1. Overview 

2. Live preview for web and mobile

1. Click Run on a test case to initiate a Preview Run.
   

   
   

   
   

   Note: In order to run a live preview, the test case has to be saved.

2. Select the desired Agent, Environment, and Screen Resolution.
   or 
   

   Select the desired Agent, Environment, and IPA/APK file.  
   

   
   

   customize your run for a web test case

   
   

   customize your run for an android/ iOS test case

   
   

   
   

   Fields	Description
   Agents	Zoho QEngine provides two kinds of agents, Zoho Cloud and Agent. By default, the Zoho Cloud agent will be selected. Using the Zoho Cloud agent, you can choose the browser, its version, and the desired screen resolution for the test preview run. Note: Zoho Cloud is currently not supported for Android and iOS. To use the local Agent, the agent extension should be installed on your machine. <Learn more about Agent installation here>. The browser and its version are selected based on the environment and the version of the browser currently available on your machine. Note: In order to perform testing on physical devices, they must be linked and configured with the local agent.
   Framework	Select the automation engine used to execute your test case and define how the browser or application is driven during execution. By default, tests run using Selenium, and Playwright (Beta) can be selected as an alternative engine. Selenium is recommended for stable, well-established execution, while Playwright is better suited for faster execution and more modern capabilities.
   Environment - Browser, Browser Version, Version, Device	Select the platform-specific settings for testing under a chosen configuration. For web, it's the browser and version, and for Android and iOS, it's the device name and version. Note: During execution of web test cases, if you opt for Zoho Cloud, the test case will run in headless mode, meaning the browser's graphical user interface (UI) won't be visible. However, with local agents, both headless and standard browser modes (such as Chrome, Firefox, or Safari) are supported, allowing you to see the testing steps live in action if you choose the non-headless option. Regardless of the mode, the test case will execute, and results will be displayed.
   Screen Resolution	Specifies the device's resolution in pixels (e.g., 1920x1080), ensuring the test case reflects preferred user screen sizes.
   APK/ IPA File	Select the file used to install applications on Android (APK) and iOS (IPA) devices.
   Environment Variable	This field allows you to use variables specific to different environments. The field is optional, so if no environment variable is selected, the default global variable value set during test case creation is used. Environment variables allow you to override global values with environment-specific ones.

   
   
3. Check Save as preferred configuration to avoid configuring the run every time. If not, Zoho QEngine will ask for your choice every time you click Run.
   
   

   Note: If you set a preferred configuration, click the dropdown next to Run, then click Customize to change the configurations again.
4. Once you choose the required configuration, click Run.
   
   

Note: Live preview doesn't necessarily display results only after the entire test case execution is complete. If any of the test steps fail during execution, the test case execution terminates and provides only the real-time results indicating the extent of the test case execution.

Once the execution is complete, the Preview Run can be viewed. You can analyze the results to debug test cases for any issues or errors, or proceed to add it to a <test suite> and then, to a <test plan>.

3. Live preview summary for web and mobile

The run preview page comprises details such as logs, details of the agent, device and screen resolution used, and other details of the test case execution.

preview run of web test cases

preview run of android or iOS test cases

3.1 Preview run components

• Run summary
  

  This section gives an overview of the run's overall status, including whether the test case was stopped, passed, or failed. It displays the test execution duration, the version of the test case run, and the selected agent for the run, and the platform details like OS, its version, and screen display measurements. 
  

  Note: If a test preview summary gives a passed test case, the Duration in preview would be the overall execution time. But, if the test case fails in a test preview. For example, if there is an element locator not currently visible in the DOM, Zoho QEngine waits for 60 seconds to find the locator. If the issue persists, the execution of the test case will be terminated.
• Restart/ Stop
  This restarts the preview run for the same configuration chosen during the original run.
  
  
• Logs
  

  They show the individual test steps that are successfully executed or failed.
  
  
• Console log 
  

  Displays real-time warnings and errors for failed test cases, providing valuable debugging information necessary to troubleshoot and improve the execution of a test script.
  

  Note: Test cases experience failures as a result of console log errors or warnings, but this occurs only when these issues impact the execution of subsequent steps.
• Self-healing 

  This mechanism is used to stabilize the test cases over broken locators. When recording interacted elements, multiple locators are captured for each element, which are then assigned an order of priority upon saving. Learn more about self-healing
  

  Note: For this feature, you have to enable Self-Healing in the Preferences section of the settings.
• Filter logs

  You can filter logs for errors or warnings by filtering them using the options, All, Show Errors, and Show Warnings. 
  
  
• Screenshots 
  
  Displays the preview (visual navigation of the screens accessed and actions performed on the web, Android, or iOS). You can either play this as a video or navigate through the various images using the "Next" and "Previous" controls. There is also an option to replay the video preview at specific playback speeds (0.5x, 1x, 2x, 3x), too.
  

Note: If you click Show Less, the test case editor screen comes up. The preview screen minimizes to the bottom, showing the percentage of the completion (100%), the test step under execution (#15), and mentions the final test step executed. Click Show More to bring the live preview results back on screen.

4. Live Preview for API

5. Best practices

• Ensure the test case is saved before execution to avoid losing any changes made during test creation.

• Before running a test case, it needs to be checked for correctness and tested for functionality.

• Prior to executing the test case, it must be checked for syntactical errors, missing argument numbers for tasks, argument type, component (variables, elements, functions, tasks, and the like.) availability, correctness, and similar things.

• All updates to the test case are saved. When a test case is run with unsaved changes, it throws an error. For example, The handleAlert task requires arguments. When they are not passed, the test case is not allowed to be saved.

• All tasks used follow syntactic notations.The editor identifies the invalid characters and doesn't allow you to save the test case.

7. What's next