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We're looking for a tool that would allow us to script and run tests across multiple browsers including Chrome, FF 3,4, IE 6,7,8 and during the running allow a human to visually inspect each page / action. This must support javascript so a simple browsershots approach will not work. Something like Selenium Grid may work but I haven't seen anything that would act like a console so that a human could visually inspect each test step. Ideally the answer to this question would be a tool that runs a scripted front-end test and displays those tests on each browser in a grid so that a human could visually inspect the look of each page while the test was testing the html content.

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Already posted and waiting for some good tools :) stackoverflow.com/questions/1315499/… –  Logesh Paul May 30 '11 at 8:42

7 Answers 7

How about Cucumber Sauce?

I've not tried it purely because I do not need to run tests in parallel across multiple browsers or headless. However, I am using Cucumber BDD for almost all my web application testing. Cucumber Sauce looks like it might have solved the parallelism problem so it might work for you.

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How about Telerik Test Studio http://www.telerik.com/automated-testing-tools.aspx? It can do FF 3 & 4, IE7, 8, 9 (but not IE6), Chrome and Safari. It literally hooks into the browser and drives it as if a real person was sitting there clicking things and typing text.

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A couple months ago I ran into a browser that allowed users to see how different rendering engines displayed their site: Lunascape, and here are its features. As far as it validity, or accuracy goes, I cannot vouch for it (I have never used it); I can link you to a CNET review though: CNET.

So my best idea would be to use lunascape (to allow your tester to see all the engines side-by-side), then script the tests in javascript which is included in every page.

Good luck, and hope this helps.

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TestComplete can do this: http://www.automatedqa.com/products/testcomplete/ You can record any interaction with an application and when the tests run you can watch them.

It supports: Internet Explorer 6—9 support (both 32- and 64-bit versions) Firefox 3.5—4.0 support

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Open source tool Selenium, which supports many browsers and can be run as a simple record / playback tool or from code but the browser compatibility varies a bit depending on which method you choose. Google uses Selenium in a big way these days and there are plenty of good articles such as this one on their testing blog.

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Very good question.
The closet tool that i think of will be HP load runner for :

  • the ability to visually inspect each page while the test is running and inserting break point if needed
  • Javascript is supported but you might have problem with asynchronous request (ajax)

Since there is alway a but :

  • Not all browsers are simulated.
  • Browsers are simulated also ...
  • The report will print the performance and not what was shown on the page.
  • The price

I do not think that visual inspection falls into automated test. Automated test is about performance and to detect regression. Visual inspection on the other side is to check if the layout is properly rendered.

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Doesn't this testing depend on the size of the site to be tested? If I have a 5-10 page site, I would use some of the tools mentioned above, handle it manually (i.e. walk through the site in each browser on each platform), use browsershots.org, or use a tool within Safari, such as simulating a browser.

If the site is large, then these options become very difficult and time consuming, and my experience is that the best thing to do is make sure that each page is standards compliant, and try different pages in a few browsers.

Hope this helps.

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Can I ask why this was down voted. It seems like good advice.. –  David DelMonte Jul 14 '11 at 18:36

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