X Window System event scripting

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Revision as of 03:36, 13 November 2007 by MitchellNCharity (talk | contribs) (+see alsos. mention visgrep.)
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Event scripting lets software generate keypresses, mouse movements and clicks, and thus control and test other software.

We could use it for activity testing, documentation generation, and perhaps demos.

Software

  • xmacro
http://download.sarine.nl/xmacro/Description.html
http://download.sarine.nl/xmacro/xmacro-0.4.5.tar.gz
Example use:
http://ikester.blogspot.com/2007/01/im-huge-fan-of-autohotkey.html
Simple.
  • xautomation
http://hoopajoo.net/projects/xautomation.html
http://hoopajoo.net/static/projects/xautomation-0.98.tar.gz
Example use:
http://syn.theti.ca/articles/2006/10/25/tuxpaint-gui-testing-with-xautomation
http://syn.theti.ca/articles/2006/12/17/xautomation-visually-grepping-for-gui-elements
Being actively developed. Some ability to scrape the screen to find things in non-predictable locations (visgrep).
  • xnee
http://www.sandklef.com/xnee/
ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/xnee/xnee-3.02.tar.gz
Example use:
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6660
Maybe more complex to use?

None of them have Fedora rpms (Ubuntu has all three) (as of 2007-11-12). xmacro compiled fairly easily on an xo. All on fc6. I've not used any of them.

Possible uses

Run what, where?

  • Run on xo. Eg, for demos.
  • Run on host, pointing into xo's X. Eg, for hardware testing.
  • Run on host, pointing into remote X (ie, Xephyr), which a real or emulated xo is using as its DISPLAY.

Testing stories:

  • One emulator per language, running remote X in Xephyr, being driven to generate screen shots, and do basic regression testing of activities.

See also