Creating and Calling Methods for Test Cases in Katalon Studio

While it’s possible, and encouraged to set up Custom Keywords to perform repeatable code blocks, the same thing can be done within the Test Case itself. Methods can be defined with the Test Case and called as many times as needed.

As an example, let’s say there are 5 filter boxes on the site. Each filter has a value for a certain type of result. A simple test would be to click each filter and confirm the results in the table match the filter type.
Using the brute force method, there would be 5 code blocks with almost identical code. We would want to read the type of filter, perhaps count the results, click the filter, then confirm the values in table of results.

If we built a method within the Test Case, we could pass in the filter object details, then capture the information we need.

To create the Method, we set it up the same way as it would appear for a Custom Keyword. We omit the @Keyword label and define our procedure. Once the Method has been defined, all we need to do is call it and pass any parameters it calls for. In the example below, the index value of the filter and it’s name are passed to the Method.

The Method below reads the number of results available from the filter. If there are more than 3, it only checks the first 3. If there are 0, an entry is logged stating there are no results. From there, it clicks the filter, then reads the status column from the table of results. The status can be Started, In Progress, Complete or Expired. When we click the Complete filter, the status for each result in the table should Complete. If not, there is something wrong and an error is written to the log.

Again, this is a simple example, but it demonstrates that Methods can be written for the Test Case itself and aren’t just for Custom Keywords.

Additionally, when it comes to Groovy, if you want the Method to return a result, adding the “return” statement at the end takes care of that.
Such as:

return totalNumberOfRows

It’s then possible to set a variable to the result of the Method with:

rowResults=CustomKeywords.'commonCode.selenium.countRowsPerPage'(xpath)

    WebUI.navigateToUrl(GlobalVariable.baseurl)

def checkFilterStatus(int buttonIndex, String filterType){
    KeywordLogger log = new KeywordLogger()
    log.logWarning('Checking Filter Type - ' + filterType)
    WebUI.click(findTestObject('Home/filter-Status Filters', [('buttonIndex') : buttonIndex]))
    String tempText=WebUI.getText(findTestObject('Home/filter-Status Filters', [('buttonIndex') : buttonIndex])).replaceAll(filterType+' |\\(|\\)','')
    int filterText=Integer.valueOf(tempText)
    if (filterText>3){
        filterText=3
    }
    if (filterText==0){
        log.logWarning('NOTE: There are no results to verify for the filter')
    }
    for (int loop = 1; loop <=filterText; loop++) {
        tempText=WebUI.getText(findTestObject('Home/label-Status', [('row') : loop, ('column') : 2]))
        log.logWarning('Checking result: ' + loop)
        if (tempText!=(filterType.toLowerCase())){
            log.logError('ERROR: The Status type of ' + filterType + ' does not match the filter type')
            KeywordUtil.markFailed('ERROR: The Status type of ' + filterType + ' does not match the filter type')
        } else {
            log.logWarning('SUCCESS: The Status type of ' + filterType +' matches the filter type')
        }
    }
}

//Check Filter Status - Pass button index and text of the button
checkFilterStatus(2, "Started")
checkFilterStatus(3, "In Progress")
checkFilterStatus(4, "Complete")
checkFilterStatus(5, "Expired")