• Creating a New Product
  

You may have your mobile application binaries accessible in multiple ways based on the app versions. Following are the ways the app binaries can be accessed within Worksoft SaaS.

For the app binaries that are publicly available you don't need to upload them to Worksoft SaaS manually. Instead you provide the URL to Mobile binary and Worksoft SaaS will do the needful i.e download the binary from the URL and upload it to the Cloud Platform.to the device during run time. Access to the URL should be free of any authentication challenges.

You want to note that this approach can cause delays in starting the session every single time you execute a test run in Worksoft SaaS. This is because the binary is downloaded for use and then deleted from the device upon test run completion. At the same time the approach has its benefits especially if the app is under active development and goes thru multiple development iterations.

Follow below steps to configure Mobile App Binary for public access.

1. While on the Edit Product page, click on Edit icon for the environment you wish to configure.
2. Under Product-Environment Details accordion, chose  Public URL  for "Application Binary Location Type".
3. Click on "Manage Mobile Application Binary" to access details under the accordion.
4. Fill in "Mobile App Version" details an optional field. This is a free text field that you can use to add additional details like Version # or Release # or Build # etc or a combination of these for easy identification.
5. Select the "Cloud Platform" from the options shown in the dropdown. Only Mobile app automation supported cloud platforms are shown in the dropdown and you can chose the one you plan to use for running tests.
6. Field "Mobile Operating System" is available for edit or locked based on the values you choose in "Mobile Operating System" of Edit Product page. If you have apps for both operating systems i.e. Android & iOS, you would have chosen both in this field. In such cases, you would need to select specific version of the mobile app binary that you intend to upload for this environment. But if you have Mobile App for only one of the operating systems and choose one in the aforementioned field, the field "Mobile Operating System" will default show the selected value and locked for any further edits.
7. Field "Device Type(s) on which the App can be used" shows the values selected in corresponding field in Edit Product page. If you choose both values i.e.  Mobile Phone &  Mobile Tablet  in Edit Product page, you will be given an option to change selections here. But if you chose only one value in the Edit Product page, the field is locked for any further edits.
8. Field "Source for your Mobile Binary" is mandatory and pre-selected for you. You cannot change the value

 

Selecting this option allows you to upload Mobile App binary to Worksoft SaaS. This option provides the advantage that the Mobile App binary is pushed to the cloud provider as and when required. For example, SauceLabs have 7 day retention policy i.e. a Mobile App binary that is uploaded on day x, is deleted on x+7th day. When that happens executing a test run will result in Aborted status. If you use this option, Worksoft SaaS will take care of pushing the Mobile App binary if and when the app is deleted at the Cloud Provider end.

You can upload apps in different formats i.e. .apk, .ias, .zip based on the mobile operating system the app supports. Refer to the article here for more details.

Steps to follow to use the aforementioned options are as below. 

1. From Edit Product page, access the Overlay by clicking on the Edit icon for the Environment that you wish to upload the Mobile Binary.
2. In the "Application Binary Location Type" field, choose  Secure Worksoft Storage Based  option.
3. Fill or Select following options "Mobile App Version", "Cloud Platform", "Mobile Operating System" & "Device Type(s) on which the App can be used" (details are provided in previous section.)
4. Field "Source for your Mobile Binary" is auto selected with value Upload from the File System, indicating that you copy and have the Mobile App Binary available in your system before you upload it to Worksoft SaaS.
5. In the "Upload" field, browse to the location where the app binary is available.
6. Before you click on Save, you can choose to receive an email once the Mobile App Binary is uploaded to the Cloud Platform. Uploading of the Mobile App Binary to Worksoft SaaS happens in two steps. In step (1), Mobile App Binary is copied to the Worksoft Cloud & in step (2) the same file is uploaded to the Cloud Platform (SauceLabs or BrowserStack.) While the file is getting copied to Worksoft Cloud, you can see the progress and once it is 100% done, you can proceed with other steps. Uploading of the file to Cloud Platform happens in asynchronous fashion allowing you to not wait as it can take 10s of seconds to multiple minutes based on the size of the App Binary. By choosing to select the option, you will be notified when the App is uploaded to Cloud Platform which is a pre-requisite for you to access or schedule test runs in Worksoft SaaS.
7. Upon completion of the upload of Mobile App Binary, you can navigate to Edit Product screen by acknowledging the message shown by the system. In the Edit Product screen, grid will be auto refreshed to show the details of the uploaded file.
   

NOTE:

• If you intend to you the same Mobile App Binary across different environments, you can use option Reuse Binary from another Environment in "Source for your Mobile Binary" field. Selection of this option brings up a grid with environments that have Mobile App Binary uploaded to. You can chose any one of the options presented to use the corresponding Mobile App Binary in the other environment.

• The Environments grid in Edit Product page and the "Manage Mobile Application Binary" accordion in the overlay shown upon clicking Edit icon for an Environment allows you to copy the link to the Mobile App Binary that can be used in Appium Inspector for automating test cases.

• You can update version of a Mobile App Binary uploaded to Worksoft SaaS or replace the Binary with a new version by accessing "Manage Mobile Application Binary" accordion on the overlay shown upon clicking Edit icon for an Environment.

• While configuring Mobile App Binary information for one environment, you can jump or access subsequent Environments from the grid without having to close the Overlay. Use button "Continue to Next Environment" to quickly jump to configuring the Next Environment.

This option is mostly similar to the earlier option except that you need to establish Tunnel for the Mobile App Binary to work in the Cloud Platform. It is possible that the Mobile App makes some API calls that are available only behind the firewall. In such cases, you need to setup a tunnel and then configure that in the Worksoft SaaS application by accessing Edit Product page.

Follow steps listed in the earlier section to upload Mobile App Binary by replacing option selected in "Application Binary Location Type" with Secure Worksoft Storage + Tunnel Based. Selecting this option brings up a new accordion in the Overlay where you need to fill in tunnel details to be used later in Testing Context page.