Requesting name and/or id for better Selenium testability












7















I'm testing an application using Cucumber + Java + Selenium and I'm seeing that, most of the type, elements don't have a name, nor an id.



This is the case for almost every component on the page but, more importantly, it's the case for clickable elements which make life harder for me (since I can't do a findElement(By.id(myId)) and have to be creative with my use of XPath).



I'm thinking about asking the dev to add an id or a name to every clickable element and to not clickable element that changes depending on what you have entered before.



Question



Am I abusing my powers here? If not, what argument can I use to make them see that it's a valid request?










share|improve this question



























    7















    I'm testing an application using Cucumber + Java + Selenium and I'm seeing that, most of the type, elements don't have a name, nor an id.



    This is the case for almost every component on the page but, more importantly, it's the case for clickable elements which make life harder for me (since I can't do a findElement(By.id(myId)) and have to be creative with my use of XPath).



    I'm thinking about asking the dev to add an id or a name to every clickable element and to not clickable element that changes depending on what you have entered before.



    Question



    Am I abusing my powers here? If not, what argument can I use to make them see that it's a valid request?










    share|improve this question

























      7












      7








      7


      2






      I'm testing an application using Cucumber + Java + Selenium and I'm seeing that, most of the type, elements don't have a name, nor an id.



      This is the case for almost every component on the page but, more importantly, it's the case for clickable elements which make life harder for me (since I can't do a findElement(By.id(myId)) and have to be creative with my use of XPath).



      I'm thinking about asking the dev to add an id or a name to every clickable element and to not clickable element that changes depending on what you have entered before.



      Question



      Am I abusing my powers here? If not, what argument can I use to make them see that it's a valid request?










      share|improve this question














      I'm testing an application using Cucumber + Java + Selenium and I'm seeing that, most of the type, elements don't have a name, nor an id.



      This is the case for almost every component on the page but, more importantly, it's the case for clickable elements which make life harder for me (since I can't do a findElement(By.id(myId)) and have to be creative with my use of XPath).



      I'm thinking about asking the dev to add an id or a name to every clickable element and to not clickable element that changes depending on what you have entered before.



      Question



      Am I abusing my powers here? If not, what argument can I use to make them see that it's a valid request?







      automated-testing browser-automation






      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question











      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question










      asked Jan 10 at 9:34









      NoonNoon

      1413




      1413






















          5 Answers
          5






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          4














          This is a perfectly fine request. If the QA department decided to use primarily id locators for testing (as combining several locator types is difficult to maintain) and the developers agreed to this, front-end feature implementations without id locators shouldn't pass through QA successfully, because they do not follow the set standards. Current elements without id are basically bugs, because they are expected to have an id for testing purposes.



          As for arguments for implementing ids on elements...:




          1. If the specification says the feature should be tagged with ids where neccessary, and there are no ids, it's a bug and should be treated as so.

          2. You are a business. You are supposed to find solutions with the biggest reward/cost ratio. XPaths are slower and harder to implement in tests than ids. I honestly don't think that the costs accured during tagging of elements with ids would outweigh the overall costs of using XPaths in testing. However, this is something the project manager should decide.

          3. It allows you to create more maintainable tests and reduces the amount of false positives. DOM changes much more often than the general layout and design of the frontend. With ids however, when you have e.g. a contact form, chances are there is always going to be something like <button id="send-message">Send</button>, no matter how many fields are in the form or in what section the contact form is.

          4. It makes life easier for both of you. You will be able to write better tests faster, so you can dedicate more time to other types of testing, such as exploratory testing, finding more bugs. The developers in turn get quicker feedback and will be able to fix bugs quicker.






          share|improve this answer

































            3














            It is a normal practice. You should only remember that in modern UI a lot of elements are dynamically generated so the capabilities of your devs might be limited in that area. It might also depend on the particular framework your devs use for building UI.






            share|improve this answer































              2














              The more complex is an xPath expression the more likely that it will be broken somewhere in the future. For example:




              • a div is changed to span

              • an additional div will be added to the structure

              • a class name is changed or an additional class is introduced

              • etc.


              All in these cases the tests should be updated, on the other hand if there would have been a proper id assigned to the tested elements, the tests would work fine without any action.






              share|improve this answer































                2














                An alternative is to attempt to base your selectors on the text visible to the users, via Xpaths. Then it does not matter if the location of an element changes, the size or color or any other aspect other then the visible text.



                If this turns out to be difficult for some cases, then by all means ask for a specific ID for a specific element. But the point is for the majority of cases you probably won't need to do that.



                 xpath = "//label[text() = 'Print Book']"





                share|improve this answer


























                • But what if the text change? I'm testing a beta version and the text changing is really not unlikely.

                  – Noon
                  Jan 10 at 14:17






                • 1





                  Then pick your targets. If things are changing often, don't attempt to test them like this. Wait until they are stable (i.e. signed off) and then test them. Automated tests cannot be maintained against constant change easily.

                  – Paul Collingwood - Futrli
                  Jan 10 at 16:15



















                1














                There are at least few things which you can gain by requesting that.




                1. The test will run faster (finding by id is faster than looking through xpath)

                2. The tests won't fail that much when the UI will change, and time to maintain them will be shorter


                There are also few things which can make your request not doable:




                1. When items on page are generated automatically (and cannot be named statically).

                2. Developer will need too much time to do that

                3. If the framework / language in which site is done doesn't support that.


                So basically the best approach would be talking to developer and asking him about how much of naming can he do by himself (or show you how to add those names / ids by yourself.)






                share|improve this answer























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                  5 Answers
                  5






                  active

                  oldest

                  votes








                  5 Answers
                  5






                  active

                  oldest

                  votes









                  active

                  oldest

                  votes






                  active

                  oldest

                  votes









                  4














                  This is a perfectly fine request. If the QA department decided to use primarily id locators for testing (as combining several locator types is difficult to maintain) and the developers agreed to this, front-end feature implementations without id locators shouldn't pass through QA successfully, because they do not follow the set standards. Current elements without id are basically bugs, because they are expected to have an id for testing purposes.



                  As for arguments for implementing ids on elements...:




                  1. If the specification says the feature should be tagged with ids where neccessary, and there are no ids, it's a bug and should be treated as so.

                  2. You are a business. You are supposed to find solutions with the biggest reward/cost ratio. XPaths are slower and harder to implement in tests than ids. I honestly don't think that the costs accured during tagging of elements with ids would outweigh the overall costs of using XPaths in testing. However, this is something the project manager should decide.

                  3. It allows you to create more maintainable tests and reduces the amount of false positives. DOM changes much more often than the general layout and design of the frontend. With ids however, when you have e.g. a contact form, chances are there is always going to be something like <button id="send-message">Send</button>, no matter how many fields are in the form or in what section the contact form is.

                  4. It makes life easier for both of you. You will be able to write better tests faster, so you can dedicate more time to other types of testing, such as exploratory testing, finding more bugs. The developers in turn get quicker feedback and will be able to fix bugs quicker.






                  share|improve this answer






























                    4














                    This is a perfectly fine request. If the QA department decided to use primarily id locators for testing (as combining several locator types is difficult to maintain) and the developers agreed to this, front-end feature implementations without id locators shouldn't pass through QA successfully, because they do not follow the set standards. Current elements without id are basically bugs, because they are expected to have an id for testing purposes.



                    As for arguments for implementing ids on elements...:




                    1. If the specification says the feature should be tagged with ids where neccessary, and there are no ids, it's a bug and should be treated as so.

                    2. You are a business. You are supposed to find solutions with the biggest reward/cost ratio. XPaths are slower and harder to implement in tests than ids. I honestly don't think that the costs accured during tagging of elements with ids would outweigh the overall costs of using XPaths in testing. However, this is something the project manager should decide.

                    3. It allows you to create more maintainable tests and reduces the amount of false positives. DOM changes much more often than the general layout and design of the frontend. With ids however, when you have e.g. a contact form, chances are there is always going to be something like <button id="send-message">Send</button>, no matter how many fields are in the form or in what section the contact form is.

                    4. It makes life easier for both of you. You will be able to write better tests faster, so you can dedicate more time to other types of testing, such as exploratory testing, finding more bugs. The developers in turn get quicker feedback and will be able to fix bugs quicker.






                    share|improve this answer




























                      4












                      4








                      4







                      This is a perfectly fine request. If the QA department decided to use primarily id locators for testing (as combining several locator types is difficult to maintain) and the developers agreed to this, front-end feature implementations without id locators shouldn't pass through QA successfully, because they do not follow the set standards. Current elements without id are basically bugs, because they are expected to have an id for testing purposes.



                      As for arguments for implementing ids on elements...:




                      1. If the specification says the feature should be tagged with ids where neccessary, and there are no ids, it's a bug and should be treated as so.

                      2. You are a business. You are supposed to find solutions with the biggest reward/cost ratio. XPaths are slower and harder to implement in tests than ids. I honestly don't think that the costs accured during tagging of elements with ids would outweigh the overall costs of using XPaths in testing. However, this is something the project manager should decide.

                      3. It allows you to create more maintainable tests and reduces the amount of false positives. DOM changes much more often than the general layout and design of the frontend. With ids however, when you have e.g. a contact form, chances are there is always going to be something like <button id="send-message">Send</button>, no matter how many fields are in the form or in what section the contact form is.

                      4. It makes life easier for both of you. You will be able to write better tests faster, so you can dedicate more time to other types of testing, such as exploratory testing, finding more bugs. The developers in turn get quicker feedback and will be able to fix bugs quicker.






                      share|improve this answer















                      This is a perfectly fine request. If the QA department decided to use primarily id locators for testing (as combining several locator types is difficult to maintain) and the developers agreed to this, front-end feature implementations without id locators shouldn't pass through QA successfully, because they do not follow the set standards. Current elements without id are basically bugs, because they are expected to have an id for testing purposes.



                      As for arguments for implementing ids on elements...:




                      1. If the specification says the feature should be tagged with ids where neccessary, and there are no ids, it's a bug and should be treated as so.

                      2. You are a business. You are supposed to find solutions with the biggest reward/cost ratio. XPaths are slower and harder to implement in tests than ids. I honestly don't think that the costs accured during tagging of elements with ids would outweigh the overall costs of using XPaths in testing. However, this is something the project manager should decide.

                      3. It allows you to create more maintainable tests and reduces the amount of false positives. DOM changes much more often than the general layout and design of the frontend. With ids however, when you have e.g. a contact form, chances are there is always going to be something like <button id="send-message">Send</button>, no matter how many fields are in the form or in what section the contact form is.

                      4. It makes life easier for both of you. You will be able to write better tests faster, so you can dedicate more time to other types of testing, such as exploratory testing, finding more bugs. The developers in turn get quicker feedback and will be able to fix bugs quicker.







                      share|improve this answer














                      share|improve this answer



                      share|improve this answer








                      edited Jan 11 at 14:50

























                      answered Jan 10 at 10:16









                      lostInCodelostInCode

                      1612




                      1612























                          3














                          It is a normal practice. You should only remember that in modern UI a lot of elements are dynamically generated so the capabilities of your devs might be limited in that area. It might also depend on the particular framework your devs use for building UI.






                          share|improve this answer




























                            3














                            It is a normal practice. You should only remember that in modern UI a lot of elements are dynamically generated so the capabilities of your devs might be limited in that area. It might also depend on the particular framework your devs use for building UI.






                            share|improve this answer


























                              3












                              3








                              3







                              It is a normal practice. You should only remember that in modern UI a lot of elements are dynamically generated so the capabilities of your devs might be limited in that area. It might also depend on the particular framework your devs use for building UI.






                              share|improve this answer













                              It is a normal practice. You should only remember that in modern UI a lot of elements are dynamically generated so the capabilities of your devs might be limited in that area. It might also depend on the particular framework your devs use for building UI.







                              share|improve this answer












                              share|improve this answer



                              share|improve this answer










                              answered Jan 10 at 10:19









                              Alexey R.Alexey R.

                              7,1141729




                              7,1141729























                                  2














                                  The more complex is an xPath expression the more likely that it will be broken somewhere in the future. For example:




                                  • a div is changed to span

                                  • an additional div will be added to the structure

                                  • a class name is changed or an additional class is introduced

                                  • etc.


                                  All in these cases the tests should be updated, on the other hand if there would have been a proper id assigned to the tested elements, the tests would work fine without any action.






                                  share|improve this answer




























                                    2














                                    The more complex is an xPath expression the more likely that it will be broken somewhere in the future. For example:




                                    • a div is changed to span

                                    • an additional div will be added to the structure

                                    • a class name is changed or an additional class is introduced

                                    • etc.


                                    All in these cases the tests should be updated, on the other hand if there would have been a proper id assigned to the tested elements, the tests would work fine without any action.






                                    share|improve this answer


























                                      2












                                      2








                                      2







                                      The more complex is an xPath expression the more likely that it will be broken somewhere in the future. For example:




                                      • a div is changed to span

                                      • an additional div will be added to the structure

                                      • a class name is changed or an additional class is introduced

                                      • etc.


                                      All in these cases the tests should be updated, on the other hand if there would have been a proper id assigned to the tested elements, the tests would work fine without any action.






                                      share|improve this answer













                                      The more complex is an xPath expression the more likely that it will be broken somewhere in the future. For example:




                                      • a div is changed to span

                                      • an additional div will be added to the structure

                                      • a class name is changed or an additional class is introduced

                                      • etc.


                                      All in these cases the tests should be updated, on the other hand if there would have been a proper id assigned to the tested elements, the tests would work fine without any action.







                                      share|improve this answer












                                      share|improve this answer



                                      share|improve this answer










                                      answered Jan 10 at 11:55









                                      Bence KaulicsBence Kaulics

                                      680217




                                      680217























                                          2














                                          An alternative is to attempt to base your selectors on the text visible to the users, via Xpaths. Then it does not matter if the location of an element changes, the size or color or any other aspect other then the visible text.



                                          If this turns out to be difficult for some cases, then by all means ask for a specific ID for a specific element. But the point is for the majority of cases you probably won't need to do that.



                                           xpath = "//label[text() = 'Print Book']"





                                          share|improve this answer


























                                          • But what if the text change? I'm testing a beta version and the text changing is really not unlikely.

                                            – Noon
                                            Jan 10 at 14:17






                                          • 1





                                            Then pick your targets. If things are changing often, don't attempt to test them like this. Wait until they are stable (i.e. signed off) and then test them. Automated tests cannot be maintained against constant change easily.

                                            – Paul Collingwood - Futrli
                                            Jan 10 at 16:15
















                                          2














                                          An alternative is to attempt to base your selectors on the text visible to the users, via Xpaths. Then it does not matter if the location of an element changes, the size or color or any other aspect other then the visible text.



                                          If this turns out to be difficult for some cases, then by all means ask for a specific ID for a specific element. But the point is for the majority of cases you probably won't need to do that.



                                           xpath = "//label[text() = 'Print Book']"





                                          share|improve this answer


























                                          • But what if the text change? I'm testing a beta version and the text changing is really not unlikely.

                                            – Noon
                                            Jan 10 at 14:17






                                          • 1





                                            Then pick your targets. If things are changing often, don't attempt to test them like this. Wait until they are stable (i.e. signed off) and then test them. Automated tests cannot be maintained against constant change easily.

                                            – Paul Collingwood - Futrli
                                            Jan 10 at 16:15














                                          2












                                          2








                                          2







                                          An alternative is to attempt to base your selectors on the text visible to the users, via Xpaths. Then it does not matter if the location of an element changes, the size or color or any other aspect other then the visible text.



                                          If this turns out to be difficult for some cases, then by all means ask for a specific ID for a specific element. But the point is for the majority of cases you probably won't need to do that.



                                           xpath = "//label[text() = 'Print Book']"





                                          share|improve this answer















                                          An alternative is to attempt to base your selectors on the text visible to the users, via Xpaths. Then it does not matter if the location of an element changes, the size or color or any other aspect other then the visible text.



                                          If this turns out to be difficult for some cases, then by all means ask for a specific ID for a specific element. But the point is for the majority of cases you probably won't need to do that.



                                           xpath = "//label[text() = 'Print Book']"






                                          share|improve this answer














                                          share|improve this answer



                                          share|improve this answer








                                          edited Jan 10 at 16:15

























                                          answered Jan 10 at 13:52









                                          Paul Collingwood - FutrliPaul Collingwood - Futrli

                                          764




                                          764













                                          • But what if the text change? I'm testing a beta version and the text changing is really not unlikely.

                                            – Noon
                                            Jan 10 at 14:17






                                          • 1





                                            Then pick your targets. If things are changing often, don't attempt to test them like this. Wait until they are stable (i.e. signed off) and then test them. Automated tests cannot be maintained against constant change easily.

                                            – Paul Collingwood - Futrli
                                            Jan 10 at 16:15



















                                          • But what if the text change? I'm testing a beta version and the text changing is really not unlikely.

                                            – Noon
                                            Jan 10 at 14:17






                                          • 1





                                            Then pick your targets. If things are changing often, don't attempt to test them like this. Wait until they are stable (i.e. signed off) and then test them. Automated tests cannot be maintained against constant change easily.

                                            – Paul Collingwood - Futrli
                                            Jan 10 at 16:15

















                                          But what if the text change? I'm testing a beta version and the text changing is really not unlikely.

                                          – Noon
                                          Jan 10 at 14:17





                                          But what if the text change? I'm testing a beta version and the text changing is really not unlikely.

                                          – Noon
                                          Jan 10 at 14:17




                                          1




                                          1





                                          Then pick your targets. If things are changing often, don't attempt to test them like this. Wait until they are stable (i.e. signed off) and then test them. Automated tests cannot be maintained against constant change easily.

                                          – Paul Collingwood - Futrli
                                          Jan 10 at 16:15





                                          Then pick your targets. If things are changing often, don't attempt to test them like this. Wait until they are stable (i.e. signed off) and then test them. Automated tests cannot be maintained against constant change easily.

                                          – Paul Collingwood - Futrli
                                          Jan 10 at 16:15











                                          1














                                          There are at least few things which you can gain by requesting that.




                                          1. The test will run faster (finding by id is faster than looking through xpath)

                                          2. The tests won't fail that much when the UI will change, and time to maintain them will be shorter


                                          There are also few things which can make your request not doable:




                                          1. When items on page are generated automatically (and cannot be named statically).

                                          2. Developer will need too much time to do that

                                          3. If the framework / language in which site is done doesn't support that.


                                          So basically the best approach would be talking to developer and asking him about how much of naming can he do by himself (or show you how to add those names / ids by yourself.)






                                          share|improve this answer




























                                            1














                                            There are at least few things which you can gain by requesting that.




                                            1. The test will run faster (finding by id is faster than looking through xpath)

                                            2. The tests won't fail that much when the UI will change, and time to maintain them will be shorter


                                            There are also few things which can make your request not doable:




                                            1. When items on page are generated automatically (and cannot be named statically).

                                            2. Developer will need too much time to do that

                                            3. If the framework / language in which site is done doesn't support that.


                                            So basically the best approach would be talking to developer and asking him about how much of naming can he do by himself (or show you how to add those names / ids by yourself.)






                                            share|improve this answer


























                                              1












                                              1








                                              1







                                              There are at least few things which you can gain by requesting that.




                                              1. The test will run faster (finding by id is faster than looking through xpath)

                                              2. The tests won't fail that much when the UI will change, and time to maintain them will be shorter


                                              There are also few things which can make your request not doable:




                                              1. When items on page are generated automatically (and cannot be named statically).

                                              2. Developer will need too much time to do that

                                              3. If the framework / language in which site is done doesn't support that.


                                              So basically the best approach would be talking to developer and asking him about how much of naming can he do by himself (or show you how to add those names / ids by yourself.)






                                              share|improve this answer













                                              There are at least few things which you can gain by requesting that.




                                              1. The test will run faster (finding by id is faster than looking through xpath)

                                              2. The tests won't fail that much when the UI will change, and time to maintain them will be shorter


                                              There are also few things which can make your request not doable:




                                              1. When items on page are generated automatically (and cannot be named statically).

                                              2. Developer will need too much time to do that

                                              3. If the framework / language in which site is done doesn't support that.


                                              So basically the best approach would be talking to developer and asking him about how much of naming can he do by himself (or show you how to add those names / ids by yourself.)







                                              share|improve this answer












                                              share|improve this answer



                                              share|improve this answer










                                              answered Jan 11 at 13:39









                                              Michal DobrzyckiMichal Dobrzycki

                                              3106




                                              3106






























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