The automation course has covered the Playwright framework, and many students are eager to try it out. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. However, some issues have arisen during practice, and I have compiled them here for those in need. Remember to like and bookmark if you find it helpful!
When installing Playwright, you may encounter network issues that result in incomplete package downloads, or compatibility issues with the operating system, Python version, etc.
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Ensure a stable network connection. If the installation is interrupted, try rerunning the installation command. For example, when using pip install playwright in Python, if a network error occurs, you can try adding the –proxy parameter to specify a proxy server (if available) to improve the network connection.
Solution:
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Check if the operating system and Python version meet Playwright’s requirements. Playwright supports multiple operating systems such as Windows, Linux, and MacOS, and has a certain compatibility range for Python versions. It is generally recommended to use a newer stable version of Python, such as Python 3.8 or above. If the version does not meet the requirements, consider upgrading Python. -
Some dependencies may require additional system configurations. For example, on Linux systems, you may need to install some necessary libraries to support Playwright’s operation. On Ubuntu systems, you might need to run sudo apt-get install -y libnss3 libatk -browser -plugin -minimal to install the necessary system libraries.
(Image source from the internet)
Unable to launch the specified browser, such as Chrome, Firefox, or WebKit. You may see the browser window flash briefly or receive an error indicating that the browser executable file cannot be found.
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After launching the browser, the page loads too slowly, or the page does not load completely.
Solution:
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Check if the browser is correctly installed and accessible in the system path. Playwright will by default try to find the browser executable in the system path. If the browser is installed in a non-standard path, you can specify the browser path in the Playwright launch options or set an environment variable.For example, when launching Chrome in Python, you can use the following code to specify the path:
For page loading issues, first check if the network connection is normal. You can increase the page loading timeout to accommodate slower networks or complex pages. For example:
Some pages may need to wait for specific elements to load or for JavaScript scripts to finish executing before proceeding with subsequent operations. You can use page.wait_for_selector() to wait for elements to appear or page.wait_for_function() to wait for a JavaScript function to return a specific value. For example:
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Multiple elements are located, but only one is needed for the operation, leading to errors.
If multiple elements are located, you can use an index or a more precise selector to get the desired element. For example, if query_selector_all returns multiple div elements and you only want the second one, you can use the index:
Or make the selector more precise by adding other attributes, such as combining the class attribute and the tag name:
When performing operations like clicking or inputting on elements, there is no response, or the page does not redirect or update as expected.
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Encountering difficulties in complex operations such as file uploads.
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Ensure that the element has been correctly located and is in an operable state. Some elements may need to gain focus before they can be operated on. For example, for an input box, you can use element.focus() to focus it before inputting.After a click operation, you may need to wait for the page’s response. You can use page.wait_for_navigation() to wait for the page to redirect or page.wait_for_load_state() to wait for the page to finish loading new content.For example:
In different testing environments (such as development, testing, production), test scripts may fail due to differences in environment configuration (such as different URLs, different API endpoints, etc.).
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The browser version and page layout in the testing environment may not match expectations, leading to inaccurate test results. -
Solution:
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Extract environment-related configuration parameters (such as URL, API address, etc.) and store them as variables in configuration files or environment variables. This way, when running tests in different environments, you can easily modify these parameters. For example, you can use Python’s dotenv library to read environment variables from a .env file. In the .env file, you can define BASE_URL = https://test-environment-url, and read this variable in the test script to use it. -
For differences in browser versions and page layouts, consider using visual testing tools (such as Percy, etc. integrated with Playwright) to compare the visual differences of the pages. Additionally, try to use relatively stable element locating strategies in the test scripts to avoid failures due to small changes in the page layout. Regularly update the test scripts to adapt to changes in page layouts and browser versions.