GUI Test Script Organization with Component Abstraction

GUI (Graphical User Interface) testing plays an important role in ensuring the correctness and reliability of software applications. To perform GUI testing, a test script must be prepared (or generated by tools) so that massive user interactions and verifications can be conducted automatically. Ideally, the actions of a test script should be organized based on the structure of the GUI so that the actions are easier to extend and maintain. Unfortunately, current methodologies and tools fall short in supporting such an organization. This paper proposes an "object-based" approach, called component abstraction, to model the structure of a GUI. A GUI testing modeling language, GTML, is defined and a systematic approach in applying component abstraction is described. We show that a test script written in GTML is more robust and easier to maintain in comparison to an ordinary test script. In addition, we implement a visual environment for the development of GTML scripts so that testers (developers) do not need to write GTML scripts in plain-text language.