Test cases, keywords, and files

Part 1 · Fundamentals›1 · IntroductionRFCP 1.3, 1.5

A test case is a sequence of keyword calls, one per line. Each keyword is an action — Log, Should Be Equal, Open Browser — with optional arguments after it. Read top to bottom, a good test reads like a procedure.

Keywords come from three places: the built-in library (always available), standard and third-party libraries you import, and user keywords you write yourself. You will use all three in this part.

Test cases live in suite files — .robot files. A folder of suite files is itself a suite (a directory suite), which lets you group related tests and give the whole group shared setup. You will meet directory suites in Chapter 6.

Robot Framework is open source under the Apache License 2.0, stewarded by the non-profit Robot Framework Foundation. The canonical home for docs, libraries, and the community is the project website.

YouTube video · 1:06Robot Framework tutorial Episode 3 — Key features

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Preview the syntax, logs and reports, library API, listeners, and parser interfaces you will meet across the course.

Note

Everything the course needs comes in the labs — no downloads beyond the Python package index. The optional Foundation videos need internet access; their cards open them on YouTube.

Answer the recall check below, then continue to write your first suite.

Read how suites, keywords, and files fit together

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1. A Robot Framework test case is made of…

   Lines of PythonKeyword calls, one per lineSQL statements
   Show the answer

   Answer: Keyword calls, one per line — A test case is a sequence of keyword calls; each keyword is an action with optional arguments.

2. Under which license is Robot Framework released?

   Apache License 2.0A paid commercial licenseGPL v2 only
   Show the answer

   Answer: Apache License 2.0 — Robot Framework is open source under the Apache License 2.0, stewarded by the Robot Framework Foundation.

Key terms

suite fileconcept

A .robot file (or a folder of them) holding test cases and the keywords/settings they use.

Apache License 2.0concept

Robot Framework's open-source license — free to use and extend.

All terms in the glossary →