How to Use AutoIT with Selenium

Using AutoIT with Selenium, testers can create comprehensive and efficient test cases for web apps that require interactions outside the browser.

Overview

What is AutoIT?

AutoIT is a free tool that uses a combination of simulated keystrokes, mouse movement and window control manipulation to automate window graphic user interface (GUI) tasks.

Why Use AutoIT with Selenium?

Using AutoIT with Selenium helps overcome the limitations in managing non-browser elements during testing. Though Selenium interacts seamlessly with web-based UI components, it cannot support system-level dialogs and pop-ups. AutoIT helps overcome this limitation by automating interactions with Windows-based elements.

In this article, learn how to use AutoIT with Selenium and some best practices for using AutoIT with Selenium.

What is AutoIT?

AutoIT is an open-source scripting language built to automate window graphic user interfaces (GUIs). It uses a combination of simulated keystrokes, mouse movement, and window control manipulation to automate window graphic user interface (GUI) tasks.

It is a small standalone scripting software that enables the automation of file uploads and clipboard windows operation.

Initially, AutoIT was designed to reliably automate personal computers (PCs). However, it has grown to become a powerful industry scripting language, supporting complex programming expressions such as functions, loops, and other scripting constructs.

Why Use AutoIT for Selenium

Selenium is a great web browser automation tool on its own. However, it is challenging to handle operating system (OS)-level interaction such as file upload, which is a recurring task in most web applications, and complex keyword and mouse movement outside the browser.

For this purpose, AutoIT becomes a necessity to extend Selenium functionality to be able to perform native operating system-level functionality.

AutoIT in Selenium integration makes activities such as automating OS-level operations possible in web automation. It brings both the functionality AutoIT and Selenium as a single unit.

While Selenium automates and handles web elements, page navigation and validation, AutoIT handles interactions with native windows operations like dialog boxes and file uploads. AutoIT is free, it is simple and easy to use, and easy to integrate with Selenium.

Read More: How to Drag and Drop in Selenium?

When to Use AutoIT with Selenium

AutoIT in Selenium is particularly useful in applications that require both OS-level and web automation. The following are some activities that would require the use of AutoIT in Selenium:

Managing file upload and download operations: Selenium struggles with handling native Windows operations like file upload and download dialog box. These operations require the use of AutoIT in Selenium for efficient automation.

Read more: How to Upload File in Selenium?

Handling Pop-ups activities: Non-browser elements like system pop-ups or system level pop-ups cannot be handled with Selenium. However, with AutoIT Selenium integration, non-browser elements such as desktop applications and system-level pop-ups can be tested.
Cross-Platform Automation: Selenium is designed for browser environments. Although it can support multiple browser environments, its functionality is limited to cater to window OS-level specific tasks
Operations that involve non-browser user interface (UI) interaction: Complex keyboards and mouse operation outside the browser will require the use of AutoIT in Selenium for effective automation.

How to Install AutoIT

Follow these steps to download and install AutoIT:

Before you proceed to install AutoIT, make sure you are running x64-bit or x86-bit operating systems, and you have more than 33.8MB of memory space.

1. Go to AutoIT’s official website to download AutoIT

2. Click on ‘Download AutoIT’

3. Once the download is complete, double-click to start the installation process.

4. Click on “Next” and “I agree” to the license agreement to continue the installation

5. Upon successful installation, click “Finish” to conclude the process

How to Write Your First AutoIT Script (with Example)

In the steps above, AutoIT was downloaded and installed; the next step would be to install the AutoIT script editor to write the first AutoIT script.

To download and install the AutoIT script, follow the steps as outlined below:

1. Visit the official AutoIT Script Editor download page

2. On the official web page, scroll down to the “Current Version” and click on the executable file to download.

3. Open the downloaded file to install the editor

4. Click “Next” and Agree to the license agreement

5. Click on “Finish” to conclude the installation

Now that AutoIT and AutoIT Script Editor have been successfully downloaded and installed, it is time to write the first script.

To start with the first script, navigate to the folder where you wish to save your script:

Right-click on the folder
Select New
Click on AutoIt v3 Script
Rename the “New AutoIt v3 Script” to “HelloStack”

Now the script file (HelloStack.au3) is ready, the next step is to edit the file and write the first script message.

The following steps guide you on how to edit the script file:

1. Right-click on the HelloStack file

2. Select Edit Script

3. The Script editor (SciTE) will open

4. Write the following script in your editor

```

#include <MsgBoxConstants.au3>

MsgBox($MB_OK, “BrowserStack”, “Hello BrowserStack”)

```

In the code above, you imported the MsgBoxConstants package using the include keyword. Then, the MsgBox function is invoked from the MsgBoxConstants.

The MsgBox function takes three arguments with an optional timeout argument. Your script should look like the one below:

To run the script,

Save the script by pressing ctrl S on Windows.
Then go back to the HelloStack.au3 file,
Right-click on the file and select Run Script (x64) or Run Script (x86), whichever your machine supports.

If you do everything right, you should see a window pop-up with the message, “Hello BrowserStack!”

The next step would be to look at how to integrate AutoIT with Selenium.

How to Integrate AutoIT with Selenium

Integrating AutoIT with Selenium means coupling the functionality of both tools together to enable you to take advantage of capabilities to perform tasks they can’t do individually. This means you can automate scenarios that involve both Browser- and desktop-related operations.

The steps below illustrate how to integrate AutoIT in Selenium:

Following the steps above, create a new AutoIT script (BrowserStack.au3)
Write a script in it
Save the file
Now right-click on the file and select Compile Script

Now, you have an executable file (BrowserStack.exe), which you’ll pass to the Selenium Driver Runtime (Runtime.getRuntime().exec) class command.

File Upload in Selenium using AutoIT

Uploading files is one of the most common actions users perform when they visit a website. To automate testing for this use case, use the integration of AutoIT in Selenium, as illustrated in the steps below:

1. Create a new AutoIT script to handle file upload

2. Write the following script inside the file

```

WinWaitActive("File upload")




Send("C:\Users\USER\Desktop\BrowserStack\FileUpload.au3")

Send("{ENTER}")

```

3. Save and compile the script following the steps above

To integrate with Selenium, we need to run the compiled AutoIT script within a Java-Selenium code, as shown below:

```java

System.setProperty("webdriver.chrome.driver", "add path to your chrome");




        WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();

        driver.manage().window().maximize();

try {

           

            driver.get("https://uploadnow.io/en");




           

            WebElement fileUploadButton = driver.findElement(By.id("file-upload"));




           

            fileUploadButton.click();




           

            Thread.sleep(2000);




            // Execute the AutoIT compiled script

            String autoITScriptPath = "C:\Users\USER\Desktop\BrowserStack\FileUpload.exe";

            Runtime.getRuntime().exec(autoITScriptPath);




         } catch (IOException e) {

            System.err.println("Error executing the AutoIT script: " + e.getMessage());

        } catch (InterruptedException e) {

            System.err.println("Thread interrupted: " + e.getMessage());

        } catch (Exception e) {

            System.err.println("An unexpected error occurred: " + e.getMessage());

        } finally {

             if (driver != null) {

                   driver.quit();

                   System.out.println("Browser closed successfully.");

            }

        }




```

In the Java code snippet above, the setProperty method is invoked to set the path to the Chrome browser. After this, you instantiate a new Chrome instance on the `WebDriver object`.
In the next step, the Chrome Window is maximized.

Within the try block, you navigated to the site where you wanted to upload the file, clicked on the file upload button, and implemented a 2-second wait time for the AutoIT script to execute.
All possible exceptions were handled in case any error was encountered.

Use Cases of AutoIT and Selenium Integration

Selenium and AutoIT are both power automation tools with unique strengths. Integrating both tools opens up an endless opportunity and serves several use cases. The following are use cases of AutoIT in Selenium integration:

Handling Window-based dialogs such as alert and authentication pop-up
Handling file upload and download dialog boxes
Interacting with System-level operations such as system notification and printer dialog
Managing complex keyboard and mouse actions

When to Consider Other Alternatives Apart from AutoIT for Selenium

Several situations would demand the use of other alternatives apart from AutoIT in Selenium:

When an OS-independent automation tool is needed. Tools like PyAutoGUI, an OS-independent Python module, fit this requirement.
If the use case is for a test script that runs on multiple OS, then there is a need to consider another alternative.

Why run Selenium tests on Real Devices?

Using Real devices for Selenium Test Automation will yield more accurate test results. Real devices ensure that all real user conditions are taken into account during testing.

BrowserStack Automate allows you to integrate your Selenium Test suite and run tests on 3500+ real devices and browsers under real user conditions.

BrowserStack Automate is a powerful cloud-based testing platform designed to streamline and enhance your web and mobile application testing processes. It enables you totest your web apps across a comprehensive range of real browsers and devices so that you can maximize test coverage to deliver a consistent user experience.

Go through the Official Documentation to learn how to run Selenium Tests with BrowserStack Automate on real devices for various programming languages.

Talk to an Expert

Best Practices for Using AutoIT with Selenium

While writing scripts with AutoIT with Selenium, these are some of the best practices to adhere to:

Maintain a clear and concise script documentation
Avoid hardcoding path
Write scripts that are readable and understandable
Try to implement a wait time in case it takes time for the script to respond
Regularly update scripts

Challenges of using AutoIT with Selenium and How to Overcome Them

These are some challenges associated with using AutoIT with Selenium:

AutoIT works only on Windows. To overcome this challenge, use cross-platform alternatives
Manually maintaining scripts can be frustrating for a large script base. The use of a version control system can help overcome these challenges
Executable files pose security risks. To overcome this, restrict access and always verify file sources
Lastly, avoid writing complex scripts.

Conclusion

By Integrating AutoIT with Selenium, you can automate both browser and OS-level operations. AutoIT is, therefore, a valuable tool for extending Selenium capabilities to handle OS-level interactions. For more comprehensive testing across multiple real devices and browsers, consider using BrowserStack.

Try BrowserStack Now

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Action Class

TestNG and Selenium

JUnit and Selenium

Use Cases

Types of Testing with Selenium

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How to Use AutoIT with Selenium