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Robula+: an algorithm for generating robust XPath locators for web testing

Authors:

Maurizio Leotta,

Paolo TonellaAuthors Info & Claims

Journal of Software: Evolution and Process, Volume 28, Issue 3

Pages 177 - 204

https://doi.org/10.1002/smr.1771

Published: 01 March 2016 Publication History

Abstract

Automated test scripts are used with success in many web development projects, so as to automatically verify key functionalities of the web application under test, reveal possible regressions and run a large number of tests in short time. However, the adoption of automated web testing brings advantages but also novel problems, among which the test code fragility problem. During the evolution of the web application, existing test code may easily break and testers have to correct it. In the context of automated DOM-based web testing, one of the major costs for evolving the test code is the manual effort necessary to repair broken web page element locators - lines of source code identifying the web elements e.g. form fields and buttons to interact with.

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Cited By

Zhang HLiao LDing ZShang WNarula NSporea CToma ASajedi SFilkov VRay BZhou M(2024)Towards a Robust Waiting Strategy for Web GUI Testing for an Industrial Software SystemProceedings of the 39th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Automated Software Engineering10.1145/3691620.3695269(2065-2076)Online publication date: 27-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3691620.3695269
Clerissi DLeotta MRicca FCoppola RArdito LFraser GLeotta M(2024)A Gaming Quest to Improve Web Locators RobustnessProceedings of the 3rd ACM International Workshop on Gamification in Software Development, Verification, and Validation10.1145/3678869.3685684(10-17)Online publication date: 13-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3678869.3685684
Di Meglio SStarace L(2024)Towards Predicting Fragility in End-to-End Web TestsProceedings of the 28th International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering10.1145/3661167.3661179(387-392)Online publication date: 18-Jun-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3661167.3661179
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Published In

cover image Journal of Software: Evolution and Process

Journal of Software: Evolution and Process Volume 28, Issue 3

March 2016

81 pages

ISSN:2047-7473

EISSN:2047-7481

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Publisher

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

United States

Publication History

Published: 01 March 2016

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Cited By

Zhang HLiao LDing ZShang WNarula NSporea CToma ASajedi SFilkov VRay BZhou M(2024)Towards a Robust Waiting Strategy for Web GUI Testing for an Industrial Software SystemProceedings of the 39th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Automated Software Engineering10.1145/3691620.3695269(2065-2076)Online publication date: 27-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3691620.3695269
Clerissi DLeotta MRicca FCoppola RArdito LFraser GLeotta M(2024)A Gaming Quest to Improve Web Locators RobustnessProceedings of the 3rd ACM International Workshop on Gamification in Software Development, Verification, and Validation10.1145/3678869.3685684(10-17)Online publication date: 13-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3678869.3685684
Di Meglio SStarace L(2024)Towards Predicting Fragility in End-to-End Web TestsProceedings of the 28th International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering10.1145/3661167.3661179(387-392)Online publication date: 18-Jun-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3661167.3661179
De Luca MFasolino ATramontana P(2024)Investigating the robustness of locators in template-based Web application testing using a GUI change classification modelJournal of Systems and Software10.1016/j.jss.2023.111932210:COnline publication date: 1-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.jss.2023.111932
Jiang PWang SLiu Y(2024)Tree-Based Synthesis of Web Test Sequences from Manual ActionsTheoretical Aspects of Software Engineering10.1007/978-3-031-64626-3_14(242-260)Online publication date: 29-Jul-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-031-64626-3_14
Leotta MRicca FMarchetto AOlianas D(2024)An empirical study to compare three web test automation approachesJournal of Software: Evolution and Process10.1002/smr.260636:5Online publication date: 25-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1002/smr.2606
Qi XQian XLi YChandra SBlincoe KTonella P(2023)Semantic Test Repair for Web ApplicationsProceedings of the 31st ACM Joint European Software Engineering Conference and Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering10.1145/3611643.3616324(1190-1202)Online publication date: 30-Nov-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3611643.3616324
García BRicca Fdel Alamo JLeotta M(2023)Enhancing Web Applications Observability through Instrumented Automated BrowsersJournal of Systems and Software10.1016/j.jss.2023.111723203:COnline publication date: 13-Jul-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.jss.2023.111723
Nass MAlégroth EFeldt RLeotta MRicca F(2022)Similarity-based Web Element Localization for Robust Test AutomationACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology10.1145/357185532:3(1-30)Online publication date: 22-Nov-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3571855
Parthasarathy SPattanaik LKhatry AIyer ARadhakrishna ARajamani SRaza MJhala RDillig I(2022)Landmarks and regions: a robust approach to data extractionProceedings of the 43rd ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Programming Language Design and Implementation10.1145/3519939.3523705(993-1009)Online publication date: 9-Jun-2022
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