Keywords

A keyword is a defined combination of one or more actions on a test object. The implementation of a keyword can be done with various tools and programming languages, for example Java or .NET. In Silk Test Workbench, a keyword is a visual test or a method with the attribute Keyword before the method name. Keywords are saved as keyword assets.

You can define keywords and keyword sequences during the creation of a keyword-driven test and you can then implement them as test methods or visual tests. You can also mark existing test methods or visual tests as keywords with the Keyword attribute.Keywords are defined as follows:

'VB .NET code
<Keyword("keyword_name")>

A keyword sequence is a keyword that is a combination of other keywords. Keyword sequences bundle often encountered combinations of keywords into a single keyword, enabling you to reduce maintenance effort and to keep your tests well-arranged.

A keyword or a keyword sequence can have a combined total of 20 input and output parameters. Any parameter of the test method or visual test that implements the keyword is a parameter of the keyword. To specify a different name for a parameter of a keyword, you can use the following:

'VB .NET code
Argument("parameter_name")

Example

A test method that is marked as a keyword can look like the following:

'VB .NET code
<Keyword("Login")>
Public Sub Login()
    ...  // method implementation
End Sub

'VB .NET code
<Keyword("Login", Description:="Logs in with the given name and password.")>
Public Sub Login(<Argument("UserName")> username As String, <Argument("Password")> password As String)
    ... // method implementation
End Sub

where the keyword logs into the application under test with a given user name and password.

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The keyword name parameter of the Keyword attribute is optional. You can use the keyword name parameter to specify a different name than the method name. If the parameter is not specified, the name of the method is used as the keyword name.
The Argument attribute is also optional. If a method is marked as a keyword, then all arguments are automatically used as keyword arguments. You can use the Argument attribute to specify a different name for the keyword argument, for example UserName instead of userName.