NHS

CKAN data portal for NHS.

Automated UAT

We used Cypress to automate some user tests. Cypress is a desktop application that is installed on your computer.

Running locally

Install Cypress

Cypress is a Node application. Node versions can be managed using nvm. To install Cypress in this project we use Node v.8.17.0. This version can be installed using nvm:

nvm install v.8.17.0

Install Cypress via npm:

npm install cypress --save-dev

Executing Tests

Opening Cypress with npx:

npx cypress open

This will open a desktop application where you can browse the test files. We create two test files, one for staging website and another one for production website. They can be found inside cypress/integration directory. Just click on the file that you want to run and the test will start.

Here’s a more comprehensive README section with instructions for running Cypress tests using the package.json scripts that allow for automated switching between different environments.

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Cypress Setup and Test Execution

Install Cypress

To install Cypress via npm, run:

npm install cypress --save-dev

Running Cypress Tests

You can run Cypress tests either in interactive mode or headless mode. You can also specify different environments like development and production with predefined scripts.

Opening Cypress in Interactive Mode

To open Cypress with npx, use the following command:

npx cypress open

This will open the Cypress desktop application where you can browse and run test files. In the project, you’ll find two test files—one for the staging website and one for the production website. These files are located inside the cypress/integration directory. Simply click on the file you want to run, and the test will begin.

Running Cypress Tests Using package.json Scripts

To automate the process of running tests in different environments (such as development or production), we’ve added custom scripts in the package.json file.

The following scripts are available:

Running Tests for Local Development (http://ckan-dev:5000)

• Headless Mode:

  npm run cypress:run:dev

  This will run Cypress tests headlessly (without the UI) against the development environment (http://ckan-dev:5000).

• Interactive Mode:

  npm run cypress:open:dev

  This will open the Cypress interactive mode with the development environment base URL set.

Running Tests for Production (https://opendata.nhsbsa.net)

• Headless Mode:

  npm run cypress:run:prod

  This will run Cypress tests headlessly against the production environment (https://opendata.nhsbsa.net).

• Interactive Mode:

  npm run cypress:open:prod

  This will open the Cypress interactive mode with the production environment base URL set.

Reporting

Cypress is configured to generate reports in JUnit format. The reports will be saved in the cypress/reports/ directory with a unique filename (using a hash). You can configure the report settings by editing the cypress.config.js file.

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Running on Gitlab CI

A pipeline was created to run the automated test in this repo. The pipeline won't start automatically after a push, it needs to be started manually. There are two stages in this pipeline:

1. Build
2. Test