VisionAutomationFramework 3.3.0

Vision Automation Framework (VAF)

VAF is a fluent test automation framework for .NET on top of Selenium WebDriver. Waiting for the page, for elements to be visible and interactable is handled for you, so tests read like the steps they describe.

Upgrading from 2.x: see Migrating from 2.x.

Requirements

• A test project for .NET Framework 4.7.2 (or newer 4.x) or .NET 10. .NET 8 and 9 are not supported: the build stops with error VAF0001.
• Any test framework: NUnit 3 or 4, MSTest, xUnit. VAF does not depend on one.
• Google Chrome, Firefox, or Safari on macOS. Selenium Manager downloads the matching browser driver on the first run, no driver package needed.
• Tested with Chrome and Firefox on Windows. Linux and macOS on .NET 10 are supported by design but not yet tested.

Installation

dotnet add package VisionAutomationFramework

• NuGet picks the lowest Selenium VAF allows (4.45.0). For a newer one, add Selenium.WebDriver and Selenium.Support to your project yourself, both with the same version; VAF works with any 4.x from 4.45.
• In an old-style project (packages.config), install through Manage NuGet Packages, so the references to Selenium.WebDriver and Selenium.Support are added too; a hand-written HintPath to VAF alone does not bring them.

Quick start

using NUnit.Framework;
using VisionAutomationFramework;
using VisionAutomationFramework.Browsers;
using VisionAutomationFramework.Extensions;

public class Tests
{
    [Test]
    public void OpensExampleDomain()
    {
        var browser = Testing.On<Chrome>();

        try
        {
            browser.LetsNavigateTo("https://example.com/")
                .Should().HaveTitle("Example Domain");
        }
        finally
        {
            browser.Scope.Driver.Quit();
        }
    }
}

With MSTest or xUnit the test is the same, only the attributes differ ([TestMethod], [Fact]). A failed check throws VafAssertionException, which every test framework reports as a failed test:

VisionAutomationFramework.VafAssertionException : Title on active tab isn't correctly populated
  Expected: "Wrong title"
  But was:  "Example Domain"

The full guide is at https://www.visionautomationframework.com/quick-start-guide.

Settings

Each setting is read from the environment variable VAF_<name> first, then from appSettings in the test project's app.config. Environment variables also work on .NET 10, where app.config often does not reach the test run, and in CI.

Browser options

To change the options VAF creates for Chrome, ChromeProxy or Firefox, set a delegate once, e.g. in [AssemblyInitialize] or [OneTimeSetUp]. Testing.On<Chrome>() stays as it is:

BrowserOptions.ConfigureChrome = options => options.AddArgument("--window-size=1600,900");
Testing.On<Chrome>();

It runs after VAF's own options and the ChromeArguments setting, right before the driver starts, for every browser started afterwards. It can add options, not remove VAF's; for full control create your own IBrowserDefinition and start it with Testing.On(browser).

Chrome also starts when the test runs as administrator (e.g. Visual Studio run as admin). Chrome then runs with admin rights, so prefer running tests without them.

What's new in 3.3

More fixes found by the regression suite. As in 3.2, a test that relied on a wrong result can start to fail.

• Date pickers (AsDateTimeFlatpickerV4, AsDateTimeBootstrap3DatepickerV4) work on a machine with non-English regional settings. Day, month and AM/PM are looked up in English, as the calendars show them, and HaveValue(date, format) formats the expected date with the invariant culture. Before, a German machine looked for "Oktober 5, 2026" and expected "05.10.2026" for MM/dd/yyyy.
• The flatpickr day and AM/PM are clicked with VAF's click, which scrolls and tries again when they are covered (e.g. a calendar at the bottom of the window).
• LetsSelectOptionFromRightClickMenu waits for the browser's menu before it presses the keys.
• AsSlideBar().Should().HaveValue("73") works. Before, the check could not be called (the class was internal) and threw NotImplementedException.

What's new in 3.2

Fixes found by VAF's new regression suite. A test that relied on the wrong result can start to fail; in each case the old result was wrong.

• Should().HaveAlert() waits for the alert (as long as ElementWaitTimeout), so an alert that opens a moment after the click is found.
• AsPane().Should().HaveValue() compares the pane's text, the value LetsGetValue() returns. Before, it compared the Name attribute.
• IsVisible() is false for a hidden element.
• LetsCheckIfWindowExists() stays on the current window. LetsSwitchToWindow(title) and LetsSwitchToWindowByURL() that find nothing go back to the window the test was on.
• New: AsSection() on an element found with HaveElement, e.g. to count the items of a list.

What's new in 3.1

• Chrome also starts when the test runs as administrator (e.g. Visual Studio run as admin). Before, Chrome relaunched itself without admin rights and the driver failed with session not created: Chrome instance exited.
• BrowserOptions.ConfigureChrome and BrowserOptions.ConfigureFirefox, and the settings ChromeArguments / FirefoxArguments, add browser options while Testing.On<Chrome>() stays as it is. See Browser options.
• 3.1.1: Should().NotHaveElement<T>() on a section passed even when the element was visible. It now fails in that case, as it already did on a page. A test that relied on the wrong result can start to fail: the element it checks is really there.

What's new in 3.0

• .NET 10 alongside .NET Framework 4.7.2, with the same API.
• No test framework dependency. Works with NUnit 3 and 4, MSTest and xUnit. Under MSTest the TestExecutionContext.IsolatedContext workaround is no longer needed.
• Only Selenium as a dependency (Selenium.WebDriver and Selenium.Support 4.45 or newer 4.x; on .NET 10 also System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager, for app.config).
• Settings from environment variables (VAF_ElementWaitTimeout, …) or app.config, and a new DownloadDirectory setting.
• LetsSaveScreenshotTo(directory, fileName) saves a screenshot anywhere and returns the path, so you can attach it in any test framework. LetsTakeScreenshot() still saves it in the NUnit test directory and attaches it to the NUnit result.
• LetsSelectOptionFromRightClickMenu refuses to send keys when the browser is not the foreground window, instead of typing into another window. Do not run such tests in parallel. Firefox started from a test run usually does not get the foreground on Windows, so with Firefox this method mostly refuses; it works with Chrome.
• Testing.On(browser) for a browser you create with settings, e.g. a remote grid or extra arguments: Testing.On(new MyRemoteChrome(gridUrl)). Testing.On<Chrome>() stays for browsers without settings.
• AndAlso() also after a check, so several checks on one section stay in one chain: .AsLabelText().Should().HaveValue("…").AndAlso().Should().HaveElement<Next>()…
• HTML reports are named VAF_Log_<test name>_<yyyy-MM-dd_HH-mm-ss>.html, so tests that finish in the same minute no longer overwrite each other's report (2.x: VAF_Log_<hh-mm MM-dd-yyyy>.html).

Migrating from 2.x

Most tests recompile unchanged. Check these points:

Features

• Chrome, Firefox and Safari; your own browsers through IBrowserDefinition
• Pages, sections and elements as small classes with one locator each
• Element-specific actions and assertions (AsButton(), AsTextInputField(), AsLabelText(), …)
• Built-in waits and loader handling
• XML test log with an HTML report

Contact

https://www.visionautomationframework.com/contact

License

MIT — see LICENSE.md.