Created outputs
===============

Several output files are created when tests are executed, and all of
them are somehow related to test results. This section discusses what
outputs are created, how to configure where they are created, and how
to fine-tune their contents.

.. contents::
   :depth: 2
   :local:

Different output files
----------------------

This section explains what different output files can be created and
how to configure where they are created. Output files are configured
using command line options, which get the path to the output file in
question as an argument. A special value `NONE`
(case-insensitive) can be used to disable creating a certain output
file.

Output directory
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All output files can be set using an absolute path, in which case they
are created to the specified place, but in other cases, the path is
considered relative to the output directory. The default output
directory is the directory where the execution is started from, but it
can be altered with the :option:`--outputdir (-d)` option. The path
set with this option is, again, relative to the execution directory,
but can naturally be given also as an absolute path. Regardless of how
a path to an individual output file is obtained, its parent directory
is created automatically, if it does not exist already.

.. _output.xml:

Output file
~~~~~~~~~~~

Output files contain all the test execution results in machine readable XML
format. Log_, report_ and xUnit_ files are typically generated based on them,
and they can also be combined and otherwise post-processed with Rebot_.

.. tip:: Generating report_ and xUnit_ files as part of test execution
         does not require processing output files. Disabling log_ generation
         when running tests can thus save memory.

The command line option :option:`--output (-o)` determines the path where
the output file is created relative to the `output directory`_. The default
name for the output file, when tests are run, is :file:`output.xml`.

When `post-processing outputs`_ with Rebot, new output files are not created
unless the :option:`--output` option is explicitly used.

It is possible to disable creation of the output file when running tests by
giving a special value `NONE` to the :option:`--output` option. If no outputs
are needed, they should all be explicitly disabled using
`--output NONE --report NONE --log NONE`.

Log file
~~~~~~~~

Log files contain details about the executed test cases in HTML
format. They have a hierarchical structure showing test suite, test
case and keyword details. Log files are needed nearly every time when
test results are to be investigated in detail. Even though log files
also have statistics, reports are better for
getting an higher-level overview.

The command line option :option:`--log (-l)` determines where log
files are created. Unless the special value `NONE` is used,
log files are always created and their default name is
:file:`log.html`.

.. figure:: src/ExecutingTestCases/log_passed.png
   :target: src/ExecutingTestCases/log_passed.html
   :width: 500

   An example of beginning of a log file

.. figure:: src/ExecutingTestCases/log_failed.png
   :target: src/ExecutingTestCases/log_failed.html
   :width: 500

   An example of a log file with keyword details visible

Report file
~~~~~~~~~~~

Report files contain an overview of the test execution results in HTML
format. They have statistics based on tags and executed test suites,
as well as a list of all executed test cases. When both reports and
logs are generated, the report has links to the log file for easy
navigation to more detailed information.  It is easy to see the
overall test execution status from report, because its background
color is green, if all `critical tests`_ pass, and bright red
otherwise.

The command line option :option:`--report (-r)` determines where
report files are created. Similarly as log files, reports are always
created unless `NONE` is used as a value, and their default
name is :file:`report.html`.

.. figure:: src/ExecutingTestCases/report_passed.png
   :target: src/ExecutingTestCases/report_passed.html
   :width: 500

   An example report file of successful test execution

.. figure:: src/ExecutingTestCases/report_failed.png
   :target: src/ExecutingTestCases/report_failed.html
   :width: 500

   An example report file of failed test execution

.. _xunit:
.. _xunit file:

XUnit compatible result file
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

XUnit result files contain the test execution summary in xUnit__ compatible
XML format. These files can thus be used as an input for external tools that
understand xUnit reports. For example, Jenkins__ continuous integration server
supports generating statistics based on xUnit compatible
results.

.. tip:: Jenkins also has a separate `Robot Framework plugin`__.

XUnit output files are not created unless the command line option
:option:`--xunit (-x)` is used explicitly. This option requires a path to
the generated xUnit file, relatively to the `output directory`_, as a value.

Because xUnit reports do not have the concept of `non-critical tests`__,
all tests in an xUnit report will be marked either passed or failed, with no
distinction between critical and non-critical tests. If this is a problem,
:option:`--xunitskipnoncritical` option can be used to mark non-critical tests
as skipped. Skipped tests will get a message containing the actual status and
possible message of the test case in a format like `FAIL: Error message`.

__ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XUnit
__ http://jenkins-ci.org
__ https://wiki.jenkins-ci.org/display/JENKINS/Robot+Framework+Plugin
__ `Setting criticality`_

Debug file
~~~~~~~~~~

Debug files are plain text files that are written during the test
execution. All messages got from test libraries are written to them,
as well as information about started and ended test suites, test cases
and keywords. Debug files can be used for monitoring the test
execution. This can be done using, for example, a separate
`fileviewer.py <https://bitbucket.org/robotframework/robottools/src/master/fileviewer/>`__
tool, or in UNIX-like systems, simply with the ``tail -f`` command.

Debug files are not created unless the command line option
:option:`--debugfile (-b)` is used explicitly.

Timestamping output files
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All output files listed in this section can be automatically timestamped
with the option :option:`--timestampoutputs (-T)`. When this option is used,
a timestamp in the format `YYYYMMDD-hhmmss` is placed between
the extension and the base name of each file. The example below would,
for example, create such output files as
:file:`output-20080604-163225.xml` and :file:`mylog-20080604-163225.html`::

   robot --timestampoutputs --log mylog.html --report NONE tests.robot

Setting titles
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The default titles for logs_ and reports_ are generated by prefixing
the name of the top-level test suite with :name:`Test Log` or
:name:`Test Report`. Custom titles can be given from the command line
using the options :option:`--logtitle` and :option:`--reporttitle`,
respectively.

Example::

   robot --logtitle "Smoke Test Log" --reporttitle "Smoke Test Report" --include smoke my_tests/

.. note:: Prior to Robot Framework 3.1, underscores in the given titles were
          converted to spaces. Nowadays spaces need to be escaped or quoted
          like in the example above.

Setting background colors
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By default the `report file`_ has a green background when all the
`critical tests`_ pass and a red background otherwise.  These colors
can be customized by using the :option:`--reportbackground` command line
option, which takes two or three colors separated with a colon as an
argument::

   --reportbackground blue:red
   --reportbackground green:yellow:red
   --reportbackground #00E:#E00

If you specify two colors, the first one will be used instead of the
default green color and the second instead of the default red. This
allows, for example, using blue instead of green to make backgrounds
easier to separate for color blind people.

If you specify three colors, the first one will be used when all the
test succeed, the second when only non-critical tests have failed, and
the last when there are critical failures. This feature thus allows
using a separate background color, for example yellow, when
non-critical tests have failed.

The specified colors are used as a value for the `body`
element's `background` CSS property. The value is used as-is and
can be a HTML color name (e.g. `red`), a hexadecimal value
(e.g. `#f00` or `#ff0000`), or an RGB value
(e.g. `rgb(255,0,0)`). The default green and red colors are
specified using hexadecimal values `#9e9` and `#f66`,
respectively.

Log levels
----------

Available log levels
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Messages in `log files`_ can have different log levels. Some of the
messages are written by Robot Framework itself, but also executed
keywords can `log information`__ using different levels. The available
log levels are:

`FAIL`
   Used when a keyword fails. Can be used only by Robot Framework itself.

`WARN`
   Used to display warnings. They shown also in `the console and in
   the Test Execution Errors section in log files`__, but they
   do not affect the test case status.

`INFO`
   The default level for normal messages. By default,
   messages below this level are not shown in the log file.

`DEBUG`
   Used for debugging purposes. Useful, for example, for
   logging what libraries are doing internally. When a keyword fails,
   a traceback showing where in the code the failure occurred is
   logged using this level automatically.

`TRACE`
   More detailed debugging level. The keyword arguments and return values
   are automatically logged using this level.

__ `Logging information`_
__ `Errors and warnings during execution`_

Setting log level
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By default, log messages below the `INFO` level are not logged, but this
threshold can be changed from the command line using the
:option:`--loglevel (-L)` option. This option takes any of the
available log levels as an argument, and that level becomes the new
threshold level. A special value `NONE` can also be used to
disable logging altogether.

It is possible to use the :option:`--loglevel` option also when
`post-processing outputs`_ with Rebot. This allows, for example,
running tests initially with the `TRACE` level, and generating smaller
log files for normal viewing later with the `INFO` level. By default
all the messages included during execution will be included also with
Rebot. Messages ignored during the execution cannot be recovered.

Another possibility to change the log level is using the BuiltIn_
keyword :name:`Set Log Level` in the test data. It takes the same
arguments as the :option:`--loglevel` option, and it also returns the
old level so that it can be restored later, for example, in a `test
teardown`_.

Visible log level
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If the log file contains messages at
`DEBUG` or `TRACE` levels, a visible log level drop down is shown
in the upper right corner. This allows users to remove messages below chosen
level from the view. This can be useful especially when running test at
`TRACE` level.

.. figure:: src/ExecutingTestCases/visible_log_level.png
   :target: src/ExecutingTestCases/visible_log_level.html
   :width: 500

   An example log showing the visible log level drop down

By default the drop down will be set at the lowest level in the log file, so
that all messages are shown. The default visible log level can be changed using
:option:`--loglevel` option by giving the default after the normal log level
separated by a colon::

   --loglevel DEBUG:INFO

In the above example, tests are run using level `DEBUG`, but
the default visible level in the log file is `INFO`.

Splitting logs
--------------

Normally the log file is just a single HTML file. When the amount of the test
cases increases, the size of the file can grow so large that opening it into
a browser is inconvenient or even impossible. Hence, it is possible to use
the :option:`--splitlog` option to split parts of the log into external files
that are loaded transparently into the browser when needed.

The main benefit of splitting logs is that individual log parts are so small
that opening and browsing the log file is possible even if the amount
of the test data is very large. A small drawback is that the overall size taken
by the log file increases.

Technically the test data related to each test case is saved into
a JavaScript file in the same folder as the main log file. These files have
names such as :file:`log-42.js` where :file:`log` is the base name of the
main log file and :file:`42` is an incremented index.

.. note:: When copying the log files, you need to copy also all the
          :file:`log-*.js` files or some information will be missing.

Configuring statistics
----------------------

There are several command line options that can be used to configure
and adjust the contents of the :name:`Statistics by Tag`, :name:`Statistics
by Suite` and :name:`Test Details by Tag` tables in different output
files. All these options work both when executing test cases and when
post-processing outputs.

Configuring displayed suite statistics
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When a deeper suite structure is executed, showing all the test suite
levels in the :name:`Statistics by Suite` table may make the table
somewhat difficult to read. By default all suites are shown, but you can
control this with the command line option :option:`--suitestatlevel` which
takes the level of suites to show as an argument::

    --suitestatlevel 3

Including and excluding tag statistics
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When many tags are used, the :name:`Statistics by Tag` table can become
quite congested. If this happens, the command line options
:option:`--tagstatinclude` and :option:`--tagstatexclude` can be
used to select which tags to display, similarly as
:option:`--include` and :option:`--exclude` are used to `select test
cases`__::

   --tagstatinclude some-tag --tagstatinclude another-tag
   --tagstatexclude owner-*
   --tagstatinclude prefix-* --tagstatexclude prefix-13

__ `By tag names`_

Generating combined tag statistics
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The command line option :option:`--tagstatcombine` can be used to
generate aggregate tags that combine statistics from multiple
tags. The combined tags are specified using `tag patterns`_ where
`*` and `?` are supported as wildcards and `AND`,
`OR` and `NOT` operators can be used for combining
individual tags or patterns together.

The following examples illustrate creating combined tag statistics using
different patterns, and the figure below shows a snippet of the resulting
:name:`Statistics by Tag` table::

    --tagstatcombine owner-*
    --tagstatcombine smokeANDmytag
    --tagstatcombine smokeNOTowner-janne*

.. figure:: src/ExecutingTestCases/tagstatcombine.png
   :width: 550

   Examples of combined tag statistics

As the above example illustrates, the name of the added combined statistic
is, by default, just the given pattern. If this is not good enough, it
is possible to give a custom name after the pattern by separating them
with a colon (`:`)::

    --tagstatcombine "prio1ORprio2:High priority tests"

.. note:: Prior to Robot Framework 3.1, underscores in the custom name were
          converted to spaces. Nowadays spaces need to be escaped or quoted
          like in the example above.

Creating links from tag names
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can add external links to the :name:`Statistics by Tag` table by
using the command line option :option:`--tagstatlink`. Arguments to this
option are given in the format `tag:link:name`, where `tag`
specifies the tags to assign the link to, `link` is the link to
be created, and `name` is the name to give to the link.

`tag` may be a single tag, but more commonly a `simple pattern`_
where `*` matches anything and `?` matches any single
character. When `tag` is a pattern, the matches to wildcards may
be used in `link` and `title` with the syntax `%N`,
where "N" is the index of the match starting from 1.

The following examples illustrate the usage of this option, and the
figure below shows a snippet of the resulting :name:`Statistics by
Tag` table when example test data is executed with these options::

    --tagstatlink mytag:http://www.google.com:Google
    --tagstatlink jython-bug-*:http://bugs.jython.org/issue_%1:Jython-bugs
    --tagstatlink owner-*:mailto:%1@domain.com?subject=Acceptance_Tests:Send_Mail

.. figure:: src/ExecutingTestCases/tagstatlink.png
   :width: 550

   Examples of links from tag names

Adding documentation to tags
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tags can be given a documentation with the command line option
:option:`--tagdoc`, which takes an argument in the format
`tag:doc`. `tag` is the name of the tag to assign the
documentation to, and it can also be a `simple pattern`_ matching
multiple tags. `doc` is the assigned documentation. It can contain
simple `HTML formatting`_.

The given documentation is shown with matching tags in the :name:`Test
Details by Tag` table, and as a tool tip for these tags in the
:name:`Statistics by Tag` table. If one tag gets multiple documentations,
they are combined together and separated with an ampersand.

Examples::

    --tagdoc mytag:Example
    --tagdoc "regression:*See* http://info.html"
    --tagdoc "owner-*:Original author"

.. note:: Prior to Robot Framework 3.1, underscores in the documentation were
          converted to spaces. Nowadays spaces need to be escaped or quoted
          like in the examples above.

Removing and flattening keywords
--------------------------------

Most of the content of `output files`_ comes from keywords and their
log messages. When creating higher level reports, log files are not necessarily
needed at all, and in that case keywords and their messages just take space
unnecessarily. Log files themselves can also grow overly large, especially if
they contain `for loops`_ or other constructs that repeat certain keywords
multiple times.

In these situations, command line options :option:`--removekeywords` and
:option:`--flattenkeywords` can be used to dispose or flatten unnecessary keywords.
They can be used both when `executing test cases`_ and when `post-processing
outputs`_. When used during execution, they only affect the log file, not
the XML output file. With `rebot` they affect both logs and possibly
generated new output XML files.

Removing keywords
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The :option:`--removekeywords` option removes keywords and their messages
altogether. It has the following modes of operation, and it can be used
multiple times to enable multiple modes. Keywords that contain `errors
or warnings`__ are not removed except when using the `ALL` mode.

`ALL`
   Remove data from all keywords unconditionally.

`PASSED`
   Remove keyword data from passed test cases. In most cases, log files
   created using this option contain enough information to investigate
   possible failures.

`FOR`
   Remove all passed iterations from `for loops`_ except the last one.

`WUKS`
   Remove all failing keywords inside BuiltIn_ keyword
   :name:`Wait Until Keyword Succeeds` except the last one.

`NAME:<pattern>`
   Remove data from all keywords matching the given pattern regardless the
   keyword status. The pattern is
   matched against the full name of the keyword, prefixed with
   the possible library or resource file name. The pattern is case, space, and
   underscore insensitive, and it supports `simple patterns`_ with `*`
   and `?` as wildcards.

`TAG:<pattern>`
   Remove data from keywords with tags that match the given pattern. Tags are
   case and space insensitive and they can be specified using `tag patterns`_
   where `*` and `?` are supported as wildcards and `AND`, `OR` and `NOT`
   operators can be used for combining individual tags or patterns together.
   Can be used both with `library keyword tags`__ and `user keyword tags`_.

Examples::

   rebot --removekeywords all --output removed.xml output.xml
   robot --removekeywords passed --removekeywords for tests.robot
   robot --removekeywords name:HugeKeyword --removekeywords name:resource.* tests.robot
   robot --removekeywords tag:huge tests.robot

Removing keywords is done after parsing the `output file`_ and generating
an internal model based on it. Thus it does not reduce memory usage as much
as `flattening keywords`_.

__ `Errors and warnings`_
__ `Keyword tags`_

.. note:: `TAG:<pattern>` mode was added in Robot Framework 2.9.

Flattening keywords
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The :option:`--flattenkeywords` option flattens matching keywords. In practice
this means that matching keywords get all log messages from their child
keywords, recursively, and child keywords are discarded otherwise. Flattening
supports the following modes:

`FOR`
   Flatten `for loops`_ fully.

`FORITEM`
   Flatten individual for loop iterations.

`NAME:<pattern>`
   Flatten keywords matching the given pattern. Pattern matching rules are
   same as when `removing keywords`_ using `NAME:<pattern>` mode.

`TAG:<pattern>`
   Flatten keywords with tags matching the given pattern. Pattern matching
   rules are same as when `removing keywords`_ using `TAG:<pattern>` mode.

Examples::

   robot --flattenkeywords name:HugeKeyword --flattenkeywords name:resource.* tests.robot
   rebot --flattenkeywords foritem --output flattened.xml original.xml

Flattening keywords is done already when the `output file`_ is parsed
initially. This can save a significant amount of memory especially with
deeply nested keyword structures.

.. note:: `TAG:<pattern>` mode was added in Robot Framework 2.9.

Setting start and end time of execution
---------------------------------------

When `combining outputs`_ using Rebot, it is possible to set the start
and end time of the combined test suite using the options :option:`--starttime`
and :option:`--endtime`, respectively. This is convenient, because by default,
combined suites do not have these values. When both the start and end time are
given, the elapsed time is also calculated based on them. Otherwise the elapsed
time is got by adding the elapsed times of the child test suites together.

It is also possible to use the above mentioned options to set start and end
times for a single suite when using Rebot.  Using these options with a
single output always affects the elapsed time of the suite.

Times must be given as timestamps in the format `YYYY-MM-DD
hh:mm:ss.mil`, where all separators are optional and the parts from
milliseconds to hours can be omitted. For example, `2008-06-11
17:59:20.495` is equivalent both to `20080611-175920.495` and
`20080611175920495`, and also mere `20080611` would work.

Examples::

   rebot --starttime 20080611-17:59:20.495 output1.xml output2.xml
   rebot --starttime 20080611-175920 --endtime 20080611-180242 *.xml
   rebot --starttime 20110302-1317 --endtime 20110302-11418 myoutput.xml

Limiting error message length in reports
----------------------------------------

If a test case fails and has a long error message, the message shown in
reports_ is automatically cut from the middle to keep reports easier to
read. By default messages longer than 40 lines are cut, but that can be
configured by using the :option:`--maxerrorlines` command line option.
The minimum value for this option is 10, and it is also possible to use
a special value `NONE` to show the full message.

Full error messages are always visible in `log files`_ as messages of
the failed keywords.

.. note:: The :option:`--maxerrorlines` option is new in Robot Framework 3.1.

.. _pre-Rebot modifier:

Programmatic modification of results
------------------------------------

If the provided built-in features to modify results are are not enough,
Robot Framework 2.9 and newer makes it possible to do custom modifications
programmatically. This is accomplished by creating a model modifier and
activating it using the :option:`--prerebotmodifier` option.

This functionality works nearly exactly like `programmatic modification of
test data`_ that can be enabled with the :option:`--prerunmodifier` option.
The obvious difference is that this time modifiers operate with the
`result model`_, not the `running model`_. For example, the following modifier
marks all passed tests that have taken more time than allowed as failed:

.. sourcecode:: python

    from robot.api import SuiteVisitor


    class ExecutionTimeChecker(SuiteVisitor):

        def __init__(self, max_seconds):
            self.max_milliseconds = float(max_seconds) * 1000

        def visit_test(self, test):
            if test.status == 'PASS' and test.elapsedtime > self.max_milliseconds:
                test.status = 'FAIL'
                test.message = 'Test execution took too long.'

If the above modifier would be in file :file:`ExecutionTimeChecker.py`, it
could be used, for example, like this::

    # Specify modifier as a path when running tests. Maximum time is 42 seconds.
    robot --prerebotmodifier path/to/ExecutionTimeChecker.py:42 tests.robot

    # Specify modifier as a name when using Rebot. Maximum time is 3.14 seconds.
    # ExecutionTimeChecker.py must be in the module search path.
    rebot --prerebotmodifier ExecutionTimeChecker:3.14 output.xml

If more than one model modifier is needed, they can be specified by using
the :option:`--prerebotmodifier` option multiple times. When executing tests,
it is possible to use :option:`--prerunmodifier` and
:option:`--prerebotmodifier` options together.

System log
----------

Robot Framework has its own plain-text system log where it writes
information about

   - Processed and skipped test data files
   - Imported test libraries, resource files and variable files
   - Executed test suites and test cases
   - Created outputs

Normally users never need this information, but it can be
useful when investigating problems with test libraries or Robot Framework
itself. A system log is not created by default, but it can be enabled
by setting the environment variable ``ROBOT_SYSLOG_FILE`` so
that it contains a path to the selected file.

A system log has the same `log levels`_ as a normal log file, with the
exception that instead of `FAIL` it has the `ERROR`
level. The threshold level to use can be altered using the
``ROBOT_SYSLOG_LEVEL`` environment variable like shown in the
example below.  Possible `unexpected errors and warnings`__ are
written into the system log in addition to the console and the normal
log file.

.. sourcecode:: bash

   #!/bin/bash

   export ROBOT_SYSLOG_FILE=/tmp/syslog.txt
   export ROBOT_SYSLOG_LEVEL=DEBUG

   robot --name Syslog_example path/to/tests

__ `Errors and warnings during execution`_
