JsonWireProtocol vs. W3C WebDriver

This page is work-in-progress part of #469 - it is supposed to summarize differences between legacy JsonWireProtocol and new W3C WebDriver.

Endpoints

Command	JsonWireProtocol Method	JsonWireProtocol URI Template	W3C WebDriver Method	W3C WebDriver URI Template
New Session	POST	/session	POST	/session
Returns a list of the currently active sessions	GET	/sessions	-
Retrieve the capabilities of the specified session	GET	/session/:sessionId	-
Delete Session	DELETE	/session/:sessionId	DELETE	/session/{session id}
Status	GET	/status	GET	/status
Get Timeouts	-		GET	/session/{session id}/timeouts
Set Timeouts	POST	/session/:sessionId/timeouts	POST	/session/{session id}/timeouts
Set the asynchronous scripts timeout	POST	/session/:sessionId/timeouts/async_script	-	Removed. Set Timeouts could be used instead.
Set the amount of time the driver should wait when searching for elements	POST	/session/:sessionId/timeouts/implicit_wait	-	Removed. Set Timeouts could be used instead.
Navigate To	POST	/session/:sessionId/url	POST	/session/{session id}/url
Get Current URL	GET	/session/:sessionId/url	GET	/session/{session id}/url
Back	POST	/session/:sessionId/back	POST	/session/{session id}/back
Forward	POST	/session/:sessionId/forward	POST	/session/{session id}/forward
Refresh	POST	/session/:sessionId/refresh	POST	/session/{session id}/refresh
Get Title	GET	/session/:sessionId/title	GET	/session/{session id}/title
Get Window Handle	GET	/session/:sessionId/window_handle	GET	/session/{session id}/window
Close Window	DELETE	/session/:sessionId/window	DELETE	/session/{session id}/window
Switch To Window	POST	/session/:sessionId/window	POST	/session/{session id}/window
Get Window Handles	GET	/session/:sessionId/window_handles	GET	/session/{session id}/window/handles
Switch To Frame	POST	/session/:sessionId/frame	POST	/session/{session id}/frame
Switch To Parent Frame	POST	/session/:sessionId/frame/parent	POST	/session/{session id}/frame/parent
Get Window Rect	-		GET	/session/{session id}/window/rect
Set Window Rect	-		POST	/session/{session id}/window/rect
Maximize Window	POST	/session/:sessionId/window/:windowHandle/maximize	POST	/session/{session id}/window/maximize
Minimize Window	-		POST	/session/{session id}/window/minimize
Fullscreen Window	-		POST	/session/{session id}/window/fullscreen
Get Window Size	GET	/session/:sessionId/window/:windowHandle/size	-	Use via Set Window Rect
Set Window Size	POST	/session/:sessionId/window/:windowHandle/size	-	Use via Get Window Rect
Change the position of the specified window	POST	/session/:sessionId/window/:windowHandle/position	-	Use via Set Window Rect
Get the position of the specified window	GET	/session/:sessionId/window/:windowHandle/position	-	Use via Get Window Rect
Get Active Element	POST	/session/:sessionId/element/active	GET	/session/{session id}/element/active
Find Element	POST	/session/:sessionId/element	POST	/session/{session id}/element
Find Elements	POST	/session/:sessionId/elements	POST	/session/{session id}/elements
Find Element From Element	POST	/session/:sessionId/element/:id/element	POST	/session/{session id}/element/{element id}/element
Find Elements From Element	POST	/session/:sessionId/element/:id/elements	POST	/session/{session id}/element/{element id}/elements
Describe the identified element	GET	/session/:sessionId/element/:id	-	Removed
Is Element Selected	GET	/session/:sessionId/element/:id/selected	GET	/session/{session id}/element/{element id}/selected
Get Element Attribute	GET	/session/:sessionId/element/:id/attribute/:name	GET	/session/{session id}/element/{element id}/attribute/{name} (should use javascript atom //javascript/webdriver/atoms:get-attribute to read the value)
Get Element Property	-		GET	/session/{session id}/element/{element id}/property/{name}
Get Element CSS Value	GET	/session/:sessionId/element/:id/css/:propertyName	GET	/session/{session id}/element/{element id}/css/{property name}
Get Element Text	GET	/session/:sessionId/element/:id/text	GET	/session/{session id}/element/{element id}/text
Get Element Tag Name	GET	/session/:sessionId/element/:id/name	GET	/session/{session id}/element/{element id}/name
Get Element Rect	GET	/session/:sessionId/element/:id/location	GET	/session/{session id}/element/{element id}/rect
Is Element Enabled	GET	/session/:sessionId/element/:id/enabled	GET	/session/{session id}/element/{element id}/enabled
Element Click	POST	/session/:sessionId/element/:id/click	POST	/session/{session id}/element/{element id}/click
Element Clear	POST	/session/:sessionId/element/:id/clear	POST	/session/{session id}/element/{element id}/clear
Element Send Keys	POST	/session/:sessionId/element/:id/value	POST	/session/{session id}/element/{element id}/value
Send a sequence of key strokes to the active element	POST	/session/:sessionId/keys	-
Submit a FORM element	POST	/session/:sessionId/element/:id/submit	-	Javascript snippet polyfill could be used instead
Test if two element IDs refer to the same DOM element	GET	/session/:sessionId/element/:id/equals/:other	-	Removed, could be implemented client-side
Determine if an element is currently displayed	GET	/session/:sessionId/element/:id/displayed	-	Atom needs to be used instead: //javascript/atoms/fragments:is-displayed
Determine an element's location on the screen once it has been scrolled into view	GET	/session/:sessionId/element/:id/location_in_view	-	Removed, should be replaced by javascript snippet
Determine an element's size in pixels	GET	/session/:sessionId/element/:id/size	-	Use appropriate values from Get Element Rect
Get Page Source	GET	/session/:sessionId/source	GET	/session/{session id}/source
Execute Script	POST	/session/:sessionId/execute	POST	/session/{session id}/execute/sync
Execute Async Script	POST	/session/:sessionId/execute_async	POST	/session/{session id}/execute/async
Get All Cookies	GET	/session/:sessionId/cookie	GET	/session/{session id}/cookie
Get Named Cookie	-		GET	/session/{session id}/cookie/{name}
Add Cookie	POST	/session/:sessionId/cookie	POST	/session/{session id}/cookie
Delete Cookie	DELETE	/session/:sessionId/cookie/:name	DELETE	/session/{session id}/cookie/{name}
Delete All Cookies	DELETE	/session/:sessionId/cookie	DELETE	/session/{session id)/cookie
Get the current browser orientation	GET	/session/:sessionId/orientation	-
Set the browser orientation	POST	/session/:sessionId/orientation	-
Dismiss Alert	POST	/session/:sessionId/dismiss_alert	POST	/session/{session id}/alert/dismiss
Accept Alert	POST	/session/:sessionId/accept_alert	POST	/session/{session id}/alert/accept
Get Alert Text	GET	/session/:sessionId/alert_text	GET	/session/{session id}/alert/text
Send Alert Text	POST	/session/:sessionId/alert_text	POST	/session/{session id}/alert/text
Take Screenshot	GET	/session/:sessionId/screenshot	GET	/session/{session id}/screenshot
Take Element Screenshot	-		GET	/session/{session id}/element/{element id}/screenshot

Actions

Command	JsonWireProtocol Method	JsonWireProtocol URI Template	W3C WebDriver Method	W3C WebDriver URI Template
Perform Actions	-		POST	/session/{session id}/actions
Release Actions	-		DELETE	/session/{session id}/actions

Command	JsonWireProtocol Method	JsonWireProtocol URI Template	W3C WebDriver Method	W3C WebDriver URI Template
Move the mouse by an offset of the specificed element	POST	/session/:sessionId/moveto	-
Click any mouse button (at the coordinates set by the last moveto command)	POST	/session/:sessionId/click	-
Click and hold the left mouse button (at the coordinates set by the last moveto command)	POST	/session/:sessionId/buttondown	-
Releases the mouse button previously held (where the mouse is currently at)	POST	/session/:sessionId/buttonup	-
Double-clicks at the current mouse coordinates (set by moveto)	POST	/session/:sessionId/doubleclick	-
Single tap on the touch enabled device	POST	/session/:sessionId/touch/click	-
Finger down on the screen	POST	/session/:sessionId/touch/down	-
Finger up on the screen	POST	/session/:sessionId/touch/up	-
Finger move on the screen	POST	session/:sessionId/touch/move	-
Scroll on the touch screen using finger based motion events	POST	session/:sessionId/touch/scroll	-
Scroll on the touch screen using finger based motion events	POST	session/:sessionId/touch/scroll	-
Double tap on the touch screen using finger motion events	POST	session/:sessionId/touch/doubleclick	-
Long press on the touch screen using finger motion events	POST	session/:sessionId/touch/longclick	-
Flick on the touch screen using finger motion events	POST	session/:sessionId/touch/flick	-
Flick on the touch screen using finger motion events	POST	session/:sessionId/touch/flick	-
Get the current geo location	GET	/session/:sessionId/location	-
Set the current geo location	POST	/session/:sessionId/location	-
Get all keys of the storage	GET	/session/:sessionId/local_storage	-
Set the storage item for the given key	POST	/session/:sessionId/local_storage	-
Clear the storage	DELETE	/session/:sessionId/local_storage	-
Get the storage item for the given key	GET	/session/:sessionId/local_storage/key/:key	-
Remove the storage item for the given key	DELETE	/session/:sessionId/local_storage/key/:key	-
Get the number of items in the storage	GET	/session/:sessionId/local_storage/size	-
Get all keys of the storage	GET	/session/:sessionId/session_storage	-
Set the storage item for the given key	POST	/session/:sessionId/session_storage	-
Clear the storage	DELETE	/session/:sessionId/session_storage	-
Get the storage item for the given key	GET	/session/:sessionId/session_storage/key/:key	-
Remove the storage item for the given key	DELETE	/session/:sessionId/session_storage/key/:key	-
Get the number of items in the storage	GET	/session/:sessionId/session_storage/size	-
Get the log for a given log type	POST	/session/:sessionId/log	-
Get available log types	GET	/session/:sessionId/log/types	-
Get the status of the html5 application cache	GET	/session/:sessionId/application_cache/status	-
List all available engines on the machine	GET	/session/:sessionId/ime/available_engines	-
Get the name of the active IME engine	GET	/session/:sessionId/ime/active_engine	-
Indicates whether IME input is active at the moment (not if it's available	GET	/session/:sessionId/ime/activated	-
De-activates the currently-active IME engine	POST	/session/:sessionId/ime/deactivate	-
Make an engines that is available (appears on the listreturned by getAvailableEngines) active	POST	/session/:sessionId/ime/activate	-

New session

JsonWireProtocol

POST /session

{
  "desiredCapabilities": {
    "chromeOptions": {
      "binary": "/usr/bin/browser-binary",
      "args": ["--headless"]
    },
    "browserName": "chrome",
    "platform": "LINUX",
    "requiredCapabilities": {}
  }
}

W3C WebDriver [ref.]

POST /session

{
  "capabilities": {
    "alwaysMatch": {
      "browserName": "firefox",
      "platformName": "linux",
      "moz:browserOptions": {
        "binary": "/usr/bin/browser-binary",
        "args": ["--start-page=http://example.com"],
      },
    },
    "firstMatch": []
  }
}

Capabilities

JsonWireProtocol [ref.]	W3C WebDriver [ref.]	Note
browserName	browserName	Lowercase
version	browserVersion
platform	platformName	Lowercase
handlesAlerts	-
cssSelectorsEnabled	-
javascriptEnabled	-
databaseEnabled	-
locationContextEnabled	-
applicationCacheEnabled	-
browserConnectionEnabled	-
webStorageEnabled	-
acceptSslCerts	acceptInsecureCerts
rotatable	-
nativeEvents	-
proxy	proxy
unexpectedAlertBehaviour	-
elementScrollBehavior	-
-	pageLoadStrategy
-	setWindowRect
-	timeouts
-	unhandledPromptBehavior
-	:browserSpecificCapability	Custom browser capabilities extension