Runing WebDriverIo Test on Electron Application in Dev Mode: A Step-by-Step Guide

Are you tired of tedious manual testing for your Electron application? Do you want to automate your testing process and focus on building an amazing app? Look no further! In this article, we’ll guide you through the process of running WebDriverIo tests on your Electron application in dev mode.

What is WebDriverIo?

WebDriverIo is a popular open-source test automation framework for web browsers. It provides a simple and intuitive API for executing browser-based tests, making it an ideal choice for testing Electron applications. WebDriverIo uses the WebDriver protocol to interact with the browser, allowing you to write tests in a variety of programming languages, including JavaScript, Python, Ruby, and more.

Why Use WebDriverIo for Electron Application Testing?

There are several reasons why WebDriverIo is a great choice for testing Electron applications:

• Faster testing**: WebDriverIo allows you to write tests quickly and efficiently, reducing the overall testing time.
• Easy maintenance**: With WebDriverIo, you can write tests that are easy to maintain and update, reducing the risk of test failures.
• Cross-platform support**: WebDriverIo supports multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following installed on your system:

• Node.js**: You can download and install Node.js from the official website.
• npm install webdriverio.

Step 1: Create a New Electron Project

Let’s start by creating a new Electron project. Open your terminal and run the following command:

npx electron-cli init my-electron-app

This will create a new Electron project with the basic file structure.

Step 2: Install Required Dependencies

In this step, we’ll install the required dependencies for our project. Run the following commands in your terminal:

cd my-electron-app
npm install electron webdriverio

Step 3: Create a Test File

Let’s create a new file called test.spec.js in the root of our project. This file will contain our test code.

touch test.spec.js

Open the test.spec.js file and add the following code:

const { remote } = require('electron');
const { describe, it, before, after } = require('webdriverio');

describe('My Electron App', () => {
  let browser;

  before(async () => {
    browser = await remote.getBrowser();
  });

  after(async () => {
    await browser.deleteSession();
  });

  it('should display the app title', async () => {
    await browser.url('http://localhost:3000');
    const title = await browser.getTitle();
    assert.equal(title, 'My Electron App');
  });
});

This code sets up a basic test using WebDriverIo and Electron.

Step 4: Run the Test

Now that we have our test file ready, let’s run the test. Open your terminal and run the following command:

npx electron-cli start

This will start your Electron application in dev mode. Once the app is running, open a new terminal window and run the following command:

npx wdio test/specs/test.spec.js --specFiles

This will execute our test and display the results in the terminal.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

During the testing process, you may encounter some common issues. Here are some troubleshooting tips to help you resolve them:

Issue	Solution
Error: unable to connect to Electron	Make sure Electron is running in dev mode by running npx electron-cli start.
Error: WebDriverIo timeout	Increase the timeout value in your test code or use the --timeout flag when running the test.
Error: unable to find the app title	Check that the app title is correctly set in your Electron application.

Conclusion

And that’s it! You’ve successfully run a WebDriverIo test on your Electron application in dev mode. With these steps, you can automate your testing process and focus on building an amazing app. Remember to maintain and update your tests regularly to ensure your app remains stable and bug-free.

Happy testing!

Frequently Asked Question

Get ready to supercharge your testing game with these FAQs on running WebDriverIO tests on Electron applications in Dev mode!