Creating a cascading resource import structure for Robot Framework: Pt. 1/3 – Introduction to resource sharing
This is the second post in a series that will address some of the problems and questions surrounding the usage of the Robot Framework (RF), that I encounter frequently in the field. Click here to take a look at the first of these posts. As I have stated in the introduction to that post, I will sometimes use these treatments also as an opportunity to make small digressions, so as to shed some light on the internals of the RF.
This post will show you how to implement a simple and yet very efficient mechanism for resource sharing within the framework. Actually, I will use three separate posts to do so. The post you’re reading now, will be the first of these.
Robot Framework provides an out-of-the-box mechanism for sharing, i.e. re-using, various types of resources. However, depending on the size and complexity of your test automation project, this mechanism can sometimes entail quite some maintenance work in and of itself. In three posts I will describe a setup for sharing, that will virtually eliminate the involved maintenance effort. Additionally, this setup will provide you with a few, very fundamental, abstraction layers that you will have to apply in any given test project.
So, let’s first have a look at the main types of RF resources and at how these resources can be reused within the RF (first post). Then we will describe the problem surrounding this native mechanism (second post). Finally, we’ll be providing a solution to this problem (third and final post).