17.2

Installing Xcode, Simulators and IDB

For iOS testing, QF-Test requires an installation of the full Xcode development application, as well as the iOS Development Bridge (idb).

In the menu "Extras" of the QF-Test main window you can find the command "Check/Setup iOS test environment ...". This command helps to verify your current system and gives advice on how to install the required tools. When a tool is started the first time it can happen that its initialization takes more than 30 seconds. In this case, due to timeout, a wrong version number of the tool is reported. To work around, simply restart the check/setup procedure.

17.2.1

Xcode Installation

• Install Xcode in version 13 or higher from the App Store.

		Figure 17.1:  Xcode in the macOS App Store

• If Xcode is updated while a test is running, the installation can be damaged. Therefore, it is recommended to disable the auto update mechanism for applications in the App Store or system settings, and update Xcode manually while no test is running.

		Figure 17.2:  Recommended App Store settings

• Select the correct development path /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer via Terminal:

  	sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
  		Example 17.1:  Xcode development path selection in Terminal

• After installation, open Xcode and trigger the installation of additional required software as requested. This must include at least one iOS Platform. If you dismiss the dialog upon first start, you can retrigger the installation from the dialog »XCode«-»Settings…« in the »Platforms« panel. Using the right-click menu, it is also possible to remove installed frameworks.

		Figure 17.3:  Platform management in Xcode

• Using the menu item »XCode«-»Open Developer Tool«-»Simulator«, start the iOS Simulator once and make sure that proper Simulator definitions have been created. Here, it is also possible to define additional devices.

		Figure 17.4:  The iOS Simulator menu

17.2.2

iOS Development Bridge (idb) Installation

To interact with the iOS device, QF-Test uses the idb tool. It consists of the idb companion which communicates directly with the (simulated) device, and the Python based idb client. Both parts need to be available on the system in order to execute iOS tests. More information about the idb tool can be found in the idb documentation.

• The installation of the idb companion can be performed using the command line Homebrew tool (see https://brew.sh). To install the idb companion, run on the command line:

  	brew tap facebook/fb brew install idb-companion
  		Example 17.2:  idb companion installation on the command line

• The idb client requires a Python 3.6 or greater to be installed on the system. This can also be done using Homebrew on the command line. Afterward, the idb client is installed using the pip tool of Python:

  	brew install python3 pip3 install --upgrade pip pip3 install fb-idb
  		Example 17.3:  idb client installation on the command line

Last update: 8/9/2024 Copyright © 1999-2024 Quality First Software GmbH