一、RobotFramework
（一） Introduction
Robot Framework is a Python-based, extensible keyword-driven automation framework for acceptance testing, acceptance test driven development (ATDD), behavior driven development (BDD) and robotic process automation (RPA). It can be used in distributed, heterogeneous environments, where automation requires using different technologies and interfaces.
The framework has a rich ecosystem around it consisting of various generic libraries and tools that are developed as separate projects. For more information about Robot Framework and the ecosystem, see http://robotframework.org.
Robot Framework is open source software released under the Apache License 2.0. Its development is sponsored by the Robot Framework Foundation.
（二）Why Robot Framework?
- Enables easy-to-use tabular syntax for creating test cases in a uniform way.
- Provides ability to create reusable higher-level keywords from the existing keywords.
- Provides easy-to-read result reports and logs in HTML format.
- Is platform and application independent.
- Provides a simple library API for creating customized test libraries which can be implemented natively with either Python or Java.
- Provides a command line interface and XML based output files for integration into existing build infrastructure (continuous integration systems).
- Provides support for Selenium for web testing, Java GUI testing, running processes, Telnet, SSH, and so on.
- Supports creating data-driven test cases.
- Has built-in support for variables, practical particularly for testing in different environments.
- Provides tagging to categorize and select test cases to be executed.
- Enables easy integration with source control: test suites are just files and directories that can be versioned with the production code.
- Provides test-case and test-suite -level setup and teardown.
- The modular architecture supports creating tests even for applications with several diverse interfaces.
（三）High-level architecture
Robot Framework is a generic, application and technology independent framework. It has a highly modular architecture illustrated in the diagram below.
Robot Framework architecture
The test data is in simple, easy-to-edit tabular format. When Robot Framework is started, it processes the data, executes test cases and generates logs and reports. The core framework does not know anything about the target under test, and the interaction with it is handled by libraries. Libraries can either use application interfaces directly or use lower level test tools as drivers.
