Testing of GLSP-based web modeling tools

Abstract

Testing plays an important role in the quality assurance of software applications. It serves as a means to uncover potential issues introduced by code changes. As modern software systems become increasingly complex, manual testing practices often do not guarantee comprehensive coverage. Hence, automated testing has emerged as a solution to ensure thorough evaluation. This thesis delves into the domain of testing diagram editors, particularly focusing on the Graphical Language Server Platform (GLSP), which utilizes the Language Server Protocol, enabling developers to construct web modeling tools. In accordance, this thesis investigates the challenges of testing diagram editors. The investigation delves into the mechanics of browser automation and assesses the strengths and limitations of modern web testing frameworks such as Selenium, Cypress, and Playwright. This evaluation lays the groundwork for developing an extensible and maintainable testing framework tailored to GLSP. Within this context, the thesis addresses essential questions concerning how diagrams can be tested and interactions automated.For this reason, developing a solution that effectively addresses the unique demands of such tools is explored and encompasses various factors, including architectural and design principles, to form a foundation of an efficient and adaptable testing framework.To conclude, a comprehensive test suite is constructed. This suite spans a range of scenarios, each with different aspects of GLSP-based diagram editors to assess the testing framework’s capabilities in addressing those challenges.