Unit Testing Automated Tests Watin

Solving the Slow Page Load Problem in WatiN Automation Testing

Automated testing is a crucial component of any software development process, especially for UI testing. However, one of the frustrations developers often encounter is dealing with slow page loads, particularly for pages that are beyond their control. If you’re using WatiN for automated testing and find yourself in such a situation, you might be curious: Is there a way to make WatiN click a link before the page finishes loading?

In this blog post, we’ll discuss a reliable solution that allows you to interact with page elements even when the rest of the page is still rendering. Let’s dive into the code and the explanation behind it.

The Challenge of Slow Page Loads

When performing UI tests using WatiN, a common issue arises when a webpage takes a long time to load completely. This can prevent your automated tests from executing as intended. For example, you may have a button on a slow-loading page that you need to click. Waiting for the whole page to render can be time-consuming and hinder your testing process.

Solution: Click Links with `ClickNoWait` Method

Fortunately, WatiN provides a solution for this issue with methods that can help you interact with links or buttons before the page has fully loaded. Here’s how you can implement this approach in your code:

Step-by-Step Code Explanation

Initialize the Browser Instance: Start an instance of the Internet Explorer browser using WatiN.
Click Without Waiting: Use the ClickNoWait() method on the button that may load the page slowly. This lets the test continue without waiting for the page load to finish.
Find the Link: Locate the hyperlink you want to click using the Link method and specify how to find it (for example, by its visible text).
Wait Until the Link Exists: Use the WaitUntilExists() method to ensure that the link is present in the DOM before attempting to click it.
Click the Link: Finally, execute the click action on the link.

Here’s the practical code implementation of the above steps:

IE browser = new IE(....); // Step 1: Initialize Browser
browser.Button("SlowPageLoadingButton").ClickNoWait(); // Step 2: Click Without Waiting
Link continueLink = browser.Link(Find.ByText("linktext")); // Step 3: Find Link
continueLink.WaitUntilExists(); // Step 4: Wait for Link to exist
continueLink.Click(); // Step 5: Click the Link

Code Breakdown

IE browser = new IE(....);: This initializes your browser instance. Replace the .... with the URL or parameters necessary for your test.
ClickNoWait(): This method allows you to click on UI elements without waiting for the entire page to load, effectively bypassing the problem of slow page rendering.
WaitUntilExists(): A crucial step that ensures your test will not fail by trying to click a link that isn’t available yet.

Conclusion

Testing with WatiN can become challenging when dealing with slow-loading pages, but with the right techniques, you can effectively manage these scenarios. By using the methods described above, you can automate your tests more efficiently and mitigate delays caused by slow page loading.