succeeded()> and <failed()> methods.

Now we’ll explain how simple it is to work with JUnit so that you can quickly generate the summary of the test execution.

2.2- Simple Report Generation Using JUnit.

2.2.1- Generate Reports by creating a JUnit Test Watcher Class.

Create a simple project in Eclipse and add the below file <JUnitTestReporter.Java> to your project. This file will display the report in the Eclipse console.

import org.junit.Rule;
import org.junit.rules.TestRule;
import org.junit.rules.TestWatcher;
import org.junit.runner.Description;
import org.junit.runners.model.Statement;

public class JUnitTestReporter {

    @Rule
    public TestRule junitWatcher = new TestWatcher() {

        @Override
        public Statement apply(Statement base, Description description) {
            return super.apply(base, description);
        }

        @Override
        protected void succeeded(Description description) {
            System.out.println(description.getDisplayName() + " " +
                "Test Passed!");
        }

        @Override
        protected void failed(Throwable e, Description description) {
            System.out.println(description.getDisplayName() + " " +
                e.getClass().getSimpleName());
        }
    };
}

2.2.1- Prepare a Sample JUnit Test Suite to Verify Report Generation.

Also, add the below file <JUnitSampleTest.Java> to your project. It’ll be the main test file which you’ll execute from the Eclipse.

import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;

import org.junit.Test;

public class JUnitSampleTest extends JUnitTestReporter {

    @Test
    public void sampleTest0() {
        assertTrue(1 < 2);
    }

    @Test
    public void sampleTest1() {
        assertTrue(1 > 2);
    }

    @Test
    public void sampleTest2() {
        assertTrue(1 < 2);
    }

    @Test
    public void sampleTest4() {
        assertTrue(1 > 2);
    }
}

When you run the above JUnit tests from Eclipse, it’ll show you the test results in Eclipse as captured in the below screenshot. The downside to this technique is that it doesn’t save the output in an HTML file.

But you can generate an HTML report by modifying the above code. We’ve given the technique to produce the test summary in the next section.

2.3- HTML Report Generation Using JUnit.

We’ll create a new JUnit class that would enable the HTML report generation. This class will also override the TestWatcher methods to implement the desired features.

• We’ll define two static members; one is a File object and the second one is BufferWriter’s handle that will help us add the test execution summary to the report file.
• We’ll use the following JUnit annotations.
  • @BeforeClass – It’ll help us define the setup() method. It’ll create/open the HTML report file as per the situation.
  • @AfterClass – We’ll use it to execute clean-up tasks. It’ll also update the HTML report file to add the HTML footer and close all the open handles.
• We’ll override the following two methods.
  • <succeeded()> – It’ll write the names and status of the test cases passed during execution.
  • <failed()> – It’ll log the names and state of the test cases that failed during execution.

Now, you’ll find the source code of the <JUnitHTMLReporter> class.

import java.awt.Desktop;
import java.io.BufferedWriter;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileWriter;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.text.DateFormat;
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.Date;

import org.junit.AfterClass;
import org.junit.BeforeClass;
import org.junit.Rule;
import org.junit.rules.TestRule;
import org.junit.rules.TestWatcher;
import org.junit.runner.Description;
import org.junit.runners.model.Statement;

public class JUnitHTMLReporter {

    static File junitRpt;
    static BufferedWriter junitWrt;

    @BeforeClass
    public static void setUp() throws IOException {

        String junitFile = System.getProperty("user.dir") +
            "\\junitReportFile.html";
        DateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("dd-MMM-yyyy HH:mm:ss");
        Date date = new Date();
        junitRpt = new File(junitFile);
        junitWrt = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter(junitReport, true));
        junitWr.write("<html><body>");
        junitWr.write("<h1>Test Execution Summary - " + dateFormat.format(date) +
            "</h1>");

    }

    @AfterClass
    public static void tearDown() throws IOException {

        junitWrt.write("</body></html>");
        junitWrt.close();
        Desktop.getDesktop().browse(junitReport.toURI());

    }

    @Rule
    public TestRule watchman = new TestWatcher() {

        @Override
        public Statement apply(Statement base, Description description) {
            return super.apply(base, description);
        }

        @Override
        protected void succeeded(Description description) {
            try {
                junitWrt.write(description.getDisplayName() + " " +
                    "success!");
                junitWrt.write("<br/>");
            } catch (Exception e1) {
                System.out.println(e1.getMessage());
            }
        }

        @Override
        protected void failed(Throwable e, Description description) {
            try {
                junitWrt.write(description.getDisplayName() + " " +
                    e.getClass().getSimpleName());
                junitWrt.write("<br/>");
            } catch (Exception e2) {
                System.out.println(e2.getMessage());
            }
        }
    };
}

So, we have a ready-to-use HTML reporter class, all we need now is the JUnit Test class that will extend it and call its methods. The code of this new class is available below.

import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;

import org.junit.Test;

public class JUnitHTMLSampleTest extends JUnitHTMLReporter {

    @Test
    public void sampleTC0() {
        assertTrue(1 < 2);
    }

    @Test
    public void sampleTC1() {
        assertTrue(1 > 2);
    }

    @Test
    public void sampleTC2() {
        assertTrue(1 < 2);
    }

    @Test
    public void sampleTC3() {
        assertTrue(1 > 2);
    }
}

When you run the above class file as a JUnit test case, then the <junitReportFile.html> will get generated. It’ll contain the test case’s pass/fail info and look like the one given in the below screenshot.

3- Generate Reports Using Extent Library.

The third and last technique for generating some stylish reports is by using the <Extent Report> library. It comes with a rich set of features.

• Ability to generate dynamic HTML logs
• Represents test case status with the help of Pie Charts
• Creates a step-by-step test case summary
• Ability to filter reports based on test status
• Maintains execution history
• It captures details like OS, Memory, Java version, and so on
• Can attach error screenshots within the report

You can download the Extent library from here: https://github.com/extent-framework

Once you have the reporting library, then follow the below steps to use them in a Selenium Webdriver project.

• Create or open a demo project in Eclipse
• Add the Jar files shown in the above picture as external libraries to your project.
• Also, make sure to add the Jars that are in the <lib> folder else the exception may occur at run-time.

Now, we are attaching the source code of the sample Java program that we created for the Extent library report validation. You can use the below Java file as is in your demo project.

import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxDriver;
import org.testng.Assert;
import org.testng.annotations.Test;

import com.relevantcodes.extentreports.ExtentReports;
import com.relevantcodes.extentreports.ExtentTest;
import com.relevantcodes.extentreports.LogStatus;

public class ExtentReportTest {

    @Test
    public void verifySeleniumBlog() {

        String extfile = System.getProperty("user.dir") +
            "\\extfile.html";
        String extimg = System.getProperty("user.dir") +
            "\\extimg.png";

        // Create object of extent report and specify the report file path.
        ExtentReports ext = new ExtentReports(extfile, false);

        // Start the test using the ExtentTest class object.
        ExtentTest extTest = ext.startTest("My First Test",
            "Verify WebSite Title");

        // Launch the FireFox browser.
        WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver();

        driver.manage().window().maximize();

        extTest.log(LogStatus.INFO, "Browser Launched");

        // Open application.
        driver.get("/");

        extentTest.log(LogStatus.INFO, "Moved to www.techbeamers.com");

        // get title.
        String title = driver.getTitle();

        extentTest.log(LogStatus.INFO, "Get the WebSite title");

        // Verify title.
        Assert.assertTrue(title.contains("Selenium Webdriver"));

        extentTest.log(LogStatus.PASS, "Title verified");

        // In case you want to take an error screenshot
        extTest.log(
            LogStatus.INFO,
            "Error Snapshot : " +
            extentTest.addScreenCapture(extentReportImage));

        // Close application.
        driver.quit();

        extTest.log(LogStatus.INFO, "Browser closed");

        // close report.
        ext.endTest(extTest);

        // writing everything to document.
        ext.flush();
    }
}

Once you run the above code, it’ll launch the specified URL in Firefox and produce an intuitive Extent test report. The final test report would look like the one shown in the below screenshot.

So, that was all we wanted to share in this post. We hope it will enable you to use the three distinct methods to generate reports in Selenium. And, you’ll be able to reap the real benefits of the test automation.

Quick Review – Report Generation Techniques in Selenium.

In this post, we discussed all the traditional and modern-day report generation techniques. We hope that they will be quite useful in your projects.

Now, it’s entirely up to you how you manage them. However, you can always ask for help when the solution given here doesn’t work, or you are stuck at some point. We’ll try to respond to your questions as soon as possible.

You are also welcome to share if you’ve implemented reporting in Selenium differently. We’ll review and publish it on our blog with a ‘Thank You‘ note mentioning your name.

All the Best,

TechBeamers.