Learn Nightwatch


_Automate your acceptance tests and run them in real browsers_!

!nightwatch-logo-with-slogan

_Why_?

Testing what the people _using_ your application/website will _see_
and their ability _interact_ with the product is
(_probably_) the most important part of building a web app/site.
You can have amazing code, a super-fast backend and gorgeous UI,
but _none_ of that _matters_ if people are unable to _use_ it
because of a basic bug!

!dilbert-internet-full

_User Acceptance Testing_ (UAT) with a tool like Nightwatch (_Selenium_)
lets you to run real-world scenarios in your Web App which will give
you _confidence_ that the app _works_ in the chosen device(s)/browser(s).

_What_?

_Automated Acceptance Testing using Real Browsers_.

Nightwatch is _quick_ to setup and the tests/scenarios are _easy_ to write.

> We _exhaustively_ read through all the tutorials, blog posts and documentation
for Nightwatch (_including the mailing list & StackOverflow Q&A_)
and have condensed our findings into this step-by-step guide.
We hope you find it _useful_ and decide to use it for your web app/site!
_Please_ give us _feedback_ and if you _get stuck_,
_tell us!_

#### Background Links

+ Nightwatch website: http://nightwatchjs.org/
+ Github: https://github.com/nightwatchjs/nightwatch
+ Guide/docs: https://github.com/nightwatchjs/nightwatch-docs
(_don't be put off by the lack of docs, we're here to help if you get stuck!_)
+ Configuration file settings: http://nightwatchjs.org/guide#settings-file

_Who_?

Who should learn/use Nightwatch?

+ Developers - People writing code, building web apps needing to
check that _everything_ works as expected.
+ QA - Quality Assurance people who have to _manually "click-test"_ apps/sites.
+ "Testers" - Many organisations _still_ have people who's job
is to write tests for software. If you describe yourself as a "Tester"
and want an _easier/faster_ way to write your acceptance tests, read on!

_How_?

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_Try it_ on your local machine in 5 mins by following these _3 easy steps_:

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Clone the repository by _copy-pasting_ the following command into your terminal:

``sh
git clone https://github.com/dwyl/learn-nightwatch.git && cd learn-nightwatch && cp sample.env .env
`

> Note: if you're _curious_ what that last part is, see: https://github.com/dwyl/env2

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Install the required dependencies
including Selenium Server and chromedriver:

`sh
npm install
`




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Run the Nightwatch tests:

`sh
npm test
`


You should expect to see:
!learn-nightwatch-console-output-success

Once you see the tests pass you are well on your way
to testing with Nightwatch!


1This _assumes_ you have node.js installed.
If not, https://nodejs.org/en/download/
2Selenium Requires Java/JDK see: Java Installation section below. (_don't worry, you'll be up-and-running shortly..._!)
Once you have Java installed re-run the Nightwatch tests (npm test).



- - - - - - -


Step-by-Step Tutorial to end to end test on your OWN PROJECT

Now that you have had a _taste_ for running tests with Nightwatch,
let's walk through each of the steps to get this working in _your_ project.

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#### 1) Make sure you have Java(_Runtime Environment JRE_) installed

While we prefer _not_ to run Java on our machines for
_security reasons_ Selenium is _still_
the best way of running tests in _real_ browsers.

You can check by typing

java -version

into your terminal and you should see your version number if you have Java installed.

> How do I install Java? https://www.java.com/en/download/help/download_options.xml
> pick your Operating System and follow the instructions

##### Mac OSX? (_use homebrew_)

If you haven't updated brew in a while, do that first:
`sh
brew update
`
That will install cask which is now _part_ of Homebrew.

Now you can install Java:
`sh
brew cask install java
`
You should see something like this:
!install-java-with-homebrew-cask

> See: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/24342886/how-to-install-java-8-on-mac

#### 2) cd into your project

#### 3) Install nightwatch

First install the nightwatch node.js module from NPM:

`sh
npm install nightwatch --save-dev
`

> Note: while the Nightwatch docs instruct to install _globally_ (-g),
we _prefer_ to always install devDependencies _locally_ to the project
and list them _explicitly_ in package.json so it's _clear_ to everyone
viewing/using the project _exactly_ which version is required to run the tests.

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In order to run Browser tests Nightwatch uses Selenium.
We _prefer_ to _automate_ the installation of Selenium using
selenium-download
which ensures that everyone on our team always has the latest version.

`sh
npm install selenium-download --save-dev
`

#### 5) Download Selenium (_Web Driver_) Standalone Server (_Script_)

Once you've downloaded the the selenium-download node module,
put the following code at the bottom of your nightwatch.conf.js file:


_You will create your nightwatch.conf.js file in the next step_.

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Once you've installed nightwatch, you will need to create a configuration file.
_Some_ Nightwatch tutorials use a nightwatch.json file;
this is good for the most _basic_ cases
but if you want to use variables in your
configuration we _recommend_ using a .js file;
_specifically_ called nightwatch.conf.js. Save this file to your project directory.

You can copy over our basic configuration saved in nightwatch.conf.BASIC.js: nightwatch.conf.BASIC.js

Or copy the following into a file called nightwatch.conf.BASIC.js

`js
require('env2')('.env'); // optionally store youre Evironment Variables in .env
const SCREENSHOT_PATH = "./screenshots/";
const BINPATH = './node_modules/nightwatch/bin/';

// we use a nightwatch.conf.js file so we can include comments and helper functions
module.exports = {
"src_folders": [
"test/e2e"// Where you are storing your Nightwatch e2e tests
],
"output_folder": "./reports", // reports (test outcome) output by nightwatch
"selenium": { // downloaded by selenium-download module (see readme)
"start_process": true, // tells nightwatch to start/stop the selenium process
"server_path": "./node_modules/nightwatch/bin/selenium.jar",
"host": "127.0.0.1",
"port": 4444, // standard selenium port
"cli_args": { // chromedriver is downloaded by selenium-download (see readme)
"webdriver.chrome.driver" : "./node_modules/nightwatch/bin/chromedriver"
}
},
"test_settings": {
"default": {
"screenshots": {
"enabled": true, // if you want to keep screenshots
"path": './screenshots' // save screenshots here
},
"globals": {
"waitForConditionTimeout": 5000 // sometimes internet is slow so wait.
},
"desiredCapabilities": { // use Chrome as the default browser for tests
"browserName": "chrome"
}
},
"chrome": {
"desiredCapabilities": {
"browserName": "chrome",
"javascriptEnabled": true // turn off to test progressive enhancement
}
}
}
}
/**
* selenium-download does exactly what it's name suggests;
* downloads (or updates) the version of Selenium (& chromedriver)
* on your localhost where it will be used by Nightwatch.
/the following code checks for the existence of selenium.jar before trying to run our tests.
*/

require('fs').stat(BINPATH + 'selenium.jar', function (err, stat) { // got it?
if (err || !stat || stat.size < 1) {
require('selenium-download').ensure(BINPATH, function(error) {
if (error) throw new Error(error); // no point continuing so exit!
console.log('✔ Selenium & Chromedriver downloaded to:', BINPATH);
});
}
});

function padLeft (count) { // theregister.co.uk/2016/03/23/npm_left_pad_chaos/
return count < 10 ? '0' + count : count.toString();
}

var FILECOUNT = 0; // "global" screenshot file count
/**
* The default is to save screenshots to the root of your project even though
* there is a screenshots path in the config object above! ... so we need a
* function that returns the correct path for storing our screenshots.
* While we're at it, we are adding some meta-data to the filename, specifically
* the Platform/Browser where the test was run and the test (file) name.
*/
function imgpath (browser) {
var a = browser.options.desiredCapabilities;
var meta = [a.platform];
meta.push(a.browserName ? a.browserName : 'any');
meta.push(a.version ? a.version : 'any');
meta.push(a.name); // this is the test filename so always exists.
var metadata = meta.join('~').toLowerCase().replace(/ /g, '');
return SCREENSHOT_PATH + metadata + '_' + padLeft(FILECOUNT++) + '_';
}

module.exports.imgpath = imgpath;
module.exports.SCREENSHOT_PATH = SCREENSHOT_PATH;
`

> One of our _favourite_ things about using a .js file
is the ability to add _comments_ in the file.
This makes it _much_ easier for new people to
_understand_ what's going on.
We have a slightly more _evolved_ nightwatch.conf.js (_with Saucelabs_) see:
github.com/dwyl/learn-nightwatch/nightwatch.conf.js




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You will need to run the config file you created to download the Selenium driver.

`sh
node nightwatch.conf.BASIC.js
`

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Nightwatch "looks" for tests in the /test folder of your project by default;
you can change this to what ever you prefer. We keep our Nightwatch tests in test/e2e.

This is the _simplest_ test you can write for Nightwatch

`js
var config = require('../../nightwatch.conf.BASIC.js');

module.exports = { // adapted from: https://git.io/vodU0
'Guinea Pig Assert Title': function(browser) {
browser
.url('https://saucelabs.com/test/guinea-pig')
.waitForElementVisible('body')
.assert.title('I am a page title - Sauce Labs')
.saveScreenshot('guinea-pig-test.png')
.end();
}
};
`

> See: github.com/dwyl/learn-nightwatch/test/e2e

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Depending on what you named your configuration file,
run it with a command _resembling_ the following:

`sh
node_modules/.bin/nightwatch --config nightwatch.conf.BASIC.js
`

We add an entry in our package.json "scripts" section
to _not_ have to type all that each time. e.g:

`js
"scripts": {
"e2e": "node_modules/.bin/nightwatch --config nightwatch.conf.BASIC.js"
}
`

Then _run_ your tests as:

`js
npm run e2e
`

If you called your config file nightwatch.conf.js
you can run your tests without specifying the config file, i.e.

`sh
node_modules/.bin/nightwatch
`

If you see the following message while trying to run the tests:
!learn-nightwatch-java-not-installed

Then return to step 2 to install Java

_Optional_ (_Level Up_)

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We put an entry in the "scripts" section of our package.json to
_run_ the selenium-download script after all node_modules
have been installed. e.g:

`js
"scripts": {
"postinstall": "node nightwatch.conf.js"
}
`




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Most people _building_ web apps/sites don't have _easy_ access
to _several_ devices/browsers to test their output, if you
need to test in a _range_ of browsers/devices Saucelabs is a great option.

!browser logos

In our nightwatch.conf.js
we have defined _saucelabs_ as our "default" setting.

We _run_ our tests on saucelabs by running the following npm script/command:

`sh
npm run sauce
`

Which corresponds to the following _complete_ command:

`js
./node_modules/.bin/nightwatch -e chrome,ie11,android_s4_emulator,iphone_6_simulator
`

> This just means "_Run Nightwatch using the default configuration
(Suacelabs in our case) and execute all tests in this list of browsers_."

Note: you will need to have the following _environment variables_
exported for Saucelabs to run your test:
`sh
export SAUCE_USERNAME=your-username
export SAUCE_ACCESS_KEY=your-key
`

> If you're _new_ to Saucelabs, checkout:
github.com/dwyl/learn-saucelabs

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If you decide to use Saucelabs to run your tests (_in several devices/browsers_),
it will take screenshots for you and keep them inside Saucelabs.
That's _nice_ for people who are _used_ to using Saucelabs, but what about the
_other_ stakeholders?

We decided to upload our screenshots to S3 and created a _super-simple_ .html
file which shows a slideshow of the images.

> Example: https://isearch-ui.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/1.0.21/index.html

If you want the screenshots of tests to be uploaded to S3,
you will need to have the following environment variables declared:
`sh
export AWS_S3_BUCKET=yourbucket
export AWS_REGION=eu-west-1
export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=IDHERE
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=YOURKEY
`
The _script_ we wrote to perform the uploading is:
github.com/dwyl/learn-nightwatch/test/e2e/upload_screenshots_to_s3.js

The screenshots taken on Saucelabs browsers/devices are saved _locally_
and uploaded to S3 when tests succeed.







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- Before the test can run you have to set up sauce connect, there are many way to do this docs here. The simplest way I have found is to use Sauce Connect launcher, which is an addon for firefox.
- Sauce Connect is sets up a tunnel to allow Sauce labs access to your local host, this means you can test what ever is being severed from your local.
- To run the tests you must make sure the application is being served in one terminal and that the tunnel is open(this can be checked from the saucelabs dashboard), you then run your e2e test command in another terminal window.

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####Running your Nightwatch tests on CI is easy on CodeShip.
We usually set the required (_minimum_) node version in our
package.json e.g:
`js
"engines": {
"node": "4.4.6"
},
`
Once you have the desired version of node installed.

Setup Commands:
`js


install dependencies:


npm install
`
Test Command:
`js

run tests

npm test
`
That's it.

> Note: while the tests run seamlessly on CodeShip we were unable
to get Selenium standalone working on Travis-CI
if you have time to help us, please see:
https://github.com/dwyl/learn-nightwatch/issues/8

####Running your Nightwatch tests on CircleCi.
To run the test on circle ci you need to make some adjustments to you circle.yml
Here is an Example from the circle ci docs
`
dependencies:
post:
- wget https://saucelabs.com/downloads/sc-latest-linux.tar.gz
- tar -xzf sc-latest-linux.tar.gz

test:
override:
- cd sc-*-linux && ./bin/sc --user $SAUCE_USERNAME --api-key $SAUCE_ACCESS_KEY --readyfile ~/sauce_is_ready:
background: true
#Wait for tunnel to be ready
- while [ ! -e ~/sauce_is_ready ]; do sleep 1; done
- npm start
background: true
# Wait for app to be ready
- curl --retry 10 --retry-delay 2 -v http://localhost:5000
# Run selenium tests
- npm run test:e2e
post:
- killall --wait sc # wait for Sauce Connect to close the tunnel
`
The test override starts the selenium server for you. Once it is ready the application is started in the
background. Finally when ready, the tests are started.
You can run multiple test commands i.e.
`
- npm run test:unit; npm run test:e2e
`
just like in the package.json






#### Running a single nightwatch test
Nightwatch tests can be quite time-consuming so sometimes you may just want to run one test at a time

This can be done by giving each test a tag by adding tags: [ 'tagname' ] to the beginning of your exported test scenario. You can then run the individual test (in this case with tag 'test1') with the script:
"node_modules/.bin/nightwatch --tag test1"

If you want to dynamically choose which test to run using the command line, you could create another script in your package.json
e.g.
"e2etag": "./node_modules/.bin/nightwatch --env local --tag"

and then in your command line you can just run
npm run e2etag -- test1


tl;dr

> More detail than you will _probably_ need ... _but we're keeping for completeness_.

Background

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We _first_ looked at NightmareJS,
and even though it _looks_ really good (_fast_), we saw the _reaction_
non-technical people had when we mentioned it and did not want to have to _explain_
the _name_ to people/clients every time, so instead opted for _nightwatch_.
If _nightmare_ ever change their name, we _could re-consider_ it.




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+ Basic intro: http://juristr.com/blog/2014/02/nightwatch-test-automation/
+ Page Object Pattern: http://martinfowler.com/bliki/PageObject.html
+ Nightwatch with React: https://www.syncano.io/blog/testing-syncano/
+ How to run a _single_ Nightwatch test: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/28308990/how-to-run-a-single-test-in-nightwatch/29701199#29701199
+ Custom Commands: http://nightwatchjs.org/guide#writing-custom-commands
+ Nightwatch Global Variables:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/25067391/how-to-make-a-globally-accessible-variable/
+ Travis with Saucelabs: http://samsaccone.com/posts/testing-with-travis-and-sauce-labs.html
+ Selenium Status:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6517501/selenium-2-how-to-check-that-server-is-running-and-stop-the-server
+ Silence Selenium on Travis:
http://andrew.yurisich.com/work/2014/08/30/silence-noisy-selenium-server-output-in-travis-ci/
+ Intro by @mikberg: https://medium.com/@mikaelberg/zero-to-hero-with-end-to-end-tests-using-nightwatch-saucelabs-and-travis-e932c8deb695
+ Intro (Angular-focussed): http://g00glen00b.be/e2e-testing-nightwatch-js/
+ Nightwatchjs: how to check if element exists without creating an error/failure/exception
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/31687027/nightwatchjs-how-to-check-if-element-exists-without-creating-an-error-failure-e
+ Can I create reusable test steps in nightwatch.js?
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/31388280/can-i-create-reusable-test-steps-in-nightwatch-js
+ Nightwatch on Saucelabs: https://github.com/saucelabs-sample-test-frameworks/JS-Nightwatch.js




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#### Manual Selenium Install

If you prefer to install it _manually_ that's an option.

> Visit: http://www.seleniumhq.org/download/ and download the latest version.

When downloading the selenium-server-standalone-2.53.0.jar
you _may_ see a _warning_ in your browser:
!download-selenium-chrome-warning
Click on "keep" to save the file.
Once you have it, put it in the bin directory of your project
and re-name it to selenium.jar` (_without the version number_).

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Remind me to Respond to these:
> + [x] http://stackoverflow.com/questions/24314040/getting-started-with-nightwatch-js
> + [ ] http://stackoverflow.com/questions/37699036/is-it-possible-to-start-a-selenium-server-inside-travis
> + [ ] http://stackoverflow.com/questions/25919673/file-upload-testing-in-nightwatch-js
> + [ ] http://stackoverflow.com/questions/31388280/can-i-create-reusable-test-steps-in-nightwatch-js/31393249#31393249
> + [ ] use saucelabs with nightwatch? http://stackoverflow.com/questions/36137270/how-to-use-saucelabs-with-nightwatch
> + [x] keypress: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/31812935/nightwatch-testing-sendkeys-and-keys-not-sending-key-clicks ... answer
> + [x] Run Selenium as child process: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/27408864/cant-launch-selenium-phantomjs-ghostdriver-as-child-processes
> + [x] Current running browser: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/38102543/when-running-nightwatch-js-test-how-can-i-get-the-name-of-browser-currently-runn

Cons (_of using Nightwatch_)

+ Selenium is not the fastest way to run tests.