How to use Selenium IDE with Scripts & Commands (Assert, Verify)

We will use the Mercury Tours website as our web application under test. It is an online flight reservation system that contains all the elements we need for this tutorial. Its URL is http://demo.guru99.com/test/newtours/, and this will be our Base URL.

Create a Script by Recording

Let us now create our first test script in Selenium IDE using the most common method - by recording. Afterward, we shall execute our script using the playback feature.

Step 1

• Launch Firefox and Selenium IDE.
• Type the value for our Base URL: http://demo.guru99.com/test/newtours/.
• Toggle the Record button on (if it is not yet toggled on by default).

Step 10.

Go back to Selenium IDE and click the Playback button to execute the whole script. Selenium IDE should be able to replicate everything flawlessly.

Introduction to Selenium Commands - Selenese

• Selenese commands can have up to a maximum of two parameters: target and value.
• Parameters are not required all the time. It depends on how many the command will need.

3 Types of Commands

Assert vs. Verify

Common Commands

Create a Script Manually with Firebug

Now, we shall recreate the same test case manually, by typing in the commands. This time, we will need to use Firebug.

Step 9: Save the test case in the same way as we did in the previous section.

Using the Find Button

The Find button in Selenium IDE is used to verify if what we had put in the Target text box is indeed the correct UI element.

Let us use the Invalid_login test case that we created in the previous sections. Click on any command with a Target entry, say, the third command.

Click on the Find button. Notice that the User Name text box within the Mercury Tours page becomes highlighted for a second.

This indicates that Selenium IDE was able to detect and access the expected element correctly. If the Find button highlighted a different element or no element at all, then there must be something wrong with your script.

Execute Command

This allows you to execute any single command without running the whole test case. Just click on the line you wish to execute and then either click on "Actions > Execute this command" from the menu bar or simply press "X" on your keyboard.

Step 1. Make sure that your browser is on the Mercury Tours homepage. Click on the command you wish to execute. In this example, click on the "type | userName | invalidUN" line.

Step 2. Press "X" on your keyboard.

Step 3. Observe that the text box for username becomes populated with the text "invalidUN"

Executing commands this way is highly dependent on the page that Firefox is currently displaying. This means that if you try the example above with the Google homepage displayed instead of Mercury Tours', then your step will fail because there is no text box with a "userName" attribute within Google's homepage.

Start point

A start point is an indicator that tells Selenium IDE which lines the execution will start. Its shortcut key is "S".

In the example above, playback will start on the third line (type | password | invalidPW). You can only have one start point in a single test script.

The start point is similar to Execute Command in such that they are dependent on the currently displayed page. The start point will fail if you are on the wrong page.

Breakpoints

Breakpoints are indicators that tell Selenium IDE where to automatically pause the test. The shortcut key is "B".

The yellow highlight means that the current step is pending. This proves that Selenium IDE has paused execution on that step. You can have multiple breakpoints in one test case.

Step

It allows you to execute succeeding commands one at a time after pausing the test case. Let us use the scenario in the previous section "Breakpoints."

Important Things to Note When Using Other Formats in Source View

Selenium IDE works well only with HTML - other formats are still in experimental mode. It is NOT advisable to create or edit tests using other formats in Source View because there is still a lot of work needed to make it stable. Below are the known bugs as of version 1.9.1.

• You will not be able to perform playback nor switch back to Table View unless you revert to HTML.
• The only way to add commands safely on the source code is by recording them.
• When you modify the source code manually, all of it will be lost when you switch to another format.
• Though you can save your test case while in Source View, Selenium IDE will not be able to open it.

The recommended way to convert Selenese tests is to use the "Export Test Case As..." option under the File menu, and not through the Source View.

Summary

• Test scripts can be created either by recording or typing the commands and parameters manually.
• When creating scripts manually, Firebug is used to get the locator.
• The Find button is used to check that the command is able to access the correct element.
• Table View displays a test script in tabular form while Source View displays it in HTML format.
• Changing the Source View to a non-HTML format is still experimental.
• Do not use the Source View in creating tests in other formats. Use the Export features instead.
• Parameters are not required all the time. It depends upon the command.
• There are three types of commands:
• Actions - directly interacts with page elements
• Accessors - "reads" an element property and stores it in a variable
• Assertions - compares an actual value with an expected one
• Assertions have three types:
• Assert - upon failure, succeeding steps are no longer executed
• Verify - upon failure, succeeding steps are still executed.
• WaitFor - passes if the specified condition becomes true within the timeout period; otherwise, it will fail
• The most common commands are:
• open
• click/clickAndWait
• type/typeKeys
• verifyTitle/assertTitle
• verifyTextPresent
• verifyElementPresent
• verifyTable
• waitForPageToLoad
• waitForElementPresent