It is easy to check for broken links in Selenium. Using the HTML Anchor (a>) tag, hyperlinks are implemented on web pages. Finding each anchor tag on a web page, obtaining the accompanying URLs, and then iterating through the links to see whether any of them are broken is all that the script needs to perform. Check out an excellent online Selenium certification course to learn more about Selenium and Broken Links. Here are some reasons to check Broken links in Selenium, albeit before we go into the steps for doing so.
Why Check for Broken Links in Selenium?
Free Downloadable: Selenium is open-source testing software that is available for free download. It is widely used all around the world for this straightforward reason. Selenium makes finding broken links and other testing-related problems simple.
Multi-Browser WebDrivers Are Available: Selenium includes WebvDrivers for multiple browsers. Every browser has a WebDriver available. Google Chrome or Safari could be the browser in question. Therefore, visitors can test a certain website using any operating system. It also enables actions across multiple browsers. Therefore, it would be prudent to use Selenium to check for broken links.
Usability of Multiple Programming Languages: There are numerous programming languages available for creating Selenium scripts. Depending on their preference, each user may utilise either Python or Java programming languages. Additionally, it offers the ability to use additional programming languages, such as Ruby. It becomes a simple chore for the developer to write the script in their chosen specialist language.
High Speed: The performance & speed of selenium are widely known. Selenium is renowned for its speed, much like any other testing tool. Any piece of code can be compiled and run in a matter of seconds. Additionally, integrating scripts with WebDrivers is beneficial. Selenium is used for broken link detection for this reason.
High Integrity: Some specialised IDEs, like Eclipse, have strong integration with Selenium. The Eclipse IDE and Selenium may be integrated with ease. This makes it easier to write scripts in a better way. Additionally, it aids in minimising typographical errors and script-related issues. Due to all of these factors, selenium is frequently used to identify broken links on websites.
Here are the steps to identify broken links in Selenium Webdriver:
Step 1: Give the precise WebDriver location where the.exe file is placed first. For the location, use the setProperty() function. Additionally, mention the WebDriver type. The sample that follows makes use of Chrome Driver.
Step 2: The second step is to build a WebDriver object. The object in this context will be the ChromeDriver since we are using it.
Step 3: Provide the website link for the page that will be tested. Here, the link to the Google Homepage will be utilised. The get() method must be used to open the link in the Chrome Driver.
Step 4: Assemble all of the Google Homepage connections. Consider one List for it. The WebElements can only be stored in the list as links. To determine the correct connection to the webpage, the tagName is used.
Step 5: The size of the list will be printed in order to display the entire number of links. This will make it easier to comprehend all of the links on the webpage.
Step 6: Therefore, we must locate each and every link there. Use the getAttribute method to achieve this. Additionally, the URL there needs to be verified.
Step 7: Subsequently, we must establish a secure connection using the link. To check every URL there, we’ll use an HTTP connection request. It will provide the response code back to the program after verifying each and every link.
Step 8: At this point, we must examine the answer code. It will be a broken link if the response code is equal to or higher than 400. In other situations, they’re all dependable linkages. The status of each link on the webpage must therefore be printed.
Step 9: Finally, a notice marking the program’s conclusion has been printed. This will make it easier to judge whether the program was closed successfully. Last but not least, we need to use the quit() method to close the active Chrome window.
Conclusion
Website development and testing must include the detection of broken links using Selenium. Testers can rapidly and accurately discover broken connections by employing the technique outlined in this article. The user experience would be badly harmed if broken links were to make it through the production stage, so they must be thoroughly avoided. Because of this, understanding how to test broken links in Selenium is a crucial skill in a tester’s toolbox. You can enroll in a good online Selenium training course to learn more about Broken Links.
