Installation of Jython for RED, the Robot Framework editor for Eclipse

Introduction

This installation manual describes first how to create a Jython executable for RED using the same Java libraries as when Maven is used with the Robot Framework Maven plugin. Next, it describes how to configure it in Eclipse.

The target environment here is a Windows environment (it has been tested on Windows 7 and Windows 10), but it might also work on a Unix like environment.

NOTE: every time you define an environment variable in the Configuration Panel you will need to stop and restart the process which needs it, for instance the command prompt (portable Perl shell) or Eclipse used later on.

Installation

Before you start, you may need to install some programs and since my corporate development machine lacked admin rights that posed some problems.

HTTP proxy

Before you can start to download without a browser, you may need to define an HTTP proxy.

Check if the Internet Explorer settings define a HTTP proxy URL. If so, open that URL in a browser, look for the proxy and set an environment variable https_proxy, for instance http_proxy=http://a.b.c.d:port.

Strawberry Perl

Do not use an installer that needs admin rights.

I used the portable edition, see http://strawberryperl.com/releases.html, and installed it in directory C:\Strawberry.

Define an environment variable PERL_HOME to point to C:\Strawberry\perl. This is needed by Ant later on.

Also define a shortcut on your Desktop with C:\Strawberry\portableshell.bat as target. This helps to start a portable Perl shell.

Module PAR::Packer

Use the shortcut to start a portable Perl shell. For the rest of this document this will be displayed as:

DOS>

Install PAR::Packer from the CPAN archives:

DOS> cpan PAR::Packer

It takes some time before it is ready with all the tests being executed.

But then you should be able to find pp like this:

DOS> where pp

Ant

Just download it from the Apache site or use one already on the system:

DOS> dir/s/b c:\ant.bat

Add the Ant bin directory to environment variable PATH: a simple way of doing this is to define ANT_HOME and add %ANT_HOME%\bin to PATH.

Maven

Just download it from the Apache site or use one already on the system:

DOS> dir/s/b c:\mvn.cmd

Add the Maven bin directory to environment variable PATH: a simple way of doing this is to define environment variable MAVEN_HOME and add %MAVEN_HOME%\bin to PATH.

Java

You need a Java 1.8 or higher to be installed somewhere and let the environment variable JAVA_HOME point to that directory.

Build

You will find these files in the source directory:

This will create and test the executable:

DOS> ant build test

If there are no errors, you are ready to configure RED.

You can cleanup by:

DOS> ant clean

Configuration

Java class path

Before we can run the Jython executable we need to know where to find the Robot Framework Java libraries.

This is done by letting the Java class path contain the Robot Framework Java libraries, either by using Maven or environment variables.

Maven

If a file named pom.xml exists in the Eclipse project folder, the Jython executable will use Maven to determine its dependent libraries and thus to set up the Java class path. This is done automatically by the Jython executable.

This is the preferred and most simple way to use the executable.

Robot Framework Java libraries as environment variables

If there is no Maven pom.xml as described above, the Jython executable uses environment variable RF_JAR and all environment variables named RF_*_JAR to set up the Java class path. You need to define these variables.

You need to run at least once an automated test (a build) with Maven in order to get all the libraries in the %USERPROFILE%\.m2\repository directory.

This is an example:

RF_JAR=%USERPROFILE%\.m2\repository\org\robotframework\robotframework\3.0.4\robotframework-3.0.4.jar

The environment variables RF_*_JAR are optional.

Selenium webdrivers

In order to run Selenium you need their webdrivers (chromedriver.exe, etcetera) either as Java system properties or to be found in the PATH.

The easiest way to set up Selenium webdrivers is to install Katalon Studio and then to set environment variable KATALON_HOME pointing to the installation directory.

RED

Follow the instructions on https://github.com/nokia/RED to install RED in Eclipse if needed.

You may encounter a security warning about unsigned content, but I accepted anyway.

At the end, just click "Restart Now":

When everything is ready, you will have a Robot perspective.

Go to Window -> Preferences -> Robot Framework -> Installed frameworks and let Eclipse discover all the frameworks (normally that starts automatically). Remove all frameworks but the one framework having as Path c:\jython\bin assuming you installed the sources into c:\jython.

Apply and Close and you are ready!

Environment variables

This is a list of environment variables (possibly) used in this document: