WatiN Tips and Tricks

I've realised that in my last WatiN post I didn't actually explain what it is for those who haven't used it before.

So just briefly, WatiN was inspired by WatiR and is used to perform front end web application testing. WatiN is coded in .net languages and it provides a mechanism to automatically load Internet Explorer, find controls and perform actions and then assert conditions. You can find out more info here: http://watin.sourceforge.net/

Ok now thats done, here is my tips for the week:

Problem:

Each time I load a test I want to run it in a new process so my session information is cleared

Solution:

With version 1.2 of WatiN there is a new argument to allow you to start IE in a new process:

IE ie = new IE(someUrlToGoTo, true))

Problem:

I want to obtain a collection of fields. For example, I have a repeater which contains a text field and I don't know how many repeater items may be returned but I want to grab all text fields.

Solution:

Use a filter to get a collection

TextFieldCollection valueTextFields = browser.TextFields.Filter(Find.ById(new Regex("ValueTextBox")));

Problem:

I want to find a field but its type isn't available in WatiN

Solution:

Use the Element object

Element item1 = ie.Element("li", Find.ById("item1"));

Problem:

I don't want the Internet Explorer windows used during testing to be visible to the user

Solution:

Change the IE setting

IE.Settings.MakeNewIeInstanceVisible = false; // default is true