How do you use keywords and variables to handle dynamic web elements in SeleniumLibrary?

1 Identify the element

The first step is to identify the element you want to interact with. You can use various locators, such as id, name, class, xpath, css, or text. SeleniumLibrary has keywords for finding elements by different locators, such as Find Element, Find Element By Id, Find Element By Text, and so on. You can also use the Browser keyword to open the browser developer tools and inspect the element. However, some elements may not have a fixed locator or may change depending on the context. For example, a button may have a different id or text based on the user role or language. In that case, you need to use a more flexible locator that can handle the variation.

2 Use variables and templates

One way to handle dynamic elements is to use variables and templates in your locators. Variables are placeholders that can store values from different sources, such as test data, environment variables, keyword arguments, or keyword return values. Templates are strings that can contain variables and expressions that are evaluated at runtime. For example, you can use a variable ${role} to store the user role and a template //*[@id="button-${role}"] to locate the button by id. You can also use expressions, such as ${index + 1} or ${text.upper()}, to manipulate the variable values. SeleniumLibrary has keywords for creating and setting variables, such as Set Test Variable, Set Suite Variable, Set Global Variable, and so on. You can also use the BuiltIn library keywords, such as Evaluate or Catenate, to create or modify variables.

3 Use dynamic waits

Another way to handle dynamic elements is to use dynamic waits, which are keywords that wait for a certain condition to be met before proceeding. For example, you can use Wait Until Element Is Visible, Wait Until Element Contains, Wait Until Page Contains, and so on. These keywords can take a locator, a text, or a timeout as arguments. Dynamic waits are useful when the element is not immediately available or changes over time. For example, you can use Wait Until Element Contains //*[@id="message"] "Success" to wait for a message element to show a success message. You can also use the keyword Wait For Condition to execute a custom JavaScript expression that returns a boolean value.

5 Debug and troubleshoot

The last step is to debug and troubleshoot your tests when they fail or behave unexpectedly. You can use various tools and techniques to find and fix the errors or issues. For example, you can use the keyword Log To Console to print messages or variables to the console. You can also use the keyword Run Keyword And Ignore Error to execute a keyword and continue the test regardless of the outcome. You can also use the keyword Screenshot to capture the browser screen at any point of the test. You can also use the keyword Debug to pause the test execution and enter the interactive mode, where you can inspect and modify the variables and execute keywords manually. You can also use the Robot Framework Debugger or the Robot Framework Language Server to debug your tests in an integrated development environment (IDE).