Updating My Favorite Script

Since the last time I updated my blog, I've changed jobs and titles. While I still technically work in my new company's QA organization, my work is devoted more to app delivery than app testing. This doesn't mean I am not a tester anymore but that it consumes less of my time. It's no surprise therefore that I'm only NOW getting around to posting an update to my favorite script which I first shared 3 years ago here in this post.

3 years later and at least 3 years lazier, the ways I've modified the script are all designed to simplify it, make it more generic, and have it do more of the work for you. Instead of supplying a lot of configuration, it only concerns itself with the URL to the last successful build artifact of your build job. In this regard, I highly recommend NOT configuring your builds to name the files with dynamic data such as date, build number, git hash, etc. The filename is not something I'd consider a trustworthy source of build trivia even though it may be tempting to use it in that way. Besides, with a static link because the filename is consistent, you can do really awesome things more easily.

As it is basically an evolution of the script I've already written about, here's the list of changes:

• Removed config file usage. Now the script only has a single dependency which you can edit in one line at the top of the file: APK_URL
• Automatically handles multiple APKs in the directory (this is in case you want to use copies of the script for multiple APKs or just put the script in a generic working directory
• Added pre-formatted JIRA template text file output for entering a new bug
• Added pre-formatted JIRA template text file output for commenting on a bug you've worked on
• Removed "clear" feature since many apps use the AccountManager API so an uninstall/reinstall is better most of the time
• Automatically parses APK for launch activity to populate the launch command
• Automatically handle case where no APK is available
• Automatically handle case where no devices are available

The intended usage of the script is MOSTLY the same but in this case, you can better use it in situations where you may not have a TextExpander license. The pre-formatted JIRA comments are now baked into the script instead of into snippets in TextExpander, less flexible but faster to get new people started. Typical usage is when you're running a test pass or working on bugfix validations, you'd update the hardcoded APK_URL variable in the beginning of the file and run the script as new builds are available to test with. 

That's it. Sorry it's been over a year since my last posting. Life has been very busy. I've got a 7-month-old baby boy now, bringing the brood up to 3 delightful chaos machines. As I mentioned, I changed jobs. But I am definitely planning on updating more frequently. Expect the topics to shift slightly as my career has shifted slightly. Thanks for your time and see the GitHub gist below for the full details of the updated script.