Support a timeout argument on page load operations

[lukeis]

Originally reported on Google Code with ID 687

The web pages in our webdriver tests access images that come from a different server.
Sometimes, it might be problematic to fetch images from that server and actions such
as webDriver().get() or webElement.click() hang for a long time before the test can
resume.

It would be great if actions that load a page could have an optional timeout argument.
If the page is not fully loaded after "timeout" seconds, webdriver would simply cancel
any pending operation and resume the test.

Reported by pierre.swimconnection on 2010-07-28 18:52:50

[lukeis]

This problem is particularly acute on Firefox.

Reported by simon.m.stewart on 2011-01-21 14:19:20

• Labels added: Component-WebDriver, Browser-Firefox

[lukeis]

Hi, 

I am experiencing a similar issue in Internet Explorer with IE8. (latest 2.0b2 webdriver)
http://www.patrickacarrell.com/
web page does not completely load in IE most of the time. Therefore my code does not
continue and the page is infinitely displayed. No exceptions are displayed.

What would the best option be to handle this situation.

Thanks,

Risko

Reported by Risko.Ruus on 2011-02-21 19:30:37

[lukeis]

Hello,

i've got also the same issue and one wek now i am trying to find a solution for that
with no any luck.

Firefox used to have a config option (http:connection-timeout) for this issue but not
anymore. They say that this problem is at OS level and not of the browser's.

So i started  looking for a fix at WebDriver, after to Firefox and now at OS, but till
now nada.

Is there anyone out there with the same issue who managed to handle it succesfully?
This problem really kills all my tests! 

Any tip will be much appreciate. 

Thank you,
Dimitris

Reported by DimitrisKarapapas on 2011-03-07 00:36:38

[lukeis]

Hopefully this improvement will be added soon! ...because if page never finished loading
we will sit there twiddling our thumbs indefinitely!

Here is a work-around which _may not_ work for everyone.
Idea is simple:

1) Right before 'get' operation, start new thread which will be our timer
2) Perform 'get' operation
3) If thread timer expires, it will hit escape which will halt loading of that page
(you can even be more destructive if you like, like closing the browser window)
4) After either ESC caused page to stop loading or page loaded successfully 'get' will
complete operation
5) Interrupt the thread in-case it is still ticking
6) Check to see if thread had returned successful or not (use a static object)

Attached sample code: webdriver-timeout.zip

Reported by mikegoodnow80 on 2011-04-05 20:58:08

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- _Attachment: [webdriver-timeout.zip](https://storage.googleapis.com/google-code-attachments/selenium/issue-687/comment-4/webdriver-timeout.zip)_

[lukeis]

Oh thanks a lot ) I hope this hit will work in chrome )

Reported by voodoo144 on 2011-04-06 06:55:22

[lukeis]

Many Thanks!

Just one thing with the robot interface. Is it true that works only when the FF window
is on focus? I suppose this will be more tricky when we got several test running in
paralel..

I hope this feature will be add it in the next releases..


Thank you again! 

Reported by DimitrisKarapapas on 2011-04-06 07:40:42

[lukeis]

Dimitris, 

I had the same thing (multi-threaded tests w/ 3 instances of each browser)... but I
just tweaked mike's example to also pass in the instance of WebDriver to the thread
and in the TimeoutThread I stop the window with javascript:
((JavascriptExecutor) wd).executeScript("window.stop();");
I also am taking a screenshot for debugging purposes.

Reported by luke.semerau on 2011-04-13 22:35:28

[lukeis]

Hi Luke,

thanks for the tip! I also tried to stop page loading by executing the window.stop()
command with a setTimeout()  before loading the page, but it didnt work. Probably this
was because of the order that script are running, as in mozila website say:

Because of the order in which scripts are loaded, the stop() method cannot stop the
document in which it is contained from loading, but it will stop the loading of large
images, new windows, and other objects whose loading is deferred.

Anyway i am gonna try your tip, since to kill the browser is not the best option...

Cheers

Reported by DimitrisKarapapas on 2011-04-15 12:27:14