Testing Web Applications with GEB provides concise summaries in 3 sentences or less: GEB allows testing of web applications by driving browsers like Firefox using the Selenium WebDriver API. It integrates with jQuery-like content selection and supports features like page objects, modules, and JavaScript execution to simplify testing of Ajax applications. GEB uses Groovy for a more expressive and dynamic testing approach compared to other frameworks like Selenium.

1. Testing Web Applications
with GEB
Howard M. Lewis Ship
TWD Consulting
hlship@gmail.com
@hlship
© 2012 Howard M. Lewis Ship

2. Testing Web Applications
What's your process?
Manual?
Selenium?
What about Ajax?

3. Spoiled by jQuery
<div class="summary">
…
<div class="subtotal">107.95</div>
$(".order-summary .subtotal").text() == "107.95"
http://jquery.com/

4. Selenium WebDriver
Drives:
or limited HtmlUnit (browserless)
http://seleniumhq.org/

5. WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver();
driver.get("http://localhost:8080/order-summary/12345");
WebElement element = driver.findElement(
By.cssSelector(".order-summary .subtotal");
assertEquals(element.getText(), "107.95");

6. driver.get("http://www.google.com");
WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.name("q"));
element.sendKeys("Cheese!");
element.submit(); Triggers Ajax Update
new WebDriverWait(driver, 10)).until(new ExpectedCondition<Boolean>() {
public Boolean apply(WebDriver d) {
return d.getTitle().toLowerCase().startsWith("cheese!");
}
};

7. Java == High Ceremony

8. Groovy == Low Ceremony
+ Dynamic

9. Power of Selenium WebDriver 2.15.0
Elegance of jQuery content selection
Robustness of Page Object modelling
Expressiveness of Groovy
First Class Documentation

10. Running GEB Interactively
geb.groovy
import groovy.grape.Grape
Grape.grab([group:'org.codehaus.geb', module:'geb-core', version:'0.6.3'])
Grape.grab([group:'org.seleniumhq.selenium', module:'selenium-firefox-driver',
version:'2.15.0'])
Grape.grab([group:'org.seleniumhq.selenium', module:'selenium-support', ⏎
version:'2.15.0'])
import geb.*
import java.util.logging.*
new File("geb-logging.properties").withInputStream { ⏎
LogManager.logManager.readConfiguration it }
geb-logging.properties
handlers=java.util.logging.ConsoleHandler
java.util.logging.ConsoleHandler.level=WARNING
java.util.logging.ConsoleHandler.formatter=java.util.logging.SimpleFormatter

11. GEB Interactive
$ groovysh
Groovy Shell (1.8.6, JVM: 1.6.0_29)
Type 'help' or 'h' for help.
-------------------------------------------------
groovy:000> . geb.groovy
===> [import groovy.grape.Grape]
===> null
===> null
===> null
===> [import groovy.grape.Grape, import geb.*]
===> [import groovy.grape.Grape, import geb.*, import ⏎
java.util.logging.*]
===> null
groovy:000> b = new Browser(baseUrl: "http://google.com/")
===> geb.Browser@190a0d51
groovy:000> b.go()
===> null
groovy:000>

12. Google Demo

13. Google Demo
b = new Browser(baseUrl: "http://google.com/")
b.go()
b.$("input", name:"q") << "geb"
b.waitFor { b.title.toLowerCase().startsWith("geb") }
b.$("a.l").text()
b.$("a.l")*.text()
b.$("a.l")*.@href
b.$("input", name:"q") << "geb groovy"
b.$("a.l").first().click()
b.quit()
Not needed in 0.7

14. IMDB Demo

15. IMDB Demo
b = new Browser()
b.baseUrl = "http://imdb.com"
b.go()
b.$("#navbar-query") << "Bladerunner"
b.$("#navbar-submit-button").click()
b.waitFor { b.title == "IMDb Search" }
b.$("#main table", 1).find("a")*.text()
b.$("#main table", 1).find("a", text:"Blade Runner").click()
assert b.$(".star-box-giga-star").text() == "9.9"
b.$("table.cast_list td.name a")[0..3]*.text()

16. Browser Page Navigator
go() : void Delegation pageUrl : String x : int
quit() : void title : String y : int
page : Page $(…) : Navigator width : int
waitFor(…) : Object height : int
startsWith(…) : TextMatcher disabled : boolean
contains(…) : TextMatcher empty : boolean
Delegation
endsWith(…) : TextMatcher displayed : boolean
add(String) : Navigator
click() : void
filter(...) : Navigator
GebSpec find(…) : Navigator
not(String) : Navigator
first() : Navigator
last() : Navigator
getAt(…) : Navigator
getAttribute(String) : String
has(String) : Navigator
parents(String) : Navigator
parentsUntil(String): Navigator
size() : int
text() : String
value() : Object

17. $(css selector, index, attribute / text matchers)
$("p") ➠ all <p>
CS
$("p", 3) ➠ 4th <p> S3
$("p")[3] ➠ 4th <p>
$("p")[0..2] ➠ 1st through 3rd <p>

18. Attribute Matchers
$("a", text:"Blade Runner")
➠ All <a> tags whose text is "Blade Runner"
$("a", href: contains("/name/")
➠ All <a> tags whose href attribute contains "/name/"
$("a", href: ~/nm[0-9]+/)
➠ All <a> tags whose href attribute matches the
pattern

19. Attribute Predicates
Case Sensitive Case Insensitive Description
startsWith iStartsWith start with value
contains iContains contains the value anywhere
endsWith iEndsWith end with value
contains value surrounded by whitespace (or at
constainsWord iContainsWord
begin or end)
notStartsWith iNotStartsWith DOES NOT start with value
notContains iNotContains DOES NOT contain value anywhere
notEndsWith iNotEndsWith DOES NOT end with value
DOES NOT contain value (surrounded by
notContainsWord iNotContainsWord
whitespace, or at begin or end)

20. Relative Traversal
<div class="a">
<div class="b">
<p class="c"></p>
<p class="d"></p>
<p class="e"></p>
</div>
<div class="f"></div>
</div>
$("p.d").previous() p.c
$("p.e").prevAll() p.c p.d
$("p.d").next() p.e
$("p.c").nextAll() p.d p.e
$("p.cd").parent() div.b
$("p.c").siblings() p.d p.e
$("div.a").children() div.b div.f

21. Navigators are Groovy Collections
each() is a Groovy Collection method
groovy:000> castList = [:]
===> {}
groovy:000> b.$("table.cast_list tr").tail().each
{ castList[it.find("td.name").text()] = it.find("td.character").text() }
===> […]
groovy:000> castList
===> {Harrison Ford=Rick Deckard, Rutger Hauer=Roy Batty, Sean Young=Rachael,
Edward James Olmos=Gaff, M. Emmet Walsh=Bryant, Daryl Hannah=Pris, William
Sanderson=J.F. Sebastian, Brion James=Leon Kowalski, Joe Turkel=Dr. Eldon
Tyrell, Joanna Cassidy=Zhora, James Hong=Hannibal Chew, Morgan Paull=Holden,
Kevin Thompson=Bear, John Edward Allen=Kaiser, Hy Pyke=Taffey Lewis}
http://groovy.codehaus.org/groovy-jdk/java/util/Collection.html

22. Forms
<form id="navbar-form" …
<input type="text" name="q" …
groovy:000> b.q = "Galaxy Quest"
===> Galaxy Quest
groovy:000> b.$("#navbar-form").q
===> Galaxy Quest

23. Pages and Modules

24. Problem: Repetition
$("a", text:"Contact Us").click()
waitFor { b.title == "Contact Us" }
$(".alert .btn-primary").click()
waitFor { b.title == "Contact Us" }
($(".search-form input[name='query']") << "search term").submit()

25. Solution: Model Pages not just DOM
Browser Page
go() : void Delegation pageUrl : String
quit() : void title : String
page : Page $(…) : Navigator
at(…) : boolean waitFor(…) : Object
verifyAt() : boolean
browser: Browser
class Home extends geb.Page {
static url = ""
static at = {
title == "The Internet Movie Database (IMDb)"
}
}
groovy:000> b.$(".home").click(Home)
===> null
groovy:000> b.verifyAt()
===> true
groovy:000> b.at Home
===> true
groovy:000> b.page
===> Home
groovy:000> b.to Home
===> null

26. Page Content
class Home extends Page {
static at = { title == "The Internet Movie Database (IMDb)" }
static url = ""
static content = {
boxOffice { $("h3", text:"Box Office").parent() }
firstBoxOffice { boxOffice.find("a").first() }
}
}
groovy:000> b.firstBoxOffice.click()
===> null

27. to / do / at
groovy:000> b.to Home
===> null
groovy:000> b.q = "Forbidden Planet"
===> Forbidden Planet
groovy:000> b.searchForm.go.click()
===> null
groovy:000> b.at Search
===> true
groovy:000>

28. Content Options
static content = {
boxOffice { $("h3", text:"Box Office").parent() }
boxOfficeLinks { boxOffice.find("a", text: iNotStartsWith("see more")) }
movieShowtimes(required:false) { $("h3", text:"Movie Showtimes").parent() }
movieShowtimesGo(required:false) { movieShowtimes.find("input", value:"Go") }
}

29. Content Options
Option Type Default Description
Evaluate content once, or
cache boolean false
on each access
Error on page load if
content does not exist (use
required boolean true
false for optional or Ajax-
loaded)
Page or Class, On a link, identify the page
to null
list of Page or Class the link submits to
Wait for content to become
wait varies null
available (via Ajax/DHTML)

30. Page Methods
class Home extends Page {
static at = { title == "The Internet Movie Database (IMDb)" }
static url = ""
static content = {
boxOffice { $("h3", text:"Box Office").parent() }
boxOfficeLinks { boxOffice.find("a", text: iNotStartsWith("see more")) }
}
def clickBoxOffice(index) {
def link = boxOfficeLinks[index]
def label = link.text()
link.click()
waitFor { title.startsWith(label) }
}
}
groovy:000> b.to Home
===> null
groovy:000> b.clickBoxOffice 0
===> true
groovy:000>

31. Problem: Re-used web pages
class Movie extends Page {
static at = {
assert title.startsWith("Blade Runner")
true GEB 0.7 will magically
} convert to asserts
static content = {
rating { $(".star-box-gig-start").text() }
castList { $("table.cast_list tr").tail() }
}
}
groovy:000> b.$("#main table", 2).find("a",7).click(Movie)
===> null
groovy:000> b.page
===> Movie
groovy:000> b.verifyAt()
ERROR org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.powerassert.PowerAssertionError:
assert title.startsWith("Blade Runner")
| |
| false
The Bugs Bunny/Road-Runner Movie (1979) - IMDb

32. Solution: Configured Page Instances
class Movie extends Page {
String expectedTitle
static at = {
assert title.startsWith expectedTitle
true
}
static content = {
rating { $(".star-box-gig-start").text() }
castList { $("table.cast_list tr").tail() }
}
}

33. class Search extends Page {
static at = {
assert title == "IMDb Search"
true
}
static content = {
mainTable { $("#main table") }
matchingTitles { mainTable[2] }
matchingTitlesLinks { matchingTitles.find("a", ⏎
href: contains("/title/tt")) }
}
def clickMatchingTitle(int index) {
def link = matchingTitlesLinks[index]
def label = link.text()
link.click()
browser.at new Movie(expectedTitle: label)
}
}

34. click()
groovy:000> b.searchForm.go.click()
===> null
groovy:000> b.clickMatchingTitle 3
===> true
def clickMatchingTitle(int index) {
def link = matchingTitlesLinks[index]
def label = link.text()
link.click()
browser.at new Movie(expectedTitle: label)
}

35. Problem: Duplication on Pages
b.$("#navbar-query") << "Bladerunner"
b.$("#navbar-submit-button").click()
Other examples:
Login / Logout / Register
"Contact Us" & other boilerplate
"Mark Favorite"
View Product Details
Bid / Buy

36. Solution: Modules
class SearchForm extends geb.Module {
static content = {
field { $("#navbar-query") }
go(to: Search) { $("#navbar-submit-button") }
}
}
class Home extends Page {
static at = { title == "The Internet Movie Database (IMDb)" }
static url = ""
static content = {
searchForm { module SearchForm }
}
}
groovy:000> b.to Home
===> null
groovy:000> b.searchForm.field << "Serenity"
===> [org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxWebElement@1ef44b1f]
groovy:000> b.searchForm.go.click()
===> null
groovy:000> b.page
===> Search

37. Problem: Repeating Elements
<table class="cast_list">
<tr>
<td class="primary_photo"> …
<td class="name"> …
<td class="ellipsis"> …
<td class="character"> …

38. Solution: Module Lists
class CastRow extends Module {
static content = {
actorName { $("td.name").text() }
characterName { $("td.character").text() }
}
} Scope limited to each <tr>
class Movie extends Page {
String expectedTitle
static at = { title.startsWith expectedTitle }
static content = {
rating { $(".star-box-gig-start").text() }
castList { moduleList CastRow, $("table.cast_list tr").tail() }
}
}

39. groovy:000> b.at(new Movie(expectedTitle: "Blade Runner"))
===> true
groovy:000> b.castList[0].actorName
===> Harrison Ford
groovy:000> b.castList[0].characterName
===> Rick Deckard
groovy:000> b.castList*.actorName
===> [Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, ⏎
M. Emmet Walsh, Daryl Hannah, William Sanderson, Brion James, Joe Turkel, ⏎
Joanna Cassidy, James Hong, Morgan Paull, Kevin Thompson, John Edward Allen, ⏎
Hy Pyke]

40. JavaScript and Ajax

41. js object
groovy:000> b = new Browser(baseUrl: "http://jquery.org")
===> geb.Browser@5ec22978
groovy:000> b.go()
===> null
groovy:000> b.js."document.title"
===> jQuery Project
Access simple page properties

42. Executing JavaScript
Text evaluated in-browser
groovy:000> b.js.exec '''
groovy:001> $("img").css("background-color", "red").fadeOut()
groovy:002> '''
===> null
groovy:000> b.js.exec 1, 2, "return arguments[0] + arguments[1];"
===> 3

43. jQuery Hook
More methodMissing() magic!
groovy:000> b.$("img").jquery.fadeIn()
===> [org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxWebElement@de86fd70,
org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxWebElement@615e6612,
Silently fails unless jQuery on page
org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxWebElement@52c13174,
org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxWebElement@69e1ba19,
org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxWebElement@2797f147,
org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxWebElement@69cfbbda,
org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxWebElement@27d5741a,
org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxWebElement@10b36232,
org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxWebElement@ec3e243f]

44. Waiting
waitFor { condition }
waitFor timeout { condition }
waitFor timeout, interval { condition }
waitFor "preset" { condition }

45. Testing Framework
Integration

46. Reporting
package myapp.tests
Base class that reports at end of each test
import geb.spock.*
class Login extends GebReportingSpec {
def "successful login"() {
when:
go "login"
username = "user1"
report "login screen" Capture HTML and screenshot
login().click()
then:
title == "Welcome, User1"
}
}
reports/myapp/tests/Login/1-1-login-login screen.html
reports/myapp/tests/Login/1-1-login-login screen.png
reports/myapp/tests/Login/1-2-login-end.html
reports/myapp/tests/Login/1-2-login-end.png

47. Base Classes
Report end of each test
Framework Artifact Base Class Reporting Base Class
Spock geb-spock geb.spock.GebSpec geb.spock.GebReportingSpec
Junit 4 geb-juni4 geb.junit4.GebTest geb.junit4.GebReportingTest
Junit 3 geb-junit3 geb.junit3.GebTest geb.junit3.GebReportingTest
TestNG geb-testng geb.testng.GebTest geb.testng.GebReportingTest
Report failures only

48. Delegation
package myapp.tests Page
import geb.spock.*
Delegation
class Login extends GebReportingSpec {
def "successful login"() { Browser
when:
Delegation
go "login"
username = "user1"
report "login screen"
login().click()
Geb[Reporting]Spec
then:
title == "Welcome, User1"
}
}

49. Configuration

50. GebConfig.groovy
src/test/resources/GebConfig.groovy
import org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxDriver
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver
driver = { new FirefoxDriver() } // use firefox by default
waiting {
timeout = 2 // default wait is two seconds
}
environments {
chrome {
driver = { new ChromeDriver() }
}
}
http://groovy.codehaus.org/gapi/groovy/util/ConfigSlurper.html

51. Environment
$ grade test -Dgeb.env=chrome
src/test/resources/GebConfig.groovy
import org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxDriver
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver
driver = { new FirefoxDriver() } // use firefox by default
waiting {
timeout = 2 // default wait is two seconds
}
environments {
chrome {
driver = { new ChromeDriver() }
}
}

52. Waiting Configuration
GebConfig.groovy
waiting {
timeout = 10
retryInterval = 0.5
presets {
slow { timeout = 20, retryInterval = 1 }
quick { timeout = 1 }
}
}

53. More Info

54. http://www.gebish.org

55. https://github.com/geb/geb

56. http://howardlewisship.com

57. Q&A