Herbie Murray
The Sleep keyword in the Robot Framework is used to pause the execution of a test case for a specified duration. It is commonly used to wait for a page to load completely after an action, such as clicking a button. While Sleep is useful in such scenarios, it is generally not considered the best practice. Instead of explicit sleeps, it is recommended to use conditional waits, such as Wait Until Element Is Visible or Wait Until Page Contains Element. These waits ensure that the test case execution proceeds only when specific conditions are met, making the tests more efficient and less time-consuming, especially when dealing with a large number of test cases.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Use case | Waiting for a page to load after clicking a button |
| Alternative keywords | Wait Until Element Is Visible, Wait Until Element Is Not Visible, Wait Until Page Contains Element, Wait Until Page Does Not Contain Element, Wait Until Keyword Succeeds |
| Syntax | Sleep time_in_seconds or Sleep time_in_milliseconds |
| Negative time | Ignored |
| Invalid time | Causes a ValueError |
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What You'll Learn
Using 'Wait Until Element Is Visible'
When using the Robot Framework, it is generally not advisable to use explicit sleeps. Instead, you can use the "Wait Until Element Is Visible" function to wait for an element to appear on a web page. This function is particularly useful when you need to wait for a page to load after clicking a button, as it can help you avoid unnecessary delays in your test execution.
Settings
Library SeleniumLibrary
Test Cases
Test Case Open Browser
Open Browser https://example.com chrome
Wait Until Element Is Visible xpath=//button[@id="submit"]
Click Element xpath=//button[@id="submit"]
In the above example, the test case opens a browser and navigates to the "https://example.com" webpage. It then uses "Wait Until Element Is Visible" to wait for the element with the XPath "//button[@id="submit"]" to become visible before proceeding. Once the button is visible, the test case clicks on it using the "Click Element" keyword.
You can also specify a timeout for the "Wait Until Element Is Visible" keyword to control how long it waits for the element to become visible. For example:
Wait Until Element Is Visible xpath=//button[@id="submit"] timeout=10
In this case, the test case will wait for up to 10 seconds for the element to become visible before continuing.
It is important to note that excessive use of "Wait Until Element Is Visible" can slow down your test execution. Therefore, it is recommended to use it only when necessary and explore alternative approaches, such as using element locators or event-driven testing, to improve the efficiency of your tests.
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Using 'Wait Until Element Is Not Visible'
When using the Robot Framework, it is important to understand the concept of waits, which are essential when elements take time to load on a web page. Waits can be implicit or explicit, with the latter being specifically applied to a particular element rather than all elements on a web page.
One such explicit wait keyword is "Wait Until Element Is Not Visible", which, as the name suggests, waits until the element locator is no longer visible. This is particularly useful when you want to ensure that an element from the previous page is no longer visible, confirming that the next page has loaded successfully.
For example, consider a web application where clicking a button triggers a disappearing menu. In this case, you would use "Wait Until Element Is Not Visible" to wait for the menu to disappear before proceeding with further actions. This approach is more efficient than using explicit sleeps, as it ensures your test cases are synchronised with the dynamic behaviour of the application.
To implement "Wait Until Element Is Not Visible", you would first need to install the necessary libraries in your project. This typically involves using the pip list command or manually navigating to the project settings and ensuring the required libraries are installed. Once the prerequisites are in place, you can start using the keyword in your test cases.
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Using 'Wait Until Keyword Succeeds'
"Wait Until Keyword Succeeds" is a built-in keyword in the Robot Framework that allows you to retry a specific action until it succeeds or a timeout is reached. This is particularly useful when dealing with asynchronous operations or when you need to wait for certain conditions to be met before proceeding.
The basic syntax for using "Wait Until Keyword Succeeds" is as follows:
Wait Until Keyword Succeeds
Here's an explanation of the parameters:
- `
` specifies the maximum amount of time to wait for the keyword to succeed. This can be specified in various formats, such as seconds, milliseconds, or minutes. - `
` defines the interval between each attempt to execute the keyword. - `
` is the name of the keyword you want to execute. - `[
]` is optional and allows you to pass arguments to the keyword if needed.
Here's an example to illustrate its usage:
Wait Until Keyword Succeeds 2 minutes 30 seconds My Keyword ${argument}
In this example, the framework will attempt to execute the "My Keyword" keyword with the specified argument. It will retry the execution every 30 seconds until either the keyword succeeds or 2 minutes have elapsed.
It's important to note that "Wait Until Keyword Succeeds" can be prone to issues when dealing with certain types of errors, such as DataErrors. In such cases, you may need to implement workarounds, such as using "Variable Should Exist" or creating custom keywords to handle the errors more gracefully.
Additionally, "Wait Until Keyword Succeeds" can be used within user keywords, and you can also prematurely abort it using a "Fatal Error" keyword if a test case has failed completely. This allows for more flexibility in handling different scenarios during test execution.
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Using 'Wait Until Page Contains Element'
When using the Robot Framework, there are several ways to implement waits in your automation scripts. One such method is the "Wait Until Page Contains Element" keyword, which is used for explicit waits. This keyword allows you to wait for a specific element to appear on the current page before proceeding with your test case.
Here's an example code snippet to illustrate its usage:
Settings
Library SeleniumLibrary
Test Cases
Waiting for Element to Appear
Open Browser to https://www.example.com
Wait Until Page Contains Element # Locator of the element you're waiting for
In this example, the test case opens a browser and navigates to a specific URL. It then uses the "Wait Until Page Contains Element" keyword to wait for a specific element to appear on the page. The locator of the element you're waiting for is provided as an argument to the keyword.
The benefit of using "Wait Until Page Contains Element" over explicit sleep commands is that your test cases become more robust and less prone to timing issues. Instead of relying on fixed sleep durations, this keyword dynamically waits for the element to appear, ensuring that your test case proceeds only when the expected element is present on the page.
It's important to note that the Robot Framework provides other keywords for handling waits as well, such as "Wait Until Element Is Visible" and "Wait Until Page Contains". These keywords offer more specific waiting functionalities, allowing you to tailor your test cases to different scenarios. By utilizing these keywords effectively, you can create more reliable and efficient automation scripts.
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Using 'Wait Until Page Does Not Contain Element'
When automating tests, it is often necessary to wait for certain elements to appear or disappear from a web page. The Robot Framework provides keywords that can be used to implement implicit or explicit waits in automation scripts.
Explicit waits are specifically applied to an element intended by the user, instead of all the elements of the web page. They are most useful when certain elements on a webpage need more time to load.
One of the explicit wait keywords provided by the Robot Framework is "Wait Until Page Does Not Contain Element". This keyword allows the user to wait until a specific element locator disappears from the current page. This is particularly useful when you need to ensure that a previous page has been closed or navigated away from.
Test Cases
Testing implicit wait
Open browser http://www.google.com chrome
Wait until page does not contain element //iDontExist
In this example, the test case opens a browser and navigates to http://www.google.com. It then uses the "Wait Until Page Does Not Contain Element" keyword to wait until the element with the locator "//iDontExist" disappears from the current page. This ensures that the page does not contain the specified element before proceeding with the next steps of the test case.
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Frequently asked questions
The Sleep keyword is used to pause the execution of a test case for a specified duration.
To use the Sleep keyword in Robot Framework, you can specify the duration in seconds (e.g., Sleep 5s) or provide a more precise duration in milliseconds (e.g., Sleep 1500ms).
Yes, instead of using explicit sleeps, it is recommended to use keywords such as "Wait Until Element Is Visible", "Wait Until Element Is Not Visible", "Wait Until Page Contains Element", or "Wait Until Keyword Succeeds". These keywords allow you to wait for specific events or conditions to occur instead of relying on fixed time durations.
Using negative time with the Sleep keyword does not affect the current time. The start time and end time will be the same, or the end time will be one second less than the start time.
