Using Screenplay for process automation

Screenplay is often used as a tool for automating software tests, but it is not limited to only this usage. Screenplay may be added to any application or library, via dependency injection. This is as simple as installing the CSF.Screenplay NuGet package and adding Screenplay to your service collection. For more information, see the documentation for ScreenplayServiceCollectionExtensions.

Once Screenplay has been added to your DI, you may resolve and use Screenplay-related services from dependency injection. To execute some logic in the scope of a Performance, consider using the method Screenplay.ExecuteAsPerformanceAsync.

Example

The following example shows the core components for using Screenplay outside of a testing framework.

DI registration which adds the Screenplay architecture
A start-point class which begins one or more performances
Each performance is coordinated from its own class which implements IHostsPerformance

This is the recommended pattern for consuming Screenplay outside of a testing framework. See the documentation for the Screenplay and ScreenplayExtensions classes for other techniques.

If you wish to activate Screenplay extensions, be sure to add these to the DI container in your application startup. For example, to add the Screenplay/Selenium extension, add a line like services.AddSelenium().

using CSF.Screenplay;

// In your app startup, services is an instance of IServiceCollection, your
// application's DI container.
services.AddScreenplay();
// optionally add further services to the container, as normal

// ... now in your regular app logic you may now constructor inject Screenplay:
public class MyScreenplayConsumer(Screenplay screenplay)
{
    public async Task StartScreenplay()
    {
        // As many performances as you want
        await screenplay.ExecuteAsPerformanceAsync<SamplePerformance>();
    }
}

public class SamplePerformance(IStage stage) : IHostsPerformance
{
    public Task<bool?> ExecutePerformanceAsync(CancellationToken token)
    {
        // Use the injected stage to get an actor and execute your Screenplay logic
    }
}

The Abstractions package

If your solution is separated into multiple projects/assemblies then only your entry-point project needs the full CSF.Screenplay NuGet package. Once Screenplay has been added to DI, other projects in the solution may consume its logic, only requiring the CSF.Screenplay.Abstractions package.

Table of Contents

Using Screenplay for process automation

Example

The Abstractions package