RobotFramework DebugLibrary

2.5.0 · active · verified Thu Apr 16

Robotframework-DebugLibrary (current version 2.5.0) is a debugging library for Robot Framework, offering an interactive shell (REPL) and step-debugging capabilities. It allows users to set breakpoints within test cases, inspect variables, evaluate expressions, and try out keywords during test execution. The library is actively maintained, with releases typically occurring a few times a year to ensure compatibility with newer Robot Framework and Python versions.

Common errors

```
ImportError: No module named debuglibrary
```
cause Robot Framework library imports are case-sensitive. The library name 'DebugLibrary' was not capitalized correctly.

fix Change the import statement in your Robot Framework file from `Library debuglibrary` to `Library DebugLibrary`.
```
Interactive console does not appear when calling Debug keyword (on Windows)
```
cause This can sometimes occur on Windows due to terminal input handling or missing dependencies like `pyreadline` in older environments, or general environment issues preventing the interactive shell from spawning correctly.

fix Ensure `prompt-toolkit` is correctly installed. While `prompt-toolkit` generally handles cross-platform terminal interactions, if issues persist on older Windows Python environments, try `pip install pyreadline`. Also, ensure that standard input (stdin) is not being redirected in your test execution environment.
```
Keyword 'Debug If' expected 1 to 2 arguments, got 0.
```
cause The 'Debug If' keyword requires a condition to evaluate as an argument.

fix Provide a valid Robot Framework condition as an argument to 'Debug If', e.g., `Debug If ${STATUS} == 'FAIL'`.

Warnings

breaking Python 3.7 support was dropped in v2.5.0. Earlier versions (v2.4.0) dropped Python 3.6 support, and v2.3.0 dropped Python 3.5 support. Version 2.0.0 dropped Python 2.x and 3.4 support.
Fix: Upgrade to a supported Python version (Python 3.8+ for v2.5.0, Python 3.9+ for newer versions).
breaking Robot Framework 7.0 support was added in v2.5.0. Prior to v2.4.0, Robot Framework <4.0 was supported. Changes related to `exc.full_message` (removed in RF 5.0) were addressed in v2.3.0.
Fix: Ensure `robotframework-debuglibrary` version matches your Robot Framework version. Upgrade to `robotframework-debuglibrary` 2.5.0 for Robot Framework 7.0 compatibility. For Robot Framework 5.0+, ensure at least `robotframework-debuglibrary` 2.3.0 or newer is used.
breaking The `prompt-toolkit` dependency was upgraded to version 3.x in `robotframework-debuglibrary` v2.4.0, which might introduce incompatibilities with older Python versions or `prompt-toolkit` versions. Explicitly declared `prompt-toolkit >=2` in v2.2.1, and 2.x in v2.0.0.
Fix: Upgrade `robotframework-debuglibrary` to 2.4.0 or newer to ensure compatibility with `prompt-toolkit` 3.x. Ensure `prompt-toolkit` is updated if issues arise after library upgrade.
gotcha The short name for listing available libraries was changed from `l` to `ls` in v2.2.0 to avoid conflict with the new `list` command for step debugging.
Fix: When using `robotframework-debuglibrary` v2.2.0 or newer, use `ls` to list libraries within the interactive shell instead of `l`.

Install

pip install robotframework-debuglibrary Install latest version

Imports

DebugLibrary
wrong:
```
Library    debuglibrary
```
correct:
```
*** Settings ***
Library    DebugLibrary
```
Robot Framework library imports are case-sensitive. 'DebugLibrary' must be used with correct capitalization.

Quickstart

Import the `DebugLibrary` in your Robot Framework `*** Settings ***`. Use the `Debug` keyword to force a breakpoint and open the interactive shell. Use `Debug If` to conditionally pause execution. Alternatively, run `rfdebug` from the command line for a standalone interactive Robot Framework shell.

*** Settings ***
Library    DebugLibrary

*** Test Cases ***
Example Debugging Test
    Log To Console    Starting test execution...
    Debug    # Execution pauses here, interactive shell opens
    Log To Console    Resuming test after breakpoint.
    ${sum} =    Evaluate    ${1} + ${2}
    Log To Console    The sum is: ${sum}
    Debug If    ${sum} > 10    # Pauses if condition is true
    Log To Console    Test finished.

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