Interactive Detox (REPL)

[noomorph]

Describe your idea

Add a special mode of Detox where a single test is executed in a way that utilizes the abilities of an interactive shell.

@d4vidi says:

I envision writing a test step-by-step -- with the tested app fully running on a device, with each line written on the fly with the help of the shell, suggesting Detox API's completion as you type JavaScript code in.
It can also allow executing the line (~== invocation), inspecting the result (assertion success/failure), and then rerunning it with changes based on the result.

Given the shell could sport some additional helper functions - the most fundamental of which is to get a dump of the view hierarchy on demand (!), this could make a pretty helpful tool, well-reducing test-writing / maintenance friction.

[noomorph]

@noomorph says:

Hm, WebdriverIO has something similar: https://webdriver.io/docs/repl/

Also this may come in handy:
https://www.npmjs.com/search?ranking=maintenance&q=keywords%3Arepl

[d4vidi]

Great write-up. Thanks @noomorph 😍

[d4vidi]

I am contemplating the idea of taking it a step further and enabling the taking into account of imported modules, for example - drivers, test ID's, test kits. That would provide a very holistic solution, but not sure whether feasible.

In order to support that, it would make more sense to introduce this feature as an IDE plugin that somehow utilizes test debugging, rather than an interactive shell.

[noomorph]

Another closely related idea is to enter awaiting mode (Phase 1) and REPL (Phase 2) on test failure in local dev environment.

This time saver would help the test writers to interact with the elements and see what's wrong while staying on the last app screen – no need to restart the flow manually.

[stale]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs.
If you believe the issue is still relevant, please test on the latest Detox and report back.

Thank you for your contributions!

For more information on bots in this repository, read this discussion.