First, one of the most requested features by users: namely the dark theme, is now available. The decision to proceed with this new feature was due to the number of upvotes for this mode of display that triumphed all other proposed features (including applying machine learning to make coffee – seriously, no joke).

Another reason that may underlie why people desire for the world to go dark on their screens is health. From a practical standpoint, dark backgrounds emit less blue lights. Blue lights contribute to disrupting your sleep cycle by suppressing the production of melatonin – a ‘sleep hormone.’ Therefore, dark themes appeal to people who often work at night because of the pleasant sleep that comes after. These are huge benefits, not to mention eye fatigue reduction is much greater on low-light backgrounds.

In other words, Katalon cares about your well-being.

Data-driven Support

Directly parameterize global variables in test objects

Yet another commonly requested features! Ask and you shall receive, they say. Katalon 6.3 now supports full-fledged parameterization with global variables. You can now use global variables in web service URLs to parameterize where the request is being sent to.

In other words, you can easily switch between development and production servers.

Not only in web service objects, but global variables can also be parameterized in normal test objects. You can now specify IDs and other important attributes of web elements in a Profile. When the web developer changes those attributes, you will only need to modify the entries within the created Profile.

This feature empowers all aspects of automation testing, making it more understandable why it was requested by so many users.

Support variable binding as is without converting to string

Prior to version 6.3, variable binding automatically reads variables from Excel files and database as strings. This significantly reduces the technical hassles that come along with different data types. However, as Katalon userbase becomes more mature as automation testers, they start to see the need of having more control over how data variables are interpreted.

To meet this demand for flexibility, Katalon 6.3 now enables Excel and Database Test Data variables to be read as it is without being converted to strings. CSV and Internal Test Data files are string-governed by nature, thus are not included. For ensuring backward compatibility, the old Test Data variables are still automatically read as strings unless configured otherwise.

This feature enables more complex data-driven testing at a relatively low cost.

Support a new annotation that makes variable binding more customizable

To push customizability further, Katalon now supports an annotation called BeforeTestDataBindToTestCase which allows the annotated functions to operate on Test Data variables before they are bound into test cases.

Imagine if you need to transform your Test Data according to different business requirements under different circumstances. Prior to Katalon 6.3, you would have to compile another set of Test Data for each requirement. Increasingly varied requirements would then further complicate Test Data management.

Starting from version 6.3, you will need one raw Test Data file and then define the rules of transformation in different functions using the new annotation. With this feature, deciding how Test Data variables will be used occurs at run-time. This means no physical entities are required, which means no entity management is required.

This feature enables full customizability in terms of how Test Data are interpreted within test cases. What other better ways are there to please our sophisticated users?

Support custom headers in SOAP requests

Many credential checking mechanisms – such as that of IBM – expect a custom header that contains authentication credentials in order for access to the web service to be granted. From 6.3, Katalon supports adding additional headers to SOAP requests, enabling more complicated authentication scenarios in automation testing.

Mobile Testing Support

Spying, recording and running mobile scripts on custom cloud-based testing tools

Physical devices have always been terrifying to automation testers, especially in small and medium-sized teams in which budgets are insufficient for a variety of devices. This is the raison d’être for cloud-based testing solutions where all devices are either virtual or appear to be virtual.

From 6.3, Katalon supports recording, spying and executing tests on customized cloud-based testing tools such as Sauce Labs and BrowserStack.

Long gone is the blocker to iOS testing on local devices, namely a Mac as a prerequisite. This used to only further fuel oil into the fight between Mac and Windows users. Now you won’t have to spend excessively on buying physical devices yet still ensure cross-platform compatibility as cloud-based testing removes all such prerequisites.

This integration is a movement toward making mobile testing easier than ever by avoiding the nuisance of manually setting up the correct environments for each device. Test generation speed can be improved now that you do not need to worry about physical limitations as well as complicated configurations that are necessary but irrelevant to your testing purposes.

Spying, recording and running existing applications on Android and iOS devices

Have an application already installed on a device that you want to test but don’t have the source code at hand? Don’t panic because we’ve got your back. From 6.3, it is no longer necessary to have the application’s source code available to do mobile testing. Now all you need is the application’s ID on the installed device and you are good to go.

This feature enables more separation of concerns between DevOps team and automation testers. Now device setup and app installation can be separately taken care of so that each team can utilize their expertise more efficiently.

Quickly set up your devices by displaying sub-menus of Android, iOS and Kobiton devices in Mobile Spy and Recorder tool items

You would be surprised by the accumulated time spent on manually choosing which platforms, devices, and applications to test. Katalon now provides you with a UI enhancement. Now, whenever you want to record and spy, sub-menus items would appear right away for you to choose which platforms (Android, iOS or Kobiton) to test on.

This feature is here because we recognize the essence of time and that repeating trivial steps can be exhausting over an extended period of time. It is ironic, considering automation testing is about automating away repeatable steps. Therefore we are compelled to eliminate redundant operations so that Katalon stays as a solid automation testing solution.

In the meantime, stay tuned for our updates on the official release of Katalon Studio 6.3!

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