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Release 1.0
Selenium Project
February 09, 2011
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Note to the Reader Introducing Selenium 2.0 2.1 Test Automation for Web Applications . . . . . . . 2.2 To Automate or Not to Automate? . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 Introducing Selenium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4 Selenium's Tool Suite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5 Supported Browsers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6 Flexibility and Extensibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.7 Chapters Described . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.8 The Documentation Team–Authors Past and Present Selenium Basics 3.1 Getting Started – Choosing Your Selenium Tool 3.2 Introducing Selenium Commands . . . . . . . . 3.3 Test Suites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4 Commonly Used Selenium Commands . . . . . 3.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Selenium-IDE 4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 Installing the IDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3 Opening the IDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4 IDE Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5 Building Test Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6 Running Test Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.7 Using Base URL to Run Test Cases in Different Domains 4.8 Debugging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.9 Writing a Test Suite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.10 User Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.11 Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.12 Executing Selenium-IDE Tests on Different Browsers . . 4.13 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Selenium Commands 33 5.1 Verifying Page Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 5.2 Locating Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 5.3 Matching Text Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 iii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NET client driver configuration 12 Java Client Driver Configuration 127 12. . . . . . . . . .8 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Configuring Selenium-RC With Eclipse . . . . . . . . 127 12. . . . . . . . . . Further Resources . . .10 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 14. . . . . .2 Configuring Selenium-RC With Intellij . Roadmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Starting to use CSS instead of XPATH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 10. . . . . . . . . . . . .11 How XPATH Works in WebDriver Getting and Using WebDriver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Useful XPATH patterns . .10. . . . . 143 13 Python Client Driver Configuration 155 14 Locating Techniques 159 14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 120 121 121 123 11 . . . .
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0 Contents: CONTENTS 1 .Selenium Documentation. Release 1.
0 2 CONTENTS .Selenium Documentation. Release 1.
Hello, and welcome to Selenium! The Documentation Team would like to welcome you, and to thank you for being interested in Selenium. We have worked very, very hard on this document. Why? We absolutely believe this is the best tool for web-application testing. We feel its extensibility and flexibility, along with its tight integration with the browser, is unmatched by available proprietary tools. We are very excited to promote Selenium and, hopefully, to expand its user community. In short, we really want to "get the word out" about Selenium. We truly believe you will be similarly excited once you learn how Selenium approaches test automation. It's quite different from other tools. Whether you are brand-new to Selenium, or have been using it for awhile, we believe this documentation will truly help to spread the knowledge around. Also, we have aimed to write so that those completely new to test automation will be able to use this document as a stepping stone. No doubt, experienced users and "newbies" will benefit from our Selenium User's Guide. This document is a work in progress. There are planned areas we haven't written yet. However, we have written the beginning chapters first so newcomers can get started more smoothly. We have also already added some valuable information that more experienced users will appreciate. This document will be a 'live' document on the SeleniumHQ website where frequent updates will occur as we complete the additional planned documentation. We really want to hear about any problems you have with the documentation, or suggestions you have for improving it. For errors, please file a bug report. Improvement suggestions should be filed as an enhancement request. Thanks very much for reading. – the Selenium Documentation Team
Selenium Documentation, Release 1.0
Chapter 1. Note to the Reader
2.1 Test Automation for Web Applications
Many, perhaps most, software applications today are written as web-based applications to be run in an Internet browser. The effectiveness of testing these applications varies widely among companies and organizations. In an era of highly interative and responsive software processes where many organizations are using some form of Agile methodology, test automation is frequently becoming a requirement for software projects. Test automation is often the answer. Test automation means using a software tool to run repeatable tests against the application to be tested. For regression testing this provides that responsiveness. There are many advantages to test automation. Most are related to the repeatability of the tests and the speed at which the tests can be executed. There are a number of commercial and open source tools available for assisting with the development of test automation. Selenium is possibly the most widelyused open source solution. This user's guide will assist both new and experienced Selenium users in learning effective techniques in building test automation for web applications. This user's guide introduces Selenium, teaches its features, and presents commonly used best practices accumulated from the Selenium community. Many examples are provided. Also, technical information on the internal structure of Selenium and recommended uses of Selenium are provided. Test automation has specific advantages for improving the long-term efficiency of a software team's testing processes. Test automation supports: • Frequent regression testing • Rapid feedback to developers • Virtually unlimited iterations of test case execution • Support for Agile and eXtreme development methodologies • Disciplined documentation of test cases • Customized defect reporting • Finding defects missed by manual testing
2.2 To Automate or Not to Automate?
Is automation always advantageous? When should one decide to automate test cases?
2. Python. if the application's user interface will change considerably in the near future. sometimes there simply is not enough time to build test automation.0 Sel-RC interface for backwards compatability. Also. If an application has a very tight deadline. In addition. 2. Stay tuned.0 limitations.0 It is not always advantageous to automate test cases. PHP. Selenium-RC provides an API (Application Programming Interface) and library for each of its supported languages: HTML. it will be updated shortly.4. This ability to use Selenium-RC 6 Chapter 2. It supports the WebDriver API and underlying technology. then any automation might need to be rewritten anyway. One of Selenium's key features is the support for executing one's tests on multiple browser platforms.4. Both the Selenium developers and WebDriver developers agreed that both tools have advantatges and that merging the two projects would make a much more robust automation tool. along with also supporting the Selenium 1.1 Selenium-WebDriver This section is under development. Selenium WebDriver is the future direction of Selenium and the newest addition to the Selenium tool suite. The entire suite of tools results in a rich set of testing functions specifically geared to the needs of testing of web applications of all types. For instance. 2. C#.2 Selenium-RC (Remote Control) Selenium-RC allows the test automation developer to use a programming language for maximum flexibility and extensibility in developing test logic.Selenium Documentation.0 still supports the Selenium 1. However the WebDriver API addresses some limitations of the old Sel-RC API. Selenium 2. Release 1. and it's imperative that the testing get done within that time frame. however learning all the tools will give you many different options for approaching different test automation problems. Selenium 2. Perl. Each has a specific role. Java. then manual testing is the best solution. Most Selenium QA Engineers focus on the one or two tools that most meet the needs of their project. and Ruby.0 is the product of that effort. WebDriver originally was a separate project from Selenium. if the application under test returns a result set. It is relatively recent compared to Selenium's history and was specifically designed to address some Selenium 1. there is currently no test automation available.0 technology underneath the WebDriver API for maximum flexibility in developing web-app tests. These operations are highly flexible.0 . manual testing may be more effective. the programming language's iteration support can be used to iterate through the result set. The integration of the WebDriver API is the primary improvement which defined Selenium 2. calling Selenium commands to run tests on each item. 2.4 Selenium's Tool Suite Selenium is composed of multiple software tools. allowing many options for locating UI elements and comparing expected test results against actual application behavior. There are times when manual testing may be more appropriate.3 Introducing Selenium Selenium is set of different software tools each with a different approach to supporting test automation. WebDriver is an API (application programming interface) which supports web application test automation just as does Selenium-RC (see next section). Introducing Selenium 2. For the short term. and if the automated test program needs to run tests on each element in the result set.0. For instance.
run tests Windows. In Addition._ The Selenium developers recommend for serious. run tests Mac Opera 10 Test execution only via Selenium-RC Start browser. With Selenium-Grid. Sel-IDE cannot add iteration or condition-statements to a test script. At the time of writing there is no plan to add iteration or conditions to Sel-IDE.Selenium Documentation.4 Selenium-Grid Selenium-Grid allows the Selenium-RC solution to scale for large test suites or test suites that must be run in multiple environments. which will launch the browser and run the test. run tests Windows. Linux. run tests Windows. For running tests using additional browsers you must run Selenium using one of the other tools. Linux. which allows the user to pick from a list of assertions and verifications for the selected UI element. it can only run it's test scripts against Firefox. For that you will need a programming language combined with either Sel-WebDriver or Sel-RC. _Sel-IDE is simply intended as a rapid prototyping tool. which records user actions as they are performed and then stores them as a reusable script that can be played back. 2.4. Specifically. with the entire test suite theoretically taking only as long to run as the longest individual test. since Selenium-IDE is a Firefox plugin. SeleniumIDE also offers full editing of test cases for more precision and control. Mac Firefox 3 Record and playback tests Start browser. Mac IE 8 Test execution only via Selenium-RC* Start browser. robust test automation either Sel-WebDriver or Sel-RC should be used with one of the many supported programming languages. run tests Windows IE 7 Test execution only via Selenium-RC* Start browser. Selenium-IDE has a recording feature. run tests Mac Safari 3 Test execution only via Selenium-RC Start browser. run tests Windows. all the while watching the browser's behavior while the playback occurs. This allows for running tests in parallel. Linux. run tests Windows IE 6 Test execution only via Selenium-RC* Start browser. It is a Firefox plugin and provides an easy-to-use interface for developing automated tests. 2.5 Supported Browsers IMPORTANT: Note this list was for Sel 1.0. Linux. Linux. multiple instances of Selenium-RC are running on various operating system and browser configurations. Release 1.x Record and playback tests Start browser.5.4. run tests Mac Safari 2 Test execution only via Selenium-RC Start browser.3 Selenium-IDE Selenium-IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is a prototyping tools for building Selenium test scripts. It requires updating for Sel2. Mac Opera 8 Test execution only via Selenium-RC Start browser. Note that Sel-IDE is not designed to run your test passes nor is it designed to build all the automated tests you will need. run tests Windows Safari 4 Test execution only via Selenium-RC Start browser. Each of these when launching register with a hub. 2. 2.0–we will do that very soon. Supported Browsers 7 . ============= ================================================== =========================== ===================== Browser Selenium-IDE Selenium-RC Operating Systems Firefox 3. run tests Windows. to be integrated with a project's automated build environment so the test automatically run each time the project is rebuilt. It also has a context menu (right-click) integrated with the Firefox browser. that is. The reasons are partly technical and partly that the Selenium developers wish to encourage best practices in test automation which always requires some amount of programming. Mac Firefox 2 Record and playback tests Start browser. When tests are sent to the hub they are then redirected to an available Selenium-RC. Mac Opera 9 Test execution only via Selenium-RC Start browser.0 with a high-level programming language to develop test cases also allows the automated testing to use continuous integration.
Selenium-IDE allows for the addition of user-defined "user-extensions" for creating additional commands customized to the user's needs. Finally. 2. Selenium Commands Describes a subset of the most useful Selenium commands in detail. but depending on browser security settings there may be technical limitations that would limit certain features. This chapter also describes useful techniques for making your scripts more readable when interpreting defects caught by your Selenium tests. 8 Chapter 2.0 .Selenium Documentation. This chapter shows what types of actions. We explain how your test script can be "exported" to the programming language of your choice. 2.0 run tests Windows. Mac Google Chrome Test execution only via Selenium-RC (Windows) Start browser. Selenium's strongest characteristic when compared with proprietary test automation tools and other open source solutions. We do not assume the reader has experience in testing beyond the basics. this section describes some configurations available for extending and customizing how the Selenium-IDE supports test case development. perhaps.6 Flexibility and Extensibility You'll find that Selenium is highly flexible. Introducing Selenium 2. verifications and assertions can be made against a web application. Release 1. This is. This section allows you to get a general feel for how Selenium approaches test automation and helps you decide where to begin. The experienced Selenium user will also find this reference valuable. This allows users to customize the generated code to fit in with their own test frameworks. Selenium-IDE Teaches how to build test cases using the Selenium Integrated Development Environment. The remaining chapters of the reference present: Selenium Basics Introduces Selenium by describing how to select the Selenium component most appropriate for your testing tasks. It compiles in one place a set of useful Selenium techniques and best practices by drawing from the knowledge of multiple experienced Selenium QA professionals. Also provides a general description of Selenium commands and syntax. Finally. Selenium-RC support for multiple programming and scripting languages allows the test writer to build any logic they need into their automated testing and to use a preferred programming or scripting language of one's choice. It introduces the novice to Selenium test automation. ** Selenium-RC server can start any executable. run tests Windows Others Test execution only via Selenium-RC Partial support possible** As applicable ============= ================================================== =========================== ===================== * Tests developed on Firefox via Selenium-IDE can be executed on any other supported browser via a simple Selenium-RC command line. Also. Selenium is an Open Source project where code can be modified and enhancements can be submitted for contribution. it is possible to re-configure how the Selenium-IDE generates its Selenium-RC code. Linux. There are multiple ways in which one can add functionality to Selenium's framework to customize test automation for one's specific testing needs.7 Chapters Described This reference documentation targets both new users of Selenium and those who have been using Selenium and are seeking additional knowledge.
1 Acknowledgements A huge special thanks goes to Patrick Lightbody. and the opening of new windows. or configurations.Selenium Documentation.0 Selenium-RC Explains how to develop an automated test program using the Selenium-RC API. • Dave Hunt • Mary Ann May-Pumphrey • Paul Grandjean • Peter Newhook • Santiago Suarez Ordonez • Tarun Kumar 2.8 The Documentation Team–Authors Past and Present In alphabetical order. He also set us up with everything we needed on the seleniumhq. And of course. We also cover techniques commonly asked about in the user group such as how to implement data-driven tests (tests where one can vary the data between different test passes). As an administrator of the SeleniumHQ website. Architecture diagrams are provided to help illustrate these points. A number of solutions to problems which are often difficult for the new user are described in this chapter. Selenium-Grid This chapter is not yet developed. 2. and long term involvement in the Selenium community. and to Amit Kumar for participating in our discussions and for assisting with reviewing the document. creator of SEl-RC. Test Design Considerations Presents many useful techniques for using Selenium efficiently. This includes handling Security Certificates. User extensions Presents all the information required for easily extending Selenium.8. Patrick helped us understand the our audience. We cover examples of source code showing how to report defects in the application under test. 2. we would not have such a great tool to pass on to you. that Selenium-RC supports are described. The various modes. along with their trade-offs and limitations.org website for publishing the documents. Also. This includes scripting techniques and programming techniques for use with Selenium-RC. the following people have made significant contributions to the authoring of this user's guide or with out publishing infrastructure or both. The Documentation Team–Authors Past and Present 9 . https requests. Release 1. Many examples are presented in both a programming language and a scripting language. his support was invaluable when writing the original user's guide. pop-ups. the installation and setup of Selenium-RC is covered here. Without the vision of the original designers. They have truly designed an amazing tool.8. Also thanks goes to Andras Hatvani for his advice on publishing solutions. we must recognize the Selenium Developers. and the continued efforts of the current developers.
Introducing Selenium 2. Release 1.0 .0 10 Chapter 2.Selenium Documentation.
You can develop your first script in just a few minutes. input fields. For example. Finally.html. Selenium-IDE does not support iteration or condition statements. When programming logic is required Selenium-RC must be used. The Command Reference lists all the available commands.1 Getting Started – Choosing Your Selenium Tool Most people get started with Selenium-IDE. This is the original method for running Selenium commands. alerts. any tests requiring iteration. and many other web-application features. it does not support iteration. 3. It's an easy way to get familiar with Selenium commands quickly. Anyone who understands how to conduct manual testing of a website can easily transition to using the Selenium-IDE for running and developing tests. the Selenium community is encouraging the use of Selenium-IDE and RC and discouraging the use of Selenium-Core. It has limitations though. Since the development of SeleniumIDE and Selenium-RC. In addition Selenium commands support testing of window size. Selenium-Core also cannot switch between http and https protocols. The command set is often called selenese. test for broken links. Ajax functionality.2 Introducing Selenium Commands 3. event handling. Selenium-Core is another way of running tests. pop up windows. one can test the existence of UI elements based on their HTML tags.CHAPTER THREE SELENIUM BASICS 3. At the time of writing (April 09) it is still available and may be convenient for some. selection list options. such as testing each element of a variable length list requires running the script from a programming language. In selenese. submitting forms.1 Selenium Commands – Selenese Selenium provides a rich set of commands for fully testing your web-app in virtually any way you can imagine.2. This is what we recommend. mouse position. It's simple to use and is recommended for lesstechnical users. One can run test scripts from a web-browser using the HTML interface TestRunner. The IDE allows developing and running tests without the need for programming skills as required by Selenium-RC. Selenium-IDE is also very easy to install. similar to Selenium-IDE. more people are using these tools rather than Selenium-Core. The Selenium-IDE can serve as an excellent way to train junior-level employees in test automation. 11 . Support for Selenium-Core is becoming less available and it may even be deprecated in a future release. You may also run your scripts from the Selenium-IDE. Some testing tasks are too complex though for the Selenium-IDE. and table data among other things. These commands essentially create a testing language. See the chapter on Selenium-IDE for specifics. However. test for specific content.
Many Actions can be called with the "AndWait" suffix. This suffix tells Selenium that the action will cause the browser to make a call to the server. and the commands themselves are described in considerable detail in the section on Selenium Commands. Parameters vary. Release 1. In some cases both are required. etc. They will succeed immediately if the condition is already true. "waitFor" commands wait for some condition to become true (which can be useful for testing Ajax applications). Selenium commands come in three "flavors": Actions. or has an error. If an Action fails.0 A command is what tells Selenium what to do. For example: verifyText //div//a[2] Login The parameters are not always required. and in still others the command may take no parameters at all. the test will continue execution. Examples include "make sure the page title is X" and "verify that this checkbox is checked". and that Selenium should wait for a new page to load. and " waitFor". "clickAndWait". it depends on the command. they will fail and halt the test if the condition does not become true within the current timeout setting (see the setTimeout action below). in others one parameter is required. selenium variables. • Accessors examine the state of the application and store the results in variables. labels. e. When a "verify" fails.2 Script Syntax Selenium commands are simple. the test is aborted. • Assertions are like Accessors. However.2. For example. you can "assertText".g. "storeTitle".g. 12 Chapter 3. logging the failure. followed by a bunch of "verify" assertions to test form field values. "verify". They do things like "click this link" and "select that option". This allows a single "assert" to ensure that the application is on the correct page. They are also used to automatically generate Assertions. text patterns. Selenium Basics . 3. however they are typically: • a locator for identifying a UI element within a page. All Selenium Assertions can be used in 3 modes: "assert". When an "assert" fails. but they verify that the state of the application conforms to what is expected. the execution of the current test is stopped. • a text pattern for verifying or asserting expected page content • a text pattern or a selenium variable for entering text in an input field or for selecting an option from an option list. e. "verifyText" and "waitForText". Accessors and Assertions. they consist of the command and two parameters.Selenium Documentation. Locators. • Actions are commands that generally manipulate the state of the application. Here are a couple more examples: goBackAndWait verifyTextPresent type type Welcome to My Home Page (555) 666-7066 ${myVariableAddress} id=phone id=address1 The command reference describes the parameter requirements for each command.
Since the whole reason for using Sel-RC is to make use of programming logic for your testing this usually isn't a problem. Additionally. Test Suites 13 .Selenium Documentation.3.html" >Login</a></td></tr> <tr><td><a href= ".0 Selenium scripts that will be run from Selenium-IDE will be be stored in an HTML text file format. When using Selenium-IDE. 3. This is done via programming and can be done a number of ways. The second and third columns may not require values depending on the chosen Selenium command. and the final column contains a value. Test suites can also be maintained when using Selenium-RC. The syntax again is simple. If using an interpreted language like Python with Selenium-RC than some simple programming would be involved in setting up a test suite. Release 1. Here is an example of a test that opens a page. An HTML table defines a list of tests where each row defines the filesystem path to each test. Often one will run all the tests in a test suite as one continuous batch-job. one after another. from the Selenium-IDE. An example tells it all. test suites also can be defined using a simple HTML file.Priority 1</title> </head> <body> <table> <tr><td><b>Suite Of Tests</b></td></tr> <tr><td><a href= ". The first column identifies the Selenium command./Login. Each table row represents a new Selenium command. if C# is the chosen language. This consists of an HTML table with three columns. 3. With a basic knowledge of selenese and Selenium-IDE you can quickly produce and run testcases. but they should be present.html" >Test Searching for Values</a></td></tr> <tr><td><a href= ". the second is a target.3 Test Suites A test suite is a collection of tests. <html> <head> <title>Test Suite Function Tests ./SearchValues. asserts the page title and then verifies some content on the page: <table> <tr><td>open</td><td></td><td>/download/</td></tr> <tr><td>assertTitle</td><td></td><td>Downloads</td></tr> <tr><td>verifyText</td><td>//h2</td><td>Downloads</td></tr> </table> Rendered as a table in a browser this would look like the following: open assertTitle verifyText /download/ Downloads Downloads //h2 The Selenese HTML syntax can be used to write and run tests without requiring knowledge of a programming language./SaveValues. Commonly Junit is used to maintain a test suite if one is using Selenium-RC with Java. Nunit could be employed.html" >Test Save</a></td></tr> </table> </body> </html> A file similar to this would allow running the tests all at once.
menu. 14 Chapter 3. verifyTextPresent verifies expected text is somewhere on the page. waitForPageToLoad pauses execution until an expected new page loads. and optionally waits for a new page to load. verifyTitle/assertTitle verifies an expected page title. We recommend beginning with the Selenium IDE and its context-sensitive. verifyElementPresent verifies an expected UI element. verifyTable verifies a table's expected contents. Chapter 3 gets you started and then guides you through all the features of the Selenium-IDE.5 Summary Now that you've seen an introduction to Selenium. and you can have a simple script done in just a minute or two. These are probably the most commonly used commands for building tests.0 3. click/clickAndWait performs a click operation. right-click. as defined by its HTML tag. waitForElementPresent pauses execution until an expected UI element. is present on the page. as defined by its HTML tag. is present on the page.Selenium Documentation.4 Commonly Used Selenium Commands To conclude our introduction of Selenium. This will allow you to get familiar with the most common Selenium commands quickly. verifyText verifies expected text and it's corresponding HTML tag are present on the page. 3. Selenium Basics . Release 1. open opens a page using a URL. Called automatically when clickAndWait is used. you're ready to start writing your first scripts. we'll show you a few typical Selenium commands.
as shown in the following screenshot.1 Introduction The Selenium-IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is the tool you use to develop your Selenium test cases. It's an easy-to-use Firefox plug-in and is generally the most efficient way to develop test cases. so you will need to click 'Allow' to proceed with the installation. It also contains a context menu that allows you to first select a UI element from the browser's currently displayed page and then select from a list of Selenium commands with parameters pre-defined according to the context of the selected UI element. 15 . This is not only a time-saver. download the IDE from the SeleniumHQ downloads page Firefox will protect you from installing addons from unfamiliar locations. 4. This chapter is all about the Selenium IDE and how to use it effectively.2 Installing the IDE Using Firefox. but also an excellent way of learning Selenium script syntax.CHAPTER FOUR SELENIUM-IDE 4. first.
Release 1. first showing a progress bar. Select Install Now.Selenium Documentation.0 When downloading from Firefox. you'll be presented with the following window. Selenium-IDE . and when the 16 Chapter 4. The Firefox Add-ons window pops up.
Installing the IDE 17 . displays the following. Release 1.Selenium Documentation.0 download is complete. Restart Firefox. After Firefox reboots you will find the Selenium-IDE listed under the Firefox Tools menu. 4.2.
simply select it from the Firefox Tools menu. Selenium-IDE . Release 1.Selenium Documentation.3 Opening the IDE To run the Selenium-IDE. 18 Chapter 4. It opens as follows with an empty script-editing window and a menu for loading. or creating new test cases.0 4.
add user-defined user extensions to the base set of Selenium commands.4. only one item on this menu–UI-Element Documentation–pertains to Selenium-IDE. including a step feature for debugging your test cases. the one with the red-dot. and specify the format (language) used when saving your test cases. IDE Features 19 . and save test case and test suite files. Release 1.2 Toolbar The toolbar contains buttons for controlling the execution of your test cases. paste. The Options menu allows the changing of settings. open. undo. The Help menu is the standard Firefox Help menu.4 IDE Features 4.4. is the record button. You can set the timeout value for certain commands. 4.0 4.4. delete.1 Menu Bar The File menu allows you to create. The right-most button.Selenium Documentation. 4. The Edit menu allows copy. and select all operations for editing the commands in your test case.
If a second parameter is specified by the Reference tab.Selenium Documentation. Pause/Resume: Allows stopping and re-starting of a running test case. The other tab . cut and paste operations. 20 Chapter 4.0 Speed Control: controls how fast your test case runs. These are entry fields where you can modify the currently selected command. Record: Records the user's browser actions. By default. Apply Rollup Rules: This advanced feature allows repetitive sequences of Selenium commands to be grouped into a single action. it always goes in the Value field. 4.Source displays the test case in the native format in which the file will be stored.3 Test Case Pane Your script is displayed in the test case pane. Target. Use for debugging test cases. The Command. Detailed documentation on rollup rules can be found in the UI-Element Documentation on the Help menu. The first parameter specified for a command in the Reference tab of the bottom pane always goes in the Target field. TestRunner Mode: Allows you to run the test case in a browser loaded with the Selenium-Core TestRunner. See the Options menu for details. Run: Runs the currently selected test. including copy. The Source view also allows one to edit the test case in its raw form. Run All: Runs the entire test suite when a test suite with multiple test cases is loaded. The TestRunner is not commonly used now and is likely to be deprecated.4. It has two tabs. Most users will probably not need this button. Selenium-IDE . When only a single test is loaded this button and the Run All button have the same effect. Step: Allows you to "step" through a test case by running it one command at a time. This button is for evaluating test cases for backwards compatibility with the TestRunner. this is HTML although it can be changed to a programming language such as Java or C#. Release 1. one for displaying the command and their parameters in a readable "table" format. or a scripting language like Python. and Value entry fields display the currently selected command along with its parameters.
Release 1. and Rollup– depending on which tab is selected. 4.0 If you start typing in the Command field. The number of parameters provided must match the number specified. error messages and information messages showing the progress are displayed in this pane automatically. 4. even if you do not first select the Log tab. Notice the Clear button for clearing the Log. When entering or modifying commands. UI-Element.4 Log/Reference/UI-Element/Rollup Pane The bottom pane is used for four different functions–Log. it is still often necessary to consult the Selenium Reference document. the order of parameters provided must match the order specified.4.Selenium Documentation. In Table mode. you can then select your desired command from the drop-down.4. Reference. These messages are often useful for test case debugging. Reference The Reference tab is the default selection whenever you are entering or modifying Selenese commands and parameters in Table mode. While the Reference tab is invaluable as a quick reference. Log When you run your test case. If there is a mismatch in any of these three areas. a drop-down list will be populated based on the first characters you type. whether from Table or Source mode. the Reference pane will display documentation on the current command. IDE Features 21 . the command will not run correctly. and the type of parameters provided must match the type specified. it is critically important to ensure that the parameters specified in the Target and Value fields match those specified in the parameter list in the Reference pane. Also notice the Info button is a drop-down allowing selection of different levels of information to log.
Selenium-IDE will automatically insert commands into your test case based on your actions.. your test case will continue running commands before the page has loaded all its UI elements. The context menu should give you a verifyTextPresent command and the suggested parameter should be the text itself. If you do not want Selenium-IDE to begin recording automatically you can turn this off by going under Options > Options. go to the browser displaying your test application and right click anywhere on the page. Now. you will find additional commands will quickly be added to this menu. 4.click or clickAndWait commands • entering values . 22 Chapter 4. With Selenium-IDE recording. there may only be one Selenium command listed.0 UI-Element and Rollup Detailed information on these two panes (which cover advanced features) can be found in the UIElement Documentation on the Help menu of Selenium-IDE. The first time you use Selenium.5.Selenium Documentation. you will need for a selected UI element on the current web-page. Let's see how this works. that is in the chapter on "Selenese" Selenium Commands. This requires assert and verify commands. this will include: • clicking a link . along with the parameters. You will see a context menu showing verify and/or assert commands.click command Here are some "gotchas" to be aware of: • The type command may require clicking on some other area of the web page for it to record. Release 1.type command • selecting options from a drop-down listbox . a test developer will require all three techniques. We won't describe the specifics of these commands here. As you use the IDE however. 4. Selenium-IDE will attempt to predict what command. Typically. • Following a link usually records a click command.5. A paragraph or a heading will work fine. the record button is ON by default. You will often need to change this to clickAndWait to ensure your test case pauses until the new page is completely loaded. Selenium-IDE . and deselecting "Start recording immediately on open.. Otherwise. Frequently. right-click the selected text. Open a web-page of your choosing and select a block of text on the page. When Selenium-IDE is first opened." During recording. Here we'll simply describe how to add them to your test case. 4.5 Building Test Cases There are three primary methods for developing test cases.select command • clicking checkboxes or radio buttons .1 Recording Many first-time users begin by recording a test case from their interactions with a website. This will cause unexpected test case failures.2 Adding Verifications and Asserts With the Context Menu Your test cases will also need to check the properties of a web-page.
e. again. left-click between the commands where you want to insert a new command. Release 1. You can learn a lot about the Selenium commands simply by experimenting with the IDE. Again. These comments are ignored when the test case is run. Be sure to save your test before switching back to Table view. You may need to use Show All Available Commands to see options other than verifyTextPresent. Building Test Cases 23 . the IDE will add a blank line just ahead of the line you selected. 4. or a user control like a button or a checkbox. Insert Comment Comments may be added to make your test case more readable. in the Test Case Pane.5. <!-. An empty command will cause an error during execution. first parameter (if one is required by the Command).3 Editing Insert Command Table View Select the point in your test case where you want to insert the command. selecting verifyElementPresent for an image should later cause that command to be available on the primary context menu the next time you select an image and right-click. left-click on the line where you want to insert a new command.0 Also. and second parameter (again.5. Source View Select the point in your test case where you want to insert the comment. To do this.your comment here -->. 4. i. Right-click and select Insert Comment. Try right-clicking an image. if one is required). Source View Select the point in your test case where you want to insert the command. feel free to use the IDE to record and select commands into a test case and then run it. along with suggested parameters. This shows many. these commands will be explained in detail in the chapter on Selenium commands. To do this. Add an HTML-style comment. Try a few more UI elements. and enter the HTML tags needed to create a 3-column row containing the Command. notice the Show All Available Commands menu option. Now use the command editing text fields to enter your new command and its parameters. many more commands. For example. Table View Select the line in your test case where you want to insert the comment. just create empty comments.Selenium Documentation. an empty comment won't. For now though. Right-click and select Insert Command. for testing your currently selected UI element. Once you select these other options. Your comment will appear in purple font. Now use the Command field to enter the comment.. the more commonly used ones will show up on the primary context menu. Comments may also be used to add vertical white space (one or more blank lines) in your tests. in the Test Case Pane.
You can double-click it to see if it runs correctly. and you can do a batch run of an entire test suite. there are Save and Open commands under the File menu. To set a breakpoint. 4. simply modify which line you wish– command.portal. It lets you immediately test a command you are constructing. stop and start it. The icon of this button then changes to indicate the Resume button.4 Opening and Saving a Test Case Like most programs.com had an in-house beta 24 Chapter 4. If the test cases of your test suite have not been saved. Start from the Middle You can tell the IDE to begin running from a specific command in the middle of the test case. parameter. Target. right-click. This is also available from the context menu.6 Running Test Cases The IDE allows many options for running your test case. and Value fields. Stop in the Middle You can set a breakpoint in the test case to cause it to stop on a particular command. This also is used for debugging. Run Any Single Command Double-click any single command to run it by itself. When you open an existing test case or suite. run a single command you are currently developing. This is useful for debugging your test case. run it one line at a time. Run a Test Suite Click the Run All button to run all the test cases in the currently loaded test suite.7 Using Base URL to Run Test Cases in Different Domains The Base URL field at the top of the Selenium-IDE window is very useful for allowing test cases to be run across different domains. 4. Source View Since Source view provides the equivalent of a WYSIWYG editor. right-click. and from the context menu select Toggle Breakpoint. However. or save the test suite.0 Edit a Command or Comment Table View Simply select the line to be changed and edit it using the Command. 4. Suppose that a site named http://news. and from the context menu select Set/Clear Start Point. or comment. you'll be prompted to save them before saving the test suite. when you are not sure if it is correct. This is useful when writing a single command.5. Run a Test Case Click the Run button to run the currently displayed test case.Selenium Documentation. To continue click Resume. Selenium-IDE displays its Selenium commands in the Test Case Pane. Execution of test cases is very flexible in the IDE. Release 1. To set a startpoint. select a command. select a command. Selenium distinguishes between test cases and test suites. You can run a test case all at once. Stop and Start The Pause button can be used to stop the test case while it is running. To save your Selenium-IDE tests for later use you can either save the individual test cases. Selenium-IDE .
To do this.8.8 Debugging Debugging means finding and fixing errors in your test case. Release 1.portal. right-click. and from the context menu select Toggle Breakpoint. select a command. from any point within the test case. 4.1 Breakpoints and Startpoints The Sel-IDE supports the setting of breakpoints and the ability to start and stop the running of a test case. For example. you 4. That is. Then click the Run button to run your test case from the beginning up to the breakpoint. the test case below would be run against http://news.com.html: This same test case with a modified http://beta. To set a breakpoint.html: Base URL setting would be run against 4.com/about.portal. Debugging 25 .8. This is a normal part of test case development. For example.0 site named http://beta.portal.news. Selenium-IDE will then create an absolute URL by appending the open command's argument onto the end of the value of Base URL. Any test cases for these sites that begin with an open statement should specify a relative URL as the argument to open rather than an absolute URL (one starting with a protocol such as http: or https:). It is also sometimes useful to run a test case from somewhere in the middle to the end of the test case or up to a breakpoint that follows the starting point.news. we recommend you ask one of the developers in your organization. suppose your test case first logs into the website and then performs a series of tests and you are trying to debug one of those tests.Selenium Documentation. If this is new to you. However. set a breakpoint on the command just before the one to be examined. We won't teach debugging here as most new users to Selenium will already have some basic experience with debugging. one can run up to a specific command in the middle of the test case and inspect how the test case behaves at that point.com/about.
but you need to keep rerunning your tests as you are developing them.e. 4. In this case.8. 1. select just that portion of the webpage for which you want to see the source. click. Simply right-click the webpage and select 'View->Page Source. and from the context menu select Set/Clear Start Point. This feature can be 26 Chapter 4. it stores additional information which allows the user to view other possible locator-type arguments that could be used instead.3 Find Button The Find button is used to see which UI element on the currently displayed webpage (in the browser) is used in the currently selected Selenium command. That will prevent you from having to manually logout each time you rerun your test case. It can be used with any command that identifies a UI element on a webpage. 4. Now look on the webpage: There should be a bright green rectangle enclosing the element specified by the locator parameter. Use its Search feature (Edit=>Find) to search for a keyword to find the HTML for the UI element you're trying to test.8. Repeatedly select the Step button. 4. you simply must look at the page source (the HTML for the webpage you're trying to test) to determine a problem. 1. Start the test case running with the Run button from the toolbar. the separate HTML window will contain just a small amount of source.8.0 only need to login once. i. Firefox makes this easy.4 Page Source for Debugging Often. and certain assert and verify commands. with highlighting on the portion representing your selection.Selenium Documentation.5 Locator Assistance Whenever Selenium-IDE records a locator-type argument.8. when debugging a test case. To set a startpoint. Immediately pause the executing test case with the Pause button. You can login once. clickAndWait. Then rightclick the webpage and select View Selection Source. 4. Release 1. follow these steps: 1.2 Stepping Through a Testcase To execute a test case one command at a time ("step through" it). Alternatively. among others. then run your test case from a startpoint placed after the login portion of your test case. select any command that has a locator parameter. Selenium-IDE . select a command. right-click. The HTML opens in a separate window. type. This is useful when building a locator for a command's first parameter (see the section on locators in the Selenium Commands chapter). Click the Find button. From Table view. Then click the Run button to execute the test case beginning at that startpoint.
and is often needed to help one build a different type of locator than the type that was recorded. The example below is of a test suite containing four test cases: 4. Release 1. In the latter case.Selenium Documentation. Selenium-IDE does not yet support loading pre-existing test cases into a test suite. Below is a snapshot showing the contents of this drop-down for one command. The test suite pane can be manually opened or closed via selecting a small dot halfway down the right edge of the pane (which is the left edge of the entire Selenium-IDE window if the pane is closed). Users who want to create or modify a test suite by adding pre-existing test cases must manually edit a test suite file. whereas the second column indicates the type of each alternative. A test suite file is an HTML file containing a one-column table.0 very useful for learning more about locators. the new test case will appear immediately below the previous test case. 4.9. Writing a Test Suite 27 . Each cell of each row in the <tbody> section contains a link to a test case. The test suite pane will be automatically opened when an existing test suite is opened or when the user selects the New Test Case item from the File menu.9 Writing a Test Suite A test suite is a collection of test cases which is displayed in the leftmost pane in the IDE. This locator assistance is presented on the Selenium-IDE window as a drop-down list accessible at the right end of the Target field (only when the Target field contains a recorded locator-type argument). Note that the first column of the drop-down provides alternative locators.
For an example of how to use the functionality provided by this extension. at the time of this writing. To install this extension./a. Often this is in the form of customized commands although this extensibility is not limited to additional commands. look at the page created by its author. Release 1. 28 Chapter 4. 4.js.html" >D Links</a></td></tr> </tbody> </table> </body> </html> Note: Test case files should not have to be co-located with the test suite file that invokes them. And on Mac OS and Linux systems./c. a bug prevents Windows users from being able to place the test cases elsewhere than with the test suite that invokes them. put the pathname to its location on your computer in the Selenium Core extensions field of Selenium-IDE's Options=>Options=>General tab.html" >B Links</a></td></tr> <tr><td><a href= "./d.Selenium Documentation.html" >C Links</a></td></tr> <tr><td><a href= ". This extension is the goto_sel_ide.10 User Extensions User extensions are JavaScript files that allow one to create his or her own customizations and features to add additional functionality. Perhaps the most popular of all Selenium-IDE extensions is one which provides flow control in the form of while loops and primitive conditionals. Selenium-IDE .html" >A Links</a></td></tr> <tr><td><a href= ". charset=UTF-8" > <title>Sample Selenium Test Suite</title> </head> <body> <table cellpadding= "1" cellspacing= "1" border= "1" > <thead> <tr><td>Test Cases for De Anza A-Z Directory Links</td></tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr><td><a href= ". that is indeed the case. There are a number of useful extensions created by users. However./b.0 <html> <head> <meta http-equiv= "Content-Type" content= "text/html.
Selenium Documentation. this feature is used to translate your test case into a programming language.12 Executing Selenium-IDE Tests on Different Browsers While Selenium-IDE can only run tests against Firefox. Each supported language has configuration settings which are editable. Select the language. See issue 1008. If you are able to reproduce this reliably then please provide details so that we can work on a fix. Any change you make to an extension will also require you to close and reopen SeleniumIDE. This message can be occasionally displayed in the Table tab when Selenium IDE is launched. PHP. Your test case will be translated into a series of functions in the language you choose. The workaround is to close and reopen Selenium IDE. using a simple command-line interface that invokes the Selenium-RC server. Java. Note: At the time of this writing. note that if the generated code does not suit your needs. This is under the Options=>Options=>Format tab. Format 29 .11.11 Format Format. Use File=>Open Test Suite instead. program code supporting your test is generated for you by Selenium-IDE. allows you to select a language for saving and displaying the test case. you must close and reopen Selenium-IDE in order for the extensions file to be read. this feature is not yet supported by the Selenium developers.0 After selecting the OK button. error loading test case: no command found You've used File=>Open to try to open a test suite file. for more information. The -htmlSuite command-line option is the particular feature of interest. Information on writing your own extensions can be found near the bottom of the Selenium Reference document. 4. See issue 1010. An enhancement request has been raised to improve this error message.e. you can alter it by editing a configuration file which defines the generation process.13 Troubleshooting Below is a list of image/explanation pairs which describe frequent sources of problems with SeleniumIDE: Table view is not available with this format. 4. Release 1. If you will be using Selenium-RC to run your test cases. Also. This topic is covered in the Run Selenese tests section on Selenium-RC chapter. you will be using with Selenium-RC for developing your test programs. However the author has altered the C# format in a limited manner and it has worked well. Essentially. The default is HTML. Then simply save the test case using File=>Save. 4. 4. under the Options menu. i. tests developed with Selenium-IDE can be run against other browsers.
0 This type of error may indicate a timing problem..init]" nresult: "0x80520012 (NS_ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND)" location: "JS frame :: chrome://selenium-ide/content/fileutils. the first required parameter must go in the Target field. An enhancement request has been raised to improve this error message. the element specified by a locator in your command wasn't fully loaded when the command was executed. error loading test case: [Exception. the two parameters for the store command have been erroneously placed in the reverse order of what is required. For any Selenese command.. and the second required parameter (if one exists) must go in the Value field.js :: anonymous :: line 48" data: no] One of the test cases in your test suite cannot be found. it indicates that you haven't actually created the variable whose value you're trying to access.html extension both in their filenames. If so. make sure that your actual test case files have the . Make sure that the test case is indeed located where the test suite indicates it is located. In the example above. i.Selenium Documentation.. Try putting a pause 5000 before the command to determine whether the problem is indeed related to timing. investigate using an appropriate waitFor* or *AndWait command before the failing command. and in the test suite file where they are referenced. Also. Whenever your attempt to use variable substitution fails as is the case for the open command above.e. See issue 1011. "Component returned failure code: 0x80520012 (NS_ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND) [nsIFileInputStream. This is sometimes due to putting the variable in the Value field when it should be in the Target field or vice versa. Selenium-IDE is very space-sensitive! An extra space before or after a command will cause it to be unrecognizable. 30 Chapter 4. Selenium-IDE . Release 1.
The problem is that the log file error messages collapse a series of two or more spaces into a single space. Also. Selenium-IDE is correct that the actual value does not match the value specified in such test cases. In the example above. which is confusing. Selenium-IDE is correct to generate an error. note that the parameter for verifyTitle has two spaces between the words "Selenium" and "web" The page's actual title has only one space between these words. See issue 1012.13. Thus. 4. Your extension file's contents have not been read by Selenium-IDE.Selenium Documentation. Troubleshooting 31 . Release 1. Be sure you have specified the proper pathname to the extensions file via Options=>Options=>General in the Selenium Core extensions field. This type of error message makes it appear that Selenium-IDE has generated a failure where there is none.0 This defect has been raised. However. Selenium-IDE must be restarted after any change to either an extensions file or to the contents of the Selenium Core extensions field. This defect has been raised. See issue 1013. but is misleading in the nature of the error.
Release 1.Selenium Documentation.0 32 Chapter 4. Selenium-IDE .
The best use of this feature is to logically group your test commands.1. will you test that. an element is present somewhere on the page? 2. Effectively an "assert" will fail the test and abort the current test case. specific text is somewhere on the page? 3. and start each group with an "assert" followed by one or more "verify" test commands. Selenese allows multiple ways of checking for UI elements. and the web designers frequently change the specific image file along with its position on the page. Here we explain those commands in detail. specific text is at a specific location on the page? For example. On the other hand. An example follows: 33 . If you're not on the correct page. whereas a "verify" will fail the test and continue to run the test case. the text and its position at the top of the page are probably relevant for your test.. For example. you may want to check many attributes of a page without aborting the test case on the first failure as this will allow you to review all failures on the page and take the appropriate action. If. There's very little point checking that the first paragraph on the page is the correct one if your test has already failed when checking that the browser is displaying the expected page. if you are testing a text heading. and we present the many choices you have in testing your web application when using Selenium. you are testing for the existence of an image on the home page.1 Verifying Page Elements Verifying UI elements on a web page is probably the most common feature of your automated tests. however.. A sequence of these commands is a test script.CHAPTER FIVE SELENIUM COMMANDS Selenium commands. 1. It is important that you understand these different methods because these methods define what you are actually testing. are the set of commands that run your tests. then you only want to test that an image (as opposed to the specific image file) exists somewhere on the page. often called selenese.1 Assertion or Verification? Choosing between "assert" and "verify" comes down to convenience and management of failures. 5. you'll probably want to abort your test case so that you can investigate the cause and fix the issue(s) promptly. 5.
One common use is to check for the presence of an image. and that it follows a <div> tag and a <p> tag. and verify. Use verifyTextPresent when you are interested in only the text itself being present on the page. The first (and only) parameter is a locator for telling the Selenese command how to find the element. 5.2 1. specified by the existence of an <img> HTML tag. that the text string "Marketing Analysis" appears somewhere on the page currently being tested. locators are explained in the next section. Again.3 verifyElementPresent Use this command when you must test for the presence of a specific UI element. rather then its content. Command verifyElementPresent Target //div/p/img Value This command verifies that an image.0 Command open assertTitle verifyText assertTable verifyTable verifyTable Target /download/ Downloads //h2 1.1 1.2. You can check the existence of links. It takes a single argument–the text pattern to be verified. Do not use this when you also need to test where the text occurs on the page. divisions <div>.0 beta 2 The above example first opens a page and then "asserts" that the correct page is loaded by comparing the title with the expected value. The test case then "asserts" the first column in the second row of the first table contains the expected value. only the HTML tag.3 Value Downloads Selenium IDE June 3. 5. is present on the page. Command verifyElementPresent verifyElementPresent verifyElementPresent verifyElementPresent verifyElementPresent verifyElementPresent Target //div/p //div/a id=Login link=Go to Marketing Research //a[2] //head/title Value These examples illustrate the variety of ways a UI element may be tested. This verification does not check the text. paragraphs. verifyElementPresent can be used to check the existence of any HTML tag within the page. Locators are explained in the next section. 34 Chapter 5. Here are a few more examples. Selenium Commands . Release 1.Selenium Documentation. 2008 1.1.2 verifyTextPresent The command verifyTextPresent is used to verify specific text exists somewhere on the page. and only if this passed will the remaining cells in that row be "verified".2.1. Only if this passes will the following command run and "verify" that the text is present in the expected location. etc. For example: Command verifyTextPresent Target Marketing Analysis Value This would cause Selenium to search for.2.
a target is required. For instance. 5. then the first element with a name attribute matching the location will be used. but also more explicit. The locator type can be omitted in many cases. Command verifyText Target //table/tr/td/div/p Value This is my text and it occurs right after the div inside the table.2. If you choose an XPath or DOM locator.2 Locating Elements For many Selenium commands.2.0 5.4 verifyText Use verifyText when both the text and its UI element must be tested.2 Locating by Id This type of locator is more limited than the identifier locator type. If no element has a matching id attribute. 5. and consists of the location strategy followed by the location in the format locatorType=location. verifyText must use a locator. With this strategy.1. Locating Elements 35 .2.1 Locating by Identifier This is probably the most common method of locating elements and is the catch-all default when no recognised locator type is used. the first element with the id attribute value matching the location will be used. Use this when you know an element's id attribute.Selenium Documentation. you can verify that specific text appears at a specific location on the page relative to other UI components on the page. 5. 5. the identifier= in the first three examples above is not necessary. your page source could have id and name attributes as follows: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 <html> <body> <form id= "loginForm" > <input name= "username" type= "text" /> <input name= "password" type= "password" /> <input name= "continue" type= "submit" value= "Login" /> </form> </body> <html> The following locator strategies would return the elements from the HTML snippet above indicated by line number: • identifier=loginForm (3) • identifier=password (4) • identifier=continue (5) • continue (5) Since the identifier type of locator is the default. This target identifies an element in the content of the web application. Release 1. The various locator types are explained below with examples for each.
Selenium users can leverage this powerful language to target elements in their web applications. becomes very important.2. In the case where web designers frequently alter the page. or really via any HTML property. Release 1.0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 <html> <body> <form id= "loginForm" > <input name= "username" <input name= "password" <input name= "continue" <input name= "continue" </form> </body> <html> type= type= type= type= "text" /> "password" /> "submit" value= "Login" /> "button" value= "Clear" /> • id=loginForm (3) 5. If multiple elements have the same value for a name attribute. So if the page structure and organization is altered.4 Locating by XPath XPath is the language used for locating nodes in an XML document. testing via id and name attributes.Selenium Documentation. XPath extends beyond (as well as supporting) the simple methods of locating by id 36 Chapter 5.2. but its functionality must be regression tested. Selenium Commands . the test will still pass.3 Locating by Name The name locator type will locate the first element with a matching name attribute. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 <html> <body> <form id= "loginForm" > <input name= "username" <input name= "password" <input name= "continue" <input name= "continue" </form> </body> <html> type= type= type= type= "text" /> "password" /> "submit" value= "Login" /> "button" value= "Clear" /> • name=username (4) • name=continue value=Clear (7) • name=continue Clear (7) • name=continue type=button (7) Note: Unlike some types of XPath and DOM locators. the three types of locators above allow Selenium to test a UI element independent of its location on the page. 5. then you can use filters to further refine your location strategy. You may or may not want to also test whether the page structure changes. As HTML can be an implementation of XML (XHTML). The default filter type is value (matching the value attribute).
XPath locators can also be used to specify elements via attributes other than id and name. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 <html> <body> <form id= "loginForm" > <input name= "username" <input name= "password" <input name= "continue" <input name= "continue" </form> </body> <html> type= type= type= type= "text" /> "password" /> "submit" value= "Login" /> "button" value= "Clear" /> • xpath=/html/body/form[1] (3) .The form element with attribute named 'id' and the value 'loginForm' • xpath=//form[input/\@name='username'] (4) . Locating Elements 37 . By finding a nearby element with an id or name attribute (ideally a parent element) you can locate your target element based on the relationship.2.First form element with an input child element with attribute named 'name' and the value 'username' • //input[@name='username'] (4) . or relative to an element that does have an id or name attribute.First form element in the HTML • xpath=//form[@id='loginForm'] (3) . This is much less likely to change and can make your tests more robust.First input element with attribute named 'name' and the value 'username' • //form[@id='loginForm']/input[1] (4) . You can use XPath to either locate the element in absolute terms (not advised).Input with attribute named 'name' and the value 'continue' and attribute named 'type' and the value 'button' • //form[@id='loginForm']/input[4] (7) .0 or name attributes.Absolute path (would break if the HTML was changed only slightly) • //form[1] (3) . and opens up all sorts of new possibilities such as locating the third checkbox on the page. but in order to learn more. Absolute XPaths contain the location of all elements from the root (html) and as a result are likely to fail with only the slightest adjustment to the application.Selenium Documentation. the following references are recommended: • W3Schools XPath Tutorial • W3C XPath Recommendation 5. it is not necessary to include the xpath= label when specifying an XPath locator.First input child element of the form element with attribute named 'id' and the value 'loginForm' • //input[@name='continue'][@type='button'] (7) . One of the main reasons for using XPath is when you don't have a suitable id or name attribute for the element you wish to locate. Release 1.Fourth input child element of the form element with attribute named 'id' and value 'loginForm' These examples cover some basics. Since only xpath locators start with "//".
forms[0] (3) 38 Chapter 5. Selenium Commands .2.6 Locating by DOM The Document Object Model represents an HTML document and can be accessed using JavaScript.getElementById('loginForm') (3) • dom=document.Selenium Documentation. then the first match will be used. This location strategy takes JavaScript that evaluates to an element on the page. 5.0 • XPath Tutorial . • Firebug . Since only dom locators start with "document".5 Locating Hyperlinks by Link Text This is a simple method of locating a hyperlink in your web page by using the text of the link. Release 1.suggests XPath and can be used to test XPath results. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 <html> <body> <p>Are you sure you want to do this?</p> <a href= "continue.html" >Continue</a> <a href= "cancel.with interactive examples.html" >Cancel</a> </body> <html> • link=Continue (4) • link=Cancel (5) 5.XPath suggestions are just one of the many powerful features of this very useful add-on. If two links with the same text are present.2. it is not necessary to include the dom= label when specifying a DOM locator. which can be simply the element's location using the hierarchical dotted notation.forms['loginForm'] (3) • dom=document. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 <html> <body> <form id= "loginForm" > <input name= "username" <input name= "password" <input name= "continue" <input name= "continue" </form> </body> <html> type= type= type= type= "text" /> "password" /> "submit" value= "Login" /> "button" value= "Clear" /> • dom=document. There are also a couple of very useful Firefox Add-ons that can assist in discovering the XPath of an element: • XPath Checker .
5. 5.elements['username'] (4) • document.2. CSS uses Selectors for binding style properties to elements in the document.forms[0]. Locating Elements 39 .0 • document. 5.7 Locating by CSS CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a language for describing the rendering of HTML and XML documents.2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 <html> <body> <form id= "loginForm" > <input class= "required" name= "username" type= "text" /> <input class= "required passfield" name= "password" type= "password" /> <input name= "continue" type= "submit" value= "Login" /> <input name= "continue" type= "button" value= "Clear" /> </form> </body> <html> • css=form#loginForm (3) • css=input[name="username"] (4) • css=input. Note: Most experienced Selenium users recommend CSS as their locating strategy of choice as it's considerably faster than XPath and can find the most complicated objects in an intrinsic HTML document.forms[0].Selenium Documentation. the best place to go is the W3C publication.username (4) • document.elements[0] (4) • document. You'll find additional references there. Release 1. These Selectors can be used by Selenium as another locating strategy. A good reference exists on W3Schools. See Locating by Identifier.passfield (5) • css=#loginForm input[type="button"] (4) • css=#loginForm input:nth-child(2) (5) For more information about CSS Selectors.elements[3] (7) You can use Selenium itself as well as other sites and extensions to explore the DOM of your web application.2.required[type="text"] (4) • css=input.forms[0].8 Implicit Locators You can choose to omit the locator type in the following situations: • Locators without an explicitly defined locator strategy will default to using the identifier locator strategy.forms[0].
However.Selenium Documentation. by using a pattern rather than the exact text. A few examples will make the functionality of a character class clear: [aeiou] matches any lowercase vowel [0-9] matches any digit [a-zA-Z0-9] matches any alphanumeric character In most other contexts.3. Release 1. However. Using a pattern for both a link and a simple test that the link worked (such as the verifyTitle above does) can greatly reduce the maintenance for such test cases. Command click verifyTitle Target link=glob:Film*Television Department glob:*Film*Television* Value The actual title of the page reached by clicking on the link was "De Anza Film And Television Department . 5. verifyAlert. [ ] (character class) which translates to "match any single character found inside the square brackets." A dash (hyphen) can be used as a shorthand to specify a range of characters (which are contiguous in the ASCII character set). 40 Chapter 5. The glob pattern's asterisk will match "anything or nothing" between the word "Film" and the word "Television". Patterns allow you to describe. For example. patterns are a type of parameter frequently required by Selenese commands. nothing. globbing is used to display all the files ending with a . verifyText. you can prefix the pattern with a glob: label. or many characters. because globbing patterns are the default. and exact. Selenium Commands . The actual link text on the page being tested was "Film/Television Department". a single character. via the use of special characters." i. if the page's owner should shorten the title to just "Film & Television Department.1 Globbing Patterns Most people are familiar with globbing as it is utilized in filename expansion at a DOS or Unix/Linux command line such as ls *. globbing includes a third special character.0 • Locators starting with "//" will use the XPath locator strategy. Globbing is fairly limited. and verifyPrompt. See Locating by XPath. you can also omit the label and specify just the pattern itself. Examples of commands which require patterns are verifyTextPresent. the ?." the test would still pass. the verifyTitle will pass as long as the two words "Film" and "Television" appear (in that order) anywhere in the page's title. what text is expected rather than having to specify that text exactly.e. By using a pattern rather than the exact text.3 Matching Text Patterns Like locators. assertConfirmation.c. Selenium globbing patterns only support the asterisk and character class. See Locating by DOM 5. regular expressions. To specify a globbing pattern parameter for a Selenese command. the click command will work even if the link text is changed to "Film & Television Department" or "Film and Television Department".c extension that exist in the current directory. verifyTitle. Below is an example of two commands that use globbing patterns. And as has been mentioned above. There are three types of patterns: globbing. link locators can utilize a pattern.. Only two special characters are supported in the Selenium implementation: * which translates to "match anything.Menu". In this case. • Locators starting with "document" will use the DOM locator strategy.
*Television. The more complex example below tests that the Yahoo! Weather page for Anchorage. including the Linux/Unix command-line utilities grep. Below are a subset of those special characters: PATTERN . and a host of tools. This two-character sequence can be translated as "0 or more occurrences of any character" or more simply. sed.5} | () MATCH any single character character class: any single character that appears inside the brackets quantifier: 0 or more of the preceding character (or group) quantifier: 1 or more of the preceding character (or group) quantifier: 0 or 1 of the preceding character (or group) quantifier: 1 through 5 of the preceding character (or group) alternation: the character/group on the left or the character/group on the right grouping: often used with alternation and/or quantifier Regular expression patterns in Selenese need to be prefixed with either regexp: or regexpi:.com/forecast/USAK0012. regexp: [0-9]+ is a simple pattern that will match a decimal number of any length. In Selenese. and awk.3.2 Regular Expression Patterns Regular expression patterns are the most powerful of the three types of patterns that Selenese supports. The only differences are the prefix (regexp: instead of glob:) and the "anything or nothing" pattern (. Whereas Selenese globbing patterns support only the * and [ ] (character class) features. Command click verifyTitle Target link=regexp:Film. the latter is case-insensitive. Matching Text Patterns 41 .2} : [0-9]{2} [ap]m The string Sunrise: followed by 0 or more spaces 1 or 2 digits (for the hour of the day) The character : (no special characters involved) 2 digits (for the minutes) followed by a space "a" or "p" followed by "m" (am or pm) 5.*Television Department regexp:. Alaska contains info on the sunrise time: Command open verifyTextPresent Target http://weather. For example." It is the equivalent of the one-character globbing pattern * (a single asterisk).html regexp:Sunrise: *[0-9]{1.3. The former is case-sensitive. "anything or nothing.Selenium Documentation.0 5.2}:[0-9]{2} [ap]m Value Let's examine the regular expression above one part at a time: Sunrise: * [0-9]{1. many text editors. regular expression patterns allow a user to perform many tasks that would be very difficult otherwise. The first one uses what is probably the most commonly used regular expression pattern–. Release 1. Regular expressions are also supported by most high-level programming languages.* Value The example above is functionally equivalent to the earlier example that used globbing patterns for this same test. A few examples will help clarify how regular expression patterns can be used with Selenese commands.* instead of just *).*Film. Selenese regular expression patterns offer the same wide array of special characters that exist in JavaScript. [] * + ? {1.* ("dot star"). suppose your test needed to ensure that a particular table cell contained nothing but a number.yahoo.
3. The best approach would be to wait for the needed element in a dynamic period and then continue the execution as soon as the element is found. For example. the exact pattern would be one way to do that. the following code might work or it might not.g. click) will do the action and continue with the following command as fast as it can. causing Selenium to raise a timeout exception. globbing patterns and regular expression patterns are sufficient for the vast majority of us. clickAndWait) tells Selenium to wait for the page to load after the action has been done.3 Exact Patterns The exact type of Selenium pattern is of marginal usefulness. one command after another. 42 Chapter 5. while the AndWait alternative (e.g. 5. It uses no special characters at all. select //select glob:Real * In order to ensure that the "Real *" item would be selected. if you wanted to select an item labeled "Real *" from a dropdown. leading to test failures. if you use an AndWait command for an action that does not trigger a navigation/refresh. the exact: prefix could be used to create an exact pattern as shown below: select //select exact:Real * But the same effect could be achieved via escaping the asterisk in a regular expression pattern: select //select regexp:Real \* It's rather unlikely that most testers will ever need to look for an asterisk or a set of square brackets with characters inside them (the character class for globbing patterns). which wait dynamically. Pausing the test execution for a certain period of time is also not a good approach as web element might appear later or earlier than the stipulated period depending on the system's responsiveness. The asterisk in the glob:Real * pattern will match anything or nothing." it would be the option selected rather than the "Real *" option. So. data is retrieved from server without refreshing the page. Be aware. Selenium Commands . your test will fail. if there was an earlier select option labeled "Real Numbers.6 Sequence of Evaluation and Flow Control When a script runs. This is done using waitFor commands. checking for the desired condition every second and continuing to the next command in the script as soon as the condition is met. Release 1.5 The waitFor Commands in AJAX applications In AJAX driven web applications.Selenium Documentation. Using andWait commands will not work as the page is not actually refreshed.0 5. This happens because Selenium will reach the AndWait's timeout without seeing any navigation or refresh being made. it simply runs in sequence. The AndWait alternative is always used when the action causes the browser to navigate to another page or reload the present one. 5. So. Thus. as waitForElementPresent or waitForVisible.4 The "AndWait" Commands The difference between a command and its AndWait alternative is that the regular command (e. 5. load or other uncontrolled factors of the moment. if you needed to look for an actual asterisk character (which is special for both globbing and regular expression patterns).
A Selenium variable may also be used within a locator expression. or from a file. However. from another program. When flow control is needed. when they have many junior-level people running tests for them. etc. possibly involving multiple pages.0 Selenese. Also.js extension. or when programming skills are lacking). Command verifyText Target //div/p Value ${userName} A common use of variables is for storing input for an input field. Command store Target firstname.lastname@example.com Documentation. 2. there are three options: 1. some organizations prefer to run their scripts from SeleniumIDE whenever possible (for instance. Install the goto_sel_ide.7. consider a JavaScript snippet or the goto_sel_ide. does not support condition statements (if-else. 3. However. Run a small JavaScript snippet from within the script using the storeEval command. It takes two parameters. 5. 5.). enclose the variable in curly brackets ({}) and precede it with a dollar sign like this. for a functional test of dynamic content.1 storeElementPresent This corresponds to verifyElementPresent. Many useful tests can be conducted without flow control. etc. Command type Target id=login Value ${userName} Selenium variables can be used in either the first or second parameter and are interpreted by Selenium prior to any other operations performed by the command. programming logic is often needed.org Value userName Later in your script. An equivalent store command exists for each verify and assert command. by itself. It simply stores a boolean value–"true" or "false"–depending on whether the UI element is found. Selenium variables can be used to store values passed to your test program from the command-line. Release 1. while.7 Store Commands and Selenium Variables You can use Selenium variables to store constants at the beginning of a script. If this is your case. The plain store command is the most basic of the many store commands and can be used to simply store a constant value in a selenium variable. 5. Use the standard variable naming conventions of only alphanumeric characters when choosing a name for your variable. you'll want to use the stored value of your variable. when combined with a data-driven test design (discussed in a later section).js extension.) or iteration (for. Run the script using Selenium-RC and a client library such as Java or PHP to utilize the programming language's flow control features. the text value to be stored and a selenium variable. Here are a couple more commonly used store commands. To access the value of a variable. Store Commands and Selenium Variables 43 . Most testers will export the test script into a programming language file that uses the Selenium-RC API (see the Selenium-IDE chapter).
nodeValue=resultText. output( "Alert is gone." ).html" . This is useful for providing informational progress notes in your test which display on the console as your test is running. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 <!DOCTYPE HTML> <html> <head> <script type= "text/javascript" > function output(resultText){ document.windowName).open( "newWindow.0 Command store type Target league of nations q Value searchString javascript{storedVars['searchString'].9. Release 1. } } function show_alert(){ alert( "I'm blocking!" ).The Selenese Print Command 45 . Command echo echo Target Testing page footer now.The Selenese Print Command Selenese has a simple command that allows you to print text to your test's output. } function show_prompt(){ var response = prompt( "What's the best web QA tool?" . These notes also can be used to provide context within your test result reports.getElementById( 'output' ). Finally. echo .toUpperCase()} 5. which can be useful for finding where a defect exists on a page in the event your test finds a problem." ). } else{ output( "Rejected!" ). } function show_confirm(){ var confirmation=confirm( "Chose an option." ). echo statements can be used to print the contents of Selenium variables. if (confirmation==true){ output( "Confirmed.Selenium Documentation. } </script> </head> <body> 5. "Selenium" ). and Multiple Windows Suppose that you are testing a page that looks like this. output(response).9 echo . Username is ${userName} Value 5.10 Alerts. } function open_window(windowName){ window. Popups.childNodes[0].
You may notice that you cannot replay this test. Rejected Value The chooseCancelOnNextConfirmation function tells Selenium that all following confirmation should return false. and Multiple Windows 47 . Try recording clicking on the "Show confirm box" button in the sample page. because Selenium complains that there is an unhandled confirmation.Selenium Documentation.0 5. but click on the "Cancel" button in the popup. by default Selenium will select OK when a confirmation pops up.10. 5. Selenium can't know that you're cancelling before you open a confirmation) Simply switch these two commands and your test will run fine. with assertConfirmation and assertConfirmationPresent offering the same characteristics as their alert counterparts. Alerts.10. Release 1. This is because the order of events Selenium-IDE records causes the click and chooseCancelOnNextConfirmation to be put in the wrong order (it makes sense if you think about it. However. Popups.2 Confirmations Confirmations behave in much the same way as alerts. Your test may look something like this: Command open click chooseCancelOnNextConfirmation assertConfirmation verifyTextPresent Target / btnConfirm Choose and option. It can be reset by calling chooseOkOnNextConfirmation. then assert the output text.
0 48 Chapter 5. Selenium Commands .Selenium Documentation. Release 1.
CHAPTER SIX SELENIUM-RC 6.2 How Selenium-RC Works First. Selenium-IDE does not directly support: • condition statements • iteration • logging and reporting of test results • error handling. and emailing test results. you'll find examples that demonstrate the advantages of using a programming language for your tests. querying a database. all of them can be achieved by using programming techniques with a language-specific Selenium-RC client library. 6. 49 . Selenium-RC uses the full power of programming languages to create more complex tests like reading and writing files.1 Introduction Selenium-RC is the solution for tests that need more than simple browser actions and linear execution. You'll want to use Selenium-RC whenever your test requires logic not supported by Selenium-IDE. particularly unexpected errors • database testing • test case grouping • re-execution of failed tests • test case dependency • screenshot capture of test failures Although these tasks are not supported by Selenium directly. we will describe how the components of Selenium-RC operate and the role each plays in running your test scripts. In the Adding Some Spice to Your Tests section. What logic could this be? For example.
py 52 Chapter 6.bat on Windows and . • Execute your test from the Java IDE or from the command-line.3.jar.py • Either write your Selenium test in Python or export a script from Selenium-IDE to a python file. Release 1.Selenium Documentation. java -jar selenium-server. 6.2 Running Selenium Server Before starting any tests you must start the server.jar files to your project as references. You can check that you have Java correctly installed by running the following on a console: java -version If you get a version number (which needs to be 1. These concepts are explained later in this section.5 or later).0 6. or TestNg to run your test.) • Create a new project. • Extract the file selenium-java-client-driver. • Add to your project classpath the file selenium-java-client-driver. • From Selenium-IDE.3.sh on Linux) containing the command above. For details on Java test project configuration. Netweaver. see the Appendix sections Configuring Selenium-RC With Eclipse and Configuring Selenium-RC With Intellij. The API is presented later in this chapter. • Add to your test's path the file selenium. You can either use JUnit.jar This can be simplified by creating a batch or shell executable file (.3. • Open your desired Java IDE (Eclipse. or write your Selenium test in Java using the selenium-java-client API. 6. • Add the selenium-java-client-driver. or you can write your own simple main() program.3 Using the Java Client Driver • Download Selenium-RC from the SeleniumHQ downloads page. you're ready to start using Selenium-RC. NetBeans. export a script to a Java file and include it in your Java project. Then make a shortcut to that executable on your desktop and simply double-click the icon to start the server. For the server to run you'll need Java installed and the PATH environment variable correctly configured to run it from the console.4 Using the Python Client Driver • Download Selenium-RC from the SeleniumHQ downloads page • Extract the file selenium. • Run Selenium server from the console.jar. IntelliJ. etc. Go to the directory where Selenium-RC's server is located and run the following from a command-line console. Selenium-RC .
6. • Run Selenium server from console • Run your test either from the IDE.NET client driver configuration. 6. install it from RubyForge • Run gem install selenium-client • At the top of your test script.dll. see the Selenium-Client documentation 6. MonoDevelop) • Create a class library (. If you're not familiar yet with NUnit.3. • Run Selenium-RC server from the console. nunit. framework.6 Using the Ruby Client Driver • If you do not already have RubyGems. SharpDevelop.Core. ThoughtWorks. These concepts are explained later in this chapter.) • Open your desired .NET Client Driver • Download Selenium-RC from the SeleniumHQ downloads page • Extract the folder • Download and install NUnit ( Note: You can use NUnit as your test engine. see the appendix Python Client Driver Configuration.Net language (C#.Selenium.UnitTests. ThoughtWorks.dll and ThoughtWorks.3. however NUnit is very useful as a test engine.dll.3.dll) • Add references to the following DLLs: nmock.Net IDE (Visual Studio.Selenium Documentation.core.Selenium.IntegrationTests. see the appendix . • Execute your test in the same way you would run any other Ruby script.NET client driver configuration with Visual Studio. For details on Ruby client driver configuration. from the NUnit GUI or from the command line For specific details on . add require "selenium/client" • Write your test script using any Ruby test harness (eg Test::Unit.0 • Run Selenium server from the console • Execute your test from a console or your Python IDE For details on Python client driver configuration. • Write your own simple main() program or you can include NUnit in your project for running your test.dll. VB.dll • Write your Selenium test in a . nunit. you can also write a simple main() function to run your tests. Installation 53 . or export a script from Selenium-IDE to a C# file and copy this code into the class file you just created.dll. Release 1.Selenium.5 Using the . Mini::Test or RSpec).Net).
Text. select one of these buttons. clickAndWait btnG assertTextPresent Results * for selenium rc Note: This example would work with the Google search page http://www.com 6.Text. Imagine recording the following test with Seleniumopen / type q selenium rc IDE. "http://www. "*firefox" .4. } [TearDown] public void TeardownTest() { try { selenium.0 6. selenium. you will understand how Selenium runs Selenese commands by reading one of these examples. System. private StringBuilder verificationErrors. To see an example in a specific language. In C#: using using using using using using System.google. verificationErrors = new StringBuilder(). 4444. Selenium. we provide several different language-specific examples.4.Framework.RegularExpressions. [SetUp] public void SetupTest() { selenium = new DefaultSelenium( "localhost" . System. namespace SeleniumTests { [TestFixture] public class NewTest { private ISelenium selenium. In this section.Selenium Documentation. Selenium-RC .Start().Stop(). NUnit. If you have at least basic knowledge of an object.Threading.2 Selenese as Programming Code Here is the test script exported (via Selenium-IDE) to each of the supported programming languages.4 From Selenese to a Program The primary task for using Selenium-RC is to convert your Selenese into a programming language.oriented programming language. Release 1. 6.1 Sample Test Script Let's start with an example Selenese test script. System. } catch (Exception) 54 Chapter 6.
Selenium Documentation, Release 1.0
{ // Ignore errors if unable to close the browser } Assert.AreEqual( "" , verificationErrors.ToString()); } [Test] public void TheNewTest() { selenium.Open( "/" ); selenium.Type( "q" , "selenium rc" ); selenium.Click( "btnG" ); selenium.WaitForPageToLoad( "30000" ); Assert.AreEqual( "selenium rc - Google Search" , selenium.GetTitle()); } } }
In Java:
/** Add JUnit framework to your classpath if not already there * for this example to work / * package com.example.tests; import com.thoughtworks.selenium.*; import java.util.regex.Pattern; public class NewTest extends SeleneseTestCase { public void setUp() throws Exception { setUp( "http://www.google.com/" , "*firefox" ); } public void testNew() throws Exception { selenium.open( "/" ); selenium.type( "q" , "selenium rc" ); selenium.click( "btnG" ); selenium.waitForPageToLoad( "30000" ); assertTrue(selenium.isTextPresent( "Results * for selenium rc" )); } }
In Perl:
use use use use use use strict; warnings; Time::HiRes qw( sleep ) ; Test::WWW::Selenium; Test::More "no_plan" ; Test::Exception;
my $sel = Test::WWW::Selenium->new( host => "localhost" , port => 4444, browser => "*firefox" , browser_url => "http://www.google.com/" );
6.4. From Selenese to a Program
Selenium Documentation, Release 1.0
$sel->open_ok( "/" ); $sel->type_ok( "q" , "selenium rc" ); $sel->click_ok( "btnG" ); $sel->wait_for_page_to_load_ok( "30000" ); $sel->is_text_present_ok( "Results * for selenium rc" );
In PHP:
<?php require_once 'PHPUnit/Extensions/SeleniumTestCase.php' ; class Example extends PHPUnit_Extensions_SeleniumTestCase { function setUp() { $this->setBrowser( " *firefox " ); $this->setBrowserUrl( " http://www.google.com/ " ); } function testMyTestCase() { $this->open( " / " ); $this->type( " q " , " selenium rc " ); $this->click( " btnG " ); $this->waitForPageToLoad( " 30000 " ); $this->assertTrue($this->isTextPresent( " Results * for selenium rc " )); } } ?>
in Python:
from selenium import selenium import unittest, time, re class NewTest(unittest.TestCase): def setUp(self): self.verificationErrors = [] self.selenium = selenium( " localhost " , 4444, " *firefox " , " http://www.google.com/ " ) self.selenium.start() def test_new(self): sel = self.selenium sel.open( " / " ) sel.type( " q " , " selenium rc " ) sel.click( " btnG " ) sel.wait_for_page_to_load( " 30000 " ) self.failUnless(sel.is_text_present( " Results * for selenium rc " )) def tearDown(self): self.selenium.stop() self.assertEqual([], self.verificationErrors)
Chapter 6. Selenium-RC
Selenium Documentation, Release 1.0
in Ruby:
require " selenium " require " test/unit "
class NewTest < Test::Unit::TestCase def setup @verification_errors = [] if $selenium @selenium = $selenium else @selenium = Selenium::SeleniumDriver.new( " localhost " , 4444, " *firefox " , " ht @selenium.start end @selenium.set_context( " test_new " ) end def teardown @selenium.stop unless $selenium assert_equal [], @verification_errors end def test_new @selenium.open " / " @selenium.type " q " , " selenium rc " @selenium.click " btnG " @selenium.wait_for_page_to_load " 30000 " assert @selenium.is_text_present( " Results * for selenium rc " ) end end
In the next section we'll explain how to build a test program using the generated code.
6.5 Programming Your Test
Now we'll illustrate how to program your own tests using examples in each of the supported programming languages. There are essentially two tasks: • Generate your script into a programming language from Selenium-IDE, optionally modifying the result. • Write a very simple main program that executes the generated code. Optionally, you can adopt a test engine platform like JUnit or TestNG for Java, or NUnit for .NET if you are using one of those languages. Here, we show language-specific examples. The language-specific APIs tend to differ from one to another, so you'll find a separate explanation for each. • Java • C# 6.5. Programming Your Test 57
Also. selenium.google.0 • Python • Ruby • Perl.com/"). PHP 6.isTextPresent( "Results * for selenium rc" )).5. Teaching JUnit or TestNG is beyond the scope of this document however materials may be found online and there are publications available. This example has comments added manually for additional clarity. If you are already a "java-shop" chances are your developers will already have some experience with one of these test frameworks.util. The Selenium-IDE generated code will look like this. Selenium-RC . Some development environments like Eclipse have direct support for these via plug-ins. "selenium rc" ).click( "btnG" ). you will need to change the browser-open parameters in the statement: selenium = new DefaultSelenium("localhost". selenium. Release 1. public class NewTest extends SeleneseTestCase { // We create our Selenium test case public void setUp() throws Exception { setUp( "http://www. "*iehta". // These are the real test steps } } 58 Chapter 6. // We instantiate and start the browser } public void testNew() throws Exception { selenium. "*firefox" ). You can remove the module if it's not used in your // script. // This is the driver's import.tests.1 Java For Java.type( "q" . people use either JUnit or TestNG as the test engine.waitForPageToLoad( "30000" ). You'll use this for instantiating a // browser and making it do what you need. 4444. selenium.Selenium Documentation.com/" . package com.thoughtworks.*.selenium. assertTrue(selenium.regex. "http://www. import java.google. You will probably want to rename the test class from "NewTest" to something of your own choosing.example. // We specify the package of our tests import com. This makes it even easier.open( "/" ). // Selenium-IDE add the Pattern module because it's sometimes used for // regex validations.Pattern.
It includes the using statement for NUnit along with corresponding NUnit attributes identifying the role for each member function of the test class. 4444.Text. "*iehta" .5. System. using using using using using using System.NET.Selenium Documentation. verificationErrors = new StringBuilder().Text.0 6. namespace SeleniumTests { [TestFixture] public class NewTest { private ISelenium selenium.com/" ).google.NET Client Driver works with Microsoft. Selenium-IDE assumes you will use NUnit as your testing framework. System. [SetUp] public void SetupTest() { selenium = new DefaultSelenium( "localhost" . } [TearDown] public void TeardownTest() { try { selenium. Selenium. you will need to change the browser-open parameters in the statement: selenium = new DefaultSelenium("localhost".2 C# The . Release 1. "*iehta". selenium. Programming Your Test 59 . private StringBuilder verificationErrors.RegularExpressions. "http://www.Framework.NET testing framework like NUnit or the Visual Studio 2005 Team System. You will probably have to rename the test class from "NewTest" to something of your own choosing. } 6. The generated code will look similar to this. You can see this in the generated code below.google. It can be used with any .com/").Stop().Threading. Also. "http://www. NUnit. 4444.Start().5. System.
Assert. TheNewTest().google.5.AreEqual( "Selenium OpenQA . selenium.AreEqual( "Selenium OpenQA" . // Wait for page to load. selenium.WaitForPageToLoad( "5000" ).GetTitle()). } [Test] public void TheNewTest() { // Open Google search engine. selenium. 60 Chapter 6."Selenium OpenQA .openqa. // Assert Title of page.Type( "q" . // Assert that page title is .IsTrue(selenium. SetupTest(). } } } You can allow NUnit to manage the execution of your tests.IsTextPresent( "www. selenium.AreEqual( "" . 6.openqa.Click( "btnG" ).AreEqual( "Google" .org" )). selenium. The basic test structure is: from selenium import selenium # This is the driver's import. Assert. selenium.Open( "http://www.com/" ). verificationErrors. // Assert that "www. time.Selenium Documentation.org" is available in search results.Google Search" Assert. // Click on Search button. "Selenium OpenQA" ).0 catch (Exception) { // Ignore errors if unable to close the browser } Assert. Release 1. // Read the keyed search term and assert it.ToString()).org/library/unittest. You'll use this class for instantiating a # browser and making it do what you need.3 Python Pyunit is the test framework to use for Python. re # This are the basic imports added by Selenium-IDE by default. import unittest. Selenium-RC .python. you can write a simple main() program that instantiates the test object and runs each of the three methods. and TeardownTest() in turn. Or alternatively. Assert.GetTitle()).Google Search" . To learn Pyunit refer to its official documentation <http://docs.GetValue( "q" )). // Provide search term as "Selenium OpenQA" selenium.html>_.
" and change the test method's name to something other than "test_untitled. 4444. not the old Selenium gem. On line 11.stop() # we close the browser (I'd recommend you to comment this line while # you are creating and debugging your tests) self. On line 1. sel = self.Selenium Documentation. " selenium rc " ) sel.google.TestCase): # We create our unittest test case def setUp(self): self. it is advisable to update any Ruby scripts generated by the IDE as follows: 1.assertEqual([].selenium" each time we want to call the browser). Release 1. This is a problem because the official Ruby driver for Selenium is the Selenium-Client gem. the Selenium gem is no longer even under active development. Programming Your Test 61 .selenium = selenium( " localhost " .selenium # We assign the browser to the variable "sel" (just to save us from # typing "self.failUnless(sel. but requires the old Selenium gem.4 Ruby Selenium-IDE generates reasonable Ruby.5.open( " / " ) sel.new to You probably also want to change the class name to something more informative than "Untitled. In fact. class NewTest(unittest. Here you should put the actions you need # the browser to do during your test.is_text_present( " Results * for selenium rc " )) # These are the real test steps def tearDown(self): self.new Selenium::SeleniumDriver.5. change Selenium::Client::Driver. sel.click( " btnG " ) sel.selenium.verificationErrors = [] # This is an empty array where we will store any verification errors # we find in our tests self. change require "selenium" to require "selenium/client" 2.wait_for_page_to_load( " 30000 " ) self. as described 6.0 # You can remove the modules if they are not used in your script.verificationErrors) # And make the test fail if we found that any verification errors # were found 6.type( " q " . self.selenium.start() # We instantiate and start the browser def test_new(self): # This is the test code. Therefore. " *firefox " . " http://www." Here is a simple example created by modifying the Ruby code generated by Selenium IDE.com/ " ) self.
@selenium.new \ :host => " localhost " .Selenium Documentation. :browser => " *chrome " . @selenium. :timeout_in_second => 60 # Start the browser session @selenium. @verification_errors = [] # Create a new instance of the Selenium-Client driver. # load the Selenium-Client gem require " selenium/client " # Load Test::Unit. @selenium. assert_equal []. def setup # This array is used to capture errors and display them at the # end of the test run.type " q " . Release 1. # If you prefer RSpec.stop # Print the array of error messages. def test_untitled # Open the root of the site we specified when we created the # new driver instance. see the examples in the Selenium-Client # documentation.8's default test framework.google. Selenium-RC . @verification_errors end # This is the main body of your test. @selenium = Selenium::Client::Driver.open " / " # Type 'selenium rc' into the field named 'q' @selenium.start # Print a message in the browser-side log and status bar # (optional).click " btnG " 62 Chapter 6.set_context( " test_untitled " ) end # The teardown method is called after each test. above. require " test/unit " class Untitled < Test::Unit::TestCase # The setup method is called before each test. :url => " http://www. Ruby 1. " selenium rc " # Click the button named "btnG" @selenium.0 above. :port => 4444.com/ " . if any. def teardown # Stop the browser session.
PHP The members of the documentation team have not used Selenium-RC with Perl or PHP.5 Perl. 6.is_text_present( " Results * for selenium rc " ) rescue Test::Unit::AssertionFailedError # If the assertion fails. We would love to include some examples from you and your experiences. port => 4444.Selenium Documentation. Here. much of the interface will be self-explanatory.6 Learning the API The Selenium-RC API uses naming conventions that. Release 1. 6. to support Perl and PHP users.5. we explain the most critical and possibly less obvious aspects. because that # was specified when we created the new driver instance. "http://www. @selenium.google. "*firefox" . In Perl: my $sel = Test::WWW::Selenium->new( host => "localhost" .1 Starting the Browser In C#: selenium = new DefaultSelenium( "localhost" .0 # Wait for the search results page to load. above.Start(). In Java: setUp( "http://www. "*firefox" ). If you are using Selenium-RC with either of these two languages please contact the Documentation Team (see the chapter on contributing).com/" . # Note that we don't need to set a timeout here.com/" selenium. push it onto the array of errors. 6. assert @selenium. @verification_errors << $! end end end 6.wait_for_page_to_load begin # Test whether the search results contain the expected text. # Notice that the star (*) is a wildcard that matches any # number of characters.6. assuming you understand Selenese.6. however. 4444.google. Learning the API 63 .
" *firefox " . Release 1.2 Running Commands Once you have the browser initialized and assigned to a variable (generally named "selenium") you can make it run Selenese commands by calling the respective methods from the browser variable. Note that some of the client libraries require the browser to be started explicitly by calling its start() method. this is the same machine as where the client is running.com/" ). These methods execute the Selenium commands. In PHP: $this->setBrowser("*firefox"). $this->setBrowserUrl("http://www.selenium. " http://www @selenium.google.new( " localhost " . This program variable is then used to call methods from the browser. For example. i.selenium = selenium( " localhost " .Selenium Documentation. " http://www. browser_url => "http://www. Selenium-RC . 4444.com/ " ) self. This is required by all the client libs and is integral information for starting up the browser-proxy-AUT communication. so in this case localhost is passed. The parameters required when creating the browser instance are: host Specifies the IP address of the computer where the server is located. browser The browser in which you want to run the tests.6. This is a required parameter. " string to type " ) In the background the browser will actually perform a type operation. to call the type method of the selenium object: selenium. This also is optional in some client drivers. 6. " *firefox " . In Python: self.type( " field-id " . like open or type or the verify commands. essentially identical to a user typing input into the browser. by using the locator and the string you specified during the method call. port Specifies the TCP/IP socket where the server is listening waiting for the client to establish a connection.start() In Ruby: @selenium = Selenium::ClientDriver.com/").start Each of these examples opens the browser and represents that browser by assigning a "browser instance" to a program variable.e. In some clients this is an optional parameter.0 browser => "*firefox" . 64 Chapter 6. 4444.google. url The base url of the application under test.google. Usually.
Refer to JUnit Report for specifics. Release 1.0 6. .7 Reporting Results Selenium-RC does not have its own mechanism for reporting results. As you begin to use Selenium no doubt you will start putting in your own "print statements" for reporting progress. Rather. That may gradually lead to you developing your own reporting. See TestNG Report for more. learning curve you will naturally develop what works best for your own situation. along with their primary function of providing a flexible test engine for executing your tests. that's beyond the scope of this user guide. These often support a variety of formats such as HTML or PDF.2 Test Report Libraries Also available are third-party libraries specifically created for reporting test results in your chosen programming language. 6. For example.3 What's The Best Approach? Most people new to the testing frameworks will being with the framework's built-in reporting features. From there most will examine any available libraries as that's less time consuming than developing your own. but what if you simply want something quick that's already done for you? Often an existing library or test framework can meet your needs faster than developing your own test reporting code. after the initial. These. possibly in parallel to using a library or test framework. We won't teach the frameworks themselves here. we'll direct you to some specific tools in some of the other languages supported by Selenium. Regardless. 6.7. • If Selenium Test cases are developed using TestNG then no external task is required to generate test reports. 6. Java has two commonly used test frameworks. We will simply introduce the framework features that relate to Selenium along with some techniques you can apply. The ones listed here are commonly used and have been used extensively (and therefore recommended) by the authors of this guide. The TestNG framework generates an HTML report which list details of tests. JUnit and TestNG. include library code for reporting results.7.Selenium Documentation.1 Test Framework Reporting Tools Test frameworks are available for many programming languages. There are good books available on these test frameworks however along with information on the internet.7. 6. but short. it allows you to build your reporting customized to your needs using features of your chosen programming language.NET also has its own. NUnit. Test Reports in Java • If Selenium Test cases are developed using JUnit then JUnit Report can be used to generate test reports. That's great.7. Reporting Results 65 .7.4 Test Reporting Examples To illustrate. 6.
For example. 6. sel. sel.2 Condition Statements To illustrate using conditions in tests we'll start with an example. when running the following line: 6.Selenium Documentation. In C#: // Collection of String values." . For these reasons and others. "selenium " +s). This test could use the Selenese: open type clickAndWait assertTextPresent type clickAndWait assertTextPresent type clickAndWait assertTextPresent / q btnG Results * for selenium rc q btnG Results * for selenium ide q btnG Results * for selenium grid selenium rc selenium ide selenium grid The code has been repeated to run the same steps 3 times. The examples in this section are written in C# and Java. Using the same Google search example we used earlier.1 Iteration Iteration is one of the most common things people need to do in their tests. For example. we can iterate over the search results for a more flexible and maintainable solution. If you have some basic knowledge of an object-oriented programming language you shouldn't have difficulty understanding this section. sel. Adding Some Spice to Your Tests 67 . By using a programming language.8.8. foreach (String s in arr) { sel. we have written this section to illustrate the use of common programming techniques to give you greater 'verification power' in your automated testing. let's check the Selenium search results.8. Or. and most conditions will be much easier in a programming language. although the code is simple and can be easily adapted to the other supported languages.waitForPageToLoad( "30000" ).type( "q" . sel. } 6. you may want to to execute a search multiple times. "grid" }. assertTrue( "Expected text: " +s+ " is missing on page. Release 1.click( "btnG" ). String[] arr = { "ide" . perhaps for verifying your test results you need to process a "result set" returned from a database. In addition.open( "/" ).0 however iteration is impossible. "rc" . // Execute loop for each String in array 'arr'. you may need exception handling for error recovery. But multiple copies of the same code is not good program practice because it's more work to maintain.isTextPresent( "Results * for selenium " + s)). A common problem encountered while running Selenium tests occurs when an expected element is not available on page.
getEval(script). A better approach is to first validate if the element is really present and then take alternatives when it it is not.id !=null " + "&& inputFields[i]. If element 'q' is not on the page then an exception is thrown: com. In this case one could evaluate JavaScript from selenium RC to get ids of all check boxes and then exercise them." .printf( "Element: " +q+ " is not available on page. But often that is not desirable as your test script has many other subsequent tests to perform. Release 1.id !='undefined' " + "&& inputFields[i]. // end of for. script += "var inputFields = new Array().toString(). public static String[] getAllCheckboxIds () { String script = "var inputId = new Array()." + // Save check box id to inp "cnt++. // Create array in java scrip script += "inputFields = window. "Selenium rc" ).// Convert array in to string.document.Selenium Documentation. // If element is available on page then perform type operation.8." + // increment the counter. i++) {" .SeleniumException: ERROR: Element q not found This can cause your test to abort.length." . i<inputFields.thoughtworks. "}" . "}" + // end of if.id . script += "for(var i=0.out.// Create array in java scri script += "var cnt = 0." ).selenium.getAttribute('type') == 'checkbox') {" . } To count number of images on a page: 68 Chapter 6." ." ) } The advantage of this approach is to continue with test execution even if some UI elements are not available on page. // If input fie script += "inputId[cnt]=inputFields[i]. if(selenium." .type( "q" . Selenium-RC . The getEval method of selenium API can be used to execute JavaScript from selenium RC. 6." .split( ". String[] checkboxIds = selenium. Consider an application having check boxes with no static identifiers. // Loop through the script += "if(inputFields[i]. "selenium " +s). For some tests that's what you want.isElementPresent( "q" )) { selenium. // Split the s return checkboxIds. // Counter for check box ids.getElementsByTagName('input'). Let's look at this using Java.0 selenium. script += "inputId. } else { System.type( "q" .3 Executing JavaScript from Your Test JavaScript comes very handy in exercising an application which is not directly supported by selenium.
Remember to use window object in case of DOM expressions as by default selenium window is referred to.Selenium Documentation.length. Release 1.proxyPort=8080 -Dhttp. so we've provided explanations for some of the more important options.getEval( "window. $ java -jar selenium-server.proxyHost=proxy. $ java -jar selenium-server. http.0.9. Server Options 69 .proxyHost.proxyUser and http. $ java -jar selenium-server. However. command line options can be used to change the default server behaviour. 6. The provided descriptions will not always be enough. the server is started by running the following.0 you can probably skip this section. 6. Selenium by default ran the application under test in a sub frame as shown here. since multiwindow mode is the default behavior. http.9 Server Options When the server is launched.images.proxyPort. prior to version 1.jar -Dhttp.2 Multi-Window Mode If you are using Selenium 1.9. Recall." ).document.0 selenium. 6.9.proxyPassword using the following command. run the server with the -h option.com -Dhttp.jar -h You'll see a list of all the options you can use with the server and a brief description of each.jar To see the list of options. not the test window.1 Proxy Configuration If your AUT is behind an HTTP proxy which requires authentication then you should configure http. 6.
Selenium-RC . 70 Chapter 6. and needed to be loaded into the top frame of the window. The multi-window mode option allowed the AUT to run in a separate window rather than in the default frame where it could then have the top frame it required.Selenium Documentation. Release 1.0 Some applications didn't run correctly in a sub frame.
9.exe -profilemanager 6.Selenium Documentation. select "Run". First.0 For older versions of Selenium you must specify multiwindow mode explicitly with the following option: -multiwindow As of Selenium-RC 1. follow this procedure.3 Specifying the Firefox Profile Firefox will not run two instances simultaneously unless you specify a separate profile for each instance.9. to create a separate Firefox profile. Selenium-RC 1. if you're using an older version of Selenium or if you need to use a specific profile for your tests (such as adding an https certificate or having some addons installed).e.0. you will need to explicitly specify the profile. then type and enter one of the following: firefox. However. so if you are using Selenium 1. Release 1. if you want to run your test within a single frame (i. Open the Windows Start menu. using the standard for earlier Selenium versions) you can state this to the Selenium Server using the option -singlewindow 6.0. you can probably skip this section.0 and later runs in a separate profile automatically. Server Options 71 .
More information about Firefox profiles can be found in Mozilla's Knowledge Base 6. and the ID number of the thread that logged the message. The log file also includes the logger name. -firefoxProfileTemplate "path to the profile" Warning: Be sure to put your profile in a new folder separate from the default!!! The Firefox profile manager tool will delete all files in a folder if you delete a profile.openqa. Note: When using this option. java -jar selenium-server.4 Run Selenese Directly Within the Server Using -htmlSuite You can run Selenese html files directly within the Selenium Server by passing the html file to the server's command line.server. the command will exit with a non-zero exit code and no results file will be generated.log This log file is more verbose than the standard console logs (it includes DEBUG level logging messages). Then when you run Selenium Server.5 Selenium Server Logging Server-Side Logs When launching selenium server the -log option can be used to record valuable debugging information reported by the Selenium Server to a text file.jar -log selenium.Selenium Documentation.SeleniumDriverResourceHandler Browser 465828/:top frame1 posted START NEW The message format is 72 Chapter 6. Also be aware the -htmlSuite option is incompatible with -interactive You cannot run both at the same time. tell it to use this new Firefox profile with the server command-line option -firefoxProfileTemplate and specify the path to the profile using it's filename and directory path.google.0 firefox. This command line is very long so be careful when you type it. 6. if the test doesn't complete within that amount of time.com" "c:\absolute This will automatically launch your HTML suite.selenium.9. Note this requires you to pass in an HTML Selenese suite.jar -htmlSuite "*firefox" "http://www. Release 1. run all the tests and save a nice HTML report with the results. Selenium-RC . not a single test. regardless of whether they are profile files or not.9. For instance: java -jar selenium-server.exe -P Create the new profile using the dialog. the server will start the tests and wait for a specified number of seconds for the test to complete. For example: 20:44:25 DEBUG [12] org.
which allows websites to do things that are not commonly permitted (as doing XSS. 2. 76 Chapter 6. Selenium-Core gets the first instruction from the client/driver (via another HTTP request made to the Selenium-RC Server). Selenium Core is able to directly open the AUT and read/interact with its content without having to pass the whole AUT through the Selenium-RC server.0 8.Selenium Documentation. Selenium-RC . Here is the architectural diagram. 3. By using these browser modes. As a test suite starts in your favorite language. or filling file upload inputs and pretty useful stuff for Selenium). Release 1. The browser receives the web page and renders it in the frame/window reserved for it.11. 6.3 Heightened Privileges Browsers This workflow in this method is very similar to Proxy Injection but the main difference is that the browsers are launched in a special mode called Heightened Privileges. Selenium-RC server launches a browser (or reuses an old one) with a URL that will load SeleniumCore in the web page. The client/driver establishes a connection with the selenium-RC server. the following happens: 1.
These are provided for backwards compatibility only. typically opening a page of the AUT. Otherwise. You can check this in your browser's options or Internet properties (if you don't know your AUT's security certificate ask your system administrator). and should not use. It responds by alerting you with popup messages. you may need to explicitly install this security certificate. In Selenium-RC 1. When this occurs the browser displays security popups. 6.1 Security Certificates Explained Normally. In version 1. Most users should no longer need to do this however. Their use will present limitations with security certificate handling and with the running of multiple windows if your application opens additional browser windows. use *chrome or *iehta. To get around this.0 4. This is common with many of today's web applications. Selenium-RC will handle it for you. these older run modes. Another method used with earlier versions of Selenium was to install the Cybervillians security certificate provided with your Selenium installation. These were considered 'experimental modes although they became quite stable and many people used them. your browser will trust the application you are testing by installing a security certificate which you already own. to your client machine in a place where the browser can access it. If you are using Selenium 1. Using these run modes. *chrome or *iehta were the run modes that supported HTTPS and the handling of security popups. renders it in the frame/window reserved for it. To ensure the HTTPS site is genuine. However. 6. you will not need to install any special security certificates. and these popups cannot be closed using Selenium-RC.12. including Selenium-RC 1. if you are running Selenium-RC in proxy injection mode. Handling HTTPS and Security Popups 77 . In earlier versions. there are additional run modes of *iexploreproxy and *firefoxproxy. and should not be used unless required by legacy test programs. Selenium-RC supports this. it will assume that application is not 'trusted'. 5. In earlier versions of Selenium-RC.12 Handling HTTPS and Security Popups Many applications switch from using HTTP to HTTPS when they need to send encrypted information such as passwords or credit card information. Release 1. 6. Selenium-Core acts on that first instruction. The browser now thinks untrusted software is trying to look like your application. for the run mode.Selenium Documentation. You specify the run mode when your test program initializes Selenium.0 the run modes *firefox or *iexplore are recommended. temporarily. The browser receives the open request and asks the Web Server for the page. Once the browser receives the web page.0 beta 1. when the browser accesses the AUT using HTTPS.0 you do not need. When Selenium loads your browser it injects code to intercept messages between the browser and the server. Selenium-RC.12.0 beta 2 and later use *firefox or *iexplore for the run mode. (again when using a run mode that support this) will install its own security certificate. This tricks the browser into thinking it's accessing a site different from your AUT and effectively suppresses the popups. the browser will need a security certificate. When dealing with HTTPS in a Selenium-RC test. you must use a run mode that supports this and handles the security certificate for you.
This can also be done from the Server in interactive mode. Be aware that Mozilla browsers can vary in how they start and stop. If so. 6. Selenium-RC . Unix users should avoid launching the browser using a shell script.Selenium Documentation.14..Inner Exception Message: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it. Release 1..NET and XP Service Pack 2) If you see a message like this.0 6.14 Troubleshooting Common Problems When getting started with Selenium-RC there's a few potential problems that are commonly encountered. but if you launch the browser using the "*custom" run mode. In addition.g. Consult your browser's documentation for details. without using an automatic configuration. Normally this just means opening your browser preferences and specifying "localhost:4444" as an HTTP proxy. in place of *firefox or *iexplore) when your test application starts the browser. you must manually configure the browser to use the Selenium Server as a proxy..13 Supporting Additional Browsers and Browser Configurations The Selenium API supports running against multiple browsers in addition to Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. you pass in the path to the browsers executable within the API call. you can force Selenium RC to launch the browser as-is. when a browser is not directly supported.13. cmd=getNewBrowserSession&1=*custom c: \P rogram Files \M ozilla Firefox \M yBrowser. it's generally better to use the binary executable (e.. 78 Chapter 6. but instructions for this can differ radically from browser to browser.exe&2=h 6. We present them along with their solutions here. It should display this message or a similar one: "Unable to connect to remote server. One may need to set the MOZ_NO_REMOTE environment variable to make Mozilla browsers behave a little more predictably.exe&2=htt Note that when launching the browser this way. an exception will be thrown in your test program. firefox-bin) directly. then there is a problem with the connectivity between the Selenium Client Library and the Selenium Server.. you may still run your Selenium tests against a browser of your choosing by using the "*custom" run-mode (i. See the SeleniumHQ. be sure you started the Selenium Server.org website for supported browsers. For example.1 Running Tests with Different Browser Configurations Normally Selenium-RC automatically configures the browser.1 Unable to Connect to Server When your test program cannot connect to the Selenium Server.e. you can launch Firefox with a custom configuration like this: cmd=getNewBrowserSession&1=*custom c: \P rogram Files \M ozilla Firefox \f irefox." (using . With this.. 6.
If. many people choose to run the tests this way.0 When starting with Selenium-RC. The error from the test program looks like this: Error: java. but you already have a Firefox browser session running and. (500) Internal Server Error This could be caused by • Firefox (prior to Selenium 1. We recommend beginning this way since it reduces the influence of potential networking problems which you're getting started. Also check the user group to be sure there are no known issues with your browser and the "*custom" parameters. however. 6.4 Firefox Refused Shutdown While Preparing a Profile This most often occurs when your run your Selenium-RC test program against Firefox. If unfamilar with these.14. • You specified the path to the browser explicitly (using "*custom"–see above) but the path is incorrect.2 Unable to Load the Browser Ok. Troubleshooting Common Problems 79 . You must manually change the URL to the correct one for your application to be tested. the connectivity should be fine assuming you have valid TCP/IP connectivity between the two machines.14. you can use common networking tools like ping. you do want to run Selenium Server on a remote machine. If you have difficulty connecting. ifconfig(Unix)/ipconfig (Windows).RuntimeException: Firefox refused shutdown while preparing a profile Here's the complete error message from the server: 6. not a friendly error message.0) cannot start because the browser is already open and you did not specify a separate profile. Release 1. sorry. telnet.Selenium Documentation. Check the parameters you passed to Selenium when you program opens the browser. This can easily happen. the most likely cause is your test program is not using the correct URL. To do this use "localhost" as your connection parameter. See the section on Firefox profiles under Server Options. • The run mode you're using doesn't match any browser on your machine. 6. etc to ensure you have a valid network connection. most people begin by running thier test program (with a Selenium Client Library) and the Selenium Server on the same machine.lang. Assuming your operating system has typical networking and TCP/IP settings you should have little difficulty.3 Selenium Cannot Find the AUT If your test program starts the browser successfully. it inserts a dummy URL. but if the Selenium Server cannot load the browser you will likley see this error. Check to be sure the path is correct. In truth. When you use Selenium-IDE to export your script.14. your system administrator can assist you.14. 6. you didn't specify a separate profile when you started the Selenium Server. but the browser doesn't display the website you're testing.
openqa.0_07" Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment.5 or higher..qa.server..server. • *iexplore: If the browser is launched using *iexplore.openqa.92 does not support Firefox 3.5.14.minor version 49.lang. it only appears to exist when the proxy is properly configured. run this from the command line..Selenium Documentation.. Selenium-RC .. see the section on Specifying a Separate Firefox Profile 6.FirefoxCustomProfileLaunc her$FileLockRemainedException: Lock file still present! C:\DOCUME~1\jsvec\LOCALS ~1\Temp\customProfileDir203138\parent. or *custom. You must make sure that those are correctly configured when Selenium Server launches the browser.com. At times you may be lucky (I was)..0)" while starting server This error says you're not using a correct version of Java. then it must be because the Selenium Server was not correctly configured as a proxy...0_07-b03) Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.822 WARN .6 Error message: "(Unsupported major..lock To resolve this.RuntimeException: Firefox refused shutdown while preparing a profile at org. For example. java version "1.1 java. Caused by: org. 6.. Standard Edition (build 1..919 INFO .Preparing Firefox profile. The Selenium Server requires Java 1.java:277) .14.5.google. To check double-check your java version. or you may simply need to add it to your PATH environment variable.0 16:20:03. But don't forget to check which browser versions are supported by the version of Selenium you are using. When in doubt...FirefoxCustomProfileLaunc her.browserlaunchers..14.5 Versioning Problems Make sure your version of Selenium supports the version of your browser. Release 1. mixed mode) If you see a lower version number.com/seleniumserver/".5. java -version You should see a message showing the Java version. Selenium Server attempts To configure the global proxy settings in the Internet Options Control Panel.com HTTP/1. 16:20:27...selenium.waitForFullProfileToBeCreated(FirefoxCustomProfileLauncher. *opera..idc. you may need to update the JRE.. you could be having a problem with Internet Explorer's proxy settings. use the latest release version of Selenium with the most widely used version of your browser.... *iexplore..0_07-b03.browserlaunchers.GET /selenium-server/driver/?cmd=getNewBrowserSession&1=*fir efox&2=http%3a%2f%2fsage-webapp1.. Selenium-RC 0..7 404 error when running the getNewBrowserSession command If you're getting a 404 error while attempting to open a page on "http://www.. Try 80 Chapter 6. 6..selenium. The "selenium-server" directory doesn't exist on google. Proxy Configuration highly depends on how the browser is launched with *firefox.
So. to add that path to the user's path. even if the source code is in lowercase. Release 1.14.x.x/ Where the x.Selenium Documentation.14.14.x.x. Opera or Safari but not with IE.16 IE and Style Attributes If you are running your tests on Internet Explorer and you cannot locate elements using their style attribute.x. but you can easily code your test to detect the situation and try the alternative locator that only works in IE. you can specify the path to firefox-bin directly in your test. For example: //td[@style="background-color:yellow"] This would work perfectly in Firefox.x/" If necessary.0 /usr/lib/firefox-x.bashrc file: export PATH= "$PATH:/usr/lib/firefox-x.17 Where can I Ask Questions that Aren't Answered Here? Try our user group 6. 6. like this: " *firefox /usr/lib/firefox-x.x is the version number you currently have. you should use: //td[@style="BACKGROUND-COLOR:yellow"] This is a problem if your test is intended to work on multiple browsers.x/firefox-bin " 6. IE interprets the keys in @style as uppercase. Troubleshooting Common Problems 83 . you will have to add the following to your . So.
Release 1.0 84 Chapter 6.Selenium Documentation. Selenium-RC .
priorities set by the project manager and so on. a content test. does each page have the correct text within that header? You may or may not need content tests. but we provide this as a framework for relating Selenium test automation to the decisions a quality assurance professional will make when deciding what tests to perform. the priority for each of those tests. We will define some terms here to help us categorize the types of testing typical for a web-application. privacy policy. This may not be new to you. you. 7. Once the project boundaries are defined though.2. the tester.2 What to Test? What parts of your application should you test? That depends on aspects of your project: user expectations. content tests may prove valuable. UI element. 7. For instance • Does each page have its expected page title? This can be used to verify your test found an expected page after following a link. is a simple test for the existence of a static. We've created a few terms here of our own for the purposes of categorizing the types of test you may perform on your web application. 7.CHAPTER SEVEN TEST DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS NOTE: Some sections of this chapter are not yet complete. and trademarks information? • Does each page begin with heading text using the <h1> tag? And. although the concepts we present here are typical for webapplication testing. your application will be undergoing platform changes. time allowed for the project. or files will likely be moved to different locations. If.1 Testing for Expected Content The simplest type of test. and whether to automate those tests or not. non-changing. will certainly make many decisions on what to test.1 Introducing Test Design In this subsection we describe a few types of different tests you can do with Selenium. • Does the application's home page contain an image expected to be at the top of the page? • Does each page of the website contain a footer area with links to the company contact page. 85 . however. If your page content is not likely to be affected then it may be more efficient to test page content manually. These terms are by no means standard.
For example. data is retrieved from the application server without refreshing the page. 86 Chapter 7. drop-down lists. and returning some type of results. the search results page returns a different data set where each document in the result set uses different Identifiers. Test Design Considerations . User input can be via text-input fields. Dynamic content involve UI elements who Identifying properties change each time you open the page displaying them. when you enter a search term into Google. In Ajax-driven web applications. some web servers might name a text entry field 'q1' on the first instance of a page.4 Testing Dynamic Elements Every web page element has an Identifier. Testing for these involves clicking each link and verifying the expected page behind that link loads correctly.0 7. new. An example would be a result set of data returned to the user.2. Then. Release 1. and 'q2' on the next instance of the same page.Selenium Documentation.2. An example will help. Its ID and name (addForm:_ID74:_ID75:0:_ID79:0:checkBox) are same and both are dynamic (they will change the next time you open the application). the search results page returns a data set with one set of documents and their corresponding Identifiers. Need to include a description of how to design this test and a simple example. Suppose each data result. This means your test script could be looking at a different field name every time you run the script. a name that can be use to locate the element.2 Testing Links A frequent source of errors for web-sites is broken links and missing pages behind those broken links. Dynamic HTML of an object might look as: <input type= "checkbox" value= "true" id= "addForm:_ID74:_ID75:0:_ID79:0: checkBox" name= "addForm:_ID74:_ID75:0:_ID79:0:checkBox" /> This is HTML snippet for a check box.2. Dynamic names are usually on a result page of some given function. 7. or any other browser-supported input. Submit and Cancel operations. check boxes. in. Should that go in this section or in a separate section? 7. These names can be static .5 Ajax Tests Ajax is a technology which supports dynamic real-time UI elements such as animation and RSS feeds. requiring some type of user input. For example. In this case 7.for example. say for example a list of documents. Often a function test will involve multiple pages with a formbased input page containing a collection of input fields. These names can also be dynamic . in a different search. So. etc.3 Function Tests These would be tests of a specific function within your application. for a particular search.generated fresh. had a unique Identifier for each specific document. and unique for every instance of a web page. the text field in which you type your query is always named 'q'.2. and one or more response pages.
the text.3. only the HTML tag is what is relevant. please refer to Chapter 4 first. the element and it's text content? (verify/assertText) There is no right answer. or specific text. (verify/assertElementPresent) • Must I test both. you can go with your best guess and can always change the test later. Alternatively. the test will stop at that point and not run any subsequent checks. If your test uses only verify commands you are guaranteed (assuming no unexpected exceptions) the test will run to completion whether the checks find defects in the AUT or not. The disadvantage: you have to do more work to examine your test results. If in doubt. If not.3 Verifying Results 7. you won't get feedback from TestNG or JUnit. assertElementPresent.2 Trade-offs: assertTextPresent. In this case you can use verify/assertElementPresent. In contrast. Most of these are easily changed in either Sel-IDE or Sel-RC. that is.Selenium Documentation. But you don't care what the content is. And you will need to take the time to look through this output every time you run your test. Verifying Results 87 . image. If you use an assert. The difference is in what you want to happen when the check fails. or an image. The advantage: you have an immediate visual of whether the checks (those using asserts anyway) passed. For Java. Logging Selenium (Chap 5) is a convenient logging utility for recording the results of verify commands. Realize that verify/assertText is the most specific test. a specific image file. Test engines such as TestNG and JUnit have plugins for commonly used development environments (Chap 5) which conveniently flag these tests as failed tests. It will ensure that a particular type of element exists (and if using XPath can ensure it exists relative to other objects within the page). Sometimes. there are other checks which were never performed. depend on the requirements for the application you're testing. You only care that some type of image exists. or heading text. and the mechanics of using them. It can check for the content. Do you want your test to terminate or continue and record that the check failed? Here's the trade-off.3. That is. Verify When should you use an assert command and when should you use a verify command? This is up to you.3. so you have no information on their status. When constructing your tests. Rather. you will need to look at the results of a console printout or a log output by your test application. assume you still need to check that something is on the page. 7. say a paragraph. and if the requirements are not clear. but will pass the test when the programmers change the HTML used to present that text. It depends on the requirements for your test. Release 1. If the test fails you will immediately know the test did not pass. verify commands will not terminate the test. each with it's own log. perhaps your web-designers are frequently changing the page and you don't want your test to fail every time they do this because the changes themselves are expected periodically. perhaps often. or other content is not to be checked. However.0 7. this will be time-consuming. 7. however you still need to open the logs and examine the results. Which. that is what you want.1 Assert vs. assertText You should now be familiar with these commands. Sometimes. you will need to decide • Do I only check that the text exists on the page? (verify/assertTextPresent) • Do I only check that the HTML element exists on the page? That is. If you are running hundreds of tests. of course. for instance if HTML changes frequently by your programmers. The disadvantage: when a check does fail. This can fail if either the HTML element (tag) OR the text is not what your test is expecting. verifyTextPresent makes more sense.
using an ID locator is more efficient as it makes your test code more readable. and easy to change in your test.4 Choosing a Location Strategy You know from the Selenese section there are multiple ways of selecting an object on a page. Until now. It appears at the time of writing that DOM locators are not commonly used now. It's a fairly complex anchor tag when compared to most HTML tags. you must understand what a dynamic object is. assuming the ID used by the AUT's page source is a meaningful one. you can only specify that they occur on the page– somewhere on the page. for your test script to click this button you simply need to use the following selenium command. possibly because XPath provides a rich set of possibilities for Identifying an object–it is quite flexible. when this page is displayed. With XPath and DOM you can locate an object with respect to another object on the page. but it is still a static tag. But what are the trade offs of each of these locator types? Recall we can locate an object using • the element ID • the element name attribute • an XPath statement • document object model (DOM) Generally. For example. 7. Using the name attribute also has similar advantages. Its ID remains constant within all instances of this page. With ID and name locators. So. if there is a link that must occur within the second paragraph within a <div> section. If you must test that an image displaying the company logo appears at the top of the page within a header section XPath may be the better locator.1 Locating Dynamic Objects First. For others.0 Getting a feel for these types of decisions will come with time and a little experience. and XPath appears to the preferred choice.Selenium Documentation. Release 1. These are objects who's html page source is the same each time the page is loaded in the browser. There is an advantage to using XPath or DOM that locating via ID or name attributes do not have. not so much. The purpose of this subsection is to help you anticipate your needs so you can make these decisions more efficiently. you can use XPath or DOM to specify this.4. this UI element will always have this Identifier. Sometimes though. 'adminHomeForm:_ID38'). we will contrast that with a static object. and you will have to give it your best guess. and to do so. That is. 88 Chapter 7. These also give the best performance. Test Design Considerations . For some projects the requirements are clear and therefore your tests will be clear. you must use an XPath locator. 7. but they do depend do depend on the requirements of your AUT. If the page source does not have an ID or name attribute you have no choice but to use an XPath or DOM locator." href= "#" >View Archived Allocation Events</a> This is HTML anchor tag defining an button with an ID attribute of "adminHomeForm". <a class= "button" id= "adminHomeForm" onclick= "return oamSubmitForm('adminHomeForm'. For example. The HTML will be the same each time this page is loaded in the browser. all the AUT page elements we have been considering have been static objects. XPath statements have been known to be slow in Internet Explorer due to limitations of IE's XPath processor. They are easy concepts.
HTML for a dynamic page element might look like this. if it is not the first input element on the page (which it likely is not) try a more detailed XPath statement. // Collect all input IDs on page. Release 1. Choosing a Location Strategy 89 . this approach would not work.getAllFields(). if(!GenericValidator.click(checkboxids[i]). click //input[3] Or click //div/p[2]/input[3] If however. It can be done like this. { // If the ID starts with addForm if(checkboxids[i]. String[] checkboxids = selenium. for the checkbox you can simply use click //input Or. The click operation will fail with an "element not found" error. Your application. Its ID and name attributes (both addForm:_ID74:_ID75:0:_ID79:0:checkBox) are dynamically generated values. using a standard locator would look something like the following. however. The next time this page is loaded the Identifier will be a different value from the one used in the Selenium command and therefore. you do need to use the ID to locate the element. Given the dynamically generated Identifier. click addForm:_ID74:_ID75:0:_ID79:0:checkBox Or.click( "adminHomeForm" ). In this case. a simple solution would be to just use an XPath locator rather than trying to use an ID locator.click("addForm:_ID74:_ID75:0:_ID79:0:checkBox).4. may generate HTML with IDs that are generated dynamically and therefore the ID itself varies on different instances of the webpage under test. a programmed solution is required. <input type= "checkbox" value= "true" id= "addForm:_ID74:_ID75:0:_ID79:0:checkBox" name= "addForm:_ID74:_ID75:0:_ID79:0:checkBox" /> This defines a checkbox. Another solution is to capture this ID from the website itself. To correct this.0 click adminHomeForm Or. in Selenium-RC selenium.IsBlankOrNull(checkboxids[i])) // If collected ID is not null. before you need to use it in a Selenium command. again in Selenium-RC selenium.Selenium Documentation. So. 7. For instance. will not be found.indexOf( "addForm" ) > -1) { selenium.
Now if href is used to click the link.click(editInfo).getAllLinks(). 90 Chapter 7.Selenium Documentation. it would always be clicking on the first element.innerHTML" ).getEval ( "window. selenium. Second. String editTermSectionInfo = selenium. // Desired link.equalsIgnoreCase( "expectedlink" )) { // If it is second appearance of link then save the link ID and break the loop. for(String linkID: links) { // If retrieved link is not null if(!GenericValidator.isBlankOrNull(linkID)) { // Find the inner HTML of link. // If retrieved link is expected link. } } } // Click on link. Clicking on the second link can be achieved as follows. if(isSecondInstanceLink) { editInfo = linkID. 7. element IDs should be explicitly created by the application designer. String editInfo = null. Test Design Considerations . Automatically generated (non-descriptive) element IDs (i. different element IDs could be generated.e.2 How can I avoid using complex XPath expressions in my test? Where possible. each time the application is deployed. // Loop through collected links.4. } // Set the second appearance of Autumn term link to true as isSecondInstanceLink = true. boolean isSecondInstanceLink = false. // Flag for second appearance of link. not automatically generated. a non-descriptive element id makes it hard for automation testers to keep track of and determine which element IDs to use (which ID is associated with which GUI object).getElementByID('" +linkID+ "'). id_147) tend to cause two problems: first. a page with two links having the same name and the same html name.document.0 } } This approach will work if there is only one field whose ID has the text 'addForm' appended to it. break. String[] links = selenium. // Collect all links. Release 1. If the element ID changes then your test will fail. if(editTermSectionInfo. Consider one more example of a Dynamic object.
Selenium Documentation, Release 1.0
You might consider trying the UI-Element extension in this situation. http://wiki.openqa.org/display/SIDE/Contributed+Extensions+and+Formats#ContributedExtensionsandFormatsUIElementLocator
7.4.3 Performance Considerations for Locators 7.4.4 Custom Locators
This section is not yet developed.
7.5 Testing Ajax Applications
We introduced the special characteristics of AJAX technology earlier in this chapter. Basically, a page element implemented with Ajax is an element that can be dynamically refreshed without having to refresh the entire page.
7.5.1 Waiting for an Ajax Element
For an Ajax element using Selenium's waitForPageToLoad wouldn't work since the page is not actually loaded to refresh the Ajax element. Pausing the test execution for a specified period of time is also not good because the web element might appear later than expected leading to invalid test failures (reported failures that aren't actually failures). A better approach is to wait for a predefined period and then continue execution as soon as the element is found. Consider a page which brings a link (link=ajaxLink) on click of a button on page (without refreshing the page) This could be handled by Selenium using a for loop.
// Loop initialization. for (int second = 0;; second++) { // If loop is reached 60 seconds then break the loop. if (second >= 60) break;
// Search for element "link=ajaxLink" and if available then break loop. try { if (selenium.isElementPresent( "link=ajaxLink" )) break; } catch (Exception e) // Pause for 1 second. Thread.sleep(1000); }
This certainly isn't the only solution. Ajax is a common topic in the user group and we suggest searching previous discussions to see what others have done along with the questions they have posted.
7.6 UI Mapping
A UI map is a mechanism that stores Identifiers, or in our case, locators, for an application's UI elements. The test script then uses the UI Map for locating the elements to be tested. Basically, a UI map is a repository of test script objects that correspond to UI elements of the application being tested. 7.5. Testing Ajax Applications 91
Selenium Documentation, Release 1.0
What makes a UI map heplful? Its primary purpose for making test script management much easier. When a locator needs to be edited, there is a central location for easily finding that object, rather than having to search through test script code. Also, it allows changing the Identifier in a single place, rather than having to make the change in multiple places within a test script, or for that matter, in multiple test scripts. To summarize, a UI map has two significant advantages. • Using a centralized location for UI objects instead of having them scattered throughout the script. This makes script maintenance more efficient. • Cryptic HTML Identifiers and names can be given more human-readable names improving the readability of test scripts. Consider the following example (in java) of selenium tests for a website:
public void testNew() throws Exception { selenium.open( "http://www.test.com" ); selenium.type( "loginForm:tbUsername" , "xxxxxxxx" ); selenium.click( "loginForm:btnLogin" ); selenium.click( "adminHomeForm:_activitynew" ); selenium.waitForPageToLoad( "30000" ); selenium.click( "addEditEventForm:_IDcancel" ); selenium.waitForPageToLoad( "30000" ); selenium.click( "adminHomeForm:_activityold" ); selenium.waitForPageToLoad( "30000" ); }
This script is incomprehensible to anyone who isn't very familiar with the AUT's page source. Even regular users of the application would have difficulty understanding what the script does. A better script would be:
public void testNew() throws Exception { selenium.open( "http://www.test.com" ); selenium.type(admin.username, "xxxxxxxx" ); selenium.click(admin.loginbutton); selenium.click(admin.events.createnewevent); selenium.waitForPageToLoad( "30000" ); selenium.click(admin.events.cancel); selenium.waitForPageToLoad( "30000" ); selenium.click(admin.events.viewoldevents); selenium.waitForPageToLoad( "30000" ); }
There are no comments provided but it is more comprehensible because of the keywords used in scripts. (please be aware that UI Map is NOT a replacement for comments! Comments are still important for documenting an automated test.) An even better test script could look like this.
public void testNew() throws Exception { // Open app url. selenium.open( "http://www.test.com" );
Chapter 7. Test Design Considerations
Selenium Documentation, Release 1.0
// Provide admin username. selenium.type(admin.username, "xxxxxxxx" ); // Click on Login button. selenium.click(admin.loginbutton); // Click on Create New Event button. selenium.click(admin.events.createnewevent); selenium.waitForPageToLoad( "30000" ); // Click on Cancel button. selenium.click(admin.events.cancel); selenium.waitForPageToLoad( "30000" ); // Click on View Old Events button. selenium.click(admin.events.viewoldevents); selenium.waitForPageToLoad( "30000" ); }
The idea is to have a centralized location for objects and using comprehensible names for those objects. To achieve this, properties files can be used in java. A properties file contains key/value pairs, where each key and value are strings. Consider a property file prop.properties which assigns as 'aliases' easily understood Identifiers for the HTML objects used earlier.
admin.username = loginForm:tbUsername admin.loginbutton = loginForm:btnLogin admin.events.createnewevent = adminHomeForm:_activitynew admin.events.cancel = addEditEventForm:_IDcancel admin.events.viewoldevents = adminHomeForm:_activityold
The locators will still refer to html objects, but we have introduced a layer of abstraction between the test script and the UI elements. Values are read from the properties file and used in the Test Class to implement the UI Map. For more on Properties files refer to the following link.
7.7 Bitmap Comparison
This section has not been developed yet.
7.7.1 Data Driven Testing
This section needs an introduction and it has not been completed yet. In Python:
# Collection of String values source = open( " input_file.txt " , " r " ) values = source.readlines() source.close() # Execute For loop for each String in the values array for search in values: sel.open( " / " )
7.7. Bitmap Comparison
Release 1.is_text_present( " Results * for " + search)) Why would we want a separate file with data in it for our tests? One important method of testing is to run the same test repetitively with different data values.180:1433. Test Design Considerations .DatabaseName=TEST_DB" . but the Idea is to show you things that can easily be done with either a programming or scripting language when they're difficult or even impossible to do using Selenium-IDE.8.8. String url = "jdbc:sqlserver://192.sqlserver. This section has not been developed yet.waitForPageToLoad( " 30000 " ) self.1 Error Reporting 7.failUnless(sel.jdbc.168. The Python script above opens a text file.8. generally handle this as it's a common reason for test automation.SQLServerDriver" ).forName( "com. This is called Data Driven Testing and is a very common testing task. This is a very basic example of what you can do. // Get connection to DB.1.8 Handling Errors Note: This section is not yet developed. search) sel. 7. This file contains a different search string on each line. 7.0 sel.2 Recovering From Failure A quick note though–recognize that your programming language's exception. An example of establishing a DB connection and retrieving data from the DB would be: In Java: // Load Microsoft SQL Server JDBC driver.Selenium Documentation. Test automation tools. // Prepare connection url. 7.3 Database Validations Since you can also do database queries from your favorite programming language.click( " btnG " ) sel.microsoft. Refer to the Selenium RC wiki for examples of reading data from spread sheet or using data provider capabilities of TestNG with java client driver. why not use them for some data validations/retrieval on the Application Under Test? Consider the example of a registration process where a registered email address is to be retrieved from the database. assuming you have database support functions. 94 Chapter 7.handling support can be used for error handling and recovery.type( " q " . and iterates over the array doing a search and assert on each string. The code then saves this in an array of strings. Selenium included. Class.
selenium. ResultSet result = stmt.getConnection(url. // Fetch value of "email_address" from "result" object. Handling Errors 95 . // Send SQL SELECT statements to the database via the Statement. String emailaddress = result. Release 1.executeQuery ( "select top 1 email_address from user_register_table" ). A more complex test could be to validate that inactive users are not able to login to the application.type( "userID" . This is a very simple example of data retrieval from a DB in Java.0 public static Connection con = DriverManager. // Create statement object which would be used in writing DDL and DML // SQL statement. emailaddress). "password" ). // Use the fetched value to login to application. "username" .getString( "email_address" ). This wouldn't take too much work from what you've already seen.executeQuery // method which returns the requested information as rows of data in a // ResultSet object.createStatement().8. 7.Selenium Documentation. public static Statement stmt = con.
0 96 Chapter 7. Test Design Considerations .Selenium Documentation. Release 1.
please contact the Documentation Team.CHAPTER EIGHT SELENIUM-GRID Please refer to the Selenium Grid website http://selenium-grid.html This section is not yet developed. We would love to have you contribute. and would like to contribute. If there is a member of the community who is experienced in SeleniumGrid. 97 .seleniumhq.org/how_it_works.
0 98 Chapter 8. Release 1. Selenium-Grid .Selenium Documentation.
but it has not been reviewed and edited. Selenium.CHAPTER NINE USER-EXTENSIONS NOTE: This section is close to completion.2 Actions All methods on the Selenium prototype beginning with "do" are added as actions. On startup.doTypeRepeated = function(locator. valueToType). An assert method can take up to 2 parameters. 9. You can also define your own assertions literally as simple "assert" methods. 9. The following examples give an indication of how Selenium can be extended with JavaScript.1 Introduction It can be quite simple to extend Selenium. text) { // All locator-strategies are automatically handled by "findElement" var element = this. assertions and locators. This is done with JavaScript by adding methods to the Selenium object prototype.page(). An action method can take up to two parameters.replaceText(element. Selenium will automatically look through methods on these prototypes. }. using name patterns to recognize which ones are actions. that makes sure that the element 99 . and the PageBot object prototype. which will be passed the second and third column values in the test.3 Accessors/Assertions All getFoo and isFoo methods on the Selenium prototype are added as accessors (storeFoo). adding your own actions. Example: Add a valueRepeated assertion.prototype. 9. which types the text twice into a text box. which will also auto-generate "verify" and "waitFor" commands. For each accessor there is an assertFoo. verifyFooa nd waitForFoo registered.page(). // Replace the element text with the new text this.findElement(locator). which will be passed the second and third column values in the test. Example: Add a "typeRepeated" action to Selenium. // Create the text to type var valueToType = text + text. assertions and locator-strategies. For each action foo there is also an action fooAndWait registered.
Selenium Documentation, Release 1.0
value consists of the supplied text repeated. The 2 commands that would be available in tests would be assertValueRepeated and verifyValueRepeated.
Selenium.prototype.assertValueRepeated = function(locator, text) { // All locator-strategies are automatically handled by "findElement" var element = this.page().findElement(locator); // Create the text to verify var expectedValue = text + text; // Get the actual element value var actualValue = element.value; // Make sure the actual value matches the expected Assert.matches(expectedValue, actualValue); };
9.3.1 Automatic availability of storeFoo, assertFoo, assertNotFoo, waitForFoo and waitForNotFoo for every getFoo
All getFoo and isFoo methods on the Selenium prototype automatically result in the availability of storeFoo, assertFoo, assertNotFoo, verifyFoo, verifyNotFoo, waitForFoo, and waitForNotFoo commands. Example, if you add a getTextLength() method, the following commands will automatically be available: storeTextLength, assertTextLength, assertNotTextLength, verifyTextLength, verifyNotTextLength, waitForTextLength, and waitForNotTextLength commands.
Selenium.prototype.getTextLength = function(locator, text) { return this.getText(locator).length; };
Also note that the assertValueRepeated method described above could have been implemented using isValueRepeated, with the added benefit of also automatically getting assertNotValueRepeated, storeValueRepeated, waitForValueRepeated and waitForNotValueRepeated.
9.4 Locator Strategies
All locateElementByFoo methods on the PageBot prototype are added as locator-strategies. A locator strategy takes 2 parameters, the first being the locator string (minus the prefix), and the second being the document in which to search. Example: Add a "valuerepeated=" locator, that finds the first element a value attribute equal to the the supplied value repeated.
// The "inDocument" is a the document you are searching. PageBot.prototype.locateElementByValueRepeated = function(text, inDocument) { // Create the text to search for var expectedValue = text + text; // Loop through all elements, looking for ones that have // a value === our expected value var allElements = inDocument.getElementsByTagName( "*" ); for (var i = 0; i < allElements.length; i++) { var testElement = allElements[i];
Chapter 9. User-Extensions
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if (testElement.value && testElement.value === expectedValue) { return testElement; } } return null; };
9.5 Using User-Extensions With Selenium-IDE
User-extensions are very easy to use with the selenium IDE. 1. Create your user extension and save it as user-extensions.js. While this name isn't technically necessary, it's good practice to keep things consistent. 2. Open Firefox and open Selenium-IDE. 3. Click on Tools, Options 4. In Selenium Core Extensions click on Browse and find the user-extensions. js file. Click on OK. 5. Your user-extension will not yet be loaded, you must close and restart Selenium-IDE. 6. In your empty test, create a new command, your user-extension should now be an options in the Commands dropdown.
9.6 Using User-Extensions With Selenium RC
If you Google "Selenium RC user-extension" ten times you will find ten different approaches to using this feature. Below, is the official Selenium suggested approach.
9.6.1 Example
C# 1. Place your user extension in the same directory as your Selenium Server. 2. If you are using client code generated by the Selenium-IDE you will need to make a couple small edits. First, you will need to create an HttpCommandProcessor object with class scope (outside the SetupTest method, just below private StringBuilder verificationErrors;)
HttpCommandProcessor proc;
1. Next, instantiate that HttpCommandProcessor object DefaultSelenium object. This can be done in the test setup.
proc = new HttpCommandProcessor( "localhost" , 4444, "*iexplore" , "http://google.ca/" );
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1. Instantiate the DefaultSelenium object using the HttpCommandProcessor object you created.
selenium = new DefaultSelenium(proc);
1. Within your test code, execute your user-extension by calling it with the DoCommand() method of HttpCommandProcessor. This method takes two arguments: a string to identify the userextension method you want to use and string array to pass arguments. Notice that the first letter of your function is lower case, regardless of the capitalization in your user-extension. Selenium automatically does this to keep common JavaScript naming conventions. Because JavaScript is case sensitive, your test will fail if you begin this command with a capital. inputParams is the array of arguments you want to pass to the JavaScript user-extension. In this case there is only one string in the array because there is only one parameter for our user extension, but a longer array will map each index to the corresponding user-extension parameter. Remember that user extensions designed for Selenium-IDE will only take two arguments.
string[] inputParams = { "Hello World" }; proc.DoCommand( "alertWrapper" , inputParams);
1. Start the test server using the -userExtensions argument and pass in your user-extensinos.js file.
java -jar selenium-server.jar -userExtensions user-extensions.js
using using using using using using
System; System.Text; System.Text.RegularExpressions; System.Threading; NUnit.Framework; Selenium;
namespace SeleniumTests { [TestFixture] public class NewTest { private ISelenium selenium; private StringBuilder verificationErrors; private HttpCommandProcessor proc;
[SetUp] public void SetupTest() { proc = new HttpCommandProcessor( "localhost" , 4444, "*iexplore" selenium = new DefaultSelenium(proc); //selenium = new DefaultSelenium("localhost", 4444, "*iexplore", selenium.Start(); verificationErrors = new StringBuilder(); }
Chapter 9. User-Extensions
}. Release 1.Selenium Documentation. } catch (Exception) { // Ignore errors if unable to close the browser } Assert.ToString()). string[] inputParams = { "Hello World" . verificationErrors. Using User-Extensions With Selenium RC 103 . } [Test] public void TheNewTest() { selenium.6.0 [TearDown] public void TeardownTest() { try { selenium. } } } 9.Open( "/" ).Stop().DoCommand( "alertWrapper" . proc.AreEqual( "" . inputParams).
0 104 Chapter 9. Release 1. User-Extensions .Selenium Documentation.
By. Because of this.selenium.selenium. // not the implementation. Selenium 2. and in particular to verify that they work as expected.WebElement.google. and alerts. From now on.openqa. • AJAX-based UI elements. and you usually don't need to remember to start any additional processes or run any installers before using it. • Handling multiple frames. org. An easy way to get started is this example. we'll refer to that as $WEBDRIVER_HOME.com" ). org. It aims to provide a friendly API that's easy to explore and understand. so it can be used equally well in a unit testing or from a plain old "main" method.3 The 5 Minute Getting Started Guide WebDriver is a tool for automating testing web applications. // Find the text input element by its name WebElement element = driver.HtmlUnitDriver.selenium. import import import import org.openqa. you won't see a new browser window open.selenium. org. • Page navigation.Selenium Documentation.htmlunit. You'll start by using the HtmlUnit Driver.selenium.WebDriver. It's not tied to any particular test framework. This "Getting Started" guide introduces you to WebDriver's API and helps get you started becoming familiar with it. popups.example.findElement(By. open your favourite IDE and: • Start a new project in your favourite IDE/editor • Add a reference to all the libraries in $WEBDRIVER_HOME You can see that WebDriver acts just as a normal library does: it's entirely self-contained. package org.openqa.name( "q" )).0. // Enter something to search for 106 Chapter 10.0 and WebDriver . which will help make your tests easier to read and maintain.openqa. // And now use this to visit Google driver. Release 1. Now. This is a pure Java driver that runs entirely in-memory. public class HtmlUnitExample { public static void main(String[] args) { // Create a new instance of the html unit driver // Notice that the remainder of the code relies on the interface. • Drag-and-drop. multiple browser windows. 10.get( "http://www.0 • Mult-browser testing including improved functionality for browsers not well-supported by Selenium-1. You're now ready to write some code.openqa. Start by Downloading the latest binaries and unpack them into a directory. WebDriver driver = new HtmlUnitDriver(). which searches for the term "Cheese" on Google and then outputs the result page's title to the console.
HtmlUnitDriver org. which refers to whether or not an observer believes the tests work as they should. driver. ReadOnlyCollection<IWebElement> allSuggestions = driver. In the Next Steps section you will learn more about how to use WebDriver for things such as navigating forward and backward in your browser's history. there's "actual safety". Firstly. Instead of telling the //executing thread to sleep we use an implicit wait. especially when you're showing a demo of your application (or running the tests) for an audience.openqa. which means that you can't watch what's happening.ie. this will have whet your appetite for more.4.Text).4 Next Steps For Using WebDriver 10.htmlunit. This means the driver won't //throw an error if the suggestion box isn't there. and so can be used to detect information such as the position of an element on a page. in this case 5 seconds. It also provides a more complete discussion of the examples than The 5 Minute Getting Started Guide. Next Steps For Using WebDriver 109 . but it's not graphical.Timeouts().WriteLine(suggestion.Console. Which you use depends on what you want to do. } System.4. and your testing framework.Console. you'll see the list of suggestions being printed to the console. As a developer you may be comfortable with this.firefox. These are: Name of driver HtmlUnit Driver Firefox Driver Internet Explorer Driver Chrome Driver Available on which OS? All All Windows All Class to instantiate org.ChromeDriver You can find out more information about each of these by following the links in the table.Manage().chrome. query. Instead it will poll the web //the element is present of the timeout expires. let's take the Next Steps! 10. } } When you run this program.1 Which Implementation of WebDriver Should I Use? WebDriver is the name of the key interface against which tests should be written.selenium. To support higher "perceived safety". you may wish to choose a driver such as the Firefox Driver.ImplicitlyWait(new TimeSpan(0. which refers to whether or not the tests work as they should. //This line is different than the Java version above. Often.Selenium Documentation. For sheer speed. but there are several implementations. and will depend on their familiarity with the application under test. This can be measured and quantified. WebDriver.0 IWebElement query = driver. That's all there is to using WebDriver! Hopefully.SendKeys( "Cheese" ). driver.openqa.Quit(). This varies from person to person. Release 1. and how to use frames and windows. but sometimes it's good to be able to test using a real browser.openqa.selenium. This has the added advantage that this driver actually renders content to a screen.FindElements(By.openqa.Name( "q" )). If you're ready. and it falls into two parts.FirefoxDriver org. this idea is referred to as "safety".XPath( "/ foreach (IWebElement suggestion in allSuggestions) { System.selenium. or the CSS properties that apply to 10.selenium. the HtmlUnit Driver is great.FindElement(By.InternetExplorerDriver org. 0. Secondly. 5)). there's "perceived safety".ReadLine().
findElement(By. given an element defined as: <input type= "text" name= "passwd" id= "passwd-id" /> you could find it using any of: WebElement element.0 it. let's start with the HtmlUnit Driver: WebDriver driver = new HtmlUnitDriver(). a NoSuchElementException will be thrown. you've got an element. the HTML elements within a page.4.0 and WebDriver . WebDriver offers a number of ways of finding elements. but be careful! The text must be an exact match! You should also be careful when using XPATH in WebDriver.findElement(By. element = driver.google. It's worth noting that if your page uses a lot of AJAX on load then WebDriver may not know when it has completely loaded. If nothing can be found.id( "passwd-id" )). and if you call a method that makes no sense ("setSelected()" on a "meta" tag.Selenium Documentation. element = driver. or. this additional flexibility comes at the cost of slower overall speed. 10. However. You can also look for a link by its text. For example. If there's more than one element that matches the query. you may want to enter some text into a text field: element.3 Interacting With the Page Just being able to go to places isn't terribly useful. WebDriver will wait until the page has fully loaded (that is. for example) an exception will be thrown. If you need to ensure such pages are fully loaded then you can use "waits". we represent all types of elements using the same interface: Web Element. The normal way to do this is by calling "get": driver.findElement(By.xpath( "//input[@id='passwd-id']" )). By writing your tests against the WebDriver interface.get( "http://www.name( "passwd" )). Release 1. So. element = driver. Selenium 2. What we'd really like to do is to interact with the pages. 10. then only the first will be returned.4. WebDriver has an "Object-based" API. not all of them will make sense or be valid. Don't worry! WebDriver will attempt to do the Right Thing.2 Navigating The first thing you'll want to do with WebDriver is navigate to a page. the "onload" event has fired) before returning control to your test or script. more specifically. First of all. What can you do with it? First of all. To keep things simple. it is possible to pick the most appropriate driver for a given test.com" ). we need to find one. This means that although you may see a lot of possible methods you could invoke when you hit your IDE's auto-complete key combination. You can simulate pressing the arrow keys by using the "Keys" class: 110 Chapter 10.sendKeys( "some text" ).
A side-effect of this is that typing something into a text field won't automatically clear it. then the NoSuchElementException will be thrown: element. and you can use "setSelected" to set something like an OPTION tag selected. select.ARROW_DOWN).findElement(By. Dealing with SELECT tags isn't too bad: WebElement select = driver. Keys.4.setSelected(). It is possible to call sendKeys on any element. 10. you probably want to submit it. WebDriver will walk up the DOM until it finds the enclosing form and then calls submit on that. Instead.findElement(By.getValue())).id( "submit" )).sendKeys( " and some" .format( "Value is: %s" .submit().findElement(By. If the element isn't in a form.0 element.println(String. and then select the OPTION with the displayed text of "Edam".selectByVisibleText( "Edam" ).4 Filling In Forms We've already seen how to enter text into a textarea or text field. for (WebElement option : allOptions) { System. which makes it possible to test keyboard shortcuts such as those used on GMail. } This will find the first "SELECT" element on the page. what you type will be appended to what's already there. printing out their values.4.xpath( "//select" ))). // Assume the button has the ID "submit" :) Alternatively. option.out.xpath( "//select" )). which provides useful methods for interacting with these.findElements(By. One way to do this would be to find the "submit" button and click it: driver. As you can see. Once you've finished filling out the form.tagName( "option" )). this isn't the most efficient way of dealing with SELECT elements. This will deselect all OPTIONs from the first SELECT on the page.click(). and selecting each in turn. but what about the other elements? You can "toggle" the state of checkboxes. You can easily clear the contents of a text field or textarea: element.Selenium Documentation. WebDriver's support classes include one called "Select". 10. and cycle through each of it's OPTIONs in turn. Release 1. select. WebDriver has the convenience method "submit" on every element. Next Steps For Using WebDriver 111 .deselectAll(). Select select = new Select(driver.clear(). List<WebElement> allOptions = select. option. If you call this on an element within a form.
10. so it's not safe to assume that the cast will work.getWindowHandles()) { driver. Release 1. element.dragAndDropOn(target). Knowing this.name( "target" )).switchTo(). All calls to driver will now be interpreted as being directed to the particular window.switchTo().window()" method.frame( "frameName" ).0 and WebDriver . but if it does you can gather additional information such as the size and location of the element.name( "source" )) RenderedWebElement target = (RenderedWebElement) driver. either moving an element by a certain amount.findElement(By. or on to another element: RenderedWebElement element = (RenderedWebElement) driver.html" target= "windowName" >Click here to open a new window</a> Alternatively.0 10. In addition.5 Getting Visual Information And Drag And Drop Sometimes you want to extract some visual information out of an element. you can pass a "window handle" to the "switchTo().window( "windowName" ).frame( "frameName. WebDriver supports moving between named windows using the "switchTo" method: driver. You can find out this information by casting the element to a RenderedWebElement: WebElement plain = driver.findElement(By.child" ). It's possible to access subframes by separating the path with a dot. } You can also swing from frame to frame (or into iframes): driver.name( "q" )). RenderedWebElement element = (RenderedWebElement) element. and you can specify the frame by its index too.switchTo().window(handle). Selenium 2.switchTo().Selenium Documentation.4. perhaps to see if it's visible or where it is on screen.findElement(By.6 Moving Between Windows and Frames It's rare for a modern web application not to have any frames or to be constrained to a single window. 112 Chapter 10. would go to the frame named "child" of the first subframe of the frame called "frameName". it's possible to iterate over every open window like so: for (String handle : driver. All frames are evaluated as if from *top*.4. Not all drivers render their content to the screen (such as the HtmlUnit Driver).0. That is: driver. you can use drag and drop. But how do you know the window's name? Take a look at the javascript or link that opened it: <a href= "somewhere.
getCookies().getName(). and navigation is a useful task.4. // Now set the cookie. First of all. loadedCookie.g } 10.example. This one's valid for the entire domain Cookie cookie = new Cookie( "key" . WebDriver has a number of smaller.addCookie(cookie).4.example.navigate(). To reiterate: "navigate(). "value" ). we covered navigating to a page using the "get" command ( driver. One's just a lot easier to type than the other! The "navigate" interface also exposes the ability to move backwards and forwards in your browser's history: driver. Please be aware that this functionality depends entirely on the underlying browser.out.7 Popup Dialogs Starting with Selenium 2. Next Steps For Using WebDriver 113 . read it's contents or even type into a prompt.0 10.get("http://www.com")) As you've seen.4.0 beta 1. you can access the alert with the following: Alert alert = driver. the method to do this lives on the main WebDriver interface. prompts.Selenium Documentation.switchTo(). dismiss. Because loading a page is such a fundamental requirement.navigate(). but it's simply a synonym to: driver.get( "http://www. there is built in support for handling popup dialog boxes.8 Navigation: History and Location Earlier.com" ).example. 10.back().manage().alert().manage(). This will return the currently open alert object. It's just possible that something unexpected may happen when you call these methods if you're used to the behaviour of one browser over another. 10. Release 1. task-focused interfaces. you may be interested in understanding how to use cookies. // And now output all the available cookies for the current URL Set<Cookie> allCookies = driver.println(String.forward().4. After you've triggerd and action that would open a popup. you need to be on the domain that the cookie will be valid for: // Go to the correct domain driver. loadedCookie.to()" and "get()" do exactly the same thing. This interface works equally well on alerts. for (Cookie loadedCookie : allCookies) { System.format( "%s -> %s" .to( "http://www. driver. With this object you can now accept.9 Cookies Before we leave these next steps.com" ). driver. Refer to the JavaDocs for more information. confirms.navigate().
used by selenium to resolve relative URLs String baseUrl = "http://www. // Get the underlying WebDriver implementation back. Emulating Selenium RC 117 .open( "http://www.exe C:\Users%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.chrome.0 The Chrome Driver_ works with Google Chrome version 4. copy all the "jar" files on to your CLASSPATH.google. Should be "true" if temporary files and profiles should not be deleted Normally the Chrome binary is assumed to be in the default location for your particular operating system: OS Linux Mac Windows XP Windows Vista Expected Location of Chrome /usr/bin/google-chrome /Applications/Google Chrome. selenium. Otherwise.6. close the browser.Selenium Documentation. // Create the Selenium implementation Selenium selenium = new WebDriverBackedSelenium(driver. the JVM will continue running after 10. Release 1. "cheese" ). baseUrl). In order to use it.quit(). Call stop on the WebDriverBackedSelenium instance //instead of calling driver. WebDriver driverInstance = ((WebDriverBackedSelenium) selenium).bin webdriver.exe Installing a Downloaded Binary The "wedriver-all.reap_profile What it means The location of the binary used to control Chrome. This will refer to the // same WebDriver instance as the "driver" variable above.0 and above. 10.6 Emulating Selenium RC The Java version of WebDriver provides an implementation of the Selenium RC API. // Perform actions with selenium selenium. contains all the dependencies required to run the Chrome Driver.app/Contents/MacOS/GoogleChrome or /User/:username/:as_to_the_left %HOMEPATH%\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome. selenium.getUnderlyingWebDriver() //Finally. Firefox is used here as an example WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver().com" .click( "name=btnG" ). It is used like so: // You may use any WebDriver implementation.zip" which may be downloaded from the website.getProperty() and set using System. Important System Properties The following system properties (read using System. // A "base url".type( "name=q" .setProperty() in Java code or the -DpropertyName=value command line flag) are used by the Chrome Driver: Property webdriver.com" ).google.
0 10. 10.Selenium Documentation. To enable them: FirefoxProfile profile = new FirefoxProfile(). WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver(profile).override" . Assuming that the profile has been created using Firefox's profile manager (firefox -ProfileManager): ProfileIni allProfiles = new ProfilesIni(). Driver HtmlUnit Driver Internet Explorer Driver Firefox Driver Tag and Attribute Name Lower-cased Lower-cased Case insensitive Attribute Values As they appear in the HTML As they appear in the HTML As they appear in the HTML Native XPath Support Yes No Yes This is a little abstract. we have provided our own implementation. 10. 23). WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver(profile).7. they are disabled by default. until we feel native events are stable on Firefox for Linux. we expose the ability to use them. profile. profile. Enabling features that might not be wise to use in Firefox As we develop features in the Firefox Driver. FirefoxProfile profile = allProfiles.setEnableNativeEvents(true). For example.getProfile( "WebDriver" ). if the profile isn't already registered with Firefox: File profileDir = new File( "path/to/top/level/of/profile" ).addAdditionalPreference( "general. This can lead to some unexpected behaviour unless you are aware of the differences in the various xpath engines. How XPATH Works in WebDriver 119 .addAdditionalPreferences(extraPrefs).2 Changing the user agent This is easy with the Firefox Driver: FirefoxProfile profile = new FirefoxProfile(). "some UA string" ). There are two ways to obtain this profile.8 How XPATH Works in WebDriver At a high level. WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver(profile). so for the following piece of HTML: 10. but you've got a tricked out Firefox profile that contains dozens of useful extensions. WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver(profile). WebDriver uses a browser's native XPath capabilities wherever possible.7.setPreferences( "foo. FirefoxProfile profile = new FirefoxProfile(profileDir). profile.bar" . profile.useragent.3 Tweaking an existing Firefox profile Suppose that you wanted to modify the user agent string (as above).8. On those browsers that don't have native XPath support. Alternatively. Release 1.
xml: <dependency> <groupId>org. HtmlUnit Driver. and add all the JARs to your CLASSPATH. you need to add the following dependency to your pom.webdriver</groupId> <artifactId>webdriver-htmlunit</artifactId> <version>0.xml: <dependency> <groupId>org.9.seleniumhq. the "input" tag does not require the "type" attribute because it defaults to "text". For example.1 Matching Implicit Attributes Sometimes HTML elements do not need attributes to be explicitly declared because they will default to known values. Remote Web Driver client and the support packages. Firefox Driver. This will give you the Chrome Driver.9 Getting and Using WebDriver 10.0 <input type= "text" name= "example" /> <INPUT type= "text" name= "other" /> The following number of matches will be found XPath expression //input //INPUT HtmlUnit Driver 1 ("example") 0 Firefox Driver 2 2 Internet Explorer Driver 2 0 10.9.xml: <dependency> <groupId>org.9.seleniumhq.9.8.Selenium Documentation. 10.2 With Maven If you want to use the HtmlUnit Driver. such as the LiftStyleApi and the PageFactory.7376</version> </dependency> If you want to use the Firefox Driver.webdriver</groupId> <artifactId>webdriver-ie</artifactId> 120 Chapter 10.seleniumhq. The support packages give you useful helper classes. Selenium 2.1 From a New Download Unpack the "webdriver-all.webdriver</groupId> <artifactId>webdriver-firefox</artifactId> <version>0. Release 1. Internet Explorer Driver. you need to add the following dependency to your pom.0 and WebDriver .7376</version> </dependency> If you want to use the Internet Explorer Driver. add the following dependency to your pom.zip" you can download from the site. The rule of thumb when using xpath in WebDriver is that you should not expect to be able to match against these implicit attributes. 10.
seleniumhq.webdriver</groupId> <artifactId>webdriver-chrome</artifactId> <version>0.7376</version> </dependency> If you want to use the Chrome Driver.webdriver</groupId> <artifactId>webdriver-support</artifactId> <version>0.9.9.10.xml: <dependency> <groupId>org. you should add the following dependency to your pom. Release 1.7376</version> </dependency> 10. if you like to use any of our support classes.11 Further Resources You can find further resources for WebDriver in WebDriver's wiki Appendixes: 10.Selenium Documentation.9.xml: <dependency> <groupId>org.10 Roadmap The roadmap for WebDriver is available here 10.0 <version>0. you need to add the following dependency to your pom.seleniumhq.7376</version> </dependency> Finally. Roadmap 121 .
Selenium Documentation.0 and WebDriver . Selenium 2.0 122 Chapter 10. Release 1.
• Launch Visual Studio and navigate to File > New > Project. • Select Visual C# > Class Library > Name your project > Click on OK button.NET CLIENT DRIVER CONFIGURATION . To Configure it with Visual do as Following. 123 .NET client Driver can be used with Microsoft Visual Studio.CHAPTER ELEVEN .
0 • A Class (.Selenium Documentation. Rename it as appropriate.NET client driver configuration .cs) is created. • Under right hand pane of Solution Explorer right click on References > Add References. . 124 Chapter 11. Release 1.
nunit.dll.Selenium.0 • Select following dll files .IntegrationTests. ThoughtWorks.Core.nmock.ThoughtWorks.dll.dll. nunit.Selenium Documentation.Selenium.framework.dll.dll.dll and click on Ok button 125 . Selenium. Release 1.core. ThoughtWorks.UnitTests.
Release 1.0 With This Visual Studio is ready for Selenium Test Cases.Selenium Documentation.NET client driver configuration . . 126 Chapter 11.
jar • Record your test from Selenium-IDE and translate it to java code (Selenium IDE has automatic translation feature to generate tests in variety of languages) • Run selenium server from console • Run your test in the IDE These points have been delineated below with reference to Eclipse and IntelliJ: 12.Version: 3. It is written primarily in Java and is used to develop applications in this language and. It should not be too different for higher versions of Eclipse • Launch Eclipse. Cobol.3. Perl.0.CHAPTER TWELVE JAVA CLIENT DRIVER CONFIGURATION In General configuration of Selenium-RC with any java IDE would have following steps: • Download Selenium-RC from the SeleniumHQ downloads page • Start any java IDE • Create new project • Add to your project classpath selenium-java-client-driver. Python.1 Configuring Selenium-RC With Eclipse Eclipse is a multi-language software development platform comprising an IDE and a plug-in system to extend it. by means of the various plug-ins. • Select File > New > Other. Following lines describes configuration of Selenium-RC with Eclipse . PHP and more. 127 . in other languages as well as C/C++. (Europa Release).
0 • Java > Java Project > Next 128 Chapter 12. Release 1. Java Client Driver Configuration .Selenium Documentation.
Select JDK in 'Use a project Specific JRE' option (JDK 1.Selenium Documentation.5 selected in this example) > click Next 12. Release 1.1. Configuring Selenium-RC With Eclipse 129 .0 • Provide Name to your project.
) 130 Chapter 12. Project specific libraries can be added here. (This described in detail in later part of document.0 • Keep 'JAVA Settings' intact in next window. Java Client Driver Configuration . Release 1.Selenium Documentation.
1.Selenium Documentation. Configuring Selenium-RC With Eclipse 131 . 12.0 • Click Finish > Click on Yes in Open Associated Perspective pop up window. Release 1.
Selenium Documentation. Release 1. 132 Chapter 12. Java Client Driver Configuration .0 This would create Project Google in Package Explorer/Navigator pane.
Configuring Selenium-RC With Eclipse 133 .Selenium Documentation.0 • Right click on src folder and click on New > Folder 12. Release 1.1.
Release 1. • This should get com package insider src folder. Java Client Driver Configuration . 134 Chapter 12.Selenium Documentation.0 Name this folder as com and click on Finish button.
Selenium Documentation. Configuring Selenium-RC With Eclipse 135 .1.0 • Following the same steps create core folder inside com 12. Release 1.
Please notice this is about the organization of project and it entirely depends on individual's choice / organization's standards. This is a place holder for test scripts. Release 1.Selenium Documentation. 136 Chapter 12. Java Client Driver Configuration . Create one more package inside src folder named testscripts.0 SelTestCase class can be kept inside core package. Test scripts package can further be segregated depending upon the project requirements.
Configuring Selenium-RC With Eclipse 137 . selenium server etc) 12.0 • Create a folder called lib inside project Google. Selenium client driver. Right click on Project name > New > Folder. This is a place holder for jar files to project (i. Release 1.e.Selenium Documentation.1.
0 This would create lib folder in Project directory.Selenium Documentation. 138 Chapter 12. Release 1. Java Client Driver Configuration .
1.Selenium Documentation.0 • Right click on lib folder > Build Path > Configure build Path 12. Configuring Selenium-RC With Eclipse 139 . Release 1.
Release 1. 140 Chapter 12.Selenium Documentation. Java Client Driver Configuration .0 • Under Library tab click on Add External Jars to navigate to directory where jar files are saved. Select the jar files which are to be added and click on Open button.
Release 1. Configuring Selenium-RC With Eclipse 141 .Selenium Documentation.1. 12.0 After having added jar files click on OK button.
Java Client Driver Configuration .0 Added libraries would appear in Package Explorer as following: 142 Chapter 12. Release 1.Selenium Documentation.
IntelliJ IDEA provides close integration with popular open source development tools such as CVS.0 12. Apache Ant and JUnit. Intellij provides a set of integrated refactoring tools that allow programmers to quickly redesign their code.Selenium Documentation. 12.2. Following lines describes configuration of Selenium-RC with IntelliJ 6.2 Configuring Selenium-RC With Intellij IntelliJ IDEA is a commercial Java IDE by the company JetBrains. Release 1. Subversion.0 It should not be very different for higher version of intelliJ. • Open a New Project in IntelliJ IDEA. Configuring Selenium-RC With Intellij 143 .
Release 1. • Click Next and provide compiler output path.Selenium Documentation. 144 Chapter 12.0 • Provide name and location to Project. Java Client Driver Configuration .
• Click Next and select Single Module Project.2. Configuring Selenium-RC With Intellij 145 . Release 1.0 • Click Next and select the JDK to be used. 12.Selenium Documentation.
• Click Next and provide Module name and Module content root. Release 1.0 • Click Next and select Java module. Java Client Driver Configuration .Selenium Documentation. • Click Next and select Source directory. 146 Chapter 12.
0 • At last click Finish.2. Configuring Selenium-RC With Intellij 147 . 12. • Click on Project Structure in Settings pan. Release 1. This will launch the Project Pan. Adding Libraries to Project: • Click on Settings button in the Project Tool bar.Selenium Documentation.
Selenium Documentation. Java Client Driver Configuration .0 • Select Module in Project Structure and browse to Dependencies tab. 148 Chapter 12. Release 1.
Release 1.jar and seleniumserver. • Browse to the Selenium directory and select selenium-java-client-driver.2. Configuring Selenium-RC With Intellij 149 .0 • Click on Add button followed by click on Module Library. 12. (Multiple Jars can be selected b holding down the control key.).Selenium Documentation.jar.
Selenium Documentation.0 • Select both jar files in project pan and click on Apply button. 150 Chapter 12. Release 1. Java Client Driver Configuration .
Selenium Documentation. Added jars would appear in project Library as following. Configuring Selenium-RC With Intellij 151 . Release 1.0 • Now click ok on Project Structure followed by click on Close on Project Settings pan.2. 12.
152 Chapter 12.0 • Create the directory structure in src folder as following. Release 1.Selenium Documentation. Java Client Driver Configuration .
Release 1. 12. • Herein core contains the SelTestCase class which is used to create Selenium object and fire up the browser.2. testscripts package contains the test classes which extend the SelTestCase class. Hence extended structure would look as following.0 Note: This is not hard and fast convention and might very from project to project.Selenium Documentation. Configuring Selenium-RC With Intellij 153 .
Release 1. Java Client Driver Configuration .Selenium Documentation.0 154 Chapter 12.
– Windows 1. the user can start using the desired IDE.x.x-win32-x86. • Add to your test's path the file selenium.CHAPTER THIRTEEN PYTHON CLIENT DRIVER CONFIGURATION • Download Selenium-RC from the SeleniumHQ downloads page • Extract the file selenium.py • Run Selenium server from the console • Execute your test from a console or your Python IDE The following steps describe the basic installation procedure. • Installing Python Note: This will cover python installation on Windows and Mac only.x.msi) 155 .mhtml 2.py • Either write your Selenium test in Python or export a script from Selenium-IDE to a python file. Download Active python's installer from ActiveState's official site: http://activestate. (even write tests in a text processor and run them from command line!) without any extra work (at least on the Selenium side). as in most linux distributions python is already pre-installed by default. Run the installer downloaded (ActivePython-x.com/Products/activepython/index. After following this.
org/ (packages for Python 2.0 • Mac The latest Mac OS X version (Leopard at this time) comes with Python pre-installed.pythonmac.5. Python Client Driver Configuration . To install an extra Python. get a universal binary at http://www.Selenium Documentation.x). 156 Chapter 13. Release 1.
Release 1. It contains a . Extract the content of the downloaded zip file 3. Copy the module with the Selenium's driver for Python (selenium. Download the last version of Selenium Remote Control from the downloads page 2.pkg file that you can launch. You will find the module in the extracted folder. Congratulations. it's located inside seleniumpython-driver-client. you're done! Now any python script that you create can import selenium and start interacting with the browsers.Selenium Documentation.dmg file that you can mount. • Installing the Selenium driver client for python 1.py) in the folder C:/Python25/Lib (this will allow you to import it directly in any script you write).0 You will get a . 157 .
Python Client Driver Configuration . Release 1.0 158 Chapter 13.Selenium Documentation.
however with CSS locators this is much simpler (and faster).locate elements based on their siblings. the contains function can be used. Useful for forms and tables. 'article-heading')] 159 . 14. To demonstrate.1. One simple solution is to use XPath functions and base the location on what you do know about the element.heading 14.3 contains If an element can be located by a value that could be surrounded by other text.CHAPTER FOURTEEN LOCATING TECHNIQUES 14. • XPath: //div[contains(@class. which can make them difficult to locate. Incidentally.1.1 text Not yet written .1.2. 'text-')] 14.2 Starting to use CSS instead of XPATH 14.1 Useful XPATH patterns 14.1 Locating elements based on class In order to locate an element based on associated class in XPath you must consider that the element could have multiple classes and defined in any order.2 starts-with Many sites use dynamic values for element's id attributes.4 siblings Not yet written . For example. this would be much neater (and probably faster) using the CSS locator strategy css=span. the element <span class="top heading bold"> can be located based on the 'heading' class without having to couple it with the 'top' and 'bold' classes using the following XPath: //span[contains(@class. 'heading')].1. if your dynamic ids have the format <input id="text-12345" /> where 12345 is a dynamic number you could use the following XPath: //input[starts-with(@id. 14.locate elements based on the text content of the node.
Selenium Documentation.0 • CSS: css=div. Locating Techniques . Release 1.article-heading 160 Chapter 14.