Selecting the perfect automation testing tool for a desktop app might be difficult. Let’s check out the positives and negatives of famous open source tools for testing desktop applications. You can use these tools on your own without much hassle.
WinAppDriver or Windows Application Driver
This is a test automation tool for the perfect automation testing services available for free. It is specifically for the Windows Desktop Apps made by Microsoft. It can efficiently function as a standalone and a plugin for Appium. This is why, if you wish to run Appium’s server, a request for Win10 app automation will launch WinAppDriver.exe.
Positives
- It is created by Microsoft and is a great way to test the Windows desktop apps using a tool from that company itself.
- It uses the We Driver protocol. Come from the web/mobile automation arena and know how to develop by using the WebDriver environment. The alteration to WinAppDriver will be easy, quick and proper.
Negatives
- You get WinAppDriver for free, but its code is not yet open source. The Samples, tests and linked tools are open sources, and it’s mentioned that they are thinking of open-sourcing the WinAppDrive code.
- It is not a built-in spy tool. You’ll have to use inspect.exe- Windows SDK and mentally map the inspect.exe properties to the properties of WinAppDriver.
AutoIT Automation Testing Tool For Desktop Apps
This one is standalone and does not need any configuration. It’s a mini footprint tool that enhances mouse and keyboard clicks. It helps the binary files of the tested app with the help of a Reflection.
The AutoIT is available with an adequately dedicated IDE and works wonderfully with the recordings and coding in its independent scripting language.
Positives
- It helps export an executable file that can be activated independently behind the project.
(It remains helpful in case of integration of 3rd party tools and CI)
- It promotes regular expression.
- It creates the chance to develop dedicated addons for specific requirements (The ‘AutoItX’ version helps this).
Negatives
- It is only based on a specific coding language requiring learning.
- AutoIT has become one of the most favorite tools in this area.
Winium
Winium is a brand new open-source framework structured on Selenium and has 3 parts:
It supports test automation on all Windows Apps. In addition, it supports test automation in terms of all Windows Phone operating systems (notifications bar, home button, toggles etc.) This is a great tool to support Automation Testing for beginners.
Positives
Using Winium is easy if you use Selenium WebDriver and know about its API. After that, using Minimum is straight and straightforward.
Negatives
As it is a new project, a few problems have come their way. The API is not done yet, and it isn’t on a similar maturity level as the other tools in this case.
If you have been thinking of using Winium, you must wait for it to get more advanced.
TestStack.White
This one is a library for the Automation of desktop applications. It began as a mini-open source project. It is .NET based and does not require the usage of proprietary scripting languages. It has all types of open source code projects for Automation and manual testing and supports automation technologies like Silverlight, Win32, SWT in Java and WinForms. It’s simple to write down the White Tests in multiple languages supported. NET.
Positives
- Makes Automation possible with all kinds of technologies.
- Works wonderfully with all kinds of .NET programming languages.
Negatives
- It needs an installation of the UI Automation Verify library.
- It is not actively maintained anymore.
LDTP (Linux Desktop Testing Project)
Even though the project began for Linux, it presently supports the MAC PyATOM version and the Windows OS Cobra version. Furthermore, the LDTP comes with its editor, and along with the other activities, it also works well with the recordings.
Positives
- It has a rich library and works well with all kinds of environments and languages compared to other tools that come on this list.
Negatives
- There is no proper documentation, and many pages are broken, making it hard to go through the API.
- This is a beautiful tool but has negatives that reduce its rank, as it is complicated to learn.
Sikuli
Object recognition by images makes Sikuli stand apart, whereas the other tools in this list identify the objects with the object properties. The recognition of the image is done by a background engine capable of making a comparison between pixel to pixel at the BitMap level.
When you work with Sikuli, at first, you get an entire Repository of pics (screenshots from the app) that would turn out to be the inspiration for finding out the points as well as rectification that would get activated while running the program.
The best part about this tool is that it is available with an IDE, including a distinct scripting language and an API, which makes it easy to connect in Java and C#. The best part is that Sikuli provides visualization as well as functional tests.
Positives
- As the technique of comparing the pictures doesn’t depend on object properties, Sikuli can decipher everything built by us when we implement a test.
- It’s simple to check out a DB table, a Windows window, a mobile app, and a response from the server without special efforts or configurations.
Negatives
- We require continuous maintenance of the previous pictures stock for every alteration in the product.
- This tool can only be used for particular occasions.
To learn more about the intricacies of Automation Testing, check out this blog on Automation Pyramid Model Strategy.
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