Selenium IDE Commands

Selenium IDE is a popular open-source tool used for automating web browsers. It provides a user-friendly interface to record, edit, and playback test scripts. Selenium IDE supports multiple scripting languages, including HTML, Java, C#, Python, and Ruby. In this article, we will focus on Selenium IDE’s commands, which are the building blocks of test scripts.

Selenium IDE Commands Overview

Selenium IDE commands are the instructions that Selenium IDE uses to automate web browsers. They are the building blocks of test scripts and define the actions that Selenium IDE performs on web elements. Selenium IDE provides a wide range of commands to interact with web elements, including clicking, typing, selecting, verifying, and waiting.

Selenium IDE commands can be categorized into four types: actions, accessors, and assertions. Actions are commands that perform an act on a web element, such as clicking or typing. Accessors are commands that retrieve the value of a web element, such as text or attribute value. Assertions are commands that verify the state of a web element, such as its existence or visibility.

Let’s take a closer look at each type of Selenium IDE command.

Action Commands in Selenium IDE

Actions are commands that perform an action on a web element. Selenium IDE provides a wide range of actions to interact with web elements, including:

1. Click: Clicks on a web element, such as a button or link.

element.click()

2. Type: Types text into a web element, such as a text box or text area.

element.send_keys('text')

3. Select: Selects an option from a drop-down list or list box.

4. Submit: Submits a form or a search query.

5. Clear: Clears the text from a text box or text area.

element.clear()

6. DoubleClick: Double-clicks on a web element, such as an image or text.

7. MouseOver: Moves the mouse over a web element, such as a menu item or tooltip.

from selenium.webdriver.common.action_chains import ActionChains 
hover = ActionChains(driver).move_to_element(element) 
hover.perform()

8. DragAndDrop: Drags a web element and drops it onto another web element, such as a file or image.

Accessors in Selenium

Accessors are commands that retrieve the value of a web element. Selenium IDE provides a wide range of accessors to retrieve the value of different web elements, including:

1. Text: Retrieves the text from a web element, such as a label or paragraph.

text = element.text

2. Value: Retrieves the value of a form element, such as a text box or checkbox.

value = element.get_attribute('value')

3. Attribute: Retrieves the value of an attribute of a web element, such as the href attribute of a link.

4. Title: Retrieves the title of the web page.

5. Table: Retrieves the data from a table on the web page.

Assertions in Selenium IDE

Assertions are commands that verify the state of a web element. Selenium IDE provides a wide range of assertions to verify the state of different web elements, including:

1. Element Present: Verifies that a web element is present on the web page.

2. Element Not Present: Verifies that a web element is not present on the web page.

3. Element Visible: Verifies that a web element is visible on the web page.

4. Element Not Visible: Verifies that a web element is not visible on the web page.

5. Element Enabled: Verifies that a web element is enabled on the web page.

6. Element Disabled: Verifies that a web element is disabled on the web page.

7. Text Present: Verifies that a specific text is present on the web page.

8. Text Not Present: Verifies that a specific text is not present on the web page.

9. Alert Present: Verifies that an alert dialog box is present on the web page.

In Selenium IDE, there are three types of assertion commands:

1. “assert”: This command is used to check if an element is present on the page or not. If the element is not present, the test will fail.

2. “verify”: This command is used to check if an element is present on the page or not. If the element is not present, the test will continue to run and the result will be reported as a warning.

3. “waitFor”: This command is used to wait for an element to appear on the page. If the element does not appear within the specified time, the test will fail.

Example for Assertions are as follows:

1. Check if an element is displayed:

assert element.is_displayed()

2. Check if an element is enabled:

assert element.is_enbaled()

3. Check if an element is selected:

assert element.is_selected()

4. Check if a web page title contains a specific text:

assert 'expected text' in driver.title

How to Use Selenium IDE Commands?

To use Selenium IDE commands, you need to first record a test script by performing actions on the web page. Selenium IDE will automatically generate the commands for the actions you perform. You can also manually edit the test script by adding or removing commands as needed.

Selenium IDE commands can be edited using the command editor. It is a text editor that allows you to modify the commands in the test script. You can also use the command reference to learn more about each command and its parameters.

Selenium IDE commands can also be organized into test suites, which are collections of test cases that can be executed together. Test suites can be created using the test suite editor, which allows you to add, remove, and modify test cases.

Best Practices for Using Selenium IDE Commands

When using Selenium IDE commands, it’s important to follow best practices to ensure that your test scripts are reliable and maintainable. Here are some best practices for using Selenium IDE commands:

1. Use descriptive names for test cases and test suites: Use names that describe the purpose of the test case or test suite to make it easier to understand and maintain.

2. Use comments to explain the purpose of the commands: Use comments to explain why a particular command is being used and what it does.

3. Use variables to store values: Use variables to store values that are used multiple times in the test script, such as URLs or user names.

4. Use assertions to verify the state of the web elements: Use assertions to verify that the web elements are in the expected state, such as being present, visible, or enabled.

5. Use waits to ensure that the web elements are loaded: Use waits to ensure that the web elements are loaded before performing actions on them.

6. Use reusable functions to avoid code duplicating code. For example, if you need to perform the same set of actions on multiple pages, you can create a reusable function that can be called from different test cases.

7. Keep test scripts small and focused: Keep test scripts small and focused on a single feature or functionality to make them easier to understand and maintain.

8. Use version control to manage test scripts: Use version control tools such as Git to manage your test scripts and track changes.

Conclusion

Selenium IDE commands provide a powerful and flexible way to automate web testing. With a wide range of commands for interacting with web elements, Selenium IDE allows you to create reliable and maintainable test scripts.

By following best practices such as using descriptive names, comments, and reusable functions, you can create test scripts. With the ability to organize test cases into test suites and use version control tools, Selenium IDE is a powerful tool for automating web testing.