What's the best way to use Selenium PageObject Design Pattern

Question

I'm creating tests using Selenium 2 Web Driver with C#.Net. After reading through a lot of the Selenium documentation, I am left still feeling unsure on how to go about testing using the PageObject design patterns.

Many of the selenium examples are only shown in Java and the API bindings for .Net are not always as similar as one would think they are due to limitations and the standards set by certain languages.

What is the best way to use the PageObject design pattern with PageFactory in .Net Selenium Web Driver?

Eventually, I want my PageObjects to handle more functionality, rather than my NUnit tests using the PageObject IWebElements.

Below is an example of how I am currently going to create my tests moving forward.

public class LoginPage
{
    private IWebDriver webDriver;

    [FindsBy(How = How.Id, Using = "ctl00_ctl00_ctl00_insideForm_insideForm_content_txtPassword")]
    public IWebElement Password { get; set; }

    [FindsBy(How = How.Id, Using = "ctl00_ctl00_ctl00_insideForm_insideForm_content_cmdSubmit")]
    public IWebElement SubmitButton { get; set; }

    [FindsBy(How = How.Id, Using = "ctl00_ctl00_ctl00_insideForm_insideForm_content_txtUserName")]
    public IWebElement UserName { get; set; }

    public LoginPage() { }

    public LoginPage(IWebDriver webDriver)
    {
        this.webDriver = webDriver;


        if(!webDriver.Url.Contains("Login.aspx"))
        {
            throw new StaleElementReferenceException("This is not the login page");
        }
        PageFactory.InitElements(webDriver, this);
    }

    public HomePage signIn(string username, string password)
    {
        UserName.SendKeys(username);
        Password.SendKeys(password);
        SubmitButton.Submit();

        // Even if i create a NUnit test for this
        // Issue with page loading still occures when I try and return new object
        HomePage homePage = new HomePage(webDriver);
        PageFactory.InitElements(webDriver, homePage);
        return homePage;
    }
}

At the moment this is what I am currently doing with NUnit:

[TestFixture]
public class LoginPageTest : TestBase
{
    private IWebDriver driver;
    private LoginPage loginPage;
    private HomePage homePage;

    [SetUp]
    [Description("Sets up the test fixture page objects and navigates to the login page.")]
    public void SetUp()
    {
        driver = StartDriver();
        Log.Info("Driver started");
        driver.Navigate().GoToUrl("http://" + Environment + ");
        loginPage = new LoginPage();
        PageFactory.InitElements(driver, loginPage);
        //driver.Navigate().Refresh();
    }

    [Test]
    [Description("Enters invalid credentials and asserts that a correct error message is displayed.")]
    public void SubmitFormInvalidCredentials()
    {
        loginPage.UserName.SendKeys("invalid");
        loginPage.Password.SendKeys("invalid");
        loginPage.SubmitButton.Click();
        IWebElement invalidCredentials = driver.FindElement(By.Id("ctl00_ctl00_ctl00_insideForm_insideForm_ctl02_title"));
        Assert.AreEqual("Invalid user name or password", invalidCredentials.Text);
    }

    [Test]
    [Description("Enters valid credentials and asserts that the user is taken to the home page.")]
    public void SubmitFormValidCredentials()
    {
        loginPage.UserName.SendKeys("valid");
        loginPage.Password.SendKeys("valid");
        loginPage.SubmitButton.Click();

        homePage = new HomePage();
        PageFactory.InitElements(driver, homePage);
        Assert.AreEqual("pattest", homePage.Username.Text);
    }

 }

Most of the articles and blog posts I find for selenium webdriver Design Patterns give off contradictions to previous posts I find.

So, what is the right way?

To top this off, I even gave the PageObject design pattern a try.

    [Test]
    [Description("Login using PageObject Design Pattern")]
    public void Login()
    {
        loginPage = new LoginPage(driver);
        HomePage signIn = loginPage.SignIn("pattest", "pattest");
    }

Inside my LoginPage

public LoginPage(IWebDriver driver)
    {
        this.driver = driver;

        if (!driver.Url.Contains("Login.aspx"))
        {
            throw new ElementNotFoundException("This is not the login page");
        }
        PageFactory.InitElements(driver, this);
    }

    public HomePage SignIn(string username, string password)
    {
        UserName.SendKeys(username);
        Password.SendKeys(password);
        SubmitButton.Click();
        return new HomePage(driver);
    }

And, of course to show how my HomePage should be initiated with its Constructor:

public HomePage(IWebDriver d)
    {
        webDriver = d;
        // I need to use this as its not freaking waiting for my Page to load when I pass the webdriver in the consturctor.
        var wait = new WebDriverWait(webDriver, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(60));

        try
        {
            wait.Until(driver => driver.FindElement(By.Id("ctl00_ctl00_ctl00_insideForm_insideForm_loginStatus")));
        }
        catch(Exception e)
        {
            throw new ElementNotFoundException("This is not the home page.");
        }
        PageFactory.InitElements(webDriver, this);
    }

How do I use WebDriver PageObject design pattern effectively with testing. I can't figure this out.

Answer 1

Use PageFactory.InitElements(_driver, this); on the constructor of your base page class:

public class Page
{
    public IWebDriver _driver;

    public Page(IWebDriver driver)
    {
        this._driver = driver;
        PageFactory.InitElements(_driver, this);
    }
}

Please see the PageFactory documentation