Introduction
A short introduction to CAT outputs.
What Outputs do I Have by Default?
By default, CAT does not produce much output, only logging to console and to log files:
| Tool | Logging to console | Logging to files |
|---|---|---|
| CAT PowerShell module | Yes, by default (level: Information) | Yes, by default, in Logs directory next to project file |
| CAT CLI | By default no, use e.g. -l Information |
No |
| GUI | No | No |
CAT Supports Much More
The logging files are useful for troubleshooting or for direct interaction with CAT. But CAT addresses also other needs:
- display results of tests in automation pipelines (Azure DevOps, GitLab, …)
- share results in user-friendly format (MS Excel)
- automate some processes, e.g., start some process when specified test(s) fail, inform someone via email, …
- save results of test into a relational database and create reports on top of them
In these situations, it is handy to have a file or database table with tests results in a format suitable for the situation. Therefore CAT supports output of test results in MS Excel format, JSON, YAML, JUnit, in relational tables etc.
How Do I Get It?
Setting output is extremely easy in CAT. Example: if you need resulsts of tests in MS Excel format and in JSON, just add this line to your project file:
Output: xlsx, json
And that’s it! See TestResults directory next to your project file - it will be created immediatly after you first run tests. Well, only if you have that Output line in your project file and didn’t forget to save it :-)
Output keyword is at the very beginning of the line. It is a common mistake to misplace this setting.See also:
- Output settings for detail control about how the output is generated (file name, directory, timestamps, …) and how to configure output to database
- Outputs overview for list of all implemented output formats, both file formats and databases
- Outpout properties for list of all properties CAT supports on the output