Recording mobile tests for Android applications

You can record a mobile test to capture the actions that you perform on Android applications. The actions are captured as test steps.

You must have completed the following tasks:

Installed the Android SDK on the computer that you want to use for testing Android mobile applications.
Set or changed the value of the ANDROID_HOME environment variable on any of the following operating systems:
- Windows, see Setting or changing the ANDROID_HOME path in Windows operating systems.
- Linux, see Setting or changing the ANDROID_HOME path in Linux operating systems.
Connected the devices through a USB cable and configured the emulators or simulators on the computer that runs IBM DevOps Test UI (Test UI).

Generally, when you record actions on the Android application, a control on the application is identified by using one of the control properties which is a unique identifier for that control. The following controls on the application can be identified by using the Label property also:

Input field
Drop-down list

For example, if there are 3 input fields on the application screen, then these input fields are identified by using the Label property which is unique to these input fields.

Restriction: In some Android devices, the double tap action that you perform on the lower part of the screen is not captured while you record the test.

Go to the UI Test perspective in Test UI.
Click the New Test from Recording icon in the toolbar and select Mobile Test.

The New Mobile Test From Recording dialog is displayed.
Select a directory to save the test.
Enter the name of the test in the Test name field, and click Next.
The Select mobile application page displays the list of all mobile applications that you configured in the Application Configuration page.
Select the Android application that you want to test.

Note: The real devices or the emulators that are connected to the computer are listed and you can select any device or emulator from the list.
Select the device from the Select mobile device list.

Click Next, and then click Finish.

The application is displayed in a virtual client of both, the real mobile device or the emulator.

The recording is started in a web browser.

You can perform the actions on the selected mobile application by using the virtual client. The actions that you perform are imitated on the device or emulator and are captured as test steps in the test.

The test steps are displayed on the Test Steps pane of the virtual client window.

The following table lists the options of the actions that you can perform in the virtual client:


Option	Action when clicked
Stop recording	Stops the recording and generates the mobile test recording
Screen lock	Performs the lock screen action on the mobile device or emulator
Refresh	Refreshes the virtual client if the actions that you perform on the virtual client is not synchronized with the mobile device
Volume up	Increases the volume on the mobile device or emulator
Volume down	Decreases the volume on the mobile device or emulator
Mute	Mutes the mobile device or emulator
Send SMS	Sends an SMS to the phone number that you specify in the Send SMS dialog
Make call	Calls to the phone number that you specify in the Make a call
Overview	Displays the previously opened applications
Home	Navigates to the home screen
Back	Navigates to the previous page or window in the mobile application

Click Stop recording.
The recording of the test is stopped and the browser window is closed. The Test Generation dialog is displayed in the UI Test perspective.

You have recorded a test for an Android mobile application.

You can perform any of the following tasks:

You can click Open Test in the Test Generation dialog to view the recorded test and edit the test, if you want to change or add the test steps or verification points. See Editing a mobile test.
You can run the recorded test. See Running mobile tests for Android mobile applications.