Set up and Develop Playwright Test Scripts with TestWise IDE

A step-by-step guide (with video) to create a test project for a Playwright Test script in TestWise IDE.

The video below uses an Appium + WinAppDriver script to:

• Launch the TestWise IDE.
• Create a new Playwright Test project in TestWise IDE.
• Script a complete user login test script.
• Execute the newly created Playwright test.

All within 50 seconds. (fully automated, no human intervention)

This article shows how you do it step by step.

1. Prerequisite: Install Node.js, Playwright and Test libraries

First of all, you need to install Node.js.

Install the @playwright/test package, this includes Playwright and its test runner.

npm install --global @playwright/test

Then, install its browser drivers.

npx playwright install

You will see an output like below:

Downloading Chromium 117.0.5938.62 (playwright build v1080) 
downloaded to /Users/ME/Library/Caches/ms-playwright/chromium-1080
Downloading Firefox 117.0 (playwright build v1424)
downloaded to /Users/ME/Library/Caches/ms-playwright/firefox-1424
Downloading Webkit 17.0 (playwright build v1908)
downloaded to /Users/ME/Library/Caches/ms-playwright/webkit-1908

2. Verify Test Execution Setup

I have a habit of immediately verifying the operation. Execute the following commands in a terminal.

% cd 
% git clone https://github.com/testwisely/buildwise-samples

If you don’t use Git (for version control), I highly encourage learning it, and it is quite easy to use. Check out the 10-Minute Guide to Git Version Control for Testers.

You will find a set of folders and files under ~/buildwise-samples . Go to that folder in your terminal. Then, in the same terminal window, run these three commands (one by one).

% cd buildwise-samples/e2e-playwright-test
% npm install
% npx playwright test tests/login_new_browser_each_test.spec.ts --headed

You shall see a Chromium browser open and run two test cases (within one test script file) in it.

3. Install TestWise IDE

Since the Playwright Test scripts are JavaScript files, you may use any programming editor, such as Visual Studio Code or JavaScript-specific IDEs, such as WebStorm.

TestWise IDE is a Next-Gen Functional Testing IDE designed for E2E testing. I learned Test Automation with TestWise (Disclaimer: My father created TestWise). You may use TestWise in free mode with minor constraints (relaunch the app after 15 test executions).

You may choose any tool to develop Playwright Test scripts (in plain text). That’s the beauty of being open-source and in a well-known language.

Even if you are not using TestWise, I still encourage you to explore the test project structure that TestWise uses. It is simple and embraces the Maintainable Automated Test Design, which has been well-proven in many successful test automation projects. You can take advantage of the proven structure and supporting files (e.g. helper and page classes) even using a different testing tool.

4. Create a Test Project and your first Playwright Test test script in TestWise IDE.

TestWise uses the concept of ‘Project’ to confine the test scripts and supporting files.

1). Click menu ‘File’ > “New Project”.

Fill in the following information:

Project name: <any text>
Location: <an empty folder>
Automation Driver: Playwright
Test Script Syntax: Playwright Test
Website URL: <your website base URL>

2). Click the “OK” button to create the test project.

Here is how the test project looks in TestWise.

A brief explanation of the folder and files:

• tests Folder:
  Contains test script files in the format of XXX.spec.ts.
  Note: it is .ts, not .js.
• pages Folder:
  Contains the page classes (see Page Object Model), the abstract_page.js is already created.
• test_helper.js
  Shared test helper (see Maintainable Automated Test Design)
• Rakefile & buildwise.rake
  for integrating
• XXX.tpr File
  TestWise project file

5. Create your first Playwright PyTest test in TestWise IDE.

3). Run the empty test script

Click new.spec.ts (in the PROJECT EXPLORER on the left) to open in an editor. Click the blue triangle button (on the toolbar) to run it.

You will get a warning about “packages not installed” for the folder, a common but annoying process for Node.js project. Run npm install , then run the test script again.

You shall see a Chromium browser launch, open our target website, and close.

4). Write test statements in TestWise.

I enter the three login statements using Snippet (a TestWise feature), which is efficient and fun.

Enter Playwright statements in TestWise IDE, using Snippet.

For example, type aw followed by a Tab key, will expand to await. Type pf , followed by a Tab key, enter #username , another Tab key, enter agileway , then a Tab key again.

await page.fill('#username', 'agileway')

Anyway, the login test case will be:

test('Case Name', async () => {
    // this.timeout(2000); 
    // example steps, edit or delete to add your own.
    await page.fill("#username", "agileway")
    await page.fill("#password", "testwise")
    await page.click("input:has-text('Sign in')")
});

Rename the test case name, from test('Case Name', ... to test('Can login successfully', ... .

5. Rerun the test case (in TestWise).

Test passed in TestWise.

6. Full Test Script

import { test, Page, expect } from '@playwright/test';
var path = require("path");

test.describe.configure({ mode: 'serial' });

var helper = require('../test_helper');

//Reuse the page among the test cases in the test script file
let page: Page;

test.beforeAll(async ({ browser }) => {
  // Create page once.
  page = await browser.newPage();
});

test.afterAll(async () => {
  await page.close();
});

test.beforeEach(async () => {
  await page.goto(helper.site_url());
});

test('Can log in successfully', async () => {
  await page.fill("#username", "agileway")  
  await page.fill("#password", "testwise")
  await page.click("input:has-text('Sign in')")
  const flashText = await page.textContent('#flash_notice')
  expect(flashText).toEqual('Signed in!')
  
});