# Selenium Reference

> A command is what tells Selenium what to do. Selenium commands come in two 'flavors', Actions and Assertions. Each command call is one line in the test table of the form:

> > command | target | value

> Actions are commands that generally manipulate the state of the application. They do things like "click this link" and "select that option". If an Action fails, or has an error, the execution of the current test is stopped.

> Checks verify the state of the application conforms to what is expected. Examples include "make sure the page title is X" and "check that this checkbox is checked". It is possible to tell Selenium to stop the test when an Assertion fails, or to simply record the failure and continue.

> Element Locators tell Selenium which HTML element a command refers to. Many commands require an Element Locator as the "target" attribute. Examples of Element Locators include "elementId" and "document.forms[0].element". These are described more clearly in the next section.

> Patterns are used for various reasons, e.g. to specify the expected value of an input field, or identify a select option. Selenium supports various types of pattern, including regular-expressions, all of which are described in more detail below.

# Element Locators

> Element Locators allow Selenium to identify which HTML element a command refers to. We support the following strategies for locating elements:

> id=id
>   Select the element with the specified @id attribute.
> name=name
>   Select the first element with the specified @name attribute.
> identifier=id
>   Select the element with the specified @id attribute. If no match is found, select the first element whose @name attribute is id.
> dom=javascriptExpression
>   Find an element using JavaScript traversal of the HTML Document Object Model. DOM locators must begin with "document.".
>     - dom=document.forms['myForm'].myDropdown
>     - dom=document.images[56]
> xpath=xpathExpression
>   Locate an element using an XPath expression. XPath locators must begin with "//".
>     - xpath=//img[@alt='The image alt text']
>     - xpath=//table[@id='table1']//tr[4]/td[2]
> link=textPattern
>   Select the link (anchor) element which contains text matching the specified pattern.
>     - link=The link text

> Without a locator prefix, Selenium uses:

> - dom, for locators starting with "document."
> - xpath, for locators starting with "//"
> - identifier, otherwise

# Select Option Specifiers

> Select Option Specifiers provide different ways of specifying options of an HTML Select element (e.g. for selecting a specific option, or for asserting that the selected option satisfies a specification). There are several forms of Select Option Specifier.

> label=labelPattern
>   matches options based on their labels, i.e. the visible text.
>     - label=regexp:^[Oo]ther
> value=valuePattern
>   matches options based on their values.
>     - value=other
> id=id
>   matches options based on their ids.
>     - id=option1
> index=index
>   matches an option based on its index (offset from zero).
>     - index=2

> Without a prefix, the default behaviour is to only match on labels.

# String-match Patterns

> Various Pattern syntaxes are available for matching string values:

> glob:pattern
>   Match a string against a "glob" (aka "wildmat") pattern. "Glob" is a kind of limited regular-expression syntax typically used in command-line shells. In a glob pattern, "*" represents any sequence of characters, and "?" represents any single character. Glob patterns match against the entire string.
> regexp:regexp
>   Match a string using a regular-expression. The full power of JavaScript regular-expressions is available.
> exact:string
>   Match a string exactly, verbatim, without any of that fancy wildcard stuff.

> If no pattern prefix is specified, Selenium assumes that it's a "glob" pattern.

# Selenium Actions

> Actions tell Selenium to do something in the application. They generally represent something a user would do.

> 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 that Selenium should wait for a new page to load. The exceptions to this pattern are the "open" and "click" actions, which will both wait for a page to load by default.

> open( url )

> > Opens a URL in the test frame. This accepts both relative and absolute URLs.

> > Note: The URL must be on the same site as Selenium due to security restrictions in the browser (Cross Site Scripting).

> > examples:

> > > open | /mypage |
> > > open | http://localhost/ |

> click( elementLocator )

> > Clicks on a link, button, checkbox or radio button. If the click action causes a new page to load (like a link usually does), use "clickAndWait".

> > examples:

> > > click | aCheckbox |
> > > clickAndWait | submitButton |
> > > clickAndWait | anyLink |

> > note:
> >   Selenium will always automatically click on a popup dialog raised by the alert() or confirm() methods. (The exception is those raised during 'onload', which are not yet handled by Selenium). You must use [verify|assert]Alert or [verify|assert]Confirmation to tell Selenium that you expect the popup dialog. You may use chooseCancelOnNextConfirmation to click 'cancel' on the next confirmation dialog instead of clicking 'OK'.

> type( inputLocator, value )

> > Sets the value of an input field, as though you typed it in.

> > Can also be used to set the value of combo boxes, check boxes, etc. In these cases, value should be the value of the option selected, not the visible text.

> > examples:

> > > type | nameField | John Smith
> > > typeAndWait | textBoxThatSubmitsOnChange | newValue

> select( dropDownLocator, optionSpecifier )

> > Select an option from a drop-down, based on the optionSpecifier. If more than one option matches the specifier (e.g. due to the use of globs like "f*b*", or due to more than one option having the same label or value), then the first matches is selected.

> > examples:

> > > select | dropDown | Australian Dollars
> > > select | dropDown | index=0
> > > selectAndWait | currencySelector | value=AUD
> > > selectAndWait | currencySelector | label=Aus*lian D*rs

> selectWindow( windowId )

> > Selects a popup window. Once a popup window has been selected, all commands go to that window. To select the main window again, use "null" as the target.

> > target: The id of the window to select.

> > value: ignored

> > examples:

> > > selectWindow | myPopupWindow |
> > > selectWindow | null |

> goBack()

> > Simulates the user clicking the "back" button on their browser.

> > examples:

> > > goBack |  |

> close()

> > Simulates the user clicking the "close" button in the titlebar of a popup window.

> > examples:

> > > close |  |

> pause( milliseconds )

> > Pauses the execution of the test script for a specified amount of time. This is useful for debugging a script or pausing to wait for some server side action.

> > examples:

> > > pause | 5000 |
> > > pause | 2000 |

> fireEvent( elementLocator, eventName )

> > Explicitly simulate an event, to trigger the corresponding "onevent" handler.

> > examples:

> > > fireEvent | textField | focus
> > > fireEvent | dropDown | blur

> waitForValue( inputLocator, value )

> > Waits for a specified input (e.g. a hidden field) to have a specified value. Will succeed immediately if the input already has the value. This is implemented by polling for the value. Warning: can block indefinitely if the input never has the specified value.

> > example:

> > > waitForValue | finishIndication | isfinished

> store( valueToStore, variableName )

> > Stores a value into a variable. The value can be constructed using either variable substitution or javascript evaluation, as detailed in 'Parameter construction and Variables' (below).

> > examples:

> > > store | Mr John Smith | fullname
> > > store | ${title} ${firstname} ${surname} | fullname
> > > store | javascript{Math.round(Math.PI * 100) / 100} | PI

> storeValue( inputLocator, variableName )

> > Stores the value of an input field into a variable.

> > examples:

> > > storeValue | userName | userID
> > > type | userName | ${userID}

> storeText( elementLocator, variableName )

> > Stores the text of an element into a variable.

> > examples:

> > > storeText | currentDate | expectedStartDate
> > > verifyValue | startDate | ${expectedStartDate}

> storeAttribute( elementLocator@attributeName, variableName )

> > Stores the value of an element attribute into a variable.

> > examples:

> > > storeAttribute | input1@class | classOfInput1
> > > verifyAttribute | input2@class | ${classOfInput1}

> chooseCancelOnNextConfirmation()

> > Instructs Selenium to click Cancel on the next javascript confirmation dialog to be raised. By default, the confirm function will return true, having the same effect as manually clicking OK. After running this command, the next confirmation will behave as if the user had clicked Cancel.

> > examples:

> > > chooseCancelOnNextConfirmation |  |

> answerOnNextPrompt( answerString )

> > Instructs Selenium to return the specified answerString in response to the next prompt.

> > examples:

> > > answerOnNextPrompt | Kangaroo |

# Selenium Checks

> Checks are used to verify the state of the application. They can be used to check the value of a form field, the presense of some text, or the URL of the current page.

> All Selenium Checks can be used in 2 modes, "assert" and "verify". These behave identically, except that when an "assert" check fails, the test is aborted. When a "verify" check fails, the test will continue execution. This allows a single "assert" to ensure that the application is on the correct page, followed by a bunch of "verify" checks to test form field values, labels, etc.

> assertLocation( relativeLocation )

> > examples:

> > > verifyLocation | /mypage |
> > > assertLocation | /mypage |

> assertTitle( titlePattern )

> > Verifies the title of the current page.

> > examples:

> > > verifyTitle | My Page |
> > > assertTitle | My Page |

> assertValue( inputLocator, valuePattern )

> > Verifies the value of an input field (or anything else with a value parameter). For checkbox/radio elements, the value will be "on" or "off" depending on whether the element is checked or not.

> > examples:

> > > verifyValue | nameField | John Smith
> > > assertValue | document.forms[2].nameField | John Smith

> assertSelected( selectLocator, optionSpecifier )

> > Verifies that the selected option of a drop-down satisfies the optionSpecifier.

> > examples:

> > > verifySelected | dropdown2 | John Smith
> > > verifySelected | dropdown2 | value=js*123
> > > assertSelected | document.forms[2].dropDown | label=J* Smith
> > > assertSelected | document.forms[2].dropDown | index=0

> assertSelectOptions( selectLocator, optionLabelList )

> > Verifies the labels of all options in a drop-down against a comma-separated list. Commas in an expected option can be escaped as ",".

> > examples:

> > > verifySelectOptions | dropdown2 | John Smith,Dave Bird
> > > assertSelectOptions | document.forms[2].dropDown | Smith\, J,Bird\, D

> assertText( elementLocator, textPattern )

> > Verifies the text of an element. This works for any element that contains text. This command uses either the textContent (Mozilla-like browsers) or the innerText (IE-like browsers) of the element, which is the rendered text shown to the user.

> > examples:

> > > verifyText | statusMessage | Successful
> > > assertText | //div[@id='foo']//h1 | Successful

> assertAttribute( elementLocator@attributeName, valuePattern )

> > Verifies the value of an element attribute.

> > examples:

> > > verifyAttribute | txt1@class | bigAndBold
> > > assertAttribute | document.images[0]@alt | alt-text
> > > verifyAttribute | //img[@id='foo']/@alt | alt-text

> assertTextPresent( text )

> > Verifies that the specified text appears somewhere on the rendered page shown to the user.

> > examples:

> > > verifyTextPresent | You are now logged in. |
> > > assertTextPresent | You are now logged in. |

> assertTextNotPresent( text )

> > Verifies that the specified text does NOT appear anywhere on the rendered page.

> assertElementPresent( elementLocator )

> > Verifies that the specified element is somewhere on the page.

> > examples:

> > > verifyElementPresent | submitButton |
> > > assertElementPresent | //img[@alt='foo'] |

> assertElementNotPresent( elementLocator )

> > Verifies that the specified element is NOT on the page.

> > examples:

> > > verifyElementNotPresent | cancelButton |
> > > assertElementNotPresent | cancelButton |

> assertTable( cellAddress, valuePattern )

> > Verifies the text in a cell of a table. The cellAddress syntax tableName.row.column, where row and column start at 0.

> > examples:

> > > verifyTable | myTable.1.6 | Submitted
> > > assertTable | results.0.2 | 13

> assertVisible( elementLocator )

> > Verifies that the specified element is both present and visible. An element can be rendered invisible by setting the CSS "visibility" property to "hidden", or the "display" property to "none", either for the element itself or one if its ancestors.

> > examples:

> > > verifyVisible | postcode |
> > > assertVisible | postcode |

> assertNotVisible( elementLocator )

> > Verifies that the specified element is NOT visible. Elements that are simply not present are also considered invisible.

> > examples:

> > > verifyNotVisible | postcode |
> > > assertNotVisible | postcode |

> verifyEditable / assertEditable( inputLocator )

> > Verifies that the specified element is editable, ie. it's an input element, and hasn't been disabled.

> > examples:

> > > verifyEditable | shape |
> > > assertEditable | colour |

> assertNotEditable( inputLocator )

> > Verifies that the specified element is NOT editable, ie. it's NOT an input element, or has been disabled.

> assertAlert( messagePattern )

> > Verifies that a javascript alert with the specified message was generated. Alerts must be verified in the same order that they were generated.

> > Verifying an alert has the same effect as manually clicking OK. If an alert is generated but you do not verify it, the next Selenium action will fail.

> > NOTE: under Selenium, javascript alerts will NOT pop up a visible alert dialog.

> > NOTE: Selenium does NOT support javascript alerts that are generated in a page's onload() event handler. In this case a visible dialog WILL be generated and Selenium will hang until you manually click OK.

> > examples:

> > > verifyAlert | Invalid Phone Number |
> > > assertAlert | Invalid Phone Number |

> assertConfirmation( messagePattern )

> > Verifies that a javascript confirmation dialog with the specified message was generated. Like alerts, confirmations must be verified in the same order that they were generated.

> > By default, the confirm function will return true, having the same effect as manually clicking OK. This can be changed by prior execution of the chooseCancelOnNextConfirmation command (see above). If an confirmation is generated but you do not verify it, the next Selenium action will fail.

> > NOTE: under Selenium, javascript confirmations will NOT pop up a visible dialog.

> > NOTE: Selenium does NOT support javascript confirmations that are generated in a page's onload() event handler. In this case a visible dialog WILL be generated and Selenium will hang until you manually click OK.

> > examples:

> > > assertConfirmation | Remove this user? |
> > > verifyConfirmation | Are you sure? |

> assertPrompt( messagePattern )

> > Verifies that a javascript prompt dialog with the specified message was generated. Like alerts, prompts must be verified in the same order that they were generated.

> > Successful handling of the prompt requires prior execution of the answerOnNextPrompt command (see above). If a prompt is generated but you do not verify it, the next Selenium action will fail.

> > examples:

> > > answerOnNextPrompt | Joe |
> > > click | id=delegate |
> > > verifyPrompt | Delegate to who? |

# Parameter construction and Variables

> All Selenium command parameters can be constructed using both simple variable substitution as well as full javascript. Both of these mechanisms can access previously stored variables, but do so using different syntax.

> Stored Variables

> The commands store, storeValue and storeText can be used to store a variable value for later access. Internally, these variables are stored in a map called "storedVars", with values keyed by the variable name. These commands are documented in the command reference.

> Variable substitution

> Variable substitution provides a simple way to include a previously stored variable in a command parameter. This is a simple mechanism, by which the variable to substitute is indicated by ${variableName}. Multiple variables can be substituted, and intermixed with static text.

> Example:

> > store | Mr | title
> > storeValue | nameField | surname
> > store | ${title} ${surname} | fullname
> > type | textElement | Full name is: ${fullname}

> Javascript evaluation

> Javascript evaluation provides the full power of javascript in constructing a command parameter. To use this mechanism, the entire parameter value must be prefixed by 'javascript{' with a trailing '}'. The text inside the braces is evaluated as a javascript expression, and can access previously stored variables using the storedVars map detailed above. Note that variable substitution cannot be combined with javascript evaluation.

> Example:

> > store | javascript{'merchant' + (new Date()).getTime()} | merchantId
> > type | textElement | javascript{storedVars['merchantId'].toUpperCase()}

# Extending Selenium

> It can be quite simple to extend Selenium, adding your own actions, checks and locator-strategies. This is done with javascript by adding methods to the Selenium object prototype, and the PageBot object prototype. On startup, Selenium will automatically look through methods on these prototypes, using name patterns to recognise which ones are actions, checks and locators.

> The following examples try to give an indication of how Selenium can be extended with javascript.

Actions

> All doFoo methods on the Selenium prototype are added as actions. For each action foo there is also an action fooAndWait registered. An action method can take up to 2 parameters, which will be passed the second and third column values in the test.

> Example: Add a "typeRepeated" action to Selenium, which types the text twice into a text box.

>     Selenium.prototype.doTypeRepeated = function(locator, text) {
>         // All locator-strategies are automatically handled by "findElement"
>         var element = this.page().findElement(locator);

>         // Create the text to type
>         var valueToType = text + text;

>         // Replace the element text with the new text
>         this.page().replaceText(element, valueToType);
>     };

Checks

> All assertFoo methods on the Selenium prototype are added as checks. For each check foo there is an assertFoo and verifyFoo registered. An assert method can take up to 2 parameters, which will be passed the second and third column values in the test.

> Example: Add a valueRepeated check, that makes sure that the element 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
>         this.assertMatches(expectedValue, actualValue);
>     };

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];
>             if (testElement.value && testElement.value === expectedValue) {
>                 return testElement;
>             }
>         }
>         return null;
>     };

user-extensions.js

> By default, Selenium looks for a file called "user-extensions.js", and loads the javascript code found in that file. This file provides a convenient location for adding features to Selenium, without needing to modify the core Selenium sources.

> In the standard distibution, this file does not exist. Users can create this file and place their extension code in this common location, removing the need to modify the Selenium sources, and hopefully assisting with the upgrade process.

: