Eggplant Functional

Eggplant Functional is a black-box graphical user interface (GUI) test automation tool. It was developed in Boulder, Colorado, by Doug Simons, Jonathan Gillaspie, and John McIntosh. The software was developed by Redstone Software (a subsidiary of Gresham Computing PLC) starting in 2002. Redstone was acquired on 2 September 2008 by a UK-based company called Eggplant (formerly Testplant).

Approach
Eggplant Functional uses a two-system model consisting of a controller machine, where scripts are authored and executed, and a system under test (SUT), which may run a VNC server. Eggplant Functional can connect to the VNC server via its built-in viewer via TCP/IP or to a system that supports Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Any system with a VNC server can be a SUT. Originally Mac-only, the controller environment/IDE is now available on Linux and Windows using GNUstep.

The feature called SenseTalk allows for manual script creation or can be used in conjunction with an "assisted scripting" mode, which means that the scripter teaches Eggplant Functional to navigate a system and verify a set of test steps. The "Turbo Capture" feature facilitates the image capture process and generates SenseTalk code based on the actions executed.

In 2011, Eggplant released Eggplant Functional v11, which integrated an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) engine. It is compatible with the Mac, Linux and Windows versions.

Also in 2011, Eggplant was granted a US Patent, and launched a mobile testing solution.

In 2013, Eggplant Functional was localized in Chinese.

Product
Eggplant Functional uses intelligent image recognition algorithms to "see" the display screen of the computer being tested. For this, the software secured a US patent for its "method for monitoring a graphical user interface on a second computer display from a first computer" for its GUI testing tool. Human attention is also not needed with this feature. This brought it to the attention of UK Trade & Investment, specifically its defense and security arm, the DSO.

Eggplant Functional can be run from Mac, Windows, or Linux to test any platform, technology, or browser. It can be used for mobile testing, cross-platform testing, rich internet application testing, and performance testing. The company also offers a free trial download of Eggplant Functional.

Version 11 added the integration of the OCR engine and Mac OS X Lion Support. Version 12 included an Eggplant Functional user interface redesign, consolidating the suite interface and scaling search which allows for testing across different sizes of screens with the same image. Version 14 added database integration via ODBC, the release of eggOn VNC for Android, and introduced the Image Update Tools for tweaking images and retraining scripts. Version 15 introduced Tables for keyword-driven testing and Turbo Capture for script recording. It also added the ability to push an application to a mobile device for installation and added a VNC server for Android devices that are built into Eggplant Functional and automatically pushed to the Android device when a connection is first made. This new VNC server for Android allows the testing of the Android smartwatch.

Integration
Eggplant has created integration plug-ins for some of the most popular continuous integration and ALM tools. These are collectively referred to as Eggplant Integrations.


 * IBM UrbanCode
 * Bamboo
 * HP Application Lifecycle Management
 * IBM RQM
 * Jenkins

Scripts can also be written in other languages to call out to SenseTalk commands and utilize Eggplant Functional's image-based searching using eggDrive.