Browser Options

In Selenium 3, capabilities were defined in a session by using Desired Capabilities classes. As of Selenium 4, you must use the browser options classes. For remote driver sessions, a browser options instance is required as it determines which browser will be used.

These options are described in the w3c specification for Capabilities.

Each browser has custom options that may be defined in addition to the ones defined in the specification.

browserName

This capability is used to set the browserName for a given session. If the specified browser is not installed at the remote end, the session creation will fail.

browserVersion

This capability is optional, this is used to set the available browser version at remote end. For Example, if ask for Chrome version 75 on a system that only has 80 installed, the session creation will fail.

pageLoadStrategy

Three types of page load strategies are available.

The page load strategy queries the document.readyState as described in the table below:

The document.readyState property of a document describes the loading state of the current document.

When navigating to a new page via URL, by default, WebDriver will hold off on completing a navigation method (e.g., driver.navigate().get()) until the document ready state is complete. This does not necessarily mean that the page has finished loading, especially for sites like Single Page Applications that use JavaScript to dynamically load content after the Ready State returns complete. Note also that this behavior does not apply to navigation that is a result of clicking an element or submitting a form.

If a page takes a long time to load as a result of downloading assets (e.g., images, css, js) that aren’t important to the automation, you can change from the default parameter of normal to eager or none to speed up the session. This value applies to the entire session, so make sure that your waiting strategy is sufficient to minimize flakiness.

normal (default)

WebDriver waits until the load event fire is returned.

• Java
• Python
• CSharp
• Ruby
• JavaScript
• Kotlin

import org.openqa.selenium.PageLoadStrategy;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeOptions;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;

public class pageLoadStrategy {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    ChromeOptions chromeOptions = new ChromeOptions();
    chromeOptions.setPageLoadStrategy(PageLoadStrategy.NORMAL);
    WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(chromeOptions);
    try {
      // Navigate to Url
      driver.get("https://google.com");
    } finally {
      driver.quit();
    }
  }
}

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.options import Options
options = Options()
options.page_load_strategy = 'normal'
driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=options)
driver.get("http://www.google.com")
driver.quit()

using OpenQA.Selenium;
using OpenQA.Selenium.Chrome;

namespace pageLoadStrategy {
  class pageLoadStrategy {
    public static void Main(string[] args) {
      var chromeOptions = new ChromeOptions();
      chromeOptions.PageLoadStrategy = PageLoadStrategy.Normal;
      IWebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(chromeOptions);
      try {
        driver.Navigate().GoToUrl("https://example.com");
      } finally {
        driver.Quit();
      }
    }
  }
}

require 'selenium-webdriver'
options = Selenium::WebDriver::Options.chrome
options.page_load_strategy = :normal

driver = Selenium::WebDriver.for :chrome, options: options
driver.get('https://www.google.com')

    it('Navigate using normal page loading strategy', async function () {
      let driver = await env
        .builder()
        .setChromeOptions(options.setPageLoadStrategy('normal'))
        .build();

      await driver.get('https://www.google.com');

import org.openqa.selenium.PageLoadStrategy
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeOptions

fun main() {
  val chromeOptions = ChromeOptions()
  chromeOptions.setPageLoadStrategy(PageLoadStrategy.NORMAL)
  val driver = ChromeDriver(chromeOptions)
  try {
    driver.get("https://www.google.com")
  }
  finally {
    driver.quit()
  }
}

eager

WebDriver waits until DOMContentLoaded event fire is returned.

• Java
• Python
• CSharp
• Ruby
• JavaScript
• Kotlin

import org.openqa.selenium.PageLoadStrategy;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeOptions;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;

public class pageLoadStrategy {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    ChromeOptions chromeOptions = new ChromeOptions();
    chromeOptions.setPageLoadStrategy(PageLoadStrategy.EAGER);
    WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(chromeOptions);
    try {
      // Navigate to Url
      driver.get("https://google.com");
    } finally {
      driver.quit();
    }
  }
}

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.options import Options
options = Options()
options.page_load_strategy = 'eager'
driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=options)
driver.get("http://www.google.com")
driver.quit()

using OpenQA.Selenium;
using OpenQA.Selenium.Chrome;

namespace pageLoadStrategy {
  class pageLoadStrategy {
    public static void Main(string[] args) {
      var chromeOptions = new ChromeOptions();
      chromeOptions.PageLoadStrategy = PageLoadStrategy.Eager;
      IWebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(chromeOptions);
      try {
        driver.Navigate().GoToUrl("https://example.com");
      } finally {
        driver.Quit();
      }
    }
  }
}

require 'selenium-webdriver'
options = Selenium::WebDriver::Options.chrome
options.page_load_strategy = :eager

driver = Selenium::WebDriver.for :chrome, options: options
driver.get('https://www.google.com')

    it('Navigate using eager page loading strategy', async function () {
      let driver = await env
        .builder()
        .setChromeOptions(options.setPageLoadStrategy('eager'))
        .build();

      await driver.get('https://www.google.com');

import org.openqa.selenium.PageLoadStrategy
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeOptions

fun main() {
  val chromeOptions = ChromeOptions()
  chromeOptions.setPageLoadStrategy(PageLoadStrategy.EAGER)
  val driver = ChromeDriver(chromeOptions)
  try {
    driver.get("https://www.google.com")
  }
  finally {
    driver.quit()
  }
}

none

WebDriver only waits until the initial page is downloaded.

• Java
• Python
• CSharp
• Ruby
• JavaScript
• Kotlin

import org.openqa.selenium.PageLoadStrategy;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeOptions;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;

public class pageLoadStrategy {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    ChromeOptions chromeOptions = new ChromeOptions();
    chromeOptions.setPageLoadStrategy(PageLoadStrategy.NONE);
    WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(chromeOptions);
    try {
      // Navigate to Url
      driver.get("https://google.com");
    } finally {
      driver.quit();
    }
  }
}

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.options import Options
options = Options()
options.page_load_strategy = 'none'
driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=options)
driver.get("http://www.google.com")
driver.quit()

using OpenQA.Selenium;
using OpenQA.Selenium.Chrome;

namespace pageLoadStrategy {
  class pageLoadStrategy {
    public static void Main(string[] args) {
      var chromeOptions = new ChromeOptions();
      chromeOptions.PageLoadStrategy = PageLoadStrategy.None;
      IWebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(chromeOptions);
      try {
        driver.Navigate().GoToUrl("https://example.com");
      } finally {
        driver.Quit();
      }
    }
  }
}

require 'selenium-webdriver'
options = Selenium::WebDriver::Options.chrome
options.page_load_strategy = :none

driver = Selenium::WebDriver.for :chrome, options: options
driver.get('https://www.google.com')

    it('Navigate using none page loading strategy', async function () {
      let driver = await env
        .builder()
        .setChromeOptions(options.setPageLoadStrategy('none'))
        .build();

      await driver.get('https://www.google.com');

import org.openqa.selenium.PageLoadStrategy
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeOptions

fun main() {
  val chromeOptions = ChromeOptions()
  chromeOptions.setPageLoadStrategy(PageLoadStrategy.NONE)
  val driver = ChromeDriver(chromeOptions)
  try {
    driver.get("https://www.google.com")
  }
  finally {
    driver.quit()
  }
}

platformName

This identifies the operating system at the remote-end, fetching the platformName returns the OS name.

In cloud-based providers, setting platformName sets the OS at the remote-end.

acceptInsecureCerts

This capability checks whether an expired (or) invalid TLS Certificate is used while navigating during a session.

If the capability is set to false, an insecure certificate error will be returned as navigation encounters any domain certificate problems. If set to true, invalid certificate will be trusted by the browser.

All self-signed certificates will be trusted by this capability by default. Once set, acceptInsecureCerts capability will have an effect for the entire session.

timeouts

A WebDriver session is imposed with a certain session timeout interval, during which the user can control the behaviour of executing scripts or retrieving information from the browser.

Each session timeout is configured with combination of different timeouts as described below:

Script Timeout

Specifies when to interrupt an executing script in a current browsing context. The default timeout 30,000 is imposed when a new session is created by WebDriver.

Page Load Timeout

Specifies the time interval in which web page needs to be loaded in a current browsing context. The default timeout 300,000 is imposed when a new session is created by WebDriver. If page load limits a given/default time frame, the script will be stopped by TimeoutException.

Implicit Wait Timeout

This specifies the time to wait for the implicit element location strategy when locating elements. The default timeout 0 is imposed when a new session is created by WebDriver.

unhandledPromptBehavior

Specifies the state of current session’s user prompt handler. Defaults to dismiss and notify state

User Prompt Handler

This defines what action must take when a user prompt encounters at the remote-end. This is defined by unhandledPromptBehavior capability and has the following states:

• dismiss
• accept
• dismiss and notify
• accept and notify
• ignore

setWindowRect

Indicates whether the remote end supports all of the resizing and repositioning commands.

strictFileInteractability

This new capability indicates if strict interactability checks should be applied to input type=file elements. As strict interactability checks are off by default, there is a change in behaviour when using Element Send Keys with hidden file upload controls.

proxy

A proxy server acts as an intermediary for requests between a client and a server. In simple, the traffic flows through the proxy server on its way to the address you requested and back.

A proxy server for automation scripts with Selenium could be helpful for:

• Capture network traffic
• Mock backend calls made by the website
• Access the required website under complex network topologies or strict corporate restrictions/policies.

If you are in a corporate environment, and a browser fails to connect to a URL, this is most likely because the environment needs a proxy to be accessed.

Selenium WebDriver provides a way to proxy settings:

• Java
• Python
• CSharp
• Ruby
• JavaScript
• Kotlin

import org.openqa.selenium.Proxy;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeOptions;

public class ProxyTest {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    Proxy proxy = new Proxy();
    proxy.setHttpProxy("<HOST:PORT>");
    ChromeOptions options = new ChromeOptions();
    options.setCapability("proxy", proxy);
    WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(options);
    driver.get("https://www.google.com/");
    driver.manage().window().maximize();
    driver.quit();
  }
}

from selenium import webdriver

PROXY = "<HOST:PORT>"
webdriver.DesiredCapabilities.FIREFOX['proxy'] = {
"httpProxy": PROXY,
"ftpProxy": PROXY,
"sslProxy": PROXY,
"proxyType": "MANUAL",

}

with webdriver.Firefox() as driver:
    driver.get("https://selenium.dev")

using OpenQA.Selenium;
using OpenQA.Selenium.Chrome;

public class ProxyTest{
public static void Main() {
ChromeOptions options = new ChromeOptions();
Proxy proxy = new Proxy();
proxy.Kind = ProxyKind.Manual;
proxy.IsAutoDetect = false;
proxy.SslProxy = "<HOST:PORT>";
options.Proxy = proxy;
options.AddArgument("ignore-certificate-errors");
IWebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(options);
driver.Navigate().GoToUrl("https://www.selenium.dev/");
}
}

proxy = Selenium::WebDriver::Proxy.new(http: '<HOST:PORT>')
cap   = Selenium::WebDriver::Remote::Capabilities.chrome(proxy: proxy)

driver = Selenium::WebDriver.for(:chrome, capabilities: cap)
driver.get('http://google.com')

let webdriver = require('selenium-webdriver');
let chrome = require('selenium-webdriver/chrome');
let proxy = require('selenium-webdriver/proxy');
let opts = new chrome.Options();

(async function example() {
opts.setProxy(proxy.manual({http: '<HOST:PORT>'}));
let driver = new webdriver.Builder()
.forBrowser('chrome')
.setChromeOptions(opts)
.build();
try {
await driver.get("https://selenium.dev");
}
finally {
await driver.quit();
}
}());

import org.openqa.selenium.Proxy
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeOptions

class proxyTest {
fun main() {

        val proxy = Proxy()
        proxy.setHttpProxy("<HOST:PORT>")
        val options = ChromeOptions()
        options.setCapability("proxy", proxy)
        val driver: WebDriver = ChromeDriver(options)
        driver["https://www.google.com/"]
        driver.manage().window().maximize()
        driver.quit()
    }
}