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Java WebDriver Integration

Introduction

This guide requires an existing Java JUnit / TestNG setup.
You can alternatively take a look to our example repository.

Sauce Visual provides a library allowing integration with WebDriver.

Sauce Visual plugin provides a library exposing a VisualApi object that provides actions:

  • visual.sauceVisualCheck(): Takes a screenshot and send it to Sauce Visual for comparison.
  • visual.sauceVisualResults(): Waits for all diff calculations to complete and returns a summary of results.

Quickstart

Step 1: Add Sauce Visual dependency

Add Sauce Visual dependency to your pom.xml

wd-java-testng/pom.xml
loading...

Note: You can find the latest versions available here.

Step 2: Configure Visual Testing integration

Declare a RemoteWebDriver and a VisualApi instance as class variables

import org.openqa.selenium.remote.RemoteWebDriver;
import com.saucelabs.visual.VisualApi;

private static VisualApi visual;
private static RemoteWebDriver driver;

Initialize RemoteWebDriver and VisualApi

import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeAll;

@BeforeAll
public static void init() {
driver = new RemoteWebDriver(webDriverUrl, capabilities);
visual = new VisualApi.Builder(driver, sauceUsername, sauceAccessKey, DataCenter.US_WEST_1).build();
}

To enhance efficiency in managing tests, it's important to provide a specific test name and suite name for each test. This practice allows Sauce Visual to effectively organize snapshots into coherent groups. As a result, it simplifies the review process, saving time and effort in navigating through test results and understanding the context of each snapshot.

Moreover, our Java Binding offers an automated solution to this process. By integrating the following code snippets into your tests, the Java Binding can automatically assign appropriate test names and suite names, streamlining your testing workflow.

import com.saucelabs.visual.junit5.TestMetaInfoExtension;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.ExtendWith;

@ExtendWith({TestMetaInfoExtension.class})
public class MyJunitTestClass {
...
}

Don't forget to quit the WebDriver

import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterAll;

@AfterAll
public static void tearDown() {
if (driver != null) {
driver.quit();
}
}

Step 3: Add visual tests in your tests

Add a check to one of your tests:

import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;

@Test
void checkLoginLooksTheSame() {
var loginPage = new LoginPage(driver);
loginPage.open();

visual.sauceVisualCheck("Before Login");
}

Step 4: Configure your Sauce Labs credentials

Sauce Visual relies on environment variables for authentications.
Both SAUCE_USERNAME and SAUCE_ACCESS_KEY need to be set prior starting your Java job.

Username and Access Key can be retrieved from https://app.saucelabs.com/user-settings.

export SAUCE_USERNAME=__YOUR_SAUCE_USER_NAME__
export SAUCE_ACCESS_KEY=__YOUR_SAUCE_ACCESS_KEY__

Step 5: Run the test

Upon executing your tests for the first time under this step, a visual baseline is automatically created in our system. This baseline serves as the standard for all subsequent WebDriver tests. As new tests are run, they are compared to this original baseline, with any deviations highlighted to signal visual changes. These comparisons are integral for detecting any unintended visual modifications early in your development cycle. All test builds, including the initial baseline and subsequent runs, can be monitored and managed through the Sauce Labs platform at Sauce Visual Builds.

Remember, the baseline is established during the initial run, and any subsequent visual differences detected will be marked for review.

Advanced usage

Customizing Your Builds (Environment Variables)

Below are the environment variables available in the Sauce Visual Java plugin. Keep in mind that the variables defined in CheckOptions configuration have precedence over these.

Variable NameDescription
SAUCE_USERNAMErequiredYour Sauce Labs username. You can get this from the header of app.saucelabs.com
SAUCE_ACCESS_KEYrequiredYour Sauce Labs access key. You can get this from the header of app.saucelabs.com
SAUCE_REGIONThe region you'd like to run your Visual tests in. Defaults to us-west-1 if not supplied. Can be one of the following:
'eu-central-1', 'us-west-1' or 'us-east-4'
SAUCE_VISUAL_BUILD_NAMEThe name you would like to appear in the Sauce Visual dashboard.
SAUCE_VISUAL_BRANCHThe branch name you would like to associate this build with. We recommend using your current VCS branch in CI.
SAUCE_VISUAL_DEFAULT_BRANCHThe main branch name you would like to associate this build with. Usually main or master or alternatively the branch name your current branch was derived from. Follow me to learn more
SAUCE_VISUAL_PROJECTThe label / project you would like to associate this build with.
SAUCE_VISUAL_BUILD_IDFor advanced users, a user-supplied SauceLabs Visual build ID. Can be used to create builds in advance using the GraphQL API. This can be used to parallelize tests with multiple browsers, shard, or more.
By default, this is not set and we create / finish a build during setup / teardown.
SAUCE_VISUAL_CUSTOM_IDFor advanced users, a user-supplied custom ID to identify this build. Can be used in CI to identify / check / re-check the status of a single build. Usage suggestions: CI pipeline ID.

Test results summary

VisualApi#sauceVisualResults() returns a summary of test results in Map<DiffStatus, Integer> format where DiffStatus is one of the following:

  • DiffStatus.QUEUED: Diffs that are pending for processing. Should be 0 in case the test is completed without any timeouts
  • DiffStatus.EQUAL: Diffs that have no changes detected
  • DiffStatus.UNAPPROVED: Diffs that have detected changes and waiting for action
  • DiffStatus.APPROVED: Diffs that have detected changes and have been approved
  • DiffStatus.REJECTED: Diffs that have detected changes and have been rejected

Sample usage:

var EXPECTED_TOTAL_UNAPPROVED_DIFFS = 0;

assertEquals(visual.sauceVisualResults().get(DiffStatus.UNAPPROVED), EXPECTED_TOTAL_UNAPPROVED_DIFFS);

Build attributes

When creating the service in VisualApi, extra fields can be set to define the context, thus acting on which baselines new snapshots will be compared to. (More info on baseline matching)

It needs to be defined through the VisualApi.Builder object.

Methods available:

  • withBuild(String build): Sets the name of the build
  • withProject(String project): Sets the name of the project
  • withBranch(String branch): Sets the name of the branch
  • withDefaultBranch(String defaultBranch): Sets the name of the default branch

Example:

import com.saucelabs.visual.VisualApi;
import com.saucelabs.visual.DataCenter;

visual = new VisualApi.Builder(driver, username, accessKey, DataCenter.US_WEST_1)
.withBuild("Sauce Demo Test")
.withBranch("main")
.withProject("Java examples")
.build();

Ignored regions

Component-based ignored region

Sauce Visual provides a way to ignore a list of components.

An ignored component can be a specific element from the page.

Those ignored components are specified when requesting a new snapshot.

Example:

import com.saucelabs.visual.CheckOptions;

CheckOptions options = new CheckOptions();
options.setIgnoreElements(List.of(
// AddBackpackToCartButton will be ignored
inventoryPage.getAddBackpackToCartButton()
));
visual.sauceVisualCheck("Inventory Page", options);

User-specified ignored region

Alternatively, ignored regions can be user-specified areas. A region is defined by four elements.

  • x, y: The location of the top-left corner of the ignored region
  • width: The width of the region to ignore
  • height: The height of the region to ignore

Note: all values are pixels

Example:

import com.saucelabs.visual.CheckOptions;
import com.saucelabs.visual.model.IgnoreRegion;

CheckOptions options = new CheckOptions();
IgnoreRegion ignoreRegion = new IgnoreRegion(
100, // x
100, // y
200, // width
200, // height
);
options.setIgnoreRegions(List.of(ignoreRegion));
visual.sauceVisualCheck("Before Login", options);

Selective Diffing

Sauce Visual allows selective diffing that permits to ignore changes from a certain kind (more information here).

warning

Selective diffing is only available with Balanced diffing method AND with DOM capture enabled.

Screenshot-wide configuration

Sauce Visual Binding allows to configure which kinds of changes should be effective on snapshot.

Example:

Ignoring only one kind:

    visual.sauceVisualCheck(
"login-page",
new CheckOptions.Builder()
.withDiffingMethod(DiffingMethod.BALANCED)
.withCaptureDom(true)
// Every content change will be ignored
.disableOnly(EnumSet.of(DiffingFlag.Content))
.build());

Ignoring all kinds except one:

    visual.sauceVisualCheck(
"login-page",
new CheckOptions.Builder()
.withDiffingMethod(DiffingMethod.BALANCED)
.withCaptureDom(true)
// Only style changes will be considered as a diff
.enableOnly(EnumSet.of(DiffingFlag.Style))
.build());

Area-specific configuration

Sauce Visual Binding allows to configure which kinds of changes should be effective specific regions of the snapshot.

Example:

  WebElement usernameInput = driver.findElement(By.id("user-name"));
WebElement passwordInput = driver.findElement(By.id("password"));

visual.sauceVisualCheck(
"login-page",
new CheckOptions.Builder()
.withDiffingMethod(DiffingMethod.BALANCED)
.withCaptureDom(true)
// Ignore all kind of changes for element #user-name
.enableOnly(EnumSet.noneOf(DiffingFlag.class), usernameInput)
// Ignore only style changes for element #password
.enableOnly(EnumSet.of(DiffingFlag.Style), passwordInput)
.build());

Capturing the DOM snapshot

Sauce Visual does not capture dom snapshot by default. It can be changed in options.

Example:

import com.saucelabs.visual.CheckOptions;

CheckOptions options = new CheckOptions();
options.setCaptureDom(true);
visual.sauceVisualCheck("Inventory Page", options);

Full page screenshots

By default, only the current viewport is captured when .sauceVisualCheck is used. You can opt in to capturing the entire page by using the enableFullPageScreenshots option. It will capture everything by scrolling and stitching multiple screenshots together.

note

It's recommended to use the withHideAfterFirstScroll method for fixed or sticky position elements such as sticky headers or consent banners.

Configuration should be specified using the FullPageScreenshotConfig.Builder object.

Methods available:

  • withDelayAfterScrollMs(int delayAfterScrollMs): Delay in ms after scrolling and before taking screenshots. The default value is 0. We recommend using this option for lazy loading content.
  • withDisableCSSAnimation(Boolean disableCSSAnimation): Disable CSS animations and the input caret in the app. The default value is true.
  • withHideAfterFirstScroll(String... hideAfterFirstScroll): One or more CSS selectors that we should remove from the page after the first scroll. Useful for hiding fixed elements such as headers, cookie banners, etc.
  • withHideScrollBars(Boolean hideScrollBars): Hide all scrollbars in the app. The default value is true.
  • withScrollLimit(int scrollLimit): Limit the number of screenshots taken for scrolling and stitching. The default value is 10. The value needs to be between 1 and 10.

Examples:

import com.saucelabs.visual.CheckOptions;

CheckOptions options = new CheckOptions();
options.enableFullPageScreenshots();
visual.sauceVisualCheck("Long content page", options);
import com.saucelabs.visual.CheckOptions;
import com.saucelabs.visual.model.FullPageScreenshotConfig;

CheckOptions options = new CheckOptions();
FullPageScreenshotConfig config = new FullPageScreenshotConfig.Builder()
.withDelayAfterScrollMs(500)
.withDisableCSSAnimation(false)
.withHideAfterFirstScroll("#header")
.withHideScrollBars(false)
.withScrollLimit(5)
.build();
options.enableFullPageScreenshots(config);
visual.sauceVisualCheck("Long content page", options);
note

The maximum number of scrolls and stitches in a full page screenshot is 10.

Clip to an Element

You can clip to a specific element on the page by using the clipElement option when calling Sauce Visual.

Notes:

  • Clipping is done by taking a screenshot of the page then clipping it to the location of the requested element.
  • We will attempt to scroll the element into view before taking the snapshot.
  • We can only take a screenshot of what is visible in the current viewport, however, this can be combined with full page option to enable clipping large vertical elements.

Example:

import com.saucelabs.visual.CheckOptions;
import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;
import org.openqa.selenium.remote.RemoteWebDriver;

RemoteWebDriver driver;
...

WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.cssSelector(".your-css-selector"));
visual.sauceVisualCheck(
"Visible Sale Banner", new CheckOptions.Builder().withClipElement(element).build());

Examples

Two examples are available: