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Debug a test case in Katalon Studio

Creating automation test cases is a repetitive task that requires a lot of editing and re-running test cases. In many automation tools, when a test case fails and you make certain changes to the script, you usually have to execute the whole script all over again to make sure the test is executed as expected.

To save your precious time from tedious repetitive re-running all unnecessary steps for debugging and to make debugging easier, Katalon Studio provides the following utilities:

  • Debug: Run from here
  • Debug: Enable/Disable steps
  • Debug mode
  • Debug from here

Requirements

  • An active Katalon Studio Enterprise license.

Debug: Run from here

With this feature, you can resume the existing execution quickly. Katalon Studio currently supports Run from here with Chrome, Firefox, and Edge Chromium (Edge Chromium is supported in versio 7.3.0 and later) only. To use it, from the Manual view of a test case:

  1. Start a browser with the Open Browser step, or you must have a currently running browser.
  2. Make sure this browser's session is NOT terminated when the execution finishes (Go to Project/Settings/Execution and uncheck the Terminate... options in Post-Execution Options based on your testing needs)

    Uncheck post execution

  3. In the Manual view of the test case, right-click on a step, select Run from here and select one of the currently running browser instances to execute your test.

    Note:
    • If there are no running browser instances that are previously launched in Katalon Studio, Run from here is disabled.

    Debug - run from here

    Debug: Enable or Disable steps

Enable/Disable steps to debug

Debug: Enable or Disable Steps

Katalon Studio allows you to enable or disable one or more test steps before executing the test case to skip unwanted steps during execution. You can use the provided keyboard shortcuts to perform the actions.

  • For Windows: Ctrl+D (disable) and Ctrl+E (enable) on selected steps.
  • For macOS: command+/ (disable) and option+command+/

Enable/Disable steps to debug

Debug mode

The Debug mode in Katalon Studio is designed to make debugging easy to use, allowing investigating the root causes more quickly. The following steps present how to debug a test case:

  1. Open a test case and switch to the Script view.

    Script view Katalon Studio

  2. Double-click on the leftmost side of the script editor to mark a breakpoint. A breakpoint is where Katalon Studio pauses the test execution for you to start debugging.

    mark a breakpoint for the step

  3. Choose a browser for Debug from the main toolbar.

    Run debug

  4. Confirm (select Yes) when being asked to display the Debug perspective.

    Confirm the debug mode

  5. The Debug perspective provides convenient options for debugging purposes. You can:

    • Navigate execution using commands from the debug toolbar

    debug toolbar

    Where:

    CommandDescription


    Resume debugging


    Suspend debugging


    Terminate debugging


    Disconnect


    Step into the current code block


    Step over the current code block


    Return from the current code block


    Run to a specific line
    • Track values of variables using Watch utilities.**

    Watch utilities

    Where:

    ViewDescription
    VariablesYou can view all variables associated with the current debugged action using Variables View, which is similar to Variables View in Eclipse. Refer to this guide for more details.
    BreakpointsYou can view all breakpoints using Breakpoints View, which is similar to Breakpoints View in Eclipse. Refer to this guide for more details.
    ExpressionsYou can inspect data using Expressions View, which is similar to Expressions View in Eclipse. Refer to this guide for more details.

Debug from here

Note:
  • Introduced in version 7.5.5.

To use Debug from here with Chrome, Firefox, or Edge Chromium, do as follows:

  1. Start a browser with the Open Browser step, or you must have a currently running browser
  2. Make sure this browser's session is NOT terminated when the execution finishes (Go to Project/Settings/Execution and uncheck the Terminate... options in Post-Execution Options based on your testing needs)

    Uncheck post execution

  3. Open a test case in its Script view and double-click on the leftmost side of the script editor to mark a breakpoint. A breakpoint is where Katalon Studio pauses the test execution for you to debug.



  4. Switch to the test case's Manual view, right-click on a step, select Debug from here and select one of the currently running browser instances to execute your test.

    Note:
    • If there are no running browser instances that are previously launched in Katalon Studio, Debug from here... is disabled.

    Debug from here

See also: