SWTBot/FAQ

FAQ

Can SWTBot be used to test RCP Applications?

Yes SWTBot can be used to test any kind of SWT apps -- SWT, Eclipse plugins and RCP applications.

What platforms is SWTBot tested on?

SWTBot is continuously tested on a grid of cruise servers that run windows XP/2003, linux/gtk 32 bit and 64 bit and macosx(carbon).

Why do tests run on a non-UI thread?

A lot of events that SWTBot sends to the UI are blocking. SWT dialogs are one of them. This means that functions opening dialogs, will block until the dialog closes. Since we do not want tests to block when a dialog open up, SWTBot runs in a non-UI thread, and posts events to the UI thread.

There are two solutions to this:

1. Make the dialog non-modal, by invoking Dialog#setBlockOnOpen(false)
2. Open the dialog in a non-ui thread

SWTBot chooses the later approach, since the first approach is not always practical.

Why do I have to run tests as SWTBot tests, instead of PDE-JUnit tests?

PDE-Junit tests run on the UI thread. SWTBot needs that tests run on a non-UI thread, hence a new run configuration. See Why do tests run on a non-UI thread? for more info.

Can I slow down the execution speed of SWTBot tests?

Yes you can! To slow down the speed of execution of SWTBot, you need to set the system property "org.eclipse.swtbot.playback.delay". This delay is in milliseconds. You can also set this property in code as follows:

// slow down tests
SWTBotPreferences.PLAYBACK_DELAY = 10;
// set to the default speed
SWTBotPreferences.PLAYBACK_DELAY = 0;

Can I change the timeout for execution of SWTBot tests?

Yes you can! To change the timeout, you need to set the system property "org.eclipse.swtbot.search.timeout". The timeout is specified in milliseconds. You can also set this property in code as follows:

// increase timeout to 10 seconds
SWTBotPreferences.TIMEOUT = 10000;
// set to the default timeout of 5 seconds
SWTBotPreferences.TIMEOUT = 5000;

Can I change the poll delay for evaluating conditions in SWTBot tests?

Yes you can! To change the poll delay, you need to set the system property "org.eclipse.swtbot.playback.poll.delay". The poll delay is specified in milliseconds. You can also set this property in code as follows:

// increase timeout to 1 second
SWTBotPreferences.DEFAULT_POLL_DELAY = 1000;
// set to the default timeout of 500ms.
SWTBotPreferences.DEFAULT_POLL_DELAY = 500;

How do I configure log4j to turn on logging for SWTBot?

Copy the file http://dev.eclipse.org/svnroot/technology/org.eclipse.swtbot/trunk/org.eclipse.swtbot.swt.finder.test/src/log4j.xml to the src directory in your plugin. Ensure that the plugin's MANIFEST.MF contains the following lines, note the dependency on org.apache.log4j

Require-Bundle: com.example.foo,
 org.apache.log4j
Eclipse-RegisterBuddy: org.apache.log4j

If you still get the message:

log4j:WARN No appenders could be found for logger (net.sf.swtbot.matcher.WidgetMatcherFactory$MenuMatcher).
log4j:WARN Please initialize the log4j system properly.

Then there's something else not right. Drop an email on the [SWTBot/Support mailing list].

How do I use SWTBot to test native dialogs (File Dialogs, Color Dialogs, etc)?

You can't! Very unfortunate but true.

SWT does not have support to recognize native dialogs, and SWTBot therefore cannot test them. See eclipse bug #164191 for more info. Consider adding a comment and a vote on that bug as well.