[TIP] How To Help Us Help You!

My test is BROKEN! NOTHING WORKS! HELP ME!

Relax. We get it. We really do. There are some pretty smart and clever people on this forum, but you must realize, they are not magicians or wizards or gods. They cannot see your code, they can’t see your errors and they don’t even know what your AUT is meant to do even though it might seem perfectly obvious to you.

So please relax and follow the advice below, before you start writing your post. The advice below will tell you the exact information we need from you. If you take the time needed to do this properly, it will save your time, as well as ours, and…

Help us to help you.

1. We need to see what you are dealing with

Post a screenshot of the page that is failing in your first request for help.

2. We need to see the underlying HTML of the page

Post the relevant section of HTML in your first request for help.

Example HTML screenshot:
  


See section 8 below to learn how to do capture the live HTML from your browser.

3. We need to see the Test Case code you are having difficulties with

Post the relevant lines of Text Case code in your first request for help.

Example Test Case code:
  image

4. We need to see ALL errors from the console

If you don’t know how to interpret error messages, please copy-paste them, don’t retype a brief version, paste the WHOLE ERROR MESSAGE.

Usually, there is a Caused by statement something like this:

Example Exception Text:



Notice the error above begins with “Caused by”. This information usually leads to a solution. For example, you could try pasting any key terms in the Katalon forum search bar. Perhaps someone else has had the same issue and the solution to your issue is just a few clicks away.

   .

Sometimes, though rarely, the problem lies within Katalon itself. In those rare cases, the Katalon runtime log can prove very helpful (@ThanhTo). You can access the runtime log via the menu:

   image

 * If your runtime log is huge, please zip it before posting it!

5. Integration issues

If you are having integration issues, (Jenkins et al), please attach any relevant logs. They will help enormously.

6. Tell us what you have tried to fix it

Tell us everything you tried to fix it yourself.

7. Mention ANYTHING that you think might help

There’s no such thing as too much information.

8. Learn to Use DevTools.

Finally, many of the points above rely on YOU understanding how to use the Browser Developer Tools (aka DevTools).

  



[Learning DevTools] is absolutely must-have knowledge for anyone trying to learn test automation. (@Brandon_Hein)

You can follow THIS GUIDE to help you learn how to use DevTools.

And finally, a piece of writing on Getting Answers, for those of you who are interested.


[Updated April 3, 2023] by @albert.vu

In an effort to reduce the number of duplicated questions and poorly-formatted topics on our forum, this topic now includes a Policy section at the end, where you are required to click on “I have read, understood, and acknowledged this topic” to signal that you would follow Russ’ guide every time you create a topic.

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Upvoted.

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Suggestion; everytime you ask someone for a screenshot send them to this page, eventually everyone will see it?

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Thanx Russ, +1

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Voted on this.

Just to add, that every problem description should be precise so that we can asses the problem with ease.

:slight_smile:

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+1 Thank you so much !

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I’ve had so many chances to link to this topic that you’d almost think the majority of Katalon users work in QA or something…

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Well, yeah. The topic is comprehensive :slight_smile:

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I just wanna add another point.

Often times errors have been encountered and resolved, so I would add an elaboration on @Russ_Thomas’s point 6 :

  • When there’s an error in the console log, try to look for the text Caused by: some reasons and copy and paste that text in the forum’s search bar, try out some solutions and mention them.
11 Likes

Thanks, Thanh! Actually that’s exactly why I visited this topic to add this information. Most of (or maybe all) Katalon exceptions are internal StepFailedException, which does not say much. Please, always share full exception text, it is much more helpful than only first few rows.

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@Russ_Thomas as the author of the current please amend it with:

  1. We are here from the comunity side.
    We are doing this for fun and during our free time.
    We are not paid.
    Any issues related to the paid version should be preferable passed to the Katalon staff, this is why you pay some money.

Thank you!
Me

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Have you replied any information to them?

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Which channel did you raise your concern to?

1 Like

Hi @superfatcatmeow,

Based on your recent posting history, your topics all received responses from other members and also members of our internal team. Hence, your reply is rather bassless and will be flagged for review.

Thanks :+1:

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Hi @Russ_Thomas,

To prevent unrelated or spammy replies within your topic that don’t contribute anything of value (which we regard as the most comprehensive posting guideline to date), I suggest that we set this topic as “Closed”, and thus, any other feedback or suggestion can be made within our Site Feedback space.

Please let me know if that is alright with you. Thanks!

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@albert.vu

:nerd_face:

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Hi Russ,

As one of the most senior and influential members on our forum who had helped Katalon to shape and grow the forum in its early days, your topic is essential in guiding our newcomers on how they should detail their questions to get the best support from everyone on the forum.

And the numbers speak for themselves, as the time of writing, this is still one of the most (if not the most) viewed and referred to topics on the forum. Hence, we would like to honor your contribution by making this our forum’s official Posting Guideline. And I reckon it will remain relevant and instrumental to our forum for years to come.


That said, I totally understand it if you wish for us to change the text in the button to better reflect your ownership of this topic. Just give us the signal. :wink:

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Thanks for the kind words!

I think you misunderstood my attempt at humor. Everyday, the system wants me to acknowledge I’ve read it:

image

So, my response was meant to say, of course I’ve read it, I WROTE the damn thing! Now kindly piss off!

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Hi Russ,

Sorry for the late reply, and I am sorry that the policy has been bugging you.

I did set it to only remind TL0 users, which means, in theory, that it should not be sending you daily reminders seeing as you are already a TL4 user.

But just to be sure, I have changed the frequency to weekly instead of daily, and set it so that the policy will only renew itself after a year.

Please let me know if it persists. Thanks!

2 Likes