Model-Based GUI Testing Using Sikuli

We present a framework of model-based GUI (graphical user-interface) testing with visual test scripts. In the framework, the system-under-test (SUT) specifications are state-transition tables input from a web interface. We developed two automatic testing tools that construct visual test scripts in Sikuli and use feature images to check for bugs in GUI programs. The first tool explores the pages of the SUT and applies test cases to check if a page is defined, if all buttons in the pages are defined, and if some buttons are missing in a page according to the specification. The second tool constructs an automata from the state-transition table and then uses model-based techniques to construct test plans for certain testing criteria. We show the feasibility of the idea with two test strategies, random and depth-first search, and the button-coverage criterion. We then discuss some techniques for the construction of efficient visual test scripts. We report our experiment with a point-of-care medication administration system. Our tools successfully helped in discovering several bugs.