Selenium WebDriver is an open-source automation framework that helps QA engineers in automating test cases on web browsers. Its intuitive API facilitates the creation of robust and reusable scripts in various programming languages, C#, Java, JavaScript, Ruby, Python, and PHP.
Mastering Selenium WebDriver commands is a vital skill for any software tester. These commands allow you to interact seamlessly with web elements, handle alerts, manage cookies, and navigate pages – essentially, mimicking the actions of a human user. Understanding these commands can expedite your test automation process and facilitate the creation of efficient, effective testing strategies.
1. Navigating to a Web Page
The first essential WebDriver command is driver.get(). This command instructs the WebDriver to navigate to a specified web page. Its simplicity belies its importance; without this command, testing a web page would be impossible!
For example, if we wanted to navigate to Google’s homepage, our command would look something like this:
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driver.get(“https://www.google.com”);
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Just like that, the WebDriver opens a new browser window and takes us to Google’s homepage, ready for the next command.
2. Finding Elements
Once you’ve navigated to your chosen webpage, the next step is interacting with its elements. That’s where findElement() and findElements() commands come into play. These commands help locate web elements based on different strategies like ID, name, class, tag name, CSS selector, and XPath.
For instance, to locate a search box on a page with its ID, we could use:
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WebElement searchBox = driver.findElement(By.id(“searchBoxId”));
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The findElements() command returns a list of elements matching the given criteria, which can be useful when working with web elements like tables or lists.
3. Interacting with Input Fields
Interacting with input fields, such as text boxes or text areas, is a common requirement in web testing. The sendKeys() command makes this process straightforward. It allows us to simulate typing into an input field, just as a user would.
Consider a scenario where you need to enter a search term into Google’s search box. Assuming we’ve already found the element (with ID “searchBoxId”), the command would look like this:
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searchBox.sendKeys(“Selenium WebDriver Commands”);
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This command tells WebDriver to type “Selenium WebDriver Commands” into the search box, simulating a user’s keystrokes. It’s worth noting that before entering data into a field, it’s often wise to clear it first with the clear() command, especially if the field may already contain data.
4. Clicking Elements
As we delve deeper into the pool of Selenium WebDriver commands, we encounter the click() command. The function of this command is exactly as it sounds – it simulates a mouse click on a web element.
The context of its application is vast. From clicking on buttons to open the menu to selecting checkboxes or even triggering a form submission, the click() command finds use in numerous scenarios.
Here’s an example of how the click() command can be applied. Let’s say we want to click a button with the ID “submitButton”:
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WebElement submitButton = driver.findElement(By.id(“submitButton”));
submitButton.click();
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With these lines of code, we locate the button and trigger a click event, just as a user would.
5. Handling Dropdowns
Dropdown menus are a common component of many websites, presenting a unique challenge for automation testing. Selenium WebDriver handles dropdowns with the Select class and its methods: selectByVisibleText(), selectByValue(), and selectByIndex().
These methods allow us to interact with dropdowns in various ways: select an option by the text it displays, by its value attribute, or by its position in the dropdown list.
Consider a dropdown menu for choosing a month. Here’s an example of how we could select “July” from it:
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Select monthDropdown = new Select(driver.findElement(By.id(“month”)));
monthDropdown.selectByVisibleText(“July”);
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In this example, we first identify the dropdown menu and then use the selectByVisibleText() method to select the desired month.
6. Managing Browser Cookies
Cookies play an integral part in the user’s browsing experience, storing information about user preferences, session details, etc. Consequently, cookie handling is often a crucial aspect of testing.
Selenium WebDriver offers various commands for managing cookies, such as addCookie(), getCookieNamed(), and deleteCookie().
The addCookie() method lets us add a custom cookie to the current session. For example:
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Cookie cookie = new Cookie.Builder(“myCookie”, “123456”).domain(“mywebsite.com”).build();
driver.manage().addCookie(cookie);
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To retrieve a cookie, we use the getCookieNamed() command, like so:
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Cookie retrievedCookie = driver.manage().getCookieNamed(“myCookie”);
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Lastly, the deleteCookie() command is used to remove a specific cookie:
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driver.manage().deleteCookie(retrievedCookie);
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These commands help automate tasks like user authentication, session maintenance, and preference storage, all of which can significantly impact a website’s functionality and user experience.
Mastering these commands is part and parcel of harnessing the full power of Selenium WebDriver for your web application testing. As we continue to explore more WebDriver commands in the subsequent sections, you’ll gain a fuller understanding of how these different pieces come together to create a comprehensive and effective automation testing strategy.
7. Alert Handling
Alerts or pop-up boxes are often employed by web applications to draw the user’s attention to some information or seek confirmation for an action. While they serve an important purpose in the user interface, they can pose a hurdle during automation testing. Selenium WebDriver offers methods to interact with these alerts effectively.
Four primary methods are used for alert handling: alert.accept(), alert.dismiss(), alert.getText(), and alert.sendKeys().
alert.accept() is used to click the “OK” button in the alert. alert.dismiss() either hits the “Cancel” button of the alert or closes the alert box if no “Cancel” button is present. alert.getText() retrieves the message text from the alert, and alert.sendKeys() is used to input text into an alert’s input box.
For example, consider a scenario where an alert box appears when you attempt to delete a file. You might handle it like this:
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Alert alert = driver.switchTo().alert(); // switch to alert
String alertMessage = alert.getText(); // get alert message
alert.accept(); // click “OK” to confirm deletion
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8. Navigating Forward and Backward
The ability to navigate through the browsing history is a basic functionality provided by all web browsers, and Selenium WebDriver is no exception. It offers the navigate().forward() and navigate().backward() commands for this purpose.
Suppose you are testing a web application that involves multi-page forms. You could use these commands to navigate back and forth between these form pages, verifying that data entered is saved correctly.
Here’s a practical example:
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driver.get(“https://www.page1.com”);
driver.get(“https://www.page2.com”);
driver.navigate().back(); // takes you back to page1
driver.navigate().forward(); // takes you forward to page2
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9. Controlling Browser Window
An important part of Selenium WebDriver’s commands relates to controlling the browser window. This includes resizing the window, maximizing it, and more. Two such commands are window().maximize() and window().setSize().
window().maximize() is used to maximize the browser window, and it does not require any parameters. It’s especially useful when testing elements that might only be visible on a maximized window.
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driver.manage().window().maximize();
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On the other hand, window().setSize() allows us to set the window size according to specified dimensions. It takes two parameters – the width and height of the window. This is beneficial when testing the responsiveness of a web application at different resolutions.
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driver.manage().window().setSize(new Dimension(1024, 768));
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Understanding these commands and their context of use is paramount to conducting comprehensive and effective automated testing. They allow us to closely mimic user interactions, providing a more realistic testing scenario and, thus, more reliable results. In the next part, we will discuss further commands and how to use them effectively.
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10. Waiting for Elements to Load
In a dynamic web application, there are often delays as elements load or become ready for interaction. Relying on fixed delays, i.e., making your test script sleep for a specified time, can lead to unreliable and slow tests. This is where Selenium WebDriver’s explicit waits come into play, specifically WebDriverWait and ExpectedConditions.
WebDriverWait, in combination with ExpectedConditions allows us to create more robust and effective automation scripts. This combination makes WebDriver halt the execution of the script until a certain condition is met or a maximum wait time has been exceeded.
For instance, we might need to wait for an element to become clickable. Here’s how we can do it:
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WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(driver, 20); // wait up to 20 seconds
WebElement button = wait.until(ExpectedConditions.elementToBeClickable(By.id(“myButton”)));
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In this example, WebDriver will check for the element to be clickable every 500 milliseconds until it becomes clickable or 20 seconds have passed. If the element is clickable within 20 seconds, WebDriver will proceed; otherwise, it will throw a TimeoutException.
Conclusion
Mastering Selenium WebDriver commands is an invaluable skill for anyone involved in automating web application tests. As we’ve seen, these commands cover a wide array of functionalities, from basic page navigation and element interaction to advanced operations like handling alerts and managing cookies.
With the power to automate virtually any action a user can perform in a web browser, these commands offer an incredible degree of control over your testing process. They allow for precise, repeatable tests that closely mimic real-world user interactions, providing a level of coverage and reliability that’s hard to match with manual testing.
However, these commands are simply tools in your toolbox. The key to effective automation testing lies in knowing which tool to use and when to use it. This requires not just theoretical understanding but also practical experience.
So, take these commands, experiment with them, and practice creating your test scripts. With time and practice, you’ll find yourself becoming more adept at writing efficient, robust test automation scripts with Selenium WebDriver.
Remember, the journey to mastery is a process, not a destination. Each command you learn and each script you write takes you one step closer to becoming an automation testing expert. So, keep learning, keep experimenting, and most importantly, keep practicing. Your journey has just begun.
