Excel data reading (Apache POI) in Selenium Java - Test Execution Trace

Test Overview

This test reads data from an Excel file using Apache POI and verifies that the expected value is present in a specific cell.

Test Code - JUnit

Selenium Java

import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.*;
import org.apache.poi.xssf.usermodel.XSSFWorkbook;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.*;
import java.io.FileInputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.*;

public class ExcelDataReadingTest {

    @Test
    public void testReadExcelCell() throws IOException {
        String filePath = "src/test/resources/testdata.xlsx";
        FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream(filePath);
        Workbook workbook = new XSSFWorkbook(fis);
        Sheet sheet = workbook.getSheetAt(0);
        Row row = sheet.getRow(1); // second row (index 1)
        Cell cell = row.getCell(0); // first column (index 0)
        String cellValue = cell.getStringCellValue();
        workbook.close();
        fis.close();

        assertEquals("TestUser", cellValue, "Excel cell value should be 'TestUser'");
    }
}

Execution Trace - 8 Steps

Step	Action	System State	Assertion	Result
1	Test starts	JUnit test runner initialized	-	PASS
2	Opens Excel file 'src/test/resources/testdata.xlsx' using FileInputStream	Excel file stream opened successfully	-	PASS
3	Creates XSSFWorkbook object from file stream	Workbook loaded with sheets and data	-	PASS
4	Accesses first sheet (index 0)	Sheet object representing first sheet ready	-	PASS
5	Reads second row (index 1) and first cell (index 0)	Cell object with string value retrieved	-	PASS
6	Extracts string value from cell	String value 'TestUser' obtained	-	PASS
7	Closes workbook and file input stream	Resources released	-	PASS
8	Asserts that cell value equals 'TestUser'	Assertion compares expected and actual values	assertEquals("TestUser", cellValue)	PASS

Failure Scenario

Failing Condition: Excel file missing or cell value different than expected

Execution Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What does the test verify after reading the Excel cell?

A That the cell is empty

B That the cell value is 'TestUser'

C That the Excel file has at least 3 sheets

D That the workbook is saved

Key Result

Always close the workbook and file input stream to free resources and avoid file locks after reading Excel data.