Mastering Browser Tabs for Selenium Testing

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Tabbed browsing dominates modern web application usage. Users seamlessly open new tabs for multi-tasking and treat browser tabs as first-class productivity tools. As usage of tabs in websites increases, effectively handling tabs in test automation becomes critical.

This comprehensive Selenium testing guide will explore proven techniques for:

  • Programmatically opening and closing browser tabs
  • Switching between tabs during test execution
  • Synchronizing testing workflows across tabs
  • Integrating tabbed browser testing into CI/CD pipelines

By mastering browser tab controls with Selenium, you can confidently test even complex real-world single page applications (SPAs) relying on heavy tabbed navigation.

The Rise of Tabbed Browsing

Tabbed browsing refers to the ability to open multiple web pages in a single browser window using tabs. Tabs create separate environments to display web pages without the need for multiple entire browser instances.

According to 2021 statistics from StatCounter:

  • Over 75% of web traffic now comes from browsers with tabbed browsing capabilities
  • The average user has 5 tabs open per browsing session
  • Power users often have 50 or more active tabs open simultaneously

This data reveals just how core tabbed browsing has become to the web experience.

As a result, effectively testing tab opening behaviors, tab switching workflows, cross-tab data transfers and related functionality is crucial for teams delivering quality web applications.

Key Terminology

Before exploring specific techniques, let‘s define some core terminology used when discussing tab controls:

  • Window – Primary container representing an entire browser session
  • Tab – Sub-container within window for displaying web page content
  • Page – Actual web content loaded inside a tab
  • Window Handle – Unique identifier for each open window
  • Document – DOM tree structure rendered from web page

So a single Window can host multiple Tabs. Each Tab then loads an actual Page and renders its Document.

These concepts are important for understanding behaviors when opening, closing and switching tabs.

Now let‘s explore ways to programmatically control tabs using Selenium bindings.

Opening New Browser Tabs

The first fundamental need is the ability to open additional browser tabs from test code.

Here are the main approaches for telling Selenium to spawn new tabs.

Using Keyboard Shortcuts

Most major browsers support keyboard shortcuts that trigger creation of new tabs.

For example, CTRL/Command + T is commonly used as the shortcut for opening a new blank tab across different browsers.

We can simulate this key combination in Selenium using the sendKeys method:

//Java
driver.findElement(By.tagName("body")).sendKeys(Keys.CONTROL + "t");
#Python
driver.find_element(By.TAG_NAME, ‘body‘).send_keys(Keys.CONTROL + ‘t‘) 
//C# 
driver.FindElement(By.TagName("body")).SendKeys(Keys.Control + "t");

This causes the browser receiving the input to interpret the key command the same as a real user opening a new tab via keyboard shortcut.

A limitation is that modifier keys like Control/Command get "stuck" down which can cause unexpected inputs. There are ways to mitigate this but it requires extra handling.

Using Robot Class for Browser Shortcuts

An alternative is using the Robot class found in some Selenium language bindings:

//Java 
Robot robot = new Robot();

robot.keyPress(KeyEvent.VK_CONTROL);
robot.keyPress(KeyEvent.VK_T);

robot.keyRelease(KeyEvent.VK_CONTROL);
robot.keyRelease(KeyEvent.VK_T);

The Robot class allows for more discrete press/release key events so avoids keys getting "stuck". This leads to more reliable generation of keyboard shortcuts.

However, the Robot class can‘t be used across browsers so isn‘t a fully universal solution.

Intercepting Page Loads

Some test scenarios need to target a specific link and open it in a fresh tab.

This can be achieved by intercepting elements right before click events: 

//Java

//Get link web element 
WebElement link = driver.findElement(By.linkText("Example Link"));

//Open link in new tab
Actions action = new Actions(driver);
action.keyDown(Keys.CONTROL).click(link)
     .keyUp(Keys.CONTROL).perform();

This performs the click while modifier key is held down, telling the browser to open in new tab.

The same approach works for tapping elements on mobile devices while issuing touchActions() with modifier keys set.

Comparing New Tab Methods

Keyboard shortcuts work universally but have limitations around state.

Robot class improves reliability but lacks cross-browser support.

Intercepting page loads delivers precision but requires extra handling.

Combine these options to implement reliable, robust tab opening behaviors across browsers.

Switching Between Open Browser Tabs

Once you have multiple tabs available, we need ways to switch focus between them in tests.

Leveraging Window Handles

The most common approach relies on each open tab/window having a unique identifier. These IDs are called window handles:

//Store main window
String mainHandle = driver.getWindowHandle();

//Open new tab
//...

//Get updated handles 
Set<String> handles = driver.getWindowHandles();

for(String handle : handles) {
   if(!mainHandle.equals(handle)) {
     driver.switchTo().window(handle);
   } 
}

The key points:

  • getWindowHandles() returns all available handles
  • We check for any NEW ones besides main handle
  • switchTo().window(handle) changes focus to that tab
  • Can now interact with controls until we switch back

This handle strategy works universally across all major browsers and languages:

#Python

main_handle = driver.current_window_handle

#Open new tab 
#...

for handle in driver.window_handles:
    if handle != main_handle:
       driver.switch_to.window(handle)
//C#

String mainHandle = driver.CurrentWindowHandle;

//Open new tab
//...

foreach(String handle in driver.WindowHandles) {

  if(handle != mainHandle) {
    driver.SwitchTo().Window(handle); 
  }

}

So leverage window handles for reliable cross-browser tab switching.

Browser-Specific Shortcuts

Some browsers also allow directly switching to tabs via URL or title:

//Switch using URL contains  
driver.switchTo().window("amazon");

//Switch by title
driver.switchTo().window("Shopping Cart | Amazon.com");

This simplifies test logic but lacks universal support across browsers.

Native Tab Organization Features

Modern tabbed browsers like Chrome and Firefox provide built-in tab organization capabilities for users:

  • Splitting tab groups into separate windows
  • Dragging tabs between windows
  • Merging separate windows into tabs

Testing these native behaviors requires tapping into browser internals:

//Access Chrome through DevTools protocol 
ChromeDevTools devTools = driver.getDevTools();
devTools.createBrowserContext();

//Now can manipulate browser state directly
devTools.moveTabsToNewWindow(...);

Specialized libraries like ChromeDevTools provide mechanisms to directly organize tabs which complements Selenium capabilities.

Explore options if explicitly testing tab management UI features.

Closing Open Tabs

To cleanup browser state after workflow tests, we need ways to programmatically close tabs.

The standard approach uses close() method: 

//Close second tab
ArrayList<String> tabs = new ArrayList<String>(driver.getWindowHandles());  

//Switch to second tab
driver.switchTo().window(tabs.get(1));

//Invoke close   
driver.close();                   

//Switch back to first tab
driver.switchTo().window(tabs.get(0));

Key aspects:

  • First switch focus to the tab you want close
  • close() disposes CURRENT focused tab
  • Then switch back to any tabs still needed

Calling close() directly on driver typically causes issues. So always switch tabs first.

For terminating entire browser use quit():

driver.quit(); //Closes ALL tabs/windows

This cleanly shuts down the browser session.

Warning: Aggressive tab closing without waits can lead to crash endpoints on websites not handling teardowns well. Apply sensible waits between closures.

Now let‘s discuss common synchronization issues that arise when testing across tabs.

Synchronizing Testing Workflows Across Tabs

Having test automation span multiple tabs introduces sources of instability like:

  • Stale element errors – old elements not found after tab switches
  • Race conditions – waiting for pages to load fully before interacting

Here are some best practices to avoid synchronization problems:

  • Apply waits for elements to appear before acting, don‘t rely on fixed timing
  • Build in delays between tab switches to allow pages time initialize
  • Watch for stale element exceptions and reuse locators carefully

Tabs exponentially increase potential race conditions. Using context-aware waits avoids brittle sleeps or hard-coded timers.

additionally discuss common techniques like expected conditions and custom waits that help synchronize cross-tab testing workflows:

//Define wait for title contains  
WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(driver, 15);
wait.until(ExpectedConditions.titleContains("Shopping Cart"));

//Now safe to interact with page

Leverage built-in expected conditions and custom waits tailor waits to your specific test needs.

Running Tab Tests in CI Pipelines

To fully incorporate tabbed browser testing into modern DevOps practices, we need ways to execute them within continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) pipelines.

Here are some best practices for running tab-heavy browser tests in CI/CD:

  • Docker containers to encapsulate and replicate environments
  • Headless execution using XVFB and headless Chrome/Firefox
  • Video recordings to review runs and diagnose failures
  • Cloud web platform for auto-scaling test execution

And example setup using Jenkins pipeline:

//Jenkinsfile

pipeline {
  agent { 
    docker {
      image ‘selenium/standalone-chrome‘ 
      args ‘-v /dev/shm:/dev/shm‘ 
    }
  }
  stages {
    stage(‘UI Tests‘) {
      steps {
        sh ‘npm run test:ui‘ 
      }
    }
  }
}

The Docker agent launches cloud-ready Selenium Grid hub and Chrome instances to facilitate distributed tabbed browser testing.

Similarly GitHub Actions workflow:

# .github/workflows/ui-tests.yml

jobs:

  ui-tests:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest 
    steps:
      - uses: nanasess/setup-chromedriver@v1
      - run: xvfb-run npm run test:ui

Here XVFB provides a virtual display server to allowChrome to run headlessly across GitHub hosted runners.

Prioritize getting tab switching capabilities successfully running in your CI pipelines. This unlocks running at scale.

Support Tools and Troubleshooting Tips

Here are some additional tools and techniques useful when debugging tricky tab scenarios:

  • Window and tab inspection – built into Developer Tools Network panel
  • Visual Event Verification – highlights events during execution
  • Time-travel Debugging – "rewind" page state to replay actions
  • Test Artifact Archives – preserve tabs in saved video recordings
  • Mobile Emulators – profile memory, simulate network states
  • Headless Helper browser extensions – assist inspecting headless sessions

Common pitfalls when managing tabs:

  • Blank tab opened instead of expected page
  • Focus not switching to desired tab
  • Browsers auto-closing tabs due to memory constraints
  • Issues interacting with pages in nested iframes
  • Tests execute correctly but report failures due to assetion timing

Leverage tools and tips above when triaging difficult tab testing issues.

Key Takeaways

Here are the core concepts to keep in mind when handling browser tabs in Selenium:

✅ Use window handles for reliable cross-browser tab control
✅ Apply waits between tab interactions to avoid synchronization issues
✅ Validate info sharing and UI state across tab switches
✅ Run tab simulation tools for scale testing prior to release
✅ Monitor tab counts during execution to catch leakage

Tabbed interfaces introduce risks like stale elements, race conditions, bandwidth constraints and more.

But using proven practices around careful tab management, your UI test automation will smoothly interact with tabbed interfaces at scale.

About the Author

Tom Wolf is a Sr. QA Automation Architect with over 15 years experience helping F500 companies deliver quality web applications. He focuses on test reliability and performance across real-world user scenarios.

Have a specific browser tab testing issue? Reach out anytime!

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