A Comprehensive and Practical Guide on How to Conquer the Selenium Timing Dilemma with Katalon Smart Wait:
Widely respected in the test automation community, Selenium Webdriver (Selenium) is an open-source tool for web testing automation that offers a wide range of functionalities to users, enabling easy integration into their work processes.
Recommended IPTV Service Providers
- IPTVGREAT – Rating 4.8/5 ( 600+ Reviews )
- IPTVRESALE – Rating 5/5 ( 200+ Reviews )
- IPTVGANG – Rating 4.7/5 ( 1200+ Reviews )
- IPTVUNLOCK – Rating 5/5 ( 65 Reviews )
- IPTVFOLLOW -Rating 5/5 ( 48 Reviews )
- IPTVTOPS – Rating 5/5 ( 43 Reviews )
Despite its strengths as a web testing platform, Selenium’s full potential can be complex to unlock, especially for those individuals with minimal programming experience.
In steps Katalon Studio, leveraging Selenium as one of its fundamental elements, it represents an influential test automation solution that is easily accessible and user-friendly, irrespective of the users’ programming expertise.
In this guide, we will delve into utilizing Katalon Studio to tackle one of Selenium’s most frequent challenges.
Further reading => An Exhaustive and Detailed Tutorial on Katalon Studio
What You’ll Discover:
The Persistent Selenium Timing Problem
If you’re well-versed with Selenium, you’d know that JavaScript or Ajax front-end technologies are standard for designing web apps. Yet, it’s often unpredictable when webpage components will be ready for action, even after the webpage has entirely loaded in the browser.
Here are some typical instances:
- The components haven’t rendered yet.
- The elements are hidden behind a loading spinner.
- Ajax requests are processing data.
This presents a considerable hurdle for test automation projects, necessitating manual controls to ensure the program acts accordingly. As such, while utilizing Selenium as an automation framework, exceptions like NoSuchElementException, StaleElementReferenceException, or ElementNotVisibleException may arise.
To mitigate timing issues, Selenium waits are frequently used to curtail or prevent these challenges. Techniques like Implicit and Explicit waits make WebDriver halt and wait until the elements are ready for interaction before proceeding with actions.
Nevertheless, these solutions have constraints and depend on appropriate execution practices. They also require programming expertise and manual inclusion of wait statements.
Regrettably, these stopgaps foster additional timing complications and pain points as detailed below:
- Slow test creation time.
- Code that is bulky and complex.
- Inconsistent execution outcomes.
- Delayed test execution time.
- Difficult debugging and root cause analysis.
- Taxing maintenance of the test script.
As a result, these issues culminate in:
- Diminished team productivity.
- A surge in maintenance costs and efforts.
- Compromised quality of the application under test (AUT).
Implementing Katalon Smart Wait to Resolve Web Loading Complications
In its newest version, Katalon Studio 7, Katalon Studio rolled out the Smart Wait Function. This innovative feature tackles the Selenium timing problem without the necessity for extra scripts. Katalon Smart Wait autonomously waits for all the webpage’s front-end operations to finish before moving to the subsequent step.
Smart Wait can be effortlessly activated for the whole project or specific test cases, slashing the time needed to draft, debug, execute, dissect, and maintain test scripts. It becomes immensely helpful when the tool automatically waits for front-end processing, ensuring stable execution results and eliminating unpredictability issues.
For instance, during overnight batch execution, unanticipated failures can disrupt the entire process, causing delays as there’s no one around to retry. Katalon Smart Wait addresses this complication, enhancing execution output stability and accelerating the CI/CD pipeline.
Eliminating the requirement for explicit timing control codes, teams can now devote full attention to testing scenarios and enhancing the quality of test scripts. Smart Wait ensures clear execution history, easing analytics to identify operational insights and trends. Consequently, the time and effort invested in maintenance decrease.
Test script’s development and deployment can be effortlessly scaled to accommodate the expanding needs of teams, without the nuisance of timing elements that often prompt instability.
Katalon Smart Wait in Action: A Guide from Start to Finish
There are two ways to apply the Smart Wait feature in Katalon Studio:
#1) Implement Smart Wait to Every Element in a Project
To enable Smart Wait for the whole project in Katalon Studio, go to Project -> Settings -> Execution -> Select Enable under Default Smart Wait.
#2) Implement Smart Wait to Particular Elements in a Script
If you wish to employ Smart Wait for only certain test elements, make sure Default Smart Wait is disabled in Project Settings. Go to Project -> Settings -> Select Disable under Default Smart Wait.
The keywords enableSmartWait and disableSmartWait can be used to turn this function on and off, consecutively.
- enableSmartWait: Activate Smart Wait when it’s rendered inactive by default in project settings.
- disableSmartWait: Turn off Smart Wait when it’s activated.
Wrap-up
Katalon’s initiative to integrate this feature in its latest release warrants appreciation. Katalon Smart Wait proficiently resolves the timing difficulty, guarantees unswerving test outcomes, and empowers your team to progress towards continuous delivery, all while effectively leveraging other unique capabilities of the Katalon framework.
In addition, it considerably diminishes setup duration. This feature genuinely sets Katalon Studio apart from its competitors in web testing solutions.
You are welcome to download Katalon Studio and experience its advantages firsthand.