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Results Files

Often times during a test, you will want to send data back as a result, for example a graph, text log file, or binary data. This data is difficult to send over the traditional log mechanism. EmbedOps HIL provides results files as a solution.

A results file is a file that will get sent back to the test executor during execution. For a run started with the CLI, it will get sent to a folder that is automatically created each test run. For CI runs, the files will be available for download via the web app.

During each individual HIL test, results files are generated by the user's test code and stored in a special temporary path on the gateway. When the test ends, all of the files in this temp directory are uploaded back to the EmbedOps servers, which forward them to their final destination. Results files can be created by two different provided fixtures. As long as the file exists in the correct directory, it will be uploaded as a result file. These two fixtures help with creating the file in the correct location.

hil_results_open

This is the easiest to use fixture because it automatically creates the file for you and opens it, just like the built-in open() function. The name passed in must not contain any path elements. This function returns a file object that can be closed when writing is complete. When the test ends, because it was automatically created in the correct path, the file will be sent back as a result.

hil_results_get_path

This fixture is used in situations where a separate function or third-party library needs the name of a file and not a file object. It returns the full absolute path of the given filename within the special temporary directory. This fixture does not create or open a file; it simply returns the hypothetical path for the given filename. The file does not exist yet, but the name will be used by a third-party function to create it. For example, to generate a plot:

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import plot_library

def test_make_graph(hil_results_get_path):

    data = collect_data()
    plot_library.generate_plot(hil_results_get_path('plot.png'), data)

In this case, the fictional generate_plot function requires a file name to write a PNG. hil_results_get_path('plot.png') will return the absolute path to this plot.png file. As with hil_results_open, this name must not contain any path elements.