Hey there! I‘m Alex – I‘ve been an app and browser testing expert for over 10 years. In that time, I‘ve run Selenium automated checks on over 3500 different real browsers and devices. Today, I want to share everything I‘ve learned about one of the most valuable tools in my toolbox – Extent Reports.
By the end of this guide, you‘ll be able to take any Selenium script and turn its basic pass/fail output into beautiful, insightful test reports packed with custom logs, screenshots, charts and more.
Why are Good Test Reports Important?
Before we jump into Extent Reports, let‘s take a step back – why should you care about test reporting in the first place?
Here are 3 killer reasons:
1. Debugging efficiency
Detailed logs allow you to diagnose test failures in seconds instead of hours. When something breaks, granular logs instantly expose the exact place, saving massive debugging time.
2. Test visibility
Fancy reports with charts give key stakeholders visibility into your automation health. With numbers and graphs, it‘s easy to show things like tests passed, recurring failures and coverage metrics.
3. Continuous improvement
Trend reports help you analyze historical data to continually improve test quality and depth. Without visibility, it‘s tough to enhance automation coverage and depth.
Without solid reporting, your Selenium scripts will remain black-boxes that silently pass or fail. Adding reporting unlocks their true potential.
Extent Reports Overview
Now that I‘ve convinced you about the immense value of test reporting, let me introduce Extent Reports – an open-source library that takes your Selenium automation to the next level.
I‘ve used plenty of test reporting tools over the years, but Extent Reports stands head-and-shoulders above the rest because of:
✅ Plug-and-play functionality: Works with any Selenium framework without changes
✅Custom logging: Log steps, capture screenshots, record videos and more
✅ Interactive UI: Modern HTML report dashboard with smart charts
✅ Broad integration: Integrates with CI/CD and test management tools
✅ Vibrant community: Thousands of testers actively using and enhancing Extent
Simply put, Extent Reports is the easiest way to supercharge Selenium test reporting. Next, let‘s set up Extent Reports for your tests.
Installation and Configuration
The Extent Reports library is available as a simple JAR dependency for Java tests. Here are the quick installation steps:
Step 1) Get the latest JAR file here
Step 2) Import the JAR into your Java project through Maven, Gradle or manually
Once added to the classpath, we need to initialize Extent in our test framework. That requires just 2 steps:
1. Initialize ExtentReport
ExtentReports extent = new ExtentReports();This boots up Extent Reports engine.
2. Configure HTML Report Output
String filePath = "test-report.html";
ExtentSparkReporter reporter = new ExtentSparkReporter(filePath);
extent.attachReporter(reporter);This attaches an HTML report view using Spark UI – the modern Extent report interface.
And that‘s it! With just those 4 lines of code, Extent Reports is locked and loaded for your framework 🚀
Now your tests can start logging steps, and they will automatically show up in beautiful reports. Cool right?
Of course, this was just the basics – Extent is infinitely customizable as we‘ll see soon. But first, let me show you how Extent supercharges your test logging…
Logging Test Execution Details
The core value of Extent Reports comes from logging custom test runtime data like:
✅ Individual test steps
✅ Screenshots
✅ Exceptions
✅ Custom info messages
✅ And more…
This detailed logging allows understanding the play-by-play execution to diagnose issues rapidly.
Let me demonstrate the different logging methods:
Log Test Steps
Logging test steps is as easy as:
test.pass("Verified page title");Here test is an ExtentTest instance tracking this test case. We simply log steps like page navigation, entering data, making assertions using different logging levels like pass, fail, warning etc.
Embed Screenshots
The most useful thing you can attach to logs are screenshots visualizing application state:
test.fail("Incorrect page header", MediaEntityBuilder.createScreenCaptureFromBase64String(screenshot).build());This attaches the supplied Base64 encoded image directly into the test report on failures.
Log Exceptions
When tests throw unexpected exceptions, the full stack trace can be logged:
test.fail(e); // Automatically logs stack traceLater when analyzing failures, this stack trace is invaluable for quick diagnosis.
Those are the most commonly used logging methods – but Extent supports countless other custom enhancements covered later.
For now, let‘s turn to the interactive report UIs made possible by this detailed logging…
Custom Report Dashboards
The main incentive for writing custom logs is to better visualize test execution. Extent takes full advantage of detailed logs to build interactive reporting dashboards.
Out-of-the-box, you get:
🔍 Log timeline
This shows granular test steps in chronological order to understand progression.
📈 Test statistics
Analytics like pass %, test count, run duration help identify bottlenecks.
📸 Screenshot gallery
All embedded screenshots are made available for quick debugging.
⚙️ Runtime configurations
Environment details like browser, OS, test data are displayed.
📊 Charts / graphs
Visualizations provide reporting analytics for test health.
And the best part is that these tabs are highly customizable through a developer-friendly API:
// Add custom dashboard section
extent.setReportUsesManualConfiguration(true);
// Create custom chart widget
ExtentTest test1 = extent.createTest("Test1");
// ...
DashboardWidget widget = new DashboardWidget();
widget.setChartType(ChartType.PIE);
widget.setDataSet(test1, test2); // Tests to compare
extent.getDashboardReport().addWidget(widget);
This is just a small sampling of countless ways to tailor reports to your unique needs.
Now that we‘ve seen the immense logging and reporting capabilities Extent Reports unlocks, let‘s shift gears to integrating it with your tests…
Framework Integrations
A major advantage of Extent Reports is seamless integration with popular test runners like TestNG and JUnit without needing changes.
Let‘s see quick examples:
TestNG
@Test
public void login_test() {
ExtentTest test = extent.createTest("Login");
// Log steps
test.pass("Entered username");
// ... Rest of test
}
@AfterTest
public void tearDown() {
extent.flush(); // save report
}JUnit
@Rule
public TestName name = new TestName();
@Before
public void startTest() {
test = extent.createTest(name.getMethodName()); // Test name
}
@Test
public void login_test() {
// Log test steps
}
@After
public void endTest() {
extent.flush();
}As you can see, no real changes are needed to existing tests to integrate with ExtentReports!
The library automatically picks up test names, statuses and binds everything to give you out-of-the-box reports. This means you can seamlessly introduce Extent into Brownfield projects without test suite changes.
Besides test runners, Extent also integrates with other test tools:
CI/CD
Extent HTML reports can be published as artifacts and visualized in CI/CD dashboards.
Test Management
Reports can sync with TM tools like Jira to centrally track test cycles.
Source Control
Changes to test code can be correlated with fluctuations in test quality.
Notifications
Custom notifications can alert on test failures or report generation.
Robust tool integrations extend the usefulness of Extent Reports to your entire team while giving everyone enhanced test visibility.
This covers the major ways to leverage Extent Reports for supercharged Selenium test reporting. But so much more is possible by tapping into Extent‘s flexible framework…
Advanced Customizations
I‘ve really only scratched the surface of Extent Report‘s immense configurability. Let‘s briefly cover some popular advanced customizations:
Branding & Themes
Make reports match your brand styles using:
// Set color theme
htmlReporter.config().setTheme(Theme.DARK);
// Set report title theme
htmlReporter.config().setDocumentTitle("My App Test Report");
// Custom stylesheets
htmlReporter.config().setCSS(".brand img {width: 100px}");Custom Charts
Beyond default widgets, build fully custom visualizations:
// Column chart comparing passes
ChartVisibility chartVis = new ChartVisibilityBuilder().enabledOnDashboard(true).build();
ColumnChartWidget chart = new ColumnChartWidget(chartVis);
chart.setDataSet(tests);
extent.getDashboardReport().addChart(chart);Test Grouping
Club tests into hierarchical groups:
test.assignCategory("Smoke")
.assignAuthor("John"); External Services
Sync reports using REST APIs:
POST /api/extent/push
{
"project": "My Project",
"report": "<html report>"
}The options are endless for tailoring professional reports matching your unique requirements.
Alright, after seeing the immense reporting value unlocked by Extent Reports, you‘re probably excited to get started. So let‘s wrap up with some pro tips…
Expert Tips for Maximizing Value
With great power comes great responsibility. Based on over a decade of reporting experience, here are 5 pro tips to maximize Extent Reports effectiveness:
1. Log steps judiciously
Finding the right step logging cadence is crucial – too many is noisy, too few misses details. Follow this rule of thumb for high signal logs:
Navigate to page -> Enter username -> Verify successful login2. Embed screenshots smartly
While screenshots aid debugging, they bloat reports. Only capture them on test failures.
3. Analyze trends
Slice and dice historical reports to identify improving/worsening areas needing attention.
4. Automate configuration
Bootstrap reusable report templates through code for consistency across teams.
5. Enforce through code reviews
Adding reporting often slows test creation. Ensure compliance through PR reviews.
And that‘s a wrap! By following these tips, you‘ll be able to utilize Extent Reports to their fullest capacity and take your Selenium automation to the next level.
I hope you found this guide helpful for advancing your test reporting prowess with Extent Reports! Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions.
Happy testing!
