This post explains various Selenese commands used in Selenium IDE which are frequently used in Questions and answers for easy understanding of the topic.
Question 1: What are the various components of a test step in Selenium?
Answer: A test step in Selenium
comprises of Commands, target object on which to execute the commands and value
which acts as input or the expected result on execution of command on the
target object. Selenese Commands are the set of selenium commands that we use in
Selenium IDE. A target object can be identified by the Property of the object.
For e.g. by Id, classname, xpath, or CSS to name a few.
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| Understanding commands, target and value |
Question 2: Explain some of the useful and widely used Selenium commands in Selenium IDE?
Answer: Below are some of the
useful commands used in Selenium.
a.
Open - open(url). URL provided accepts both relative and absolute
URLs. The "open" command waits for the page to load before proceeding.
URL is provided in the target of the command. In case only ‘/’is provided in
the target. It will open the URL as provided in base URL. Following are few
ways in which open command works. Suppose base url is http://www.google.com,
below are the scenarios
- / in target will open http://www.google.com/ (relative path)
- /#q=google in target will open http://www.google.com/#q=google (relative Path)
- http://www.rediff.com in target will open http://www.rediff.com (absolute Path). Similar to this is OpenWindow(url) – This will open url provided in target in a new window.
b.
type(Locator,
value) - Types the value in the
object identified by the locator. This can be used to set the value of combo
boxes, check boxes, etc. Target will be object
c.
Sendkeys(Locator,
value) - This command types the value key-by-key defined in value on
the object identified by Locator. It may be confusing for new users the use of
sendkeys when type command already exists. The difference between Sendkeys and
type is when we use sendkeys, it does not replace the existing content in the
field, whereas when we use type, it replaces the content of the field. Both the
methods are used to input data in an edit field.
d. Click(locator) –
Clicks an object defined by locator in Target. In case we need to wait for page
to load completely before performing further action, we use ClickandWait.
e. Select(Locator, value) – This is
used to select a value from a webList identified by Locator defined in target and
sets the value as defined in the value. In case of Page load in case of
selecting value from the weblist, use selectandwait.
f.
store(expression, variable Name)
– This
stores the value of element defined in expression in the target and stores in
the variable name defined in value. This value can be used further in the test
by using variable as $variableName.
Similar to store are storeAttribute(an
element locator followed by a @ sign and then the name of the attribute, e.g.
"id=name@href"), storeText(stores
the text of an element) to name a few.
g.
waitForPageToLoad(time in millisecond) – This waits
for the Page to Load completely in the time defined in target. Will move to
next step in case the Page loads before the defined time
h. pause(time
in milliseconds) – This is similar to wait statement and execution is
paused for the time defined for pause command in target.
i. Refresh – This command refreshes the page.
j. verifyText(locator, expected pattern) – This compares the
text in the locator element with the expected pattern defined in value. To provide
a pattern, you can use text within *value*. This will verify if value appears
in the text displayed for locator. Similar to verifyText, we can use
verifynottext, verifyalert, verifyattribute to validate information in the
Page.
k. AssertText(locator, expected pattern) – This compares the
text in the locator element with the expected pattern defined in value. To provide
a pattern, you can use text within *value*. This will verify if value appears
in the text displayed for locator. Similar to AssertText, we can use Assertnottext,
Assertalert, Assertattribute to validate information in the Page. Difference between Assert and verify is while test stops in case of
assert fails but remaining statements in the test are executed in case of
verify statement even if the verify statement fails.
l. Highlight(Locator) – highlights the object identified by
locator in the page.
m. Break – This halts the test execution, test execution
will continue once we click on continue in the IDE. This should be used in test
but removed once test stabilizes as it results in manual intervention.
n.
captureEntirePageScreenshot(filename)
– This
command captures screenshot and save in the location defined in filename in the
target.
o.
check(locator) – this checks a radio
button/checkbox based on locator defined in target.
p.
Close() – This command simulates
the user clicking the "close" button in the title bar of a popup
window or tab.
q. windowMaximize() – this command will resize
currently selected window to take up entire screen
Question 3: What are different types of Selenese Commands?
Answer: Selenese commands can be classified into
following types:
a. Actions – Performs action
on an object. E.g. Click, type
b. Assertions – Used to add
validation steps. E.g. AssertText, verifytext
c. Accessors – checks the
state of application and stores values from the test. E.g. storetext.
Question 4: What is the default timeout for Selenium Commands?
Answer: Default timeout for selenium commands is
30000. The timeout can be changed from Options>General>default timeout of
recorded command
