Abstract Mobile GUI tests can be classified as layout-based – i.e. using GUI properties as locators – or Visual – i.e. using widgets’ screen captures as locators –. Visual test scripts require significant maintenance efforts to be kept aligned with the tested application as it evolves or it is ported to different devices. This work aims to conceptualize a translation-based approach to automatically derive Visual tests from existing layout-based counterparts or repair them when graphical changes occur, and to develop a tool that implements and validates the approach. We present TOGGLE, a tool that translates Espresso layout-based tests for Android apps to Visual tests that conform to either SikuliX, EyeAutomate, or a combination of the two tools’ syntax. An experiment is conducted to measure the precision of the translation approach, which is evaluated on maintenance tasks triggered by graphical changes due to device diversity. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of a translation-based approach, show that script portability to different devices is improved (from 32% to 93%), and indicate that translation can repair up to 90% of Visual locators in failing tests. GUI test translation mitigates challenges with Visual tests like maintenance effort and portability, enabling their wider use in industrial practice.

中文翻译：

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从基于布局到可视化 android 测试脚本的转换：实证评估

摘要 移动 GUI 测试可以分为基于布局的——即使用 GUI 属性作为定位器——或可视化——即使用小部件的屏幕截图作为定位器——。可视化测试脚本需要大量的维护工作才能在测试应用程序发展或移植到不同设备时与测试应用程序保持一致。这项工作旨在概念化基于翻译的方法，以从现有的基于布局的对应项中自动派生视觉测试或在发生图形更改时修复它们，并开发一种实现和验证该方法的工具。我们展示了 TOGGLE，这是一种工具，可将针对 Android 应用程序的基于 Espresso 布局的测试转换为符合 SikuliX、EyeAutomate 或两种工具语法组合的视觉测试。进行了一个实验来测量翻译方法的精度，对由于设备多样性导致的图形变化触发的维护任务进行评估。我们的结果证明了基于翻译的方法的可行性，表明脚本对不同设备的可移植性得到了提高（从 32% 到 93%），并表明翻译可以在失败的测试中修复多达 90% 的视觉定位器。GUI 测试翻译通过维护工作和可移植性等视觉测试缓解了挑战，使其在工业实践中得到更广泛的应用。