How to Test Dynamic Pages

Intro

This tip will go over how to implement explicit waits for testing dynamic web pages.

Let's say you want to test some functionality of a web application, but it loads things dynamically. You might think about using a hard-coded sleep (that you constantly tweak due to test failures) or you use a blanket timeout (like an Implicit Wait) that you likely bump up to address test instabilities as well.

This may work in the short term, but your tests are now slower and leaving you (and your team) feeling like your test automation is on shaky ground -- uncertain of when the next break/fix cycle will happen.

A Solution

By using a flexible wait strategy you can easily meet the rigors of testing dynamic web applications.

Thankfully Selenium comes with one built in -- Explicit Waits. With them, you specify a timeout and an action. Selenium will repeatedly try that action until it can either complete it successfully (at which point it will move onto the next step of the test), or it will throw a timeout exception (causing your test to error).

Let's continue with an example.

About The Author

Dave Haeffner is the original writer of Elemental Selenium -- a free, once weekly Selenium tip newsletter that's read by thousands of testing professionals. He also created and maintains the-internet (an open-source web app that's perfect for writing automated tests against).

Dave has helped numerous companies successfully implement automated acceptance testing; including The Motley Fool, ManTech International, Sittercity, and Animoto. He is also an active member of the Selenium project and has spoken at numerous conferences and meetups around the world about automated acceptance testing.