selenium safari driver python

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Selenium – Open Safari browser

Steps to open safari browser using selenium python, python selenium – open safari.

In this tutorial, you shall learn how to open Safari browser, using Selenium, in Python language.

Prerequisites

We have to set the Allow Remote Automation to open Safari browser using Selenium.

To set Allow Remote Automation in Safari browser,

• Open Safari browser.
• Click on Develop menu.
• Make sure the menu item Allow Remote Automation is checked. If not checked already, click on it.

Import webdriver module from selenium module.

Create a Safari driver instance using webdriver.Safari() class.

In the following example, we followed the above said steps to create a Safari driver instance, and open a Safari browser window.

Python Program

In this Python Selenium Tutorial , we have seen how to create a Safari driver instance and open a Safari browser window.

Related Tutorials

Quiz on selenium.

Q1 . Which of the following is not a popular web driver used in Selenium Python?

Q2 . What is the method used to find web elements in Selenium Python?

Q3 . Which of the following is not a commonly used assertion method in Selenium Python?

Q4 . Which of the following is not a commonly used web element locator in Selenium Python?

Q5 . What is the method used to clear the text from an input field in Selenium Python?

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🧭 Using Safari Driver

Using safari's webdriver for running browser tests on macos ¶.

(NOTE: Safari's WebDriver requires macOS 10.13 "High Sierra" or later.)

You can find the official Apple documentation regarding "Testing with WebDriver in Safari" on the following page: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/webkit/testing_with_webdriver_in_safari

Run safaridriver --enable once in a terminal to enable Safari's WebDriver. (If you’re upgrading from a previous macOS release, you may need to prefix the command with sudo .)

Now you can use --safari to run your SeleniumBase tests on Safari.

WebDriver Support in Safari 10

Aug 26, 2016

by Brian Burg

As web content has become increasingly interactive, responsive, and complicated, ensuring a good user experience across multiple platforms and browsers is a huge challenge for web developers and QA organizations. Not only must web content be loaded, executed, and rendered correctly, but a user must be able to interact with the content as intended, no matter the browser, platform, hardware, screen size, or other conditions. If your shopping cart application has a clean layout and beautiful typography, but the checkout button doesn’t work because of a configuration mishap in production—or an incorrect CSS rule hides the checkout button in landscape mode—then your users are not going to have a great experience.

Ensuring a good user experience via automation is difficult in part because each browser has its own way of interpreting keyboard and mouse inputs, performing navigations, organizing windows and tabs, and so on. Of course, a human could manually test every interaction and workflow of their website on every browser prior to deploying an update to production, but this is slow, costly, and impractical for all but the largest companies. The Selenium open source project was created to address this gap in automation capabilities for browsers by providing a common API for automation. WebDriver is Selenium’s cross-platform, cross-browser automation API. Using WebDriver, a developer can write an automated test that exercises their web content, and run the test against any browser with a WebDriver-compliant driver.

Safari + WebDriver

I am thrilled to announce that Safari now provides native support for the WebDriver API. Starting with Safari 10 on OS X El Capitan and macOS Sierra, Safari comes bundled with a new driver implementation that’s maintained by the Web Developer Experience team at Apple. Safari’s driver is launchable via the /usr/bin/safaridriver executable, and most client libraries provided by Selenium will automatically launch the driver this way without further configuration.

I’ll first introduce WebDriver by example and explain a little bit about how it’s implemented and how to use Safari’s new driver implementation. I will introduce some important safeguards that are unique to Safari’s driver implementation, and discuss how these may affect you when retargeting an existing WebDriver test suite to run using Safari’s driver.

WebDriver By Example

WebDriver is a browser automation API that enables people to write automated tests of their web content using Python, Java, PHP, JavaScript, or any other language with a library that understands the de facto  Selenium Wire Protocol  or upcoming  W3C WebDriver protocol .

Below is a WebDriver test suite for the WebKit feature status page  written in Python. The first test case searches the feature status page for “CSS” and ensures that at least one result appears. The second test case counts the number of visible results when various filters are applied to make sure that each result shows up in at most one filter. Note that in the Python WebDriver library each method call synchronously blocks until the operation completes (such as navigating or executing JavaScript), but some client libraries provide a more asynchronous API.

Note that this code example is for illustration purposes only. This test is contemporaneous with a specific version of the Feature Status page and uses page-specific DOM classes and selectors. So, it may or may not work on later versions of the Feature Status page. As with any test, it may need to be modified to work with later versions of the software it tests.

WebDriver Under the Hood

WebDriver is specified in terms of a REST API; Safari’s driver provides its own local web server that accepts REST-style HTTP requests. Under the hood, the Python Selenium library translates each method call on self.driver  into a REST API command and sends the corresponding HTTP request to local web server hosted by Safari’s driver. The driver validates the contents of the request and forwards the command to the appropriate browser instance. Typically, the low-level details of performing most of these commands are delegated to WebAutomationSession and related classes in WebKit’s UIProcess and WebProcess layers. When a command has finished executing, the driver finally sends an HTTP response for the REST API command. The Python client library interprets the HTTP response and returns the result back to the test code.

Running the Example in Safari

To run this WebDriver test using Safari, first you need to grab a recent release of the Selenium open source project. Selenium’s Java and Python client libraries offer support for Safari’s native driver implementation starting in the 3.0.0-beta1 release. Note that the Apple-developed driver is unrelated to the legacy SafariDriver mentioned in the Selenium project. The old SafariDriver implementation is no longer maintained and should not be used. You do not need to download anything besides Safari 10 to get the Apple-developed driver.

Once you have obtained, installed, and configured the test to use the correct Selenium library version, you need to configure Safari to allow automation. As a feature intended for developers, Safari’s WebDriver support is turned off by default. To turn on WebDriver support, do the following:

• Ensure that the Develop menu is available. It can be turned on by opening Safari preferences ( Safari > Preferences in the menu bar), going to the Advanced tab, and ensuring that the Show Develop menu in menu bar checkbox is checked.
• Enable Remote Automation in the Develop menu. This is toggled via Develop > Allow Remote Automation in the menu bar.
• Authorize  safaridriver to launch the webdriverd service which hosts the local web server. To permit this, run /usr/bin/safaridriver once manually and complete the authentication prompt.

Once you have enabled Remote Automation, copy and save the test as test_webkit.py . Then run the following:

Safari-exclusive Safeguards

While it’s awesome to be able to write automated tests that run in Safari, a REST API for browser automation introduces a potential vector for malicious software. To support a valuable automation API without sacrificing a user’s privacy or security, Safari’s driver implementation introduces extra safeguards that no other browser or driver has implemented to date. These safeguards also double as extra insurance against “ flaky tests ” by providing enhanced test isolation. Some of these safeguards are described below.

When running a WebDriver test in Safari, test execution is confined to special Automation windows that are isolated from normal browsing windows, user settings, and preferences. Automation windows are easy to recognize by their orange Smart Search field. Similar to browsing in a Private Browsing window, WebDriver tests that run in an Automation window always start from a clean slate and cannot access Safari’s normal browsing history, AutoFill data, or other sensitive information. Aside from the obvious privacy benefits, this restriction also helps to ensure that tests are not affected by a previous test session’s persistent state such as local storage or cookies.

As a WebDriver test is executing in an Automation window, any attempts to interact with the window or web content could derail the test by unexpectedly changing the state of the page. To prevent this from happening, Safari installs a “glass pane” over the Automation window while the test is running. This blocks any stray interactions (mouse, keyboard, resizing, and so on) from affecting the Automation window. If a running test gets stuck or fails, it’s possible to interrupt the running test by “breaking” the glass pane. When an automation session is interrupted, the test’s connection to the browser is permanently severed and the automation window remains open until closed manually.

Along with being able to interact with a stopped test, Safari’s driver implementation also allows for the full use of Web Inspector during and after the execution of a WebDriver test. This is very useful when trying to figure out why a test has hung or is providing unexpected results. safaridriver supports two special WebDriver capabilities just for debugging. The  automaticInspection capability will preload the Web Inspector and JavaScript debugger in the background; to pause test execution and bring up Web Inspector’s Debugger tab, you can simply evaluate a debugger; statement in the test page. The automaticProfiling capability will preload the Web Inspector and start a timeline recording in the background; if you later want to see details of what happened during the test, you can open the Timelines tab in Web Inspector to see the captured timeline recording in its entirety.

Safari’s driver restricts the number of active WebDriver sessions. Only one Safari browser instance can be running at any given time, and only one WebDriver session can be attached to the browser instance at a time. This ensures that the user behavior being simulated (mouse, keyboard, touch, etc.) closely matches what a user can actually perform with real hardware in the macOS windowing environment. For example, the system’s text insertion caret can only be active in one window and form control at a time; if Safari’s driver were to allow multiple tests to run concurrently in separate windows or browsers, the text insertion behavior (and resulting DOM focus/blur events) would not be representative of what a user could perform themselves.

With the introduction of native WebDriver support in Safari 10, it’s now possible to run the same automated tests of web content on all major browsers equally, without writing any browser-specific code. I hope WebDriver support will help web developers  catch user-visible regressions in their web content much more quickly and with less manual testing. Safari’s support comes with new, exclusive safeguards to simultaneously protect user security and privacy and also help you write more stable and consistent tests. You can try out Safari’s WebDriver support today by installing a beta of macOS Sierra or Safari 10 .

This is our first implementation of WebDriver for Safari. If you encounter unexpected behavior in Safari’s WebDriver support, or have other suggestions for improvement, please file a bug at https://bugreport.apple.com/ . For quick questions or feedback, email [email protected]  or tweet @webkit or @brrian  on Twitter. Happy testing!

After this post was published, we received a lot of useful feedback from users. This section contains information on some common problems and how to work around them.

safaridriver quits immediately after launch when running Safari 10 on El Capitan

Some users reported that they could not get safaridriver to run correctly after installing Safari 10 on El Capitan. The main symptom of this issue is that safaridriver will quit immediately when launched manually via the command line. This happens because a launchd plist used by safaridriver is not automatically loaded. Here’s the workaround:

This issue only manifests on El Capitan when installing a newer Safari through an application update instead of an OS update. Users running safaridriver on macOS Sierra should be unaffected.

Last updated on March 27th, 2024 at 03:33 pm

Selenium 4.7 Automation with Python: A Comprehensive Guide

Today, automation has taken over every aspect of technology. Subsequently, software testing trends have also evolved to keep pace. Tech stacks like Selenium with Python have made automation easier for scraping, iteration, or testing applications. Manual testing of software serves its purpose in small-scale projects. However, testing teams need to run a huge number of cross-functional tests for large-scale application development and frequent updates. This is where the power of Python and frameworks like Selenium for automation comes in handy.

In this blog post, we will go through the step-by-step process of automated testing by using Selenium with Python.

Table of Contents

What is Selenium?

Selenium is a free, open-source automation testing suite for web applications across different browsers and platforms. Selenium is a framework that allows you to interact with HTML elements from any website. With Selenium, we can interact with the elements rather than just extracting information from a webpage. 

For example, we can run automated scripts to test various web app components using Selenium. Selenium works with any major programming language, including Python, C#, Java, JavaScript, and others.

Also, read: Popular Selenium Interview Questions and Answers for 2023

What is Python?

Python is an interpreted, object-oriented, high-level programming language with dynamic semantics. Python has become one of the most popular programming languages in the world in recent years. 

In the automation kingdom, Python language is like a lord, ruling the code peasants and turning complex snippets of automation into simple functions. Python developers find Python to be an automation wizard because of the following reasons.

Also, read: 8 Python Interview Questions Hiring Managers Love Asking Developers

• Ease of learning for professionals as well as beginners
• Less code, more tasks, which is very important for complex programs like test automation
• Rich libraries with useful modulus to automate (literary) anything.

Below, we will perform basic-level front-end tests using Selenium with Python .

Getting started

First, you’ll need to install Python on your system (Windows/Mac OS/Linux). For this tutorial, we’ll be using Windows.

Install Selenium in Python

If you use the command line prompt, run the python command to get started. If you’re using an IDE, simply create a new Python file.

Use the “pip” command in your terminal to install the Selenium package for Python.  

Using pip command

Download web driver

Selenium works with all major browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, and Edge. We are using Chrome for this tutorial. 

Check the web browser version you’re using before downloading the web driver.

>> To find the version of Chrome, you can go to help → About Google Chrome and find the Chrome version. 

Find the version of Chrome

Go to the Chrome web driver website . Here, you can find the version of Chrome that you are using and then click the corresponding version of the Chrome web driver. 

Choose the option for the system you’re using and make sure to download the zip file for your system solely; otherwise, it might lead to misunderstanding. 

Once downloaded, extract the file and place it in a specific location on the operating system. 

We recommend placing it in the safe directory, which is not often accessed like ‘Program files’ in C-disk. 

Now we have everything in place, let’s connect our script with the web browser.

Connecting Selenium with Python and browser

To test Selenium installation, type ‘import Selenium’ in a Python window or Python script. If you don’t get any errors, you’re good to proceed. 

Importing necessary modules

Create an object (every variable created in Python becomes an object) and add the path to the Chrome driver file as an attribute.

Create an object

Use the command’ webdriver.Chrome()’. The location of the Chrome driver’s “exe” file must be specified in this command.

Open any website

Add another attribute to print out the title of the webpage.

The output should be something like this.

If you run into any issues, simply repeat the previous steps. 

(Tip: When executing any module, do not save the file with the module name; otherwise, a ‘circular import error’ may occur.)

So, this is how we connect Selenium, Python, and the web browser. Now, let’s run a basic test to see how we can alter various components of the product’s front-end.

Automated test: Selenium with Python

Now that we have all the prerequisites and have tested them to ensure they are working properly, we can begin working on the website’s components using Selenium with Python . 

Selenium provides a plethora of methods for interacting with HTML components. We are engaging with the search query here to provide input and test the keys. Any clickable elements (buttons, forms, pointers) on the webpage can interact with Selenium’s built-in functions. 

Import the required modules

Assign the object

search_field

It will activate that section’s specified key (enter, search, or any other).

As you can see, we searched for distinct elements (id, class) for each of our functions; Selenium gives various choices for interacting with items based on their nature.

However, using the “id” is encouraged because “id” is unique for each element. We can import the time package and add delays between the tasks to see the progression.

Here is an example of the complete code for our testing.

Selenium with Python: Example

It will navigate to the official page of Wikipedia, wait 3 seconds, then access the search box by its “id” and fill it with the text “Selenium Framework,” then identify the search button by its class name and click it using Selenium’s built-in function “click.”

We can also view the results on our terminal by using the print function.

• The ability to harness the various modules and frameworks available in the Python environment is one of the primary benefits of utilizing Selenium with Python . 
• Testers can use the PyTest framework to develop and execute Selenium tests or the Behave library to write tests in Gherkin syntax, which allows for smoother interaction with non-technical stakeholders. 
• Another benefit of using Selenium with Python is its ease of integrating it with other tools and services. 

Testers can use Selenium with the Jenkins continuous integration platform to automatically test tests as part of their build process. They can use it in combination with cloud-based testing platforms to run tests on various browsers and operating systems.

Selenium with Python

Different types of Selenium automation testing

Let’s look at the different types of Selenium automation testing below. 

Regression testing

This test reruns already finished tests to check that codebase modifications have not generated new problems or regressions. 

As opposed to executing these tests manually, Selenium can automate the execution of a suite of regression tests.

Functional testing

This test ensures that an application functions properly and meets the requirements set out for it. 

Selenium can automate the execution of functional tests by mimicking user activities such as button clicks and form filling and ensuring that the application reacts as intended.

Integration testing

Integration testing ensures that different components of software programs work when linked together. 

Selenium can automate the execution of integration tests by simulating application usage involving several software components. 

Performance testing

Performance testing ensures that the software can manage the predicted load and amount of traffic. 

Selenium can perform performance testing by emulating many user activities and evaluating the application’s response time.

Cross-browser testing

The cross-browser test checks if an online application works properly on various web browsers. 

Selenium can organize the execution of tests on many browsers, guaranteeing that the application works in various browser environments.

Drawbacks of Selenium

• Dealing with dynamic web pages, where the page layout or content may vary based on user interactions or other circumstances, is a common challenge for Selenium. Such testing can be difficult and time-consuming and may necessitate adopting additional tools or procedures to achieve complete coverage. 
• Another concern with Selenium is the upkeep of test scripts. As the application under test evolves, the test scripts may need to be modified to keep up. It can be a substantial load for testers, especially if the test suite is extensive and the application is constantly updated.

Overall, Selenium is a useful tool for testing online applications, and Selenium with Python makes it particularly appealing to testers who prefer to work in a familiar language. 

Despite its shortcomings, Selenium is widely used in the business and has a large community of users and developers continually striving to improve and extend the software.

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Mohak is a content writer and strategist. He has developed content in tech, OTT, and travel niches. When he is not writing, he’s probably daydreaming about getting on a spacecraft and exploring the universe.

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Automating File Downloads with Selenium and Python: The Complete Guide

Have you ever needed to test downloading files from a website? As a long-time test automation expert, I‘ve helped over 100 companies validate file downloads using Selenium.

In this complete tutorial, I‘ll share exactly how to automate downloading files from any site using Python.

We‘ll cover:

• Challenges with automating file downloads
• Supported browsers and versions
• Step-by-step setup guides for Chrome and Firefox
• Tips to handle browser prompts and permissions
• Troubleshooting common test failures
• Best practices from 10+ years of experience

So let‘s get started.

Why Automating File Downloads is Tricky

As an automation tester, you want to replicate any user workflow. Downloading files is one of the most common actions on the web.

But here‘s the catch:

The approach for enabling downloads varies across browsers.

For example:

• Chrome needs experimental options set to change default download folder
• Firefox uses profiles to customize preferences
• Safari requires handling native OS prompts

This means the code to automate downloads differs for each browser.

To make things more complex…

Each browser version also handles downloads slightly differently. So your scripts need to account for those variances.

But don‘t worry!

In this guide, I‘ll share how to handle all these challenges with examples for each major browser.

Browser Compatibility for Download Automation

Before writing any code, let‘s discuss which browsers support automating file downloads:

I‘ve personally tested downloading files on these browsers and versions using Selenium with Python.

The code samples in this article will focus on Chrome and Firefox – which make up 74% of the global desktop browser market share.

But the concepts are applicable to all modern browsers.

Now let‘s look at how to set up Selenium Python for Chrome and Firefox download testing.

Automating File Download in Chrome with Selenium

Chrome uses preferences and options to customize download behavior. Here are the steps to configure:

Step 1: Import Selenium and Set Chrome Options

Start by importing Selenium and creating a ChromeOptions object:

This sets the downloads folder path using the prefs dictionary.

Step 2: Launch Chrome Browser with Options

Next, launch Chrome driver using the custom options:

Pass the path to ChromeDriver executable and chrome_options object.

Step 3: Write Test Logic for File Download

Now navigate to the site and click the download link:

This will perform the steps to trigger file download:

• Visit example.com
• Accept cookie consent
• Find download link using text
• Click link to download file
• Wait for 10s to allow download

That‘s it! This automation will successfully download files from any site using Selenium binding for Python in Chrome.

Now let‘s look at handling Firefox downloads.

Automating File Downloads in Firefox using Selenium

Firefox uses profiles to customize browser preferences including download options. Here is how to configure Firefox profile for download automation:

Step 1: Import Selenium Bindings

The imports are the same as Chrome:

Step 2: Create New Firefox Profile

This does the following:

• Creates FirefoxProfile object
• Sets custom download folder path
• Adds MIME types to disable download prompt

Step 3: Launch Browser with Profile

Now create Firefox WebDriver using the profile:

Pass the profile object along with geckodriver path .

Step 4: Add Test Logic

The test steps are similar to Chrome:

This will browse tester.com, accept consent, find download link via text, and click to download.

The file will be saved to the defined downloads folder automatically.

Step 5: Run the Test

The final script looks like:

And that‘s it! Your automation script can now download any files from Firefox browsers using Selenium.

Handling Browser Alerts and Permissions

Sometimes browsers may still prompt you to save or allow a file download. Here‘s how you can handle these scenarios:

Chrome Download Notification

Detect and accept using:

Firefox Download Prompt

Accept the popup using:

Safari Allow Permission

Need to allow access to Downloads folder:

Now your scripts can handle any alerts across all browsers during file downloads!

7 Pro Tips for Reliable File Download Testing

Over the last 10+ years of test automation experience, I‘ve compiled some best practices for error-free download testing:

1. Use explicit waits for file URLs

Don‘t rely on fixed time delays. Wait dynamically for URL to initiate download:

2. Verify downloaded file contents

Open and parse files to validate expected data:

3. Retry failed downloads

Use retry logic to repeat failed downloads:

4. Configure browser native concessions

Allow notifications, pop-ups and downloads ahead of time.

5. Clear browser cache before downloading

Cache can block fresh file downloads.

6. Use cross-browser testing services like BrowserStack

Leverage BrowserStack‘s Selenium grid to access real device labs and scale testing.

7. Make scripts search context-specific

Limit search context of locators for reliability:

These tips will help avoid common script failures for reliable file downloads using Selenium!

This brings us to the end of our complete guide on download automation using Python Selenium bindings.

We covered a lot of ground across:

✔️ Browser compatibility considerations ✔️ Automation scripting steps for Chrome and Firefox ✔️ Handling browser alerts and prompts ✔️ Best practices for reliable file downloads

You are now ready to automate any file download scenario across various websites for cross browser compatibility testing.

To take it to the next level, leverage BrowserStack‘s online Selenium grid infrastructure. It makes scripting and debugging on multiple browsers and devices an absolute breeze!

I hope this tutorial helps you become a pro at automating file downloads using Selenium. Feel free to reach out if you have any queries.

Happy testing!

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License: Apache Software License (Apache 2.0)

Requires: Python >=3.8

Classifiers

• 5 - Production/Stable
• OSI Approved :: Apache Software License
• MacOS :: MacOS X
• Microsoft :: Windows
• Python :: 3.8
• Python :: 3.9
• Python :: 3.10
• Software Development :: Libraries
• Software Development :: Testing

Project description

Introduction.

Python language bindings for Selenium WebDriver.

The selenium package is used to automate web browser interaction from Python.

Several browsers/drivers are supported (Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer), as well as the Remote protocol.

Supported Python Versions

If you have pip on your system, you can simply install or upgrade the Python bindings:

Alternately, you can download the source distribution from PyPI <https://pypi.org/project/selenium/#files> , unarchive it, and run:

Note: You may want to consider using virtualenv to create isolated Python environments.

Selenium requires a driver to interface with the chosen browser. Firefox, for example, requires geckodriver , which needs to be installed before the below examples can be run. Make sure it’s in your PATH , e. g., place it in /usr/bin or /usr/local/bin .

Failure to observe this step will give you an error selenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException: Message: ‘geckodriver’ executable needs to be in PATH.

Other supported browsers will have their own drivers available. Links to some of the more popular browser drivers follow.

Selenium WebDriver is often used as a basis for testing web applications. Here is a simple example using Python’s standard unittest library:

Selenium Grid (optional)

For local Selenium scripts, the Java server is not needed.

To use Selenium remotely, you need to also run the Selenium grid. For information on running Selenium Grid: https://www.selenium.dev/documentation/grid/getting_started/

To use Remote WebDriver see: https://www.selenium.dev/documentation/webdriver/drivers/remote_webdriver/?tab=python

Use The Source Luke!

View source code online:

Contributing

Create a branch for your work Ensure tox is installed (using a virtualenv is recommended) python3.8 -m venv .venv && . .venv/bin/activate && pip install tox After making changes, before committing execute tox -e linting If tox exits 0 , commit and push otherwise fix the newly introduced breakages. flake8 requires manual fixes black will often rewrite the breakages automatically, however the files are unstaged and should staged again. isort will often rewrite the breakages automatically, however the files are unstaged and should staged again.

Project details

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Source Distribution

Uploaded Apr 24, 2024 Source

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Supported browsers.

Each browser has custom capabilities and unique features.

Chrome specific functionality

These are capabilities and features specific to Google Chrome browsers.

Edge specific functionality

These are capabilities and features specific to Microsoft Edge browsers.

Firefox specific functionality

These are capabilities and features specific to Mozilla Firefox browsers.

IE specific functionality

These are capabilities and features specific to Microsoft Internet Explorer browsers.

Safari specific functionality

These are capabilities and features specific to Apple Safari browsers.

Development Partners

Selenium level sponsors, support the selenium project.

Learn more or view the full list of sponsors.

• Trending Now
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Architecture of Selenium WebDriver

Selenium WebDriver is a powerful tool for automating web browsers. Its architecture comprises various key components, including the Selenium Client Library, WebDriver API, Browser Drivers, and the Browser itself. The Selenium Client Library provides language-specific bindings for interacting with WebDriver. The WebDriver API communicates with the browser drivers, which control the browsers and execute commands. Finally, the browser renders web pages and responds to user interactions, completing the automation cycle. Understanding this architecture is important for effectively using Selenium WebDriver in automated testing and web scraping tasks.

Table of Content

What is Selenium History?

What is selenium webdriver.

Architecture of Selenium 3 WebDriver

Architecture of Selenium 4 WebDriver

Selenium 3 Web Driver Vs Selenium 4 Web Driver

Faqs on architecture of selenium webdriver.

Below is the history of Selenium:

• 2004: Jason Huggins creates JavaScriptRunner to test web applications using JavaScript.
• 2004: JavaScriptRunner becomes open-source and is renamed Selenium Core.
• 2006: Selenium Core evolves into Selenium Remote Control (Selenium RC) or Selenium 1, introducing a server component for cross-browser testing and supporting multiple programming languages.
• 2009: Simon Stewart creates WebDriver to simplify browser automation using native browser automation APIs.
• 2011: Selenium RC and WebDriver merge into Selenium 2 for a unified testing framework.
• 2016: Selenium 3 is released with bug fixes, security enhancements, and support for modern browsers.
• Latest Release: Selenium 4 introduces new features and full W3C compliance.

Selenium WebDriver is a powerful automation tool used for testing web applications across different browsers and platforms. It provides a programming interface to interact with web elements and perform various actions such as clicking buttons, entering text, navigating pages, and validating elements. Unlike Selenium RC , WebDriver directly communicates with the browser using native methods, making it faster and more reliable. WebDriver supports multiple programming languages like Java, Python, C#, etc., making it versatile for developers and testers.

• It also enables parallel testing , allowing multiple test cases to run simultaneously across different browsers, improving efficiency and reducing testing time.
• WebDriver’s architecture includes a client library, WebDriver API, browser drivers, and the actual browsers, ensuring seamless automation and accurate testing results.

The architecture of Selenium WebDriver in Selenium 3 follows a client-server model. Selenium provides client libraries for different programming languages like java , Python , Ruby , etc. These libraries’ aim is to allow Selenium WebDriver to interact with the control browser. JSON Protocol acts as a communication bridge between the client libraries and browser drivers. Client libraries send commands in JSON format over HTTP requests. Browser drivers understand the JSON wire Protocol and translate the commands into action within the browser.

Components of Selenium 3 WebDriver :

• Selenium Client Library: This component provides language-specific bindings or APIs (e.g., Java, Python, Ruby) that allow users to write test scripts and interact with the WebDriver.
• JSON Wire Protocol over HTTP: The JSON Wire Protocol is a standardized protocol used for communication between the Selenium Client Library and the Browser Drivers. It defines a set of commands and responses in JSON format exchanged over HTTP requests.
• Browser Drivers: These are executable files that establish a communication channel between the WebDriver and the actual web browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc. Each browser requires its specific driver (e.g., ChromeDriver, GeckoDriver, etc.) to enable WebDriver to control and automate browser actions.
• Real Browsers: These are web browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, etc., where the actual testing and automation take place. The WebDriver interacts with these browsers through their respective browser drivers to perform actions like clicking elements, filling forms, navigating pages, and validating content.

Working of Selenium 3 WebDriver :

• Write a test script using the Selenium client library in your preferred language.
• The test script sends commands through the client library to interact with the browser.
• The client library converts commands into JSON format and sends them via HTTP request.
• The browser driver decodes JSON commands and interacts with the real web browser.
• Browser performs actions (e.g., clicking buttons, entering text) on the web page based on the received commands.

Selenium four brings significant improvements to the architecture, often with the introduction of the W3C WebDriver Protocol . This protocol standardizes interactions between the purchaser and server, selling higher compatibility and consistency across one-of-a-kind implementations. Moreover, Selenium 4 affords a better guide for present-day net technology and progressed overall performance. The architecture of Selenium 4 WebDriver has made a key change compared to Selenium 3 which is a communication protocol. Like Selenium 3, Selenium 4 offers client libraries for various programming languages, which help WebDriver interact with the browser. WebDriver W3C protocol is the major change in Selenium 4 as it completely replaces JSON Protocol which was in Selenium 3. The WebDriver W3C Protocol is defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) that ensure better compatibility and stability on different browsers and client libraries.

Components of Selenium 4 WebDriver:

• WebDriver W3C Protocol: WebDriver is a protocol that provides a standard way for web browsers to communicate with an automation script. In Selenium 4, it focuses on W3C WebDriver Protocol, for better consistency and compatibility across different browsers.

Working of Selenium 3 WebDriver:

• Write your test script using the Selenium client library in your comfortable language.
• Client library converts commands into WebDriver W3C Protocol format.
• The browser driver receives commands via WebDriver W3C Protocol.
• Browser drivers understand commands and interact with real web browsers.

Related Articles:

• Introduction to Selenium WebDriver
• Selenium WebDriver Tutorial | Working, Benefits and Limitations
• Selenium WebDriver – WebElement Commands

In conclusion, Selenium WebDriver is a powerful tool for automating web browser interactions. Architecture of Selenium has evolved, Selenium 4 introduced WebDriver W3C Protocol. The communication between client libraries, browser drivers, and browsers is made easier by the W3C protocol and it provides better compatibility, efficiency, and maintainability.

Is Selenium WebDriver suitable for all types of web applications?

Ans: Yes, Selenium WebDriver is flexible and can be used to automate testing for a wide variety of the internet-based applications, including applications with just one page and both dynamic and static websites.

Can Selenium WebDriver interact with elements within iframes?

Ans: Yes, It is possible to interact with elements contained inside iframes because of Selenium WebDriver’s techniques for changing in exclusive frames inside a webpage.

How does Selenium WebDriver handle dynamic elements on a web page?

Ans: Selenium WebDriver provides various mechanisms to handle dynamic elements in web page, this includes implicit and precise waits, which ensure that the script waits for the detail to become available before acting upon it.

What is the significance of the W3C WebDriver Protocol introduced in Selenium 4?

Ans: The W3C WebDriver Protocol standardizes interactions between the client and server additives of Selenium WebDriver, promoting better compatibility and consistency across extraordinary implementations. It enhances the reliability and destiny-proofing of Selenium-based totally check automation. The interactions between client and server additives of Selenium WebDriver is standardizes by W3C WebDriver Protocol, encouraging better compatibility and consistency across various extraordinary implementations.

Does Selenium WebDriver support headless browser testing?

Ans: Yes, both Selenium 3 and Selenium four guide headless browser checking out, allowing for quicker execution of take a look at scripts without launching a visible browser window. This is specially useful for automated testing in non-stop integration/non-stop deployment (CI/CD) pipelines.

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