Element Selectors in Cucumber Protractor for JavaScript

Introduction to Cucumber and Protractor for BDD in JavaScript

• Explains why behavior-driven development (BDD) with Cucumber and automated UI testing with Protractor are so popular among QA professionals.
• Given that Cucumber is a tool that allows writing human-readable test situations and Protractor is an end-to-end testing framework for Angular and AngularJS applications.
• Discusses the advantage of Protractor in synchronizing with Angular functionality, which ensures that tests wait until the page loads.

Types of Element Selectors in Protractor

• by.css: Good for selecting elements by CSS class or ID.
• by.id: The fastest and most reliable option for elements with unique IDs.
• by.className: Useful for selecting elements with a specific class name. Dynamic classes are not always reliable, though.
• by.tagName: Best for selecting all elements of a specific type of HTML tag, such as a button or input.
• by.xpath: flexible but slower Required when dealing with complex or dynamic surface structures.
• by.linkText / by.partialLinkText: Good for selecting anchor links in navigation menus.

const loginButton = element(by.css('.login-btn'));
const userField = element(by.id('username'));

Creating Effective Step Definitions Using Element Selectors

• Shows how options are combined with Cucumber term definitions for interaction testing.
• Provides best practices for phase definitions such as modularity and reusable components.

const { Given, When, Then } = require('@cucumber/cucumber');
const LoginPage = require('../page_objects/LoginPage'); // Page object model

Given('the user navigates to the login page', async function () {
  await browser.get('https://example.com/login');
});

When('the user enters {string} and {string}', async function (username, password) {
  await LoginPage.enterCredentials(username, password); // POM method
});

Then('the user should be redirected to the dashboard', async function () {
  expect(await element(by.css('.dashboard')).isDisplayed()).to.be.true;
});

Dynamic Selectors and Handling Dynamic IDs

• Discuss how dynamic content requires adaptive options. This is usually by.xpath or using partial text matching.
• Example of using by.xpath for an element with some dynamic properties: javascriptCopy codeconst dynamicButton = element(by.xpath(“//button[contains(@class, ‘btn-dynamic-‘)]”));

Page Object Model (POM) for Modular Selector Management

• Introducing the Page Object Model as a strategy for maintaining options and increasing test readability.
• It outlines how POM reduces redundancy by separating options and actions into separate modules. Particularly useful for applications that have reusable components.

class LoginPage {
  constructor() {
    this.usernameInput = element(by.id('username'));
    this.passwordInput = element(by.id('password'));
    this.loginButton = element(by.css('.login-btn'));
  }

  async enterCredentials(username, password) {
    await this.usernameInput.sendKeys(username);
    await this.passwordInput.sendKeys(password);
    await this.loginButton.click();
  }
}
module.exports = new LoginPage();

Optimizing Element Selection and Test Stability

• Highlight the conditions expected in a protractor. (protractor.ExpectedConditions) to wait for dynamic elements
• Provides sample code for handling cases where elements are loaded asynchronously.

const EC = protractor.ExpectedConditions;
const button = element(by.id('confirm'));

await browser.wait(EC.elementToBeClickable(button), 5000, 'Button not clickable');

Configuring Protractor for Seamless Cucumber Integration

• Shows how to set up CucumberOpts for optimal performance and direct configuration of feature paths. parallel operation and environment options

exports.config = {
  framework: 'custom',
  frameworkPath: require.resolve('protractor-cucumber-framework'),
  cucumberOpts: {
    require: ['./features/step_definitions/*.js'], // Path to step definitions
    format: 'json:./reports/cucumber_report.json' // For reporting
  },
  capabilities: {
    browserName: 'chrome',
    shardTestFiles: true, // Enables parallel execution
    maxInstances: 2
  }
};

Best Practices for Element Selectors and Test Automation

• Avoid using hardcoded waits and prefer the protractor wait method.
• Use as many CSS or ID selectors as possible for faster testing.
• Follow the format Give-When-Then Keep feature files and step definitions concise and modular.

Handling Common Protractor-Cucumber Challenges

• Describes issues such as inconsistent testing due to page load times or network conditions.
• Offer solutions such as browser.waitForAngularEnabled(false) for non-Angular sites or conditional waits.

Advanced Reporting in Cucumber-Protractor

• Familiarize yourself with reporting tools like Cucumber HTML Reporter to gain detailed insights.
• Mentioning that the –format option in Cucumber selects to display test results as JSON or HTML for better visibility of test results.

Conclusion

• Outline the importance of choosing effective options. Proper test structure and maintaining consistency in the cucumber protractor project.
• Readers are encouraged to use these methods to create efficient and maintainable automated tests.