helpers.md

id	title
helpers	Custom Helpers

Helpers is a core concept of CodeceptJS. Helper is a wrapper around various libraries providing unified interface around them. Methods of Helper class will be available in tests in I object. This abstracts test scenarios from the implementation and allows easy switching between backends. Functionality of CodeceptJS should be extended by writing a custom helpers.

Helpers can also be installed as Node packages and required by corresponding Node modules

You can either access core Helpers (and underlying libraries) or create a new from scratch.

Development

Helpers can be created by running a generator command:

codeceptjs gh

(or generate helper)

This command generates a basic helper and appends it to helpers section of config file:

"helpers": {
  "WebDriver": {  },
  "MyHelper": {
    "require": "./path/to/module.js"
  }
}

Helpers are ES6 classes inherited from corresponding abstract class. Generated Helper will be added to codecept.json config. It should look like this:

'use strict';

let Helper = codecept_helper;

class MyHelper extends Helper {

  // before/after hooks
  _before() {
    // remove if not used
  }

  _after() {
    // remove if not used
  }

  // add custom methods here
  // If you need to access other helpers
  // use: this.helpers['helperName']

}

module.exports = MyHelper;

All methods except those starting from _ will be added to I object and treated as test actions. Every method should return a value in order to be appended into promise chain.

After writing your own custom helpers here you can always update CodeceptJS TypeScript Type Definitions running:

codeceptjs def .

This way, if your tests are written with TypeScript, your IDE will be able to leverage features like autocomplete and so on.

WebDriver Example

Next example demonstrates how to use WebDriver library to create your own test action. Method seeAuthentication will use client instance of WebDriver to get access to cookies. Standard NodeJS assertion library will be used (you can use any).

'use strict';
let Helper = codecept_helper;

// use any assertion library you like
let assert = require('assert');

class MyHelper extends Helper {
  /**
   * checks that authentication cookie is set
   */
  async seeAuthentication() {
    // access current client of WebDriver helper
    let client = this.helpers['WebDriver'].browser;

    // get all cookies according to http://webdriver.io/api/protocol/cookie.html
    // any helper method should return a value in order to be added to promise chain
    const res = await client.cookie();
    // get values
    let cookies = res.value;
    for (let k in cookies) {
      // check for a cookie
      if (cookies[k].name != 'logged_in') continue;
      assert.equal(cookies[k].value, 'yes');
      return;
    }
    assert.fail(cookies, 'logged_in', "Auth cookie not set");
  }
}

module.exports = MyHelper;

Protractor Example

Protractor example demonstrates usage of global element and by objects. However browser should be accessed from a helper instance via this.helpers['Protractor']; We also use chai-as-promised library to have nice assertions with promises.

'use strict';
let Helper = codecept_helper;

// use any assertion library you like
var chai = require('chai');
var chaiAsPromised = require('chai-as-promised');
chai.use(chaiAsPromised);
var expect = chai.expect;

class MyHelper extends Helper {
  /**
   * checks that authentication cookie is set
   */
  seeInHistory(historyPosition, value) {
    // access browser instance from Protractor helper
    this.helpers['Protractor'].browser.refresh();

    // you can use `element` as well as in protractor
    var history = element.all(by.repeater('result in memory'));

    // use chai as promised for better assertions
    // end your method with `return` to handle promises
    return expect(history.get(historyPosition).getText()).to.eventually.equal(value);
  }
}

module.exports = MyHelper;

Configuration

Helpers should be enabled inside codecept.json or codecept.conf.js files. Command generate helper does that for you, however you can enable them manually by placing helper to helpers section inside config file. You can also pass additional config options to your helper from a config - (please note, this example contains comments, while JSON format doesn't support them):

"helpers": {
  // here goes standard helpers:
  // WebDriver, Protractor, Nightmare, etc...
  // and their configuration
  "MyHelper": {
    "require": "./my_helper.js", // path to module
    "defaultHost": "http://mysite.com" // custom config param
  }

}

Config values will be stored inside helper in this.config. To get defaultHost value you can use

this.config.defaultHost

in any place of your helper. You can also redefine config options inside a constructor:

constructor(config) {
  config.defaultHost += '/api';
  console.log(config.defaultHost); // http://mysite.com/api
  super(config);
}

Hooks

Helpers may contain several hooks you can use to handle events of a test. Implement corresponding methods to them.

• _init - before all tests
• _finishTest - after all tests
• _before - before a test
• _beforeStep - before each step
• _afterStep - after each step
• _beforeSuite - before each suite
• _afterSuite - after each suite
• _passed - after a test passed
• _failed - after a test failed

Each implemented method should return a value as they will be added to global promise chain as well.

Hook Usage Examples

1. Failing if JS error occur in WebDriver:

class JSFailure extends codecept_helper {

  _before() {
    this.err = null;
    this.helpers['WebDriver'].browser.on('error', (e) => this.err = e);
  }

  _afterStep() {
    if (this.err) throw new Error('Browser JS error '+this.err);
  }
}

module.exports = JSFailure;

2. Wait for Ajax requests to complete after click:

class JSWait extends codecept_helper {

  _afterStep(step) {
    if (step.name == 'click') {
      var jqueryActive = () => jQuery.active == 0;
      return this.helpers['WebDriver'].waitUntil(jqueryActive);
    }
  }
}

module.exports = JSWait;

Conditional Retries

It is possible to execute global conditional retries to handle unforseen errors. Lost connections and network issues are good candidates to be retried whenever they appear.

This can be done inside a helper using the global promise recorder:

Example: Retrying rendering errors in Puppeteer.

_before() {
  const recorder = require('codeceptjs').recorder;
  recorder.retry({
    retries: 2,
    when: err => err.message.indexOf('Cannot find context with specified id') > -1,
  });
}

recorder.retry acts similarly to I.retry() and accepts the same parameters. It expects the when parameter to be set so it would handle only specific errors and not to retry for every failed step.

Retry rules are available in array recorder.retries. The last retry rule can be disabled by running recorder.retries.pop();