web site test framework? in python?

[tiddlerdeja at my-deja.com]

I'm looking to build a test framework to use for websites that I may
build.

I'm looking for more than broken link checks. I'd like to post form
submissions to pages and check for correct/desired results to be
returned.

I know I could write specific scripts for each site, but I'd like a
generic solution. I was wondering if anyone else had been down this
path.

I was thinking about solutions along the lines of...

I was thinking of having JSP or ASP pages check for a testing variable
(registry or environment). If pages were called in test mode they would
return XML to be parsed which would can then be used as input data to
call the page again (this way you could store the test data with the
page you are testing). The XML would also contain the desired correct
data to check against to ensure the page is working correctly.

You could then have a script crawling a site, calling a page once to
get the test case, and calling it again to see if it has worked
correctly.

There are problems with this solution in that you can have dependencies
on pages. I.e. one page must be called before another if it is to work
correctly.

I'd also like to code the testing framework in Python.

Again, has anyone any experience in this testing websites arena?

Perhaps I'm trying to reinvent the wheel?

Any info greatly appreciated.


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