plone.act comes with a special console script act_server, which starts up a Plone site with a given plone.app.testing testing layer set up.
This will save time when writing new robot tests, because you can try out your unfinished test over and over again without the usual time consuming setup/teardown of testing layers between every test.
Install act_server with support for the developed product with a buildout part:
[buildout]
...
parts += act_server
versions = versions
extensions = mr.developer
sources = sources
auto-checkout = plone.act
[sources]
plone.act = git git://github.com/plone/plone.act
[versions]
plone.app.testing = 4.2.2
[act_server]
recipe = zc.recipe.egg
eggs =
plone.act
my.product
After buildout, start act_server with:
$ bin/act_server my.product.testing.MY_PRODUCT_FUNCTIONAL_TESTING
And run tests with pybot and act_server test isolation support with:
$ bin/pybot --listener plone.act.server.ZODB src/my/product/tests/robot_tests.txt