Just in time for EclipseCon 2012, the Jubula/GUIdancer Team has released the new standalone versions of both tools. The spectrum of new possibilities is particularly nice for this release, I think, so I'm going to take you on a tour of the new features.

Test result reporting

We've had the Reporting Perspective for some time now, and it's one of my favourite additions over the last few years. In almost every team I've been a part of, it takes time to learn how to deal with test results and to define how to react to them as a part of the process. That's one of the reasons why we keep adding new features to this area - that and the fact that we also use the reporting capabilities on a daily basis. So what's new this time?

Web dashboard

An added feature in GUIdancer from 6.0 is that we've made the reporting perspective available in the browser thanks to the magic of RAP. Now you can do your test result analysis from the browser - which is excellent if you're not at your desktop, or if you 'just' want to perform analysis and don't need an installed GUIdancer.

More test result details

One of the new features available in both Jubula and GUIdancer is more information in the test result reports. We've added the cumulative duration to each node in the result report as well as the data used for the node. Instead of having to expand the test result to see these details, they are instantly visible at each level, so now you can easily see how long each part of a test is taking as well as which data sets were used.

Create Mylyn task

As an extension to the Mylyn integration in GUIdancer, we now also have the opportunity to create a task in external systems (like Trac or Bugzilla for example) directly from a Test Result Report. So if you open up your test result and find that the Test Suite failed due to an error in the software, then you can create a ticket for it directly from GUIdancer.

Working with test data

Alongside the extras in test reporting, we've also made some improvements to actually writing tests. One of the directions we've gone in is test data.

Functions

One of the aspects of test data that has been missing for a while is being able to use functions. Well, those days are over. Jubula 1.2 and GUIdancer 6.0 both support the use of functions as test data. There are a few basic math functions (add, subtract, multiply, delete, round and truncate) and some date functions (now, formatDate, modifyDate and parseDate) that we've already written, but new functions can be added via an extension point as well.

In-editor decoration for missing data

Often its the small things that really make a difference. We've added decoration within editors to show you if you've forgotten to enter data. No more saving and then realising that you've forgotten something - now you can see instantly whether the data in the editor you're working on is complete or not.

Other really cool stuff

So we've got some exciting things that fit into the areas of result reporting and data. We didn't stop there though, there's more cool stuff in other areas as well:

Metrics framework

In both Jubula and GUIdancer, there's now a new framework for Metrics within the project. We've added three example metrics to it at the moment, and we'll be expanding the possibilities in later versions. At the moment though, you can already

• count various things (Test Cases, Event Handlers, Test Steps etc) in the project,
• calculate the ratio of specific actions and general actions used throughout the test, 
• and show any redundant-looking hierarchies that you have created

Categories in the Test Suite Browser and Central Data Sets Editor

The Test Suite Browser and Central Data Sets editor just got prettier: now you can categorise your Test Suites and Test Jobs as well as any central data you have in your project.

New action: store property value

Sometimes you don't know how many rows you have in a table, but you do know that after searching it should be less than before. A new action to store the property value lets you do this. Combine it with the "check string values" or "check numerical values" actions to perform the checks you need.

Save As New Test Case

I've deliberately left this until last because it's both exciting and terrifying. Since its conception, GUIdancer (and now Jubula) have been staunch opposers of copying and pasting. We've always said - if you need something twice you should make a module and reuse it. And we still say that. But based on some talks with customers, and some enhancement requests and forum entries, we've relented just a little bit for a specific use case.

Imagine you have a wonderfully structured, modular test. It's perfect as it is, nobody could accuse you of being lazy with your modularisation. Nevertheless, you need other use cases that consist of variations of the modules you have in this test. For one use case, you need them all with an extra one in-between. For another you need most of them but not the last one, and so on. In this case, you'll be thankful for the new option "Save As New Test Case". You can use it to create a new Test Case that already contains the modules you select from an existing one and so save time looking for the same modules again.

Sounds great, where can I get it?

GUIdancer 6.0 is available from the BREDEX GUIdancer page. Jubula 1.2 is available from the Eclipse Project Page. Bear in mind that the new version of Jubula is just the standalone at the moment. The features described here won't be in the Eclipse Feature until the Juno release, so look at the standalone as a preview of what's to come.