What is Nightwatch

Nightwatch.js is an automated testing framework for web applications and websites, written in Node.js and using the W3C WebDriver API (formerly Selenium WebDriver).

It is a complete End-to-End testing solution which aims to simplify writing automated tests and setting up Continuous Integration. Nightwatch can also be used for writing Node.js unit and integration tests.

The name Nightwatch was inspired by the famous painting The Night Watch by Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn. The masterpiece is prominently displayed in the Rijksmuseum, in Amsterdam - The Netherlands.

Overview of WebDriver

WebDriver is a general purpose library for automating web browsers. It was started as part of the Selenium project, which is a popular and comprehensive set of tools for browser automation initially written for Java but now with support for most programming languages.

Nightwatch uses the WebDriver API to perform the browser automation related tasks, like opening windows and clicking links for instance.

WebDriver is now a W3C specification aiming to standardize browser automation. WebDriver is a remote control interface that enables introspection and control of user agents. It provides a platform and a restful HTTP api as a way for web browsers to be remotely controlled.

Theory of Operation

Nightwatch works by communicating over a restful HTTP API with a WebDriver server (such as ChromeDriver or Selenium Server). The protocol is defined by the W3C WebDriver spec, which is derived from JSON Wire protocol. See below for an example workflow for browser initialization.

Most of the times, Nightwatch needs to send at least 2 requests to the WebDriver server in order to perform a command or assertion. ...The first one being the request to locate an element given a CSS selector (or Xpath expression) ...Next to perform the actual command/assertion on the given element.

Setup

1. Node.js should be installed.
2. NPM should be installed.
3. Create a directory with nightwatchjs-basic name.
4. Run npm init and complete with basic details.
5. Run npm install nightwatch to install nightwatch within workspace.
6. Download selenium and chrome drivers and copy to bin directory.
7. Create nightwatch.json file within working directory. The nightwatch test runner binary expects a configuration file.
8. Create tests directory and create homepage.js file.
9. Update package.json with test runner for scripts value.

Screenshots

nightwatch.conf.js

tests/homepage.js

package.json

Run

$ npm run test

Version changes

1.3.0

• Updated dependencies
  • Nightwatch 1.4.3
  • Chromedriver 85.0.1
• Updated test run command
• Updated readme with test run screenshot.

1.2.0

• Preserved with 1.2.0 tag.
• Nightwatch 1.1.11, Chromedriver 74.0.0 version

1.1.0

• No need of individual driver download on mac and windows os. Removed explicit dependency on drivers. Now automatically download required drivers during npm i run.

1.0.0

• Basic project setup with Nightwatch framework and run.
• Depends on Selenium and Chrome web driver.

Reference

Official Nightwatch