How to fix errors like: " 'element' is not defined. or 'by' is not defined or $' is not defined.

[99]

I'm getting this error even with:
var username = element(by.id('username'));

test/e2e/Page.spec.js
line 15 col 22 'element' is not defined. line 15 col 30 'by' is not defined.

can someone please help resolve this problem.

[sjelin]

Where is this code being executed?

[juliemr]

Maybe you are trying to run protractor myTestFile.js instead of protractor myConfFile.js? Or maybe you are running your files with plain old node instead of using Protractor's command line tool?

In any case, closing as not a general issue. Please read the contributing guidelines; these types of questions are ill-suited for GitHub. Thanks!