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Action groups

In the MFTF, you can re-use a group of actions, such as logging in as an administrator or a customer, declared in an XML file when you need to perform the same sequence of actions multiple times.

The following diagram shows the structure of a Functional Testing Framework action group:

Structure of a Functional Testing Framework action group

Principles

The following conventions apply to Functional Testing Framework action groups:

  • All action groups are declared in XML files and stored in the <module>/Test/Mftf/ActionGroup/ directory.
  • Every file name ends with ActionGroup suffix. For exampe LoginAsAdminActionGroup.xml.
  • Action group name should be the same as file name without extension.
  • One <actionGroup> tag is allowed per action group XML file.

The XML format for the actionGroups declaration is:

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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>


<actionGroups xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
        xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="urn:magento:mftf:Test/etc/actionGroupSchema.xsd">
    <actionGroup name="">
        <arguments>
            <argument name=""/>
            <argument name="" defaultValue=""/>
            <argument name="" defaultValue="" type=""/>
        </arguments>
    </actionGroup>
</actionGroups>

Example

These examples build a declaration for a group of actions that grant authorization to the Admin area, and use the declaration in a test.

The Magento/Backend/Test/Mftf/ActionGroup/LoginAsAdminActionGroup.xml <actionGroup> relates to the functionality of the Magento_Backend module.

In test, the name and identifier of the <actionGroup> is used as a reference in the ref parameter, such as ref="LoginAsAdminActionGroup".

Create an action group declaration

To create the <actionGroup> declaration:

  1. Begin with a template for the <actionGroup>:

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    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    

    <actionGroups xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
            xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="urn:magento:mftf:Test/etc/actionGroupSchema.xsd">
        <actionGroup name="{Action Group Name}">
    

        </actionGroup>
    </actionGroups>

  2. Add actions to the actionGroup arguments:

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    <actionGroup name="LoginAsAdminActionGroup">
        <fillField stepKey="fillUsername" selector="#username" userInput="{{adminUser.username}}" />
        <fillField stepKey="fillPassword" selector="#password" userInput="{{adminUser.password}}" />
        <click stepKey="click" selector="#login" />
    </actionGroup>

  3. The userInput variable must contain a data value for test. Add a default data value for the variable to use in the most common cases. For this example, the default value is _defaultAdmin.

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    <argument name="adminUser" defaultValue="_defaultAdmin"/>

  4. The following example shows the complete declaration:

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    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    

    <actionGroups xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
            xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="urn:magento:mftf:Test/etc/actionGroupSchema.xsd">
        <actionGroup name="LoginAsAdmin">
                <annotations>
                    <description>Login to Backend Admin using provided User Data. PLEASE NOTE: This Action Group does NOT validate that you are Logged In.</description>
                </annotations>
                <arguments>
                    <argument name="adminUser" type="entity" defaultValue="DefaultAdminUser"/>
                </arguments>
        
                <amOnPage url="{{AdminLoginPage.url}}" stepKey="navigateToAdmin"/>
                <fillField selector="{{AdminLoginFormSection.username}}" userInput="{{adminUser.username}}" stepKey="fillUsername"/>
                <fillField selector="{{AdminLoginFormSection.password}}" userInput="{{adminUser.password}}" stepKey="fillPassword"/>
                <click selector="{{AdminLoginFormSection.signIn}}" stepKey="clickLogin"/>
                <closeAdminNotification stepKey="closeAdminNotification"/>
            </actionGroup>
    </actionGroups>

Use the declaration in a test

In this test example, we want to add the following set of actions:

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<fillField selector="{{AdminLoginFormSection.username}}" userInput="{{adminUser.username}}" stepKey="fillUsername"/>
<fillField selector="{{AdminLoginFormSection.password}}" userInput="{{adminUser.password}}" stepKey="fillPassword"/>
<click selector="{{AdminLoginFormSection.signIn}}" stepKey="clickLogin"/>

Instead of adding this set of actions, use the LoginAsAdminActionGroup <actionGroup> declaration in tests:

  1. Reference the LoginAsAdminActionGroup action group:

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    <actionGroup stepKey="loginToAdminPanel" ref="LoginAsAdminActionGroup"/>

  2. Update the argument name/value pair to adminUser and CustomAdminUser:

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    <actionGroup stepKey="loginToAdminPanel" ref="LoginAsAdminActionGroup">
        <argument name="adminUser" value="CustomAdminUser"/>
    </actionGroup>

Data type usage

By default, an argument expects an entire entity when the type value is not defined. There are cases when you use a string instead of a whole entity.

For example, the following defines the replacement argument relevantString using a primitive data type:

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<actionGroup name="fillExample">
    <arguments>
        <argument name="relevantString" defaultValue="defaultString" type="string"/>
    </arguments>
    <fillField stepKey="fillField1" selector="#input" userInput="{{relevantString}}"/>
    <click stepKey="clickSave" selector="#save"/>
    <see stepKey="seeItWorked" selector="#outputArea" userInput="{{relevantString}}"/>
    <click stepKey="clickParameterizedSelector" selector="{{SomeSection.parameterizedElement(relevantString)}}"/>
</actionGroup>

The string argument type provides a method to pass a single piece of data to the <actionGroup>during a test instead of passing an entire entity.

Explicitly define the argument value

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<actionGroup stepKey="fillWithStringLiteral" ref="fillExample">
    <argument name="relevantString" value="overrideString"/>
</actionGroup>

Use persisted data references to define the argument value

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<actionGroup stepKey="fillWithStringLiteral" ref="fillExample">
    <argument name="relevantString" value="$persistedData.field1$"/>
</actionGroup>

The relevantString argument value points to the data created in the stepKey="persistedData" test step. field1 is a data key of the required data string. Even with the persistedData data entity, the Functional Testing Framework interprets the $persistedData.field1$ value as a string.

Define the argument value based on data entity resolution

The argument value points to a piece of data defined in a data.xml file. The field1 data contains the required string. The Functional Testing Framework resolves {{myCustomEntity.field1}} the same as it would in a selector or userInput attribute.

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<actionGroup stepKey="fillWithXmlData" ref="fillExample">
    <argument name="relevantString" value="{{myCustomEntity.field1}}"/>
</actionGroup>

Return a value

Action groups can return a value using a return tag.

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<actionGroup name="GetOrderIdActionGroup">
    <seeElement selector="{{CheckoutSuccessMainSection.orderLink}}"  stepKey="assertOrderLink"/>
    <grabTextFrom selector="{{CheckoutSuccessMainSection.orderLink}}" stepKey="orderId"/>
    <return value="{$orderId}" stepKey="returnOrderId"/>
</actionGroup>

The value returned can be accessed in later steps using action group step key {$getOrderId}.

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<actionGroup ref="GetOrderIdActionGroup" stepKey="getOrderId"/>
<!--Filter the Order using Order ID -->
<actionGroup ref="FilterOrderGridByIdActionGroup" stepKey="filterOrderGridById">
    <argument name="orderId" value="{$getOrderId}"/>
</actionGroup>

Convention to return a value

The following conventions apply to action groups returning a value:

  • Only action groups can return value. Use of return tag is dis-allowed in tests and suites.
  • An action group does not support multiple return tags.
  • For merging action groups, return is allowed only in one of the merging action groups.
  • Value returned by an action group can only be referenced within the scope that the action group is defined in (test, before/after).

Optimizing action group structures

Structuring properly an action group increases code reusability and readability.

Starting with an action group such as:

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<actionGroup name="CreateCategory">
    <arguments>
        <argument name="categoryEntity" defaultValue="_defaultCategory"/>
    </arguments>
    <seeInCurrentUrl url="{{AdminCategoryPage.url}}" stepKey="seeOnCategoryPage"/>
    <click selector="{{AdminCategorySidebarActionSection.AddSubcategoryButton}}" stepKey="clickOnAddSubCategory"/>
    <see selector="{{AdminHeaderSection.pageTitle}}" userInput="New Category" stepKey="seeCategoryPageTitle"/>
    <fillField selector="{{AdminCategoryBasicFieldSection.CategoryNameInput}}" userInput="{{categoryEntity.name}}" stepKey="enterCategoryName"/>
    <click selector="{{AdminCategorySEOSection.SectionHeader}}" stepKey="openSEO"/>
    <fillField selector="{{AdminCategorySEOSection.UrlKeyInput}}" userInput="{{categoryEntity.name_lwr}}" stepKey="enterURLKey"/>
    <click selector="{{AdminCategoryMainActionsSection.SaveButton}}" stepKey="saveCategory"/>
    <seeElement selector="{{AdminCategoryMessagesSection.SuccessMessage}}" stepKey="assertSuccess"/>
    <seeInTitle userInput="{{categoryEntity.name}}" stepKey="seeNewCategoryPageTitle"/>
    <seeElement selector="{{AdminCategorySidebarTreeSection.categoryInTree(categoryEntity.name)}}" stepKey="seeCategoryInTree"/>
</actionGroup>

It can be reworked into more manageable pieces, as below. These smaller steps are easier to read, update, and reuse.

  • GoToCategoryGridAndAddNewCategory

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    <actionGroup name="GoToCategoryGridAndAddNewCategory">
        <seeInCurrentUrl url="{{AdminCategoryPage.url}}" stepKey="seeOnCategoryPage"/>
        <click selector="{{AdminCategorySidebarActionSection.AddSubcategoryButton}}" stepKey="clickOnAddSubCategory"/>
        <see selector="{{AdminHeaderSection.pageTitle}}" userInput="New Category" stepKey="seeCategoryPageTitle"/>
    </actionGroup>

  • FillInBasicCategoryFields

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    <actionGroup name="FillInBasicCategoryFields">
        <arguments>
            <argument name="categoryEntity" defaultValue="_defaultCategory"/>
        </arguments>
        <fillField selector="{{AdminCategoryBasicFieldSection.CategoryNameInput}}" userInput="{{categoryEntity.name}}" stepKey="enterCategoryName"/>
        <click selector="{{AdminCategorySEOSection.SectionHeader}}" stepKey="openSEO"/>
        <fillField selector="{{AdminCategorySEOSection.UrlKeyInput}}" userInput="{{categoryEntity.name_lwr}}" stepKey="enterURLKey"/>
    </actionGroup>

  • SaveAndVerifyCategoryCreation

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    <actionGroup name="SaveAndVerifyCategoryCreation">
        <click selector="{{AdminCategoryMainActionsSection.SaveButton}}" stepKey="saveCategory"/>
        <seeElement selector="{{AdminCategoryMessagesSection.SuccessMessage}}" stepKey="assertSuccess"/>
        <seeInTitle userInput="{{categoryEntity.name}}" stepKey="seeNewCategoryPageTitle"/>
        <seeElement selector="{{AdminCategorySidebarTreeSection.categoryInTree(categoryEntity.name)}}" stepKey="seeCategoryInTree"/>
    </actionGroup>

Elements reference

actionGroups

The <actionGroups> element is a root element that contains XML configuration attributes.

AttributeValueDescription
xmlns:xsi
"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
Tells the XML parser to validate this document against a schema.
xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation
"urn:magento:mftf:Test/etc/actionGroupSchema.xsd"
Relative path to the corresponding schema.

It may contain one or more <actionGroup>.

actionGroup

AttributeTypeUseDescription
name
string
required
Identifier of the action group.
extends
string
optional
Identifies the action group to extend.
deprecated
string
optional
Used to warn about the future deprecation of the actionGroup. String will appear in Allure reports and console output at runtime.

It may contain <arguments>.

arguments

The <arguments> element is a wrapper for an array of <argument> elements.

argument

AttributeTypeUseDescription
name
string
required
Identifier of an argument in the scope of the corresponding action group.
defaultValue
string
optional
Provides a default data value.
type
Possible values: string, entity (default).
optional
Defines the argument data type; Defaults to entity.
Jeff Matthews
Last updated 9/11/2023
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