Being a tester I know how difficult it gets when we are asked to run the same set of test suites on multiple browsers. But, not now! By using the two most popular tools i.e. Katalon and Lambda Test together can help you cover your test scenarios on browsers that are not even installed on your local device as testing on a single device is not sufficient to prepare your device for bringing most of the web traffic. We shall be covering all these in this article. So keep on reading to get the complete knowledge regarding the integration of Katalon and LambdaTest
What is Browser Coverage?
Browser coverage means covering the maximum number of browsers in the test suite. Browser numbers have become huge in the market and they all have multiple versions of which a user could be using anyone. When we combine them with the operating system and device types the counting of all the combinations become endless. It is quite obvious that testing all these combinations is not an easy task. So what is the solution then?
The first step we do is, we create a Browser Matrix. A browser matrix is a list that contains all the combinations of browsers (and its versions) and operating systems on which we are going to test our website. Here are some pros of using browser matrix:
1. We can prioritize the browsers as per the user’s interest. We can use google analytics or any other web analytical tool for that.
2. With the help of the browser matrix, we can have nearly accurate results as we can eliminate certain elements from the browser that don’t support that element.
3. We can have a systematic layout of the testing plan, that helps in saving a lot of time.
The above-given image is a sample image of the browser matrix.
Why Building a Browser Matrix is Important?
All the developers design their website in the hope to yield maximum from their website. For this, they need a good customer count i.e. a good viewership. Since we know that a user can visit the website from any browser or operating system or device, maintaining a browser matrix helps us expand the scope for the same. For good user experience, we need to test every major browser-OS combination. And this is where we require “Browser Coverage”. It helps us in cross-browser testing and publishing a good quality website for everyone trying to access it.
Cross-Browser Testing with LambdaTest
Cross Browser Testing is done to test an application’s performance on different browser types and versions. Cross-browser testing is a method to ensure that all the customers get better and uniform user experience. To implement cross-browser testing on our application, we surely need a tool and there are not just one but many tools available in the market. Now, in such cases, you must be wondering which tool to choose and why. Let us explore one such tool called LambdaTest keeping in mind the cost of operations and features it provides.
What is LambdaTest?
LambdaTest is a free cross-browser testing tool. Using this tool, you can test your website or application across 2000+ browser and browser versions, operating systems, and resolutions. It performs live interactive cross-browser compatibility test of your website and applications. It is done for both mobiles as well as laptop browser versions.
Below is an example of Live interactive testing.
Also, we know that a user only takes a fraction of seconds to judge your application or website, so to grab the user’s attention towards our application the visual graphics of our website should be bug-free and eye-catchy. LambdaTest helps in performing Visual UI Testing. Under Visual UI Testing, we can perform Screenshot Testing, Responsive Testing, and Smart Testing.
Along with the above-mentioned features, Lambdatest also has other features that will make your experience smoother and help you deliver your product more quickly. The features are:
· Integrating Debugging
· Testing Locally Hosted Pages
· Geo-Location Testing
LambdaTest also helps in analyzing all your automated test cases by providing detailed reports. With these reports, you can detect a bug much before when it will be executed manually on a single browser.
Katalon Studio is also one of the most powerful test automation tools for cross-browser testing.
What is Katalon Studio?
Katalon Studio is an automation tool used for API, web, mobile and desktop application testing. It can be generalised as all in one platform. It extends the capabilities of tools like Selenium and Appium and was ranked as the top automation tool in the year 2018. It is a free, feature-packed solution. With Katalon Studio the test automation process has grown to be more intelligent in its approach.
Here are a few important features of Katalon Studio:
· It has a quick and easy setup. To install Katalon Studio on your device all you need to do is download the tool from its official site ( www.katalon.com) and click on the download button and that’s it now install the setup.
· Testers with less knowledge of coding can easily work on Katalon Studio, as it has pre-defined templates and test scripts and also it can define paths by itself.
· It is used to automate your mobile and web testing.
· It can record and play as well.
· It is compatible with Windows and iOS.
· It can quickly create test automation cases.
Integrating Katalon with LambdaTest
To expand your test coverage, and extract insightful test reports, we integrate LambdaTest and Katalon Studio. It helps in automating the cross-browser testing process.
By Integrating these tools user is free with two most common problem areas i.e. Lack devices to perform automated cross-browser testing and maintenance of local Infrastructure by using the Lambda Test Selenium grid feature. Not just this, Katalon in combination with the lambda test has many other benefits like extending the testing environment in the cloud, integrating with continuous integration, and continuous delivery tools which can help you run a single test suite on multiple browsers at the same time.
We all know testing on multiple browsers is a time-consuming process so with this integration lot of time can be saved. An additional advantage of migrating to a cloud testing environment is you don’t need to buy physical devices which will save your funds on updating browsers every time. Infact, this also helps organizations to avoid the risks on overspending on testing devices.
How to use Katalon with LambdaTest?
To extend your coverage and to automate the cross-browser testing through Selenium Grid, we must integrate Katalon with LambdaTest. But before that make sure to run your test cases through the “Remote” desired capabilities (Refer step 4 for more). You can simply attend this with a few easy steps. They are :
Step 1: You need to first go to LambdaTest. The below page will be visible to you as soon as you log in.
Step 2: Go to your profile. From this page, you will need your “Username” and “Access Key-Value(Access Token)”. You will need these values to establish a secure remote connection with Katalon.
Step 3: We will try to generate a stable connection with Katalon with the help of Lambdatest remote URL :
Note: You are required to use your username and Access Key in the above code.
Step 4: Now, it’s time to declare your desired capabilities. Go to the LambdaTest Capabilities Generator. You can choose your desired Operating System, browser, version, resolution types from the given list.
In the above screenshot, we have mentioned OS as “ Windows 10”, browser as “Chrome”, video recording is off and screenshot is on during the process.
The equivalent code for the above-mentioned specifications is given towards the right-hand side.
Step 5: To pass the LambdaTest settings, we need to open the “Remote” settings in Katalon Studio. Here we are going to use Katalon version 7.7.1. For this purpose:
Go to Project, Settings, then Desired Capabilities and finally click Remote.
Just go to Action → Run → Remote.
Conclusion
Katalon Studio is a free automation testing platform and is built on the top of Selenium and Appium. With Katalon Studio all the complexities are hidden and because of this feature, it provides a friendly UI to all the users. Katalon provides cross-platform testing from web automation (Windows, macOS, and Linux) to mobile automation (Android and iOS). LambdaTest is a cloud-based cross-browser testing platform that comes equipped with tons of features to perform efficient cross-browser testing economically.
The integration between LambdaTest and Katalon Studio allows us to automate the cross-browser testing process which results in the expansion of test coverage and provides insightful test reports. Also, it is very easy to integrate LambdaTest with Katalon Studio. With this integration of Katalon and LambdaTest, we open up a huge pool of opportunities towards being the best in the field of automation testing.