Selenium WebDriver: Automating Complex Web Scenarios

Are you still using only manual testing to verify the functioning of your application? This can be a massive risk as the complexity of modern applications has reached such a point that human oversight or negligence can cause the entire application to crash. So what’s the solution? You have to start investing in advanced tools like Selenium WebDriver. But are you a new tester who doesn’t even know what is Selenium WebDriver? 

Don’t worry! We are here for you. Our article will help you understand how you can use the power of Selenium WebDriver to automate your advanced testing scenarios. During our discussion, we will also help you go through some of the common challenges and best practices that can prepare you to integrate this workflow within your testing environment. 

What Is Selenium WebDriver 

Since we are trying to help you understand what is Selenium WebDriver, it is only obvious that we begin our discussion with it, so, it is not a standalone tool but a part of the Selenium test suite that has various other tools to help you at multiple stages of the application testing process. With this tool, you can implement automation testing on multiple elements of your web app using any of your chosen programming languages. 

It’ll also help you to run all the required test cases in the native environment of your chosen browser without requiring the integration of any dedicated third-party test engine. To further help you understand the role of Selenium WebDriver, let us understand the major features that you can access while using it for testing complex scenarios: 

• It provides you with cross-browser compatibility so that you can choose any of your browsers depending on your own needs or the choice of your audience. 
• Have a preferred programming language? You need not worry while using Selenium WebDriver! Why? It allows you to create the test cases in any of your programming languages, and then you can automatically convert them into a language that it can understand. 
• It is a very integration-friendly test suite as you can easily add it with various test management tools like TestNG,  JUnit, and PyTest. 
• We all know that modern applications require thousands of different test cases to ensure that all of its components are working perfectly. While using Selenium WebDriver, you can run parallel testing using Selenium Grid so that you can execute the test cases on different configurations and machines at the same time. 
• The API of Selenium WebDriver is very complex and capable, as it allows you to handle multiple complex user interactions and browser behaviors. It also allows you the option to run these interactions at the same time without any form of implementation delay. 

Complex Web Scenarios and Selenium WebDriver Solutions 

Let us now divert our attention to some of the complex modern testing scenarios that you can easily solve with the integration of Selenium WebDriver: 

1. Handling Dynamic Content with AJAX 

Modern applications use dynamic web pages that can update the content without refreshing. This inclusion is present due to the implementation of AJAX requests. However, if you do not properly test the functioning of these web pages, it can cause issues related to the element visibility and state. 

Selenium WebDriver helps you implement explicit wait using the WebDriverWait method so that you can specify certain conditions within the application, so that the system can automatically pause the test execution process until these conditions are met. 

Want to learn more about implementing explicit waits? We have given a sample code below that can help you understand how you can use this method with your test cases as well:  

2. Automating File Uploads and Downloads 

Modern applications rely on a lot of information to smoothen the user interaction. To verify the proper functioning of these elements, you need to upload files and also download them as well. However, file dialogs are operating system-level interfaces which the WebDriver cannot control directly during the execution process. 

To solve this issue, you can use the SendKeys method, which can send input file paths for uploads faster when dealing with download actions. It can configure the browser profiles accordingly. 

If you also want to use this method, you simply have to add the following line of code within the test execution process: 

driver.find_element(By.ID, “upload”).send_keys(“/path/to/file.txt”)  

If you want to use this method for the download process, you need to use the following code instead: 

3. Working with Pop-ups and Alerts 

To further improve the user interactions on modern applications, developers often add various popups and alerts. So, you also need to verify the proper functioning of these popups and alerts. For example, you need to verify that while these elements are being triggered, they are not obstructing the view or the user interaction. 

To perform this process with the Selenium WebDriver, you have to switch to the “alert_context”. If you want to do the same, you simply have to use the code snippet that we have given below: 

 4. Managing Frames and Iframes 

While testing the functioning of the iFrames and the content within these iFrames, you might have realized that the elements inside them are not accessible without switching the context. However, while using Selenium WebDriver for running the test cases, it is a very simple process to switch context. You simply have to use the code that we have given below: 

5. Automating Multi-Tab or Multi-Window Workflows 

Modern apps have multiple windows or tabs to show different forms of content or have an intuitive interface as per the requirements of the users. However, it can be a very challenging task to not only verify the proper functioning of these tabs but also allowing the user to seamlessly switch between them.

While using the Selenium WebDriver for running the test cases, you easily have the option to switch between multiple tabs or windows depending on the requirements and the testing process. To perform this process, you can easily rely on the code that we have given below: 

Best Practices For Using Selenium WebDriver 

Finally, let us divert our attention towards some of the major practices that we recommend you to integrate within your Selenium WebDriver test cases.  

Maintain A Strategy Document 

Since automated web app testing is a very complex process with multiple devices, browsers, and operating systems, it is very important to create a proper plan about all your target configurations. This process will allow you to target all your test cases properly to ensure a streamlined approach. 

After executing the test cases, you should also update this document to add all the tests that you have run, their results, and the bugs that they have encountered. This information will help avoid the previously known errors in the future instances and also create a general understanding about the currencies of the development project. 

Invest In Cloud Testing 

If you are a new tester who doesn’t even know what is Selenium WebDriver and what is Selenium, there is a very high possibility that you are not aware of cloud testing as well. 

As we all know, real device testing is a very important part of the web testing cycle, as it helps verify the stability of the application depending on the physical parameters of your device. But, many developers shy away from this process due to the investment and hassle related with it. This is exactly the problem that cloud testing platforms aim to solve by providing you access to thousands of these configurations through remote servers. 

To learn more about the influence of cloud testing in modern Selenium test cases, let us use the example of LambdaTest: 

LambdaTest is an AI-native test orchestration and execution platform that lets you perform manual and automation testing at scale with over 3000+ browsers, OS combinations, and 5000+ real devices.  

A great benefit of this platform is that after running all your test cases, it will provide you with a very detailed test report along with various screenshots and videos. The aim of this inclusion is to properly guide you throughout the debugging process by allowing you to quickly locate the faulty elements.  

Create A Testing Balance 

Although automated Selenium testing will help remove the repetitive nature of the modern testing infrastructure, you should also remember that there will always be certain components of the testing suite that can never be automated. For example, you need to manually run the exploratory test cases to find faults within the application that are often overlooked by the automated test cases as well. 

So, what is the best approach? It is important to create a proper balance in automation testing and manual testing so that you can automate the repetitive task cases while still using the human expertise for the creative and complex areas.  

Stay Updated 

The world of automation testing is going through multiple inclusions to further improve the experience for both the testers and the users who will be using these applications. For example, artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms are constantly changing how you test your apps. 

Some of the major new inclusions are natural language processing, machine learning workflows, and self-healing test scripts. We would recommend you to constantly look out for all the upcoming trends like these so that you can create an end-user experience for your application that was previously even harder to imagine. 

Apart from the above practices, we would also encourage you to develop a clear understanding about the requirements for the application and the target audience. These valuable information will help you to further create optimized strategies that will be unique to your application project.  

The Bottom Line 

Based on all the areas that we discussed in this article, we can easily come to the conclusion that Selenium WebDriver, combined with the perfect tools and strategies, can help you automate the complex web testing scenarios present within your core application testing infrastructure. 

You should also start mastering browser behaviors, use wait strategies, and stay updated with all the upcoming trends to further improve the quality, scalability, and adaptability of your WebDriver-based test cases. 

Want one final tip? Don’t migrate all your test cases at once. Instead, start from a non-critical test case and closely monitor all the results that you will receive from it. If they are overwhelmingly positive, you can scale to the other areas of the testing project as well. This experimental approach will also provide you with enough time to gain the confidence of the stakeholders regarding this transition.