appium-chromedriver

What is appium-chromedriver?

The appium-chromedriver npm package is a Node.js wrapper around the Chromedriver binary, which is used to automate Chrome-based browsers for testing purposes. It is primarily used in conjunction with Appium to facilitate automated testing of web applications on mobile devices.

What are appium-chromedriver's main functionalities?

Install Chromedriver

This feature allows you to install the Chromedriver binary required for automating Chrome-based browsers. The code sample demonstrates how to set up Chromedriver using the appium-chromedriver package.

const Chromedriver = require('appium-chromedriver');
const driver = new Chromedriver();
driver.setupChromedriver().then(() => console.log('Chromedriver installed successfully'));

Start Chromedriver

This feature allows you to start the Chromedriver server. The code sample demonstrates how to start Chromedriver using the appium-chromedriver package.

const Chromedriver = require('appium-chromedriver');
const driver = new Chromedriver();
driver.start().then(() => console.log('Chromedriver started successfully'));

Stop Chromedriver

This feature allows you to stop the Chromedriver server. The code sample demonstrates how to stop Chromedriver using the appium-chromedriver package.

const Chromedriver = require('appium-chromedriver');
const driver = new Chromedriver();
driver.stop().then(() => console.log('Chromedriver stopped successfully'));

Get Chromedriver Status

This feature allows you to get the status of the Chromedriver server. The code sample demonstrates how to retrieve the status using the appium-chromedriver package.

const Chromedriver = require('appium-chromedriver');
const driver = new Chromedriver();
driver.status().then(status => console.log('Chromedriver status:', status));

Other packages similar to appium-chromedriver

selenium-webdriver

The selenium-webdriver package is a popular tool for automating web browsers. It provides a high-level API for controlling browsers and is widely used for web application testing. Unlike appium-chromedriver, which is focused on mobile automation, selenium-webdriver supports a broader range of browsers and platforms.

webdriverio

WebdriverIO is a powerful automation framework for web and mobile applications. It provides a rich set of features for browser automation and integrates well with various testing frameworks. Compared to appium-chromedriver, WebdriverIO offers more extensive support for different browsers and testing environments.

nightwatch

Nightwatch is an end-to-end testing framework for web applications and websites. It uses the W3C WebDriver API to perform browser automation and provides a simple syntax for writing tests. While appium-chromedriver is focused on mobile automation, Nightwatch is designed for web application testing and offers built-in support for various browsers.

README

appium-chromedriver

Node.js wrapper around Chromedriver

This module is written using Traceur which is essentially ECMAscript6 along with the proposed await command for es7.

Usage

import Chromedriver from 'appium-chromedriver';

// 'sync'-like await/Promise usage
async function runSession() {
    let driver = new Chromedriver();
    const desiredCaps = {browserName: 'chrome'};
    await driver.start(desiredCaps);
    let status = await driver.sendCommand('/status', 'GET');
    await driver.stop();
}

// EventEmitter usage
function runSession2() {
    let driver = new Chromedriver();
    const desiredCaps = {browserName: 'chrome'};
    driver.start(desiredCaps);
    driver.on(Chromedriver.EVENT_CHANGED, function (msg) {
        if (msg.state === Chromedriver.STATE_ONLINE) {
            driver.sendCommand('/status', 'GET').then(function (status) {
                driver.stop();
            });
        }
    });
    driver.on(Chromedriver.EVENT_ERROR, function (err) {
        // :-(
    });
}

States

Here's what the Chromedriver state machine looks like:

Here are the events you can listen for:

• Chromedriver.EVENT_ERROR: gives you an error object
• Chromedriver.EVENT_CHANGED: gives you a state change object, with a state property that can be one of:
  • Chromedriver.STATE_STOPPED
  • Chromedriver.STATE_STARTING
  • Chromedriver.STATE_ONLINE
  • Chromedriver.STATE_STOPPING
  • Chromedriver.STATE_RESTARTING

Custom Chromedriver version

To use a version of Chromedriver not set in the code, use npm config property chromedriver_version.

npm install appium-chromedriver --chromedriver_version="2.16"

Or add the property into your .npmrc file.

chromedriver_version=2.16

Custom binaries url

To use a mirror of the ChromeDriver binaries use npm config property chromedriver_cdnurl. Default is http://chromedriver.storage.googleapis.com.

npm install appium-chromedriver --chromedriver_cdnurl=http://npm.taobao.org/mirrors/chromedriver

Or add the property into your .npmrc file.

chromedriver_cdnurl=http://npm.taobao.org/mirrors/chromedriver

Another option is to use PATH variable CHROMEDRIVER_CDNURL.

CHROMEDRIVER_CDNURL=http://npm.taobao.org/mirrors/chromedriver npm install appium-chromedriver

Dev

We use Gulp for building/transpiling.

Watch

npm run watch

Run Tests

npm test