Supported actions in the recorder

BrowserStack Low Code Automation offers a range of actions in the recorder to simplify the testing process.

Low Code Automation provides an intuitive recorder that automatically captures a range of actions you perform on your website. This allows you to effortlessly record and execute your test steps. Following is the list of supported actions:

• Click
• Double-click
• Right click
• Form inputs
• Drop-down values
• File upload action
• Hover
• Native alerts
• iFrames & Shadow DOM
• Browser navigation
• Scrolling
• Key press

Click

Low Code Automation records single click actions you perform on the browser. The recorder automatically identifies the element whenever a click action is performed in the browser and records the click step accordingly.

Double-click

Low Code Automation records double clicks you perform on the browser. For a double-click to get captured, you need to click on an element twice within a 500 ms interval.

Right click

Low Code Automation captures the right-clicks you perform on the browser, specifically when interacting with elements that display context menus.

Form inputs

Low Code Automation records your inputs on various form fields on the browser. Currently, we record user actions when you select checkboxes, radio buttons, or input text in fields.

For text inputs, you can convert the entered text into Variables to reuse them later. You can also make use of Functions to enter dynamic values that change on every execution

Drop-down values

Low Code Automation allows you to capture the value you choose from dropdown menus. You can easily modify this value on the step details page, so that you don’t have to re-record the entire step. Additionally, you can use the Variables feature in dropdown selections. This allows you to add more flexibility and customization to your automation tests.

File upload action

You can upload files from your local system to record your testing workflow with no additional setup. Low Code Automation allows to test websites with file upload use cases. Few examples include:

• Upload file to extract and auto-fill forms in your website.
• Upload an image to set a profile picture.
• Upload PDF, excel, or CSV files to perform validations on websites.

Steps to record a file upload

To record the upload of a file, simply navigate to the workflow in the website where you want to upload a file and perform the upload as you would do naturally while testing. Low Code Automation recorder automatically captures the file upload step.

How to update the uploaded file

After selecting the file upload option and uploading a file, you can make the following modifications to your uploaded file:

1. Navigate to the file upload step from the recorder panel and click on the step to open step details.
2. To update the file in the test, click the Update option. The updated file will be used for all future test runs.
3. To download the file in the test, click the download icon.

Hover

Low Code Automation automatically records hover actions performed on your website. It records the most recent hover over an element when there are multiple hovers.

To handle nested or CSS-based hovers, you can also manually record hover steps. Press the following keys on your keyboard to start capturing hovers.

• For Mac: Option + H
• For Windows: Alt + H

Native alerts

Native Alerts are interactive dialog boxes that require user inputs. Low Code Automation captures user actions on the following alert types:

• Alert Box: Displays a message with an OK button.
• Confirm Box: Displays a message with both OK and Cancel buttons.

The graphic below shows Low Code Automation capturing user actions on Alert and Confirm boxes.

iFrames & Shadow DOM

Interacting with elements inside iFrames or Shadow DOM becomes tricky when you automate tests using a script-based framework. It becomes even more complicated to deal with nested iFrames and nested Shadow DOMs.

Low Code Automation automatically handles recording the actions performed even in these type of elements.

iFrames

An iFrame or inline frame is an HTML element that embeds another document within a web page. It allows you to display content from different sources without leaving the original page.

BrowserStack’s Low Code Automation also supports recording actions on elements that are inside an iFrame. When you interact with an element within an iFrame, it captures both the iFrame details and the specific element you clicked. During test execution, it automatically finds the iFrame and switches to it. It then carries out the appropriate actions on the element inside the iFrame. It also supports nested iFrames.

Shadow DOM

Shadow DOM (Document Object Model) is a web standard. It lets developers encapsulate parts of the DOM and their styles. This prevents style conflicts and enhances component reusability. BrowserStack’s Low Code Automation records user actions on elements inside Shadow DOMs. It can record user actions even in nested Shadow DOMs. This means you can engage with elements deep within layers of encapsulation. It also captures actions in Shadow DOMs within iFrames.

Browser navigation

Low Code Automation records the browser navigations as follows:

• Open a new tab
• Close a tab
• Multiple tabs

Open a new tab

Records the action when you open a new tab using the browser’s + button and visit a URL.

Close a tab

Records the action when you close an existing tab using the browser’s x button.

Multiple tabs

Low Code Automation allows you to record user actions across multiple tabs in a browser. If a website has a link that opens a new tab, that new tab will be recorded. Any further user actions on the new tab will also be captured and executed during the test. You can switch between multiple tabs to record actions and add validations.

Scrolling

Low Code Automation manages scrolling automatically. It does not specifically record scroll actions. However, if you need to reach a particular element, it scrolls to that element during execution.

Key press

Low Code Automation records key presses that trigger interactions on the page. We support the following key presses:

• Tab
• Enter
• Alphanumeric

The graphic below shows Low Code Automation capturing key actions when you press the Tab key.