Robot Debugger#

CumulusCI includes a rudimentary Robot debugger which can be enabled by setting the robot_debug option of the robot task to true. When the debugger is enabled you can use the Breakpoint keyword from the Salesforce Library keyword library to pause execution.

Once the Breakpoint keyword is encountered you will be given a prompt from which you can interactively issue commands.

For the following examples we’ll be using this simple test:

*** Settings ***
Resource  cumulusci/robotframework/Salesforce.robot

Suite Setup     Open test browser
Suite Teardown  Close all browsers

*** Test Cases ***
Example test case
    log  this is step one
    Breakpoint
    log  this is step two
    log  this is step three

Enabling the debugger#

To enable the debugger you must set the robot_debug option to true for the robot task. You should never do this in the project’s cumulusci.yml file. Doing so could cause tests to block when run on a CI server such as MetaCI.

Instead, you should set it from the command line when running tests locally.

For example, assuming you have the example test in a file named example.robot, you can enable the debugger by running the robot task like this:

$ cci task run robot --robot_debug true --suites example.robot

Setting breakpoints#

The Salesforce keyword library includes a keyword named [Breakpoint]{.title-ref}. Normally it does nothing. However, once the debugger is enabled it will cause the test to pause. You will then be presented with a prompt where you can interactively enter commands.

$ cci task run robot --robot_debug true --suites example.robot
2019-10-01 15:29:01: Getting scratch org info from Salesforce DX
2019-10-01 15:29:05: Beginning task: Robot
2019-10-01 15:29:05:        As user: test-dp7to8ww6fec@example.com
2019-10-01 15:29:05:         In org: 00D0R000000ERx6
2019-10-01 15:29:05:
==============================================================================
Example
==============================================================================
Example test case                                                     .

:::
::: Welcome to rdb, the Robot Framework debugger
:::

Type help or ? to list commands.

> Example.Example test case
-> <Keyword: cumulusci.robotframework.Salesforce.Breakpoint>
rdb>

Note: the Breakpoint keyword has no effect on a test if the robot_debug option is not set to true. While we don’t encourage you to leave this keyword in your test cases, it’s safe to do so as long as you only ever set the robot_debug option when running tests locally.

Getting Help#

Whenever you see the debugger prompt rdb>, you can request help by typing help or ? and pressing return. You will be given a list of available commands. To get help with a specific command you can type help followed by the command you want help on.

rdb> help

Documented commands (type help <topic>):
========================================
continue  locate_elements  quit            shell  vars
help      pdb              reset_elements  step   where

rdb> help vars
Print the value of all known variables
rdb>

Examining Variables#

There are two ways you can examine the current value of a Robot variable. The simplest method is to enter the name of a variable at the prompt and press return. The debugger will show you the value of that single variable:

rdb> ${BROWSER}
chrome

To see a list of all variables and their values, enter the command vars.

rdb> vars
┌────────────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Variable                           │ Value                                            │
├────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ ${/}                               │ /                                                │
├────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ ${:}                               │ :                                                │
├────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ ${BROWSER}                         │ chrome                                           │
├────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
... <more output> ...

Executing Robot keywords#

You can execute Robot keywords at the prompt by entering the command shell (or the shortcut !) followed by the keyword and arguments just as you would in a test. The following example runs the SeleniumLibrary keyword Get Location:

rdb> shell get location
status: PASS
result: https://ability-enterprise-4887-dev-ed.lightning.force.com/lightning/setup/SetupOneHome/home

Notice that the shell command will run the keyword and then report the status of the keyword and display the return value.

Note: just like in a test, you must separate arguments from keywords by two or more spaces.

Setting Robot variables#

To capture the output of a keyword into a variable, you do it the same way you would do it in a test: use a variable name, two or more spaces, then the keyword:

rdb> ! ${loc}  get location
status: PASS
${loc} was set to https://ability-enterprise-4887-dev-ed.lightning.force.com/lightning/setup/SetupOneHome/home
rdb> ${loc}
https://ability-enterprise-4887-dev-ed.lightning.force.com/lightning/setup/SetupOneHome/home

In addition to setting variables from the results of keywords, you can also set variables with the shell command using the built-in keywords Set Test Variable, Set Suite Variable, or Set Global Variable.

rdb> ! set test variable  ${message}  hello, world
status: PASS
result: None
rdb> ${message}
hello, world

Locating elements on the web page#

One of the most powerful features of the debugger is the ability to locate elements on the screen. This makes it easy to experiment with xpaths or other types of locators.

In the following example, we want to find all items on the page that contain the title “Learn More”:

rdb> locate_elements  //button[@title='Learn More']
Found 1 matches

The elements will be highlighted with a yellow border:

image

To remove the highlighting you can use the debugger command reset_elements

Step through the test#

The debugger allows you to step through a test one keyword at a time. From the rdb prompt, enter the command step to continue to the next step in the test.

rdb> step
.

> Example.Example test case
-> <Keyword: BuiltIn.Log  this is step two>

The last two lines help to give context. It is showing that you are currently right before the keyword BuiltIn.Log this is step 2. To get a full stack you can issue the command where

rdb> where
0: -> Example
1:   -> Example.Example test case
2:     -> BuiltIn.Log

Continuing or quitting the test#

To let the test continue to the end, or to the next Breakpoint keyword, issue the command continue. To stop execution gracefully (ie: allow all test and suite teardowns to run), issue the command quit.