Robot Framework using Python, key press without selecting any button or element in the page

8
votes

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?

5
python-2.7keypressrobotframework
Have you tried using the document root as the target of the "Press Key"? – Bryan Oakley

5 Answers

4
votes

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).

3
votes

Linux Alternative can be PyAutoGUI

Although it works for Windows and MacOS(cross-platform) also, as described in the docs

PyAutoGUI works on Python 2 & 3. Install from PyPI with pip install pyautogui

Examples:

import pyautogui

def send_keys():
    """
    Works on Windows/Mac/Linux
    """
    pyautogui.press('enter') #Presses enter
    pyautogui.hotkey('ctrl', 'shift', 'esc') #Performs ctrl+shift+esc
    pyautogui.typewrite('Hello world!\n', interval=secs_between_keys)  #Useful for entering text, newline is Enter
    pyautogui.typewrite(['a', 'b', 'c', 'left', 'backspace', 'enter', 'f1'], interval=.4) #A list of key names can be passed too
2
votes

Robot Framework Selenium library can only send keypresses to an element. If you want to send actual keypresses, you need to write your own library that does it. In Windows this can be done using SendKeys module.

Here is a library that defines "Send Enter Key" keyword for Robot Framework. I tested it quickly on Chrome, it might have problems with PhantomJS.

import SendKeys

def send_enter_key():
    """
    Sends ENTER key to application
    Works only in Windows
    """
    SendKeys.SendKeys("{ENTER}")
1
votes

Try it with two slashes, not three:

Press Key    text_field     q   
Press Key    login_button   \\13   # ASCII code for the Enter key
0
votes

You can do it with the Press Keys keyword:

  • Press Keys \ ENTER
  • Press Keys \ Example Write Words
  • Press Keys \ TAB

and so on... I have Robot Framework 3.1.1 (Python 2.7.9 on win32) and SeleniumLibrary.