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Waiting in TestDriver: Ensuring stability and reducing flakiness

Waiting is a critical feature in TestDriver that ensures tests are stable and reliable, even in dynamic or slow-loading environments.

• Automatically adjusts to varying load times, reducing the need for hardcoded delays.
• Ensures that tests wait for dynamic elements to appear, reducing false negatives caused by incomplete rendering.
• By waiting for the screen and network to stabilize, redraw minimizes the risk of interacting with incomplete or incorrect elements.

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Summary of waiting features

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Key waiting features in TestDriver

1. Automatic Waiting with redraw:

• TestDriver automatically waits for the machine before moving to the next step.
• This includes waiting for:
  • UI changes to complete.
  • Network activity to stabilize (for example, API calls).
• Reduces the need for manual waits, making tests faster and less prone to flakiness.

2. wait-for-text Command:

• Waits for specific text to appear on the screen.
• Useful for validating dynamic content or ensuring that a page has fully loaded before proceeding.

3. wait-for-image Command:

• Waits for a specific image or visual element to appear on the screen.
• Ideal for verifying the presence of icons, logos, or other graphical elements.

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Commands for explicit waiting

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1. wait-for-text

The wait-for-text command pauses the test until the specified text appears on the screen. This is particularly useful for dynamic content that takes time to load.

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Syntax

- command: wait-for-text
  text: <text to wait for>
  timeout: <time in milliseconds> # Optional, defaults to 5000ms

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Example

- command: wait-for-text
  text: Welcome, Test User!
  timeout: 10000

In this example, the test waits up to 10 seconds for the text “Welcome, Test User!” to appear.

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wait-for-image

The wait-for-image command pauses the test until the specified image or visual element appears on the screen.

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Syntax:

- command: wait-for-image
  description: <description of the image>
  timeout: <time in milliseconds> # Optional, defaults to 5000ms

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Example:

- command: wait-for-image
  description: Company logo in the top-left corner
  timeout: 8000

In this example, the test waits up to 8 seconds for the company logo to appear in the top-left corner.

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Automatic waiting with redraw

TestDriver’s redraw function is a built-in mechanism that automatically waits for the screen to stabilize before proceeding to the next step. This includes:

1. UI Changes:

• Waits for animations, transitions, or DOM updates to complete.
• Ensures that the screen is fully rendered before interacting with elements.

2. Network Stabilization:

• Waits for network activity (for example, API calls, AJAX requests) to finish.
• Ensures that dynamic content is fully loaded before proceeding.

3. Screen Stabilization:

• Continuously monitors the screen for changes and only moves forward when the screen is stable.

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Best practices for waiting

2. Leverage Automatic Waiting:

• Rely on TestDriver’s redraw function to handle most waiting scenarios automatically.

1. Use Explicit Waiting for Dynamic Elements:

• Use wait-for-text or wait-for-image for elements that take time to load.

3. Avoid Hardcoded Delays:

• Replace hardcoded sleep or wait commands with dynamic waiting commands to improve test reliability.

4. Set Appropriate Timeouts:

• Use reasonable timeouts for explicit waiting commands to balance reliability and test execution time.

5. Test Incrementally:

• Add waiting commands step-by-step to ensure each part of the workflow is stable.