Prerequisites

Before we start, there are a few prerequisites that you should have in place:

1. A computer with Windows, macOS, or Linux operating system.
2. Python 2.7, 3.5, 3.6, or 3.7 installed on your computer.
3. pip package manager installed on your computer.
4. Basic knowledge of command-line interface (CLI) commands.

Before we get started with the installation and setup of Robot Framework, there are a few prerequisites that need to be in place.

1. Python – Robot Framework is built using Python, so you will need to have Python installed on your system. You can download Python from the official website at https://www.python.org/downloads/.
2. pip – pip is the package installer for Python, and it comes pre-installed with Python version 3.4 and above. If you have an older version of Python, you can download pip from https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/installing/.
3. Browser Drivers – To interact with the web browser, Robot Framework uses browser drivers. You will need to install the drivers for the browsers you intend to automate.
   • Chrome Driver – https://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/chromedriver/downloads
   • Firefox Driver – https://github.com/mozilla/geckodriver/releases
   • Safari Driver – https://webkit.org/blog/6900/webdriver-support-in-safari-10/

Note: Make sure that you download the appropriate driver version for your browser and operating system.

With the prerequisites out of the way, let’s move on to the installation and setup of Robot Framework.

Installation

Robot Framework can be installed using pip, the Python package installer. Open a terminal or command prompt and type the following command:

This command will download and install the latest version of Robot Framework along with its dependencies.

Setup Once you have installed Robot Framework, you can start using it to create and run test cases. Here’s how you can set up your environment to get started with Robot Framework.

1. Create a new directory for your Robot Framework projects.
   bashCopy code

   mkdir robot-projects
cd robot-projects

2. Install the SeleniumLibrary.
   Copy code

   pip install robotframework-seleniumlibrary


   The SeleniumLibrary provides support for web testing using Selenium.

3. Add the browser drivers to your system PATH.

   Depending on your operating system, the process for adding the browser drivers to your system PATH may vary. Here are some general instructions for adding the drivers to your system PATH.

   Windows

   1. Open the Start menu and search for “Environment Variables”.
   2. Click on “Edit the system environment variables”.
   3. Click on the “Environment Variables” button.
   4. Under “System Variables”, scroll down to “Path” and click “Edit”.
   5. Click “New” and add the path to the directory where you saved the browser driver executable.
   6. Click “OK” to save the changes.

   macOS

   1. Open the Terminal app.
   2. Type the following command:
      bashCopy code

      nano ~/.bash_profile

   3. Add the following line to the end of the file, replacing <path-to-driver> with the actual path to the browser driver executable:
      rubyCopy code

      export PATH=$PATH:<path-to-driver>

   4. Press “Ctrl+X” to exit the editor.
   5. Type “Y” to save the changes.
   6. Press “Enter” to confirm the file name.

   Linux

   1. Open a terminal.
   2. Type the following command:
      bashCopy code

      sudo nano /etc/environment

   3. Add the following line to the end of the file, replacing <path-to-driver> with the actual path to the browser driver executable:
      bashCopy code

      PATH="$PATH:<path-to-driver>"

   4. Press “Ctrl+X” to exit the editor.

IDE setup

To create and edit test cases in Robot Framework, you can use any text editor. However, there are some IDEs that offer more features and support for Robot Framework. Some popular IDEs for Robot Framework include PyCharm, Visual Studio Code, and Eclipse. In this article, we will use PyCharm.

Follow the steps below to set up PyCharm for Robot Framework:

1. Download and install PyCharm from the official website.
2. Open PyCharm and create a new project.
3. In the Project Interpreter settings, select the Python interpreter that you used to install Robot Framework.
4. Install the Robot Framework support plugin for PyCharm. You can do this by going to Settings -> Plugins -> Browse repositories, and search for “Robot Framework Support”.
5. After installing the plugin, restart PyCharm.

Library installation

Robot Framework has a wide range of libraries that provide support for various test automation tasks. These libraries can be installed using pip. Follow the steps below to install a library:

1. Open a command-line interface (CLI) terminal.
2. Type the following command to install the library:

   pip install library-name

   Replace library-name with the name of the library you want to install.

Creating a test case

Now that we have installed and set up Robot Framework, let’s create a simple test case. In Robot Framework, test cases are written using plain text format with a keyword-driven approach. Let’s create a test case to open a website and verify the title.

1. Open a text editor and create a new file.
2. Save the file with a .robot extension.
3. Add the following code to the file:
   markdownCopy code

   *** Settings ***
   Library SeleniumLibrary

   *** Test Cases ***
Open and verify website title
Open Browser http://www.example.com Chrome
Title Should Be Example Domain
Close Browser


4. Save the file.

In the code above, we first import the SeleniumLibrary, which provides support for web testing using Selenium. Then, we define a test case called “Open and verify website title”. The test case has three steps:

1. Open Browser: This step opens the website “http://www.example.com” in the Chrome browser.
2. Title Should Be: This step verifies that the title of the website is “Example Domain”.
3. Close Browser: This step closes the browser.

Running the test case

To run the test case, follow the steps below:

1. Open a command-line interface (CLI) terminal.
2. Navigate to the directory where you saved the test case file.
3. Type the following command:

   robot test-case-file.robot

   Replace test-case-file.robot with the name of your test case file.

4. Press Enter to run the command.

Robot Framework will execute the test case and display the results in the CLI.

Conclusion

In this article, we have guided you through the process of installing and setting up Robot Framework. We have also shown you how to create a simple test case and run it using Robot Framework. With its easy-to-read syntax and extensive libraries, Robot Framework is a powerful tool for test automation. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced user, this guide will help you get started quickly.