Web Recorder Functions (Playwright)

Overview

This section provides the commands available in Playwright scripts created with Web Recorder. These functions let you automate and interact with web applications and are grouped into categories to help you find what you need quickly:

Basic Functions: Core actions like opening pages, locating elements, and performing simple operations.
Mouse and Keyboard Functions: Simulate user interactions, including clicks, typing, scrolling, and dragging.
Browser Functions: Manage browser contexts, tabs, and sessions.
Control Flow Functions: Add logic to your automation scripts, including loops, conditions, and waits.

Basic Functions

StartBrowser

Starts a browser within an application script. We support Microsoft Edge and Chrome; the application uses whichever version of these browsers is installed on the target machine. Note that Firefox is currently not supported.

Syntax

CODE

StartBrowser()

Parameter	Type	Default Value	Description
(none)	-	-	This command does not require any parameters.

Code example

CODE

await StartBrowser();

StopBrowser

Stops a browser within an application script.

Syntax

CODE

StopBrowser()

Parameter	Type	Default Value	Description
(none)	-	-	This command does not require any parameters.

Code example

CODE

await StopBrowser();

Locator

Identifies a specific element on the page. Used as a starting point for actions such as click, hover, type, or get text.

Syntax

CODE

Locator(selector)

The locator value is generated by the Web Recorder. Creating locators manually is not supported. Please use the Web Recorder to capture locators.

Code example

CODE

Locator(selector: "#Input_Username");

StartTimer

Creates a custom timer to measure the time one or more actions take within a script. The timers are reported back to the Login Enterprise server as measurements and can be used to trigger a notification if the measurement is over the configured threshold. Measurements are displayed in the Login Enterprise dashboard and charts. StartTimer must be stopped with either CancelTimer or StopTimer.

Syntax

CODE

StartTimer(string name);

Parameter	Type	Default Value	Description
name	string		Defines the name of the timer, max of 64 characters

The timer name must only contain alphanumeric characters and underscores.

Code example

CODE

StartTimer(name:"Create_New_File");
StopTimer(name:"Create_New_File");

StopTimer

Stops a timer started by StartTimer. The StopTimer name should be the same as the StartTimer.

Syntax

CODE

StopTimer(string name);

Parameter	Type	Default Value	Description
name	string		Defines the name of the timer, max of 64 characters

The timer name must only contain alphanumeric characters and underscores.

Code example

CODE

StartTimer(name:"Save_File_To_Network");
StopTimer(name:"Save_File_To_Network");

CancelTimer

Cancels a timer. The CancelTimer name should be the same as the StartTimer.

Syntax

CODE

CancelTimer(string name);

Parameter	Type	Default Value	Description
name	string		Defines the name of the timer, max of 64 characters

The timer name must only contain alphanumeric characters and underscores.

Code example

CODE

StartTimer(name:"Create_New_File");
CancelTimer(name:"Create_New_File");

SetTimer

Helps create your own custom timers. In many cases, you can call an external value for a system resource, such as CPU utilization %, and have it appear in the Login Enterprise reporting.

SetTimer does not require a start and stop function as it collects an integer at the time it is executed.

Syntax

CODE

SetTimer("name", value);

Parameter	Type	Default Value	Description
name	string		Defines the name of the timer, max of 64 characters
value	integer		Value collected when the timer is called

The timer name must only contain alphanumeric characters and underscores.

Code example

CODE

int myCounter = {some code that gets a Windows performance counter in milliseconds};
SetTimer(“MyTimer”,myCounter);

Wait

Waits for X seconds before continuing the script.

Syntax

CODE

Wait(double seconds);

Parameter	Type	Default Value
seconds	double	-

Code example

CODE

Wait(10);

Log

Logs to the console if you are using the Scriptrunner. When using it as part of the Login Enterprise appliance, it logs to %temp%\LoginPI\Logs.

Syntax

CODE

Log(string message);
Log(object component);

Parameters	Type	Default Value
message	string
component	object

Code example

CODE

Log(message:"Log Message");
Log(component:MainWindow);

Abort

Exits the script and throws an error message. The error will be shown as an 'Application failure' on the Login Enterprise dashboard, under events.

Syntax

CODE

ABORT(string error);

Parameter	Type	Default Value
error	string

Code example

CODE

ABORT(error:"An error occurred");

ShellExecute

Runs a script or application in the Windows Shell. Only the first parameter is required; all remaining parameters are optional.

Syntax

CODE

ShellExecute(string commandLine, string workingFolder = "", bool waitForProcessEnd = true, int timeout = 180, bool forceKillOnExit = true);

Parameter	Type	Default Value	Description
commandLine	string
workingFolder	string
waitForProcessEnd	bool	true	Waits for the process to finish before continuing.
timeout	int	180	Defines how long to wait for the process to end before it's killed.
forceKillOnExit	bool	true	Forces the application/process to close or stay open after the command has ended. The default is true.

Code example

CODE

ShellExecute("mspaint", waitForProcessEnd: false, timeout: 15, forceKillOnExit: false);

CreateEvent

Generates a custom event on the Appliance, shown in the results page of a Continuous, Load, and Application Test.

Syntax

CODE

CreateEvent(title:"", description:"");

Parameters	Type	Default Value
Title	string	-
Description	string	-

Code example

CODE

CreateEvent(title:"Windows Update Available", description:"Update is available on hostname x");

GetEnvironmentVariable

Retrieves an environment variable. The GetEnvironmentVariable can be stored in a variable to use multiple times in your script. Note that if a continueOnError is not set and if you do not have permission to retrieve the variable, the script will stop.

Syntax

CODE

GetEnvironmentVariable(variableName:"", continueOnError:false);

Parameters	Type	Default Value
variableName	string
continueOnError	bool	false

Code example

CODE

var TempEnv = GetEnvironmentVariable("temp", continueOnError:true);
Log ($"The environment path = {TempEnv}");
Type ($"{TempEnv}");

TakeScreenshot

Creates custom screenshots that are sent to the Login Enterprise appliance as Events. This functionality can be used to verify an application's visual output. You must enable “Custom Screenshots” in the Test configuration to allow this function. This function is not available for Load Tests.

The Event created has a subject of “The script screenshot '{name}' was created”. The description is the {description} field in your function call. The screenshot bitmap is attached to the Event.

The name field cannot handle spaces; these need to be underscored.

Syntax

CODE

TakeScreenshot(name:"", description:"");

Parameters	Type	Default Value
name	string
description	string	null

Code example

CODE

 TakeScreenshot(name:"Notepad",description: "Check if notepad has loaded the correct file");

Mouse and Keyboard Functions

Some functions in this subsection include a timeout parameter. This parameter specifies how long the script will attempt to locate an element and perform the action. By default, Web Recorder sets the timeout to 5 seconds, but you can adjust it either in the global settings or on a per-action basis.

If the timeout is removed, the script will fall back to Playwright’s default timeout of 30 seconds.

Type

Types text or presses keys.

Syntax

CODE

await TypeAsync(input: "text", cpm: 0);

Parameter	Type	Default Value	Description
text	string		Text to type or keys to press
cpm	int	300	Characters per minute

Code example

CODE

await TypeAsync(input: "some Text", cpm: 0);

Key Combinations

Key combinations can be performed using the typing function. For example, the Ctrl+V (paste) command appears in the script as:

CODE

await TypeAsync(input: "{Control+v}", cpm: 0);

Press

Presses keys, such as Key up/down, tab, etc.

Parameter	Type	Default Value	Description
key	string	-	The key to press on the keyboard

Syntax:

CODE

PressAsync(key)

Code example:

CODE

await PressAsync("Tab");

KeyCodes

Valid keys for PressAsync()

CODE

F1
F2
F3
F4
F5
F6
F7
F8
F9
F10
F11
F12

Insert
Cancel
Help
Backspace
Tab
Clear
Enter
Shift
Control
Alt
Delete
Pause
Space
PageUp
PageDown
End
Home
ArrowLeft
ArrowUp
ArrowRight
ArrowDown
Escape
Meta

LeftClick

Performs a left-mouse click on the specified element.

Syntax

CODE

Locator(selector).ClickAsync(options)

Parameter	Description
selector	Selector identifying the element to click.
timeout	How long (in seconds) the script should retry locating the element before failing.

The locator value is generated by the Web Recorder. Creating locators manually is not supported. Please use the Web Recorder to capture locators.

Code example

CODE

await Locator(selector: "#password-input").ClickAsync(new(){Timeout = 5 });

RightClick

Performs a right-mouse click on the specified element.

Syntax

CODE

RightClick(double x, double y, bool continueOnError = false);

Parameter	Type	Default Value	Description
x	double		Horizontal coordinate
y	double		Vertical coordinate

The locator value is generated by the Web Recorder. Creating locators manually is not supported. Please use the Web Recorder to capture locators.

Code example

CODE

await Locator(selector: "#password-input").RightClickAsync(new(){Timeout = 5 });

DoubleClick

Performs a double-mouse click on the specified element.

Syntax

CODE

DoubleClick(double x, double y, bool continueOnError = false);

Parameter	Type	Default Value	Description
x	double		Horizontal coordinate
y	double		Vertical coordinate

The locator value is generated by the Web Recorder. Creating locators manually is not supported. Please use the Web Recorder to capture locators.

Code example

CODE

await Locator(selector: "#password-input").DoubleClickAsync(new(){Timeout = 5 });

Mouse Scroll

Scrolls the page relative to the current mouse position by the given number of pixels horizontally (x) and vertically (y).

Parameter	Type	Default value	Description
x	-	-	Horizontal scroll amount in pixels (negative = left, positive = right)
y	-	-	Vertical scroll amount in pixels (negative = up, positive = down)

Code example

CODE

// Horizontal scroll at (0,0)
await ScrollAsync(x: 0, y: 0);

// Scroll down at (0,659)
await ScrollAsync(x: 0, y: 659);

// Scroll up at (0,-32)
await ScrollAsync(x: 0, y: -32);

Hover

Moves the mouse pointer over the specified element. It is used to trigger hover effects like tooltips, dropdowns, or style changes.

Syntax

CODE

Locator(selector).HoverAsync()

The locator value is generated by the Web Recorder. Creating locators manually is not supported. Please use the Web Recorder to capture locators.

Code example

CODE

await Locator(selector: "#password-input").HoverAsync();

Control Flow Functions

If Else vs Try Catch

Creates conditional logic in your scripts. If the condition is true, the code within the If block executes. If the condition is false, the code within the Else block executes. Note that the Else statement is not mandatory.

Code example

CODE

var Condition = MainWindow.FindControl(title:"Condition");
if (Condition != null)
{
Type("Condition is true");
}
else
{
Type("Condition is not true");
}

Challenges:

Finding a control may throw an exception if the control is not found. If "Continue on Error" is not enabled, this will terminate the workflow.

Solution

Reword the script using a Try...Catch statement. This approach can eliminate inconsistent pop-ups and allow the script to continue running even if a control is not found.

Code example:

CODE

Try{
var Condition = MainWindow.FindControl(title:"Condition");
Condition.Click();
}
catch{
Log("Was unable to find conditional window");
};

While

Executes a block of code in a loop as long as the specified condition evaluates to true. The condition is evaluated before each iteration of the loop.

Code example:

In the following example, we specify an integer variable that equals zero. While the number is less than 10, we log the number to the console and add +1 to it until it evaluates to false.

CODE

int number = 0;
while(number < 10)
{
Log(number);
number++;
}

ForEach

Iterates through each item in an array of values.

Code example:

In the following example, we iterate through 3 sample values.

CODE

string[] example = {"example 1","example 2","example 3"};
foreach (string value in example)
{
Log(value);
}

Additional uses

When working with a browser application, collecting all web selectors can be beneficial. You can then use a ForEach loop to find a specific condition or to identify a particular selector from an array of many.