Setting Up a Testing Undertaking in Protractor with Cucumber and Web page Object Mannequin – Grape Up

For a few years, when it got here to automating net UI testing, Selenium was the king. And it’s protected to say it nonetheless is! As a broadly recognized and confirmed automation testing software, it’s usually a default alternative for a lot of software program initiatives. However does it imply one shouldn’t discover different applied sciences and frameworks? In fact not! On this article, I’ll focus on the details behind using Protractor and clarify the right way to set it up for seamless use with Cucumber and Web page Object Mannequin.

The principle level behind utilizing Protractor is that it was developed primarily for testing Angular functions. Since Angular has its personal particular person properties – strategies, options, and synchronization, Protractor addresses these to make testing such apps simpler and extra dependable. It’s price mentioning that Protractor is a wrapper over webdriver.js – the official JavaScript implementation of Selenium Webdriver. What this implies is that in assessments growth specific Angular components could be reached with out-of-the-box check framework strategies and it nonetheless seems much like what would have been coded in a typical Selenium mission. On high of that, Protractor is able to synchronizing with Angular, which additionally helps with the soundness of the assessments.

The assumptions for organising the mission have been much like earlier endeavors with check automation initiatives – the construction needs to be clear (Web page Object Mannequin) and check scripts need to be clear and comprehensible, even for non-technical crew members (Cucumber and Gherkin). The selection of programming language fell on JavaScript since Protractor is a node.js utility and the opposite viable choice, TypeScript, would require a bit extra coding. This time the mission will make the most of Visible Studio Code as IDE.

To start organising the mission, first, you’ll want to put in node.js. After putting in it in your machine, you possibly can confirm that the set up was profitable by typing in ‘node -v’ within the terminal. Whilst you’re at it, in the identical place you can even confirm the Node Packages Supervisor, typing in ‘npm – v’. Then, sort in ‘npm set up -g protractor’ and confirm its profitable set up with ‘protractor –model’. Simply in case, you possibly can replace the motive force once in a while through the use of the “net driver-manager replace” command.

Our subsequent step might be organising the IDE for snug work. First, in Visible Studio Code set up the “Cucumber (Gherkin) full help” extension. As soon as that’s performed, we have now to handle our dependencies. In our mission’s package deal.json file we’ll want to incorporate chai and chai-as-promised for assertions, cucumber, and protractor – all within the dependencies part. In devDependencies, we’ll want protractor-cucumber-framework to realize the objective we’re striving for.

To have consolation and readability throughout the growth course of, one of many options that present it’s the capacity to shortly search for what code is executed behind every gherkin step. To realize that in a Protractor mission, we’ll have to specify Cucumber choices within the conf.js file. What is important is the trail to the steps folder. 

Then, within the settings.json file, we’ll have to specify the paths to folders containing step definitions and strategies which might be executed behind them. We will do that within the following method: 

After we do that, we will simply navigate via the mission by clicking the step/definition/technique/ingredient specified within the code with a CTRL or CMD button pressed. It’s a easy factor, however it may dramatically increase productiveness and reduce the time spent on growing or debugging assessments! 

Our subsequent premise that we have to deal with is working the assessments by tags. Whereas including a tag to a function file is fairly easy, the half the place these are run requires offering a path to Cucumber Characteristic information within the conf.js file. 

As you possibly can observe within the above piece of code, the cucumberOpts part within the conf.js file requires a variable named ‘tags’ as an empty record. 

Whereas we’re at it, it is very important level out that the conf.js file must have a piece the place we specify the Cucumber as our testing framework: 

The general construction of the automated testing mission created in Web page Object Mannequin is analogous throughout applied sciences. An outline for Protractor could be noticed beneath:  

When you create all the required information and end the configuration, it’s time to write the assessments themselves. 

Since we’re working in BDD framework, let’s begin with a easy Characteristic File with a easy state of affairs specializing in verifying a Registration type (with a tag for working it later) 

As soon as that’s performed, we will specify what occurs in every step in /steps/registration.js: 

In that file, we first specify the trail to the file containing strategies which might be going to be known as in every of the step definitions. Then we’re calling assertion libraries and organising timeouts. 

Step definition implementation is fairly easy; the Cucumber key phrase precedes a regex and a parameter; the physique of a step calls a way from /pages/registration.js file. Often, one step calls for only one technique however check steps may very well be extra intricate if want be. Discover that if a way returns a Boolean worth, we’re invoking assertion on the stage of a step definition (line 23). 

 Within the/pages/registration.js file, we have to specify a locator dictionary for components that we’re going to work together with. You are able to do this within the following method: 

Please notice the selectors used for finding the weather; you should utilize numerous out-of-the-box strategies for finding components in Protractor, which have been extensively described within the official Protractor Information (link) 

The identical goes for strategies used to work together with components:

(PS. Don’t retailer your login credentials within the check automation code… The above is only for demonstration functions) 

What occurs above is that we’re implementing strategies that we’ve known as in /steps/registration.js file, utilizing the weather we’ve put within the locator dictionary (highlighted in mild blue) and interacting with them utilizing Protractor strategies (highlighted in purple). 

Then it’s time to run the assessments. In VS Code, open a brand new terminal window and hit the “net driver-manager begin” command. Webdriver ought to be up and working now. 

To run the check you’ve written and tagged accordingly, all it’s worthwhile to do now could be you must open one other new terminal window in VS Code and enter the command:  

protractor protractor.conf.js –cucumberOpts.tags=’@smoke1′ – tagging the specified function accordingly. 

And there you’ve got it! Now you’ve got a prepared, arrange Protractor testing framework built-in with Cucumber, Web page Object Mannequin which you’ll run with the assistance of tags. If you wish to discover out extra about Protractor, I encourage you to go to the Protractor web site, which comprises complete documentation with code examples here.