Overview of App Testing Framework

Use the MATLAB^® app testing framework to test App Designer apps or apps built programmatically using the uifigure function. The app testing framework lets you author a test class that programmatically performs a gesture on a UI component, such as pressing a button or dragging a slider, and verifies the behavior of the app.

App Testing

Test Creation – Class-based tests can use the app testing framework by subclassing matlab.uitest.TestCase. Because matlab.uitest.TestCase is a subclass of matlab.unittest.TestCase, your test has access to the features of the unit testing framework, such as qualifications, fixtures, and plugins. To experiment with the app testing framework at the command prompt, create a test case instance using matlab.uitest.TestCase.forInteractiveUse.

Test Content – Typically, a test of an app programmatically interacts with app components using a gesture method of matlab.uitest.TestCase, such as press or type, and then performs a qualification on the result. For example, a test might press one check box and verify that the other check boxes are disabled. Or it might type a number into a text box and verify that the app computes the expected result. These types of tests require understanding of the properties of the app being tested. To verify a button press, you must know where in the app object MATLAB stores the status of a button. To verify the result of a computation, you must know how to access the result within the app.

Test Cleanup – It is a best practice to include a teardown action to delete the app after the test. Typically, the test method adds this action using the addTeardown method of matlab.unittest.TestCase.

App Locking – When an app test creates a figure, the framework locks the figure immediately to prevent external interactions with the components. The app testing framework does not lock UI components if you create an instance of matlab.uitest.TestCase.forInteractiveUse for experimentation at the command prompt.

To unlock a figure for debugging purposes, use the matlab.uitest.unlock function.

Dialog Box Interaction – Some apps display modal dialog boxes, preventing interaction with other app components. To access the figure behind a modal dialog box, you must first select an option in the dialog box or dismiss the dialog box. To programmatically interact with a dialog box in the figure window, use the chooseDialog or dismissDialog method.

Gesture Support of UI Components

The gesture methods of matlab.uitest.TestCase support various UI components.

Component	Typical Creation Function	matlab.uitest.TestCase Gesture Method
		press	choose	drag	scroll	type	hover	chooseContextMenu
Axes	axes	✔		✔	✔		✔	✔
Button	uibutton	✔						✔
Button Group	uibuttongroup		✔
Check Box	uicheckbox	✔	✔					✔
Date Picker	uidatepicker					✔		✔
Discrete Knob	uiknob		✔					✔
Drop Down	uidropdown		✔			✔		✔
Edit Field (Numeric, Text)	uieditfield					✔		✔
Hyperlink	uihyperlink	✔						✔
Image	uiimage	✔						✔
Knob	uiknob		✔	✔				✔
Label	uilabel							✔
List Box	uilistbox		✔					✔
Menu	uimenu	✔
Panel	uipanel	✔					✔	✔
Polar Axes	polaraxes	✔					✔	✔
Push Tool	uipushtool	✔
Radio Button	uiradiobutton	✔	✔					✔
Slider	uislider		✔	✔				✔
Spinner	uispinner	✔				✔		✔
State Button	uibutton	✔	✔					✔
Switch (Rocker, Slider, Toggle)	uiswitch	✔	✔					✔
Tab	uitab		✔
Tab Group	uitabgroup		✔
Table	uitable		✔			✔		✔
Text Area	uitextarea					✔		✔
Toggle Button	uitogglebutton	✔	✔					✔
Toggle Tool	uitoggletool	✔	✔
Tree Node	uitreenode		✔					✔
UI Axes	uiaxes	✔		✔	✔		✔	✔
UI Figure	uifigure	✔		✔			✔	✔

Example: Write a Test for an App

This example shows how to write a test for an app in your current folder. The app provides options to change the sample size and colormap of a plot. To programmatically interact with the app and qualify the results, use the app testing framework and the unit testing framework.

To explore the properties of the app prior to testing, create an instance of the app. This step is not necessary for the tests, but it is helpful to explore the properties used by the tests. For example, use app.UpdatePlotButton to access the Update Plot button within the app.

app = ConfigurePlotAppExample;

In a file named ConfigurePlotAppExampleTest.m in your current folder, create a test class that derives from matlab.uitest.TestCase. Add two Test methods to the ConfigurePlotAppExampleTest class. In each method, create an instance of the app before testing and delete it after the test is complete:

• testSampleSize method — Modify the sample size, update the plot, and verify that the plot uses the specified sample size.

• testColormap method — Select a colormap, update the plot, and verify that the plot uses the specified colormap.

classdef ConfigurePlotAppExampleTest < matlab.uitest.TestCase
    methods (Test)
        function testSampleSize(testCase)
            app = ConfigurePlotAppExample;
            testCase.addTeardown(@delete,app)

            testCase.type(app.SampleSizeEditField,12)
            testCase.press(app.UpdatePlotButton)

            ax = app.UIAxes;
            surfaceObj = ax.Children;
            testCase.verifySize(surfaceObj.ZData,[12 12])
        end

        function testColormap(testCase)
            app = ConfigurePlotAppExample;
            testCase.addTeardown(@delete,app)

            testCase.choose(app.ColormapDropDown,"Winter")
            testCase.press(app.UpdatePlotButton)

            expectedMap = winter;
            ax = app.UIAxes;
            testCase.verifyEqual(ax.Colormap,expectedMap)
        end
    end
end

Run the tests. In this example, both of the tests pass.

results = runtests("ConfigurePlotAppExampleTest")

Running ConfigurePlotAppExampleTest

.

.
Done ConfigurePlotAppExampleTest
__________

results = 
  1×2 TestResult array with properties:

    Name
    Passed
    Failed
    Incomplete
    Duration
    Details

Totals:
   2 Passed, 0 Failed, 0 Incomplete.
   11.9555 seconds testing time.