A random topic for discussion -- free software tackles GUI automation?

[Matthew Hiller <matthew hiller yale edu>]

Hello,

	For the past two months, I've had the misfortune of working with
Mercury Interactive's WinRunner to automate GUI testing routines as part
of my summer job w/ IBM.

	In essence, WinRunner (or its X11 cousin, XRunner) plays back user
interactions with a GUI, though the test engineer will generally add
enhancements like looping with different input on each run, checking
results, etc. (WinRunner also has some competitors that basically work the
same way.)

	I call my time with WinRunner a misfortune because it's a
singularly shoddy piece of software. As was the one competing product I
tried out.

	My job will be over pretty soon and I'll never be touching
WinRunner again (unless it's with a lit firebrand), but lately I've been
wondering if the future of GUI automation might include free software that
does it. (I have no doubts that a reasonably mature free-software offering
would put things like WinRunner to shame.)

	Oftentimes, free software will get developed when people have an
itch to scratch. This is what I've been wondering about a lot: is the itch
for automated GUI testing programs strong enough that a free one is likely
to be developed?

	I figured a gnome forum'd be a good place to ask about it. :)

	Oh - from the DejaGnu manual:

Future directions

In the near future, there are two parallel directions for DejaGnu
development. The first is to add support for more hosts and targets.

The second would permit testing programs with a more complex interface,
whether text based or GUI based. Two components already exist: a Tcl based
X window toolkit, and a terminal package for expect. Both of these could
be merged into DejaGnu in a way that permits testing programs that run in
each environment.

Thanks very much,
Matt Hiller