Robot Framework using Python, key press without selecting any button or element in the page
I am automating one application using Robot Framework using Python. In a certain situation I need to press Enter without selecting any button or element of the page once the page is loaded.
I have tried with the below example (using Press Key), but it didn't work as I don't want to select any specific button or element of the page before press Enter on the page.
Examples:
Press Key text_field q
Press Key login_button \\\13 # ASCII code for the Enter key
The below keyword is not recognized by the IDE, most probably because of version:
Press Key Native
Is there a solution to get rid of this problem?
Answer
If you want to send a key press event to the page, but not at a specific element - target the <body> element in the page, using the Press Key keyword:
Press Key xpath=//body \ue00f # this is the Page Down key
Press Key css=body \ue00e # and this - Page Up
An up-to-date list of key codes can be found in selenium's source, the webdriver.common.Keys module holds their definition.
IMHO libraries that execute keystrokes in the OS (like AutoIt, or Java's robot) should be avoided if possible - they make your automation scripts dependent on the execution machine (and operating system), and local only - you can't run browsers tests against Selenium Hub (Sauce labs, Browsertstack, similar).