Is there a way to automatically test a tool?

Question

We are developing some a simple tool based on Matlab and Java. The tool has a couple hundreds of functions which are partly dependent on each other.

The problem we are facing is the testing.

For example, it may happen that we update Function A => Functions B will produce an error as it depends on Function A. However, because function A is rarely used by the users, the bug will come up first after two months or more (unless a senior developer remembers the dependency). The best way to avoid all of this, is to have a sort of an automatic testing.

Testing usually depends on an input/output relationship. Unfortunately, the tool visualizes data or generates a graph.

The question: how can we automatically test our tool before each update without having to sit in front of the computer, and check every button manually?

Answer 1

There are testing frameworks for Matlab. Suppose you can automate testing of this development just like you would any other software product.

I would not check the visualizations, but check the data instead and trust the render to do its job, unless you ran into issues here in the past. If you need to check the visualizations either compare the output with ImageMagick with a known correct state or use a tool like Sikuli, but do this as a last resort, since updating the known state will be time consuming.