Maintaining page objects

A Page Object contains a list of field names and their locators for a single Visualforce or non-Salesforce webpage. Provar provides various different locator methods:

Visualforce: The recommended method for locating Visualforce fields, this locator anchors a field to the variable definition in the Visualforce APEX code. Refer to Visualforce Testing for more information.
Label: Used to locate fields by the immediately preceding label, this locator can be used when testing a non-Salesforce webpage.
Id or XPath: Alternative methods for use on non-Salesforce webpages, these are the standard locators for identifying a field when using Selenium. These values are typically identified by inspecting a webpage, but Provar has a built-in option to help with optimization. Refer to Creating an XPath for more information.

Finding page objects in the test project

Page Objects can be found in the /src/pageobjects directory of your Test Project. Since Page objects are Java classes, the compiled code can be found in /bin/pageobjects.

You can create additional folders underneath the pageobjects folder. When setting your Page Object name, precede the name with the name of your folder followed by a period (‘.’).

Viewing page objects

There are two views of the Page Object. The first is the Page Object Editor View. This enables you to modify locators using the GUI.

The second view is the Java Source, where you can make updates directly to source code.

Changing a locator field type

Provar will always default the field type of a locator. This generally helps to prevent you from passing incorrect data for the field.

It is possible, however, to change the field type of a locator by overriding the Editor in the Page Object.

The most common options are as follows:

Text Editor (with expressions): Allows strings, variables and formulas
Link or Button Editor: Use this for clicking links or buttons
Choice Editor: Use this for adding picklist values

To set the field type, navigate to the Page Object Editor View and change the Value Type.

Then save the test case.

Adding field waits

At times, your tests may need to wait for a field to appear or for logic to complete, such as a dependent picklist, before execution can proceed.

It is possible to add a Sleep or a Wait condition to the overall test case. However, if a certain field always requires a specific wait condition, an efficient method of accomplishing this can be to add a Wait to the field in the Page Object.

There are three Wait options:

Wait for a field to appear or become enabled. This option is recommended since Provar will check at regular intervals whether the field is available, helping to ensure accuracy and efficiency. This can be applied to the selected field or to a different field.
Wait for a fixed duration: This option specifies a duration in seconds. The disadvantage of this option is the difficulty of predicting what fixed duration to add. Option 1 is generally recommended over this option.
Wait for background requests to complete: This option will wait for any synchronous page call-outs to complete before continuing.

To apply a Wait option, navigate to the locator in the Page Object Editor View.

Add a Before Wait or an After Wait.

Then save the test case.

Debugging page objects

If a Page Object is not being correctly updated, there may be a compilation issue.

To find the error, use the Problems view and search under the Error grouping. When you locate the error, right-click and select Go To to go straight to the relevant Page Object (or test case).

You may also find that there is a Quick Fix option for the error.