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This repository has been archived by the owner on Feb 25, 2022. It is now read-only.
Anthony Hughes edited this page May 13, 2019 · 6 revisions

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is a "visual test suite"?

A: This is a term we use to describe a tool that interacts with its test subject via on-screen visual cues - i.e. bitmap pattern matching. This mechanism provides the logic that is used to make decisions, and guides test flow. This contrasts with other test suites which are API-driven and rely on tight synchronization with the software itself, in this case Firefox. Iris knows nothing about Firefox's underlying code and APIs. It only manipulates it in the ways that a typical Firefox user would.

Q: Does Iris have a CI test environment?

A: Currently, a partial solution. Because Iris uses a virtual screen and keyboard, this has proven to be a challenge with virtualized environments. We are able to perform tests on the core code itself, but are not currently able to run all of the tests in the test suite.

Q: Why is Python written in Python 2 and not Python 3?

A: The first iteration of this project was written on top of Sikuli's Jython API library, which only supported Python 2. A future version of Iris will be rewritten in Python 3.

Q: Can I use Iris to test other web browsers? Or other pieces of software?

A: While the underlying logic that drives Iris could be separated and used to build something like this, it was not built with that in mind. It is currently a Firefox test tool. However, we are exploring this ability in the next version of Iris.

Q: Who uses Iris?

A: Iris is intended for use within QA teams at Mozilla as a stand-alone tool, to automate tests that are currently being performed manually.

Q: What configurations does Iris support?

A: In theory Iris should be able to run on any Firefox version and locale, however the Iris team is limited in what it can support officially.

Functional Tests Update Tests
Platforms Windows 7, Windows 10, Mac OS 10.13, Ubuntu 16.04 Windows 7, Windows 10, Mac OS 10.13, Ubuntu 16.04
Locales en-US ar de en-GB en-US es-ES fr it ja ko pl pt-BR pt-PT ro ru tr vi
Versions 60+ Updates From: 56.0b3+ Update To: 60+