Testing a Touch-Input Program

Abstract

Methods and systems are disclosed that allow automated testing of an application program that is configured to receive a touch input. A testing mechanism can be configured to identify the touch input that is designed to produce a specified result. The testing mechanism can generate one or more signals simulating the touch input. The testing mechanism can then check the state of the user interface of the application program being tested and determine whether the actual result conforms to the specified result.

1 . A method, comprising:
 identifying a touch input operable for producing a specified result in an application program;   generating one or more signals simulating the touch input;   receiving, in response to the one or more signals, a result from the application program; and   determining that the received result conforms with the specified result.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , where the application program includes a user interface element that accepts the touch input. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , where the user interface element includes an accessibility component that describes an accessibility attribute of the user interface element. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , where the one or more signals simulating the touch input are provided at least in part based on the accessibility attribute described in the accessibility component of the user interface element. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , where the received result includes an accessibility feature that corresponds to the accessibility attribute described in the accessibility component of the user interface element. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , where the touch input includes a gesture of one or more touching means on a touch input component. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , where the touch input component comprises a touch-sensitive display or a touch pad. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing a library of signals simulating touch inputs; and   providing a script that includes calls to the library.   
     
     
         9 . A method executed on a computer, comprising:
 receiving a first event, the first event including a simulated touch input to an application program executing on a device;   receiving a second event from the device, the second event including a response to the simulated touch input, the response produced by a verification step performed by a test script;   acquiring a status of the device, the status corresponding to the response to the simulated touch input produced; and   providing for display a monitoring interface, the monitoring interface including a visual representation of the first event, a visual representation of the second event, and one or more visual representations of the status associated with the second event.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , where the device is a mobile device connected to the computer through a wide area network (WAN). 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 executing the test script, the test script producing the simulated touch input to the application program.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , where acquiring the status of the device comprises:
 acquiring a memory status, the memory status including at least one element of a group containing a call stack, a memory failure status, and a memory leak status.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , where receiving the second event from the device includes receiving a screenshot from the device. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9 , where the simulated touch input includes a simulated multi-touch input. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 9 , where:
 the simulated touch input is associated with a timestamp; and   providing for display the monitoring interface includes providing for display, based on the timestamp, the visual representation of the first event, the visual representation of the second event, and visual representations of other events in a timeline.   
     
     
         16 . A computer program product tangibly stored on a storage device, operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
 identifying a touch input operable for producing a specified result in an application program;   generating one or more signals simulating the touch input; and   determining whether the user interface conforms to the specified result.   
     
     
         17 . The product of  claim 16 , where the application program includes a user interface element that accepts the touch input. 
     
     
         18 . The product of  claim 17 , where the user interface element includes an accessibility component that describes an accessibility attribute of the user interface element. 
     
     
         19 . The product of  claim 18 , where the one or more signals simulating the touch input are provided at least in part based on the accessibility attribute described in the accessibility component of the user interface element. 
     
     
         20 . A system, comprising:
 one or more computers configured to perform operations comprising:
 identifying a touch input operable for producing a specified result in an application program; 
 generating one or more signals simulating the touch input; and 
 determining whether the user interface conforms with the specified result.