Testing a sequence of async updates with Protractor? - angularjs

Let's say there's a button that triggers some sort of data processing which takes a while. During processing, I want to tell the user where we are by displaying the messages like "Working...", "Working very hard...", "Almost there...", etc. It is guaranteed that all those messages will appear one after another before the processing is completed. The task is to check this scenario with Protractor.
So, here's an example code:
<div ng-controller="AppController">
<p>{{message}}</p>
<button type="button" ng-click="go()">Go!</button>
</div>
...
<script>
angular.module('app', [])
.controller("AppController", function($scope, $timeout) {
$scope.message = "";
$scope.go = function() {
$scope.message = "Working...";
$timeout(function() {
$scope.message = "Working very hard...";
$timeout(function() {
$scope.message = "Almost there...";
$timeout(function() {
$scope.message = "Done!!!";
}, 1000);
}, 1000);
}, 1000);
};
});
</script>
I understand this behavior is relatively easy to test with regular unit tests (Jasmine), yet let's pretend these $timeout calls are actually async updates sent by backend via a websocket.
Is it possible to somehow test this sequence of updates with Protractor?
The straightforward approach like this:
expect(element(by.binding('message')).getText()).toEqual('Working...');
expect(element(by.binding('message')).getText()).toEqual('Working very hard...');
doesn't work. In my case the test fails with:
Expected 'Working very hard...' to equal 'Working...'.
which is understandable, I assume that Protractor just waits for all pending things to finish before moving on.
One approach I can think of is, explicitly polling the DOM to monitor when element content gets changed. This I would like to avoid. Are there any better options available?

You can give a try to the new feature: expected conditions (was added 10 hours ago):
var EC = protractor.ExpectedConditions;
var message = element(by.binding('message');
browser.wait(EC.textToBePresentInElement(message, 'Working...'), 1000);
browser.wait(EC.textToBePresentInElement(message, 'Working very hard...'), 1000);
browser.wait(EC.textToBePresentInElement(message, 'Almost there...'), 1000);
browser.wait(EC.textToBePresentInElement(message, 'Done!!!'), 1000);

Related

Wait for event to happen in server side in angular JS

I am really new to angularJS. I need to develop a page where angular JS wait for a event to happen at server side so angular JS should keep checking server using $http call in every 2 seconds. Once that event completes Angular should not invoke any $http call to server again.
I tried different method but it gives me error like "Watchers fired in the last 5 iterations: []"
Please let me know how to do it.
Following is my code
HTML
<div ng-controller="myController">
<div id="divOnTop" ng-show="!isEventDone()">
<div class="render"></div>
</div>
</div>
Angular JS
var ngApp = angular.module("ngApp",[]);
ngApp.controller('myController', function ($scope, $http) {
$scope.ready = false;
$scope.isEventDone = function () {
$scope.ready = $scope.getData();
return $scope.ready;
};
$scope.getData = function () {
if (! $scope.ready) {
$http.get("/EventManager/IsEventDone")
.then(function (response) {
$scope.ready = Boolean(response.data);
});
}
};
setInterval($scope.isPageReady, 5000);
});
A few things here.
I'm not convinced the accepted answer actually works nor solves the initial problem. So, I'll share my 2 cents here.
$scope.ready = $scope.getData(); will set $scope.ready to undefined each time since this method doesn't return anything. Thus, ng-show="!isEventDone()" will always show the DOM.
You should use angular's $interval instead of setInterval for short-polling in angular.
Also, I've refactored some redundancy.
var ngApp = angular.module("ngApp",[]);
ngApp.controller('myController', function ($scope, $http, $interval) {
var intervalPromise = $interval($scope.getData, 5000);
$scope.getData = function () {
if (! $scope.isEventDone) {
$http
.get("/EventManager/IsEventDone")
.then(function (response) {
$scope.isEventDone = Boolean(response.data);
if($scope.isEventDone) {
$interval.cancel(intervalPromise);
}
});
}
else {
$interval.cancel(intervalPromise);
}
};
});
This should work and solve your initial problem. However, there's a scenario where your server may be on a high load and takes 3 seconds to respond. In this case, you're calling the server every 2 seconds because you're waiting for 5 seconds after the previous request has started and not waiting for after the previous request has ended.
A better solution than this is to use a module like async which easily handles asynchronous methods. Combining with $timeout:
var ngApp = angular.module("ngApp",[]);
ngApp.controller('myController', function ($scope, $http, $timeout) {
var getData = function(cb){
if(!$scope.isEventDone) return cb();
$http.get("/EventManager/IsEventDone")
.then(function (response) {
$scope.isEventDone = Boolean(response.data);
cb();
});
};
// do during will run getData at least once
async.doDuring(getData, function test(err, cb) {
// asynchronous test method to see if loop should still occur
// call callback 5 seconds after getData has responded
// instead of counting 5 seconds after getData initiated the request
$timeout(function(){
cb(null, !$scope.isEventDone);
// if second param is true, call `getData()` again otherwise, end the loop
}, 5000);
}, function(err) {
console.log(err);
// if you're here, either error has occurred or
// the loop has ended with `$scope.isEventDone = true`
});
});
This will call the timeout after the request has ended.
A better alternative, if you have control of the server, is to use a websocket which will enable long-polling (server notifies the client instead of client making frequent requests) and this will not increase significant load on the server as clients grow.
I hope this helps
In your example $scope.pageIsReady does not exist. What you could do is inject the $timeout service into your controller and wrap your http call inside of it:
var timeoutInstance = $timeout(function(){
$http.get("/EventManager/IsEventDone")
.then(function (response) {
$scope.ready = Boolean(response.data);
if($scope.ready){
$timeout.cancel(timeoutInstance);
else
$scope.getData();
}
});
},5000);
cancel will stop the timeout from being called. I have not tested this but it should be along those lines.
Also not sure what type of backend you are using but if it is .net you could look into SignalR which uses sockets so the server side tells the front end when it is ready and therefore you no longer need to use polling.

How to show a busy message while angular digest is running

I have a complex page (lots of ng-repeats nested) so the digest takes a while to finish. I want to give the user some feedback, so they don't think the browser is hung.
Below is a sample fiddle, when you click HIT ME the $watch hangs for 2 seconds. I want the "Working" message to show up, but it does not.
https://jsfiddle.net/jdhenckel/c7edvdt1/
var app = angular.module('myApp', []);
app.controller('myCtrl', function($scope) {
$scope.n = 0;
$scope.test = function() {
$scope.msg = 'Working...';
$scope.n += 1;
};
$scope.$watch(function(scope) {
return $scope.n;
}, function() {
var x = Date.now() + 2000;
while (x > Date.now()) {}
$scope.msg = 'Done.';
});
});
I also tried to use JQuery to directly change the DOM before the digest, but that also didn't work. Seems like my only option is to move all the long running stuff a future digest using a $timeout, but that seems like a hack!
Is there an elegant way to notify the user that the digest is running?
EDIT: Here is a possibly more realistic example.
https://jsfiddle.net/jdhenckel/9vcLq0k3/
$scope.n = 0;
$scope.msg = 'Ready';
$scope.test = function() {
$scope.msg = 'Working...';
$timeout(function() {
doStuff();
$scope.msg = 'Done';
}, 100);
}
This works because I moved all the expensive changes into doStuff.
I was hoping that Angular would provide a simpler way to do this (such as ng-cloak for initialization.) If not, then I'll keep using $timeout.

How to get Angular to increment counter while alert popup is visible?

In this fiddle (http://jsfiddle.net/edwardtanguay/6pn8tb83/1), Angular increments a number every second, yet when an alert window pops up, the counting stops and when I close the alert window, I get the error
Error: [$rootScope:inprog] $apply already in progress
http://errors.angularjs.org/1.2.1/$rootScope/inprog?p0=%24apply
This error link actually takes me to a page which seems to be explaining what I need to do, but since I'm not explicitly using $scope.$apply() or $scope.$digest(), I don't understand what I need to do so that Angular simply continues to increment and show the incremented number while the alert window is popped up.
<div ng-controller="MyCtrl">
<div>Angular is counting: {{counter}}</div>
<button ng-click="processFiles()">processFiles</button>
<div>{{message}}</div>
</div>
var myApp = angular.module('myApp',[]);
function MyCtrl($scope, $interval) {
var theTimer = $interval(function () {
$scope.counter++;
}, 1000);
$scope.counter = 0;
$scope.message = 'click button';
$scope.processFiles = function() {
alert('ok');
}
}
This is the default behaviour. Script execution stops when browser dialogues are open.
Workaround is to get the time difference between the alert and updating the counter with it, another one is to create your own modal

AngularJS - Can't cancel $interval after initiating it twice

I'm new to programming, and have recently been playing around with AngularJS.
To practice, i've decided try and create a simple stopwatch.
Starting with an initial 'time' value of 0, i'm using $interval to increment the 'time' by 0.01, every 10 milliseconds. I can start and stop the stopwatch without any issues, UNLESS i click 'Start' twice. After doing so, 'Stop' no longer works.
I'm sure this is an awful way to create a stopwatch, but regardless, the issue still remains.
My html contains the timer and 'Start' and 'Stop' buttons, like so:
<div class="row" style="margin-left: 20px" ng-controller="timerCtrl">
<b>{{time | number : 2}}</b>
<button ng-click="startTimer()">Start</button>
<button ng-click="stopTimer()">Stop</button>
</div>
And the js:
.controller('timerCtrl', ['$scope', '$timeout', '$interval',
function($scope, $timeout, $interval) {
$scope.time = 0;
$scope.startTimer = function() {
$scope.counter = $interval(function(){
$scope.time += 0.01;
}, 10)
}
$scope.stopTimer = function() {
$interval.cancel($scope.counter);
}
}
])
What's the best way to solve this? Any help will be much appreciated, thanks!
The problem is that $interval returns a promise, and each time you run $scope.startTimer you are creating a new promise. When you run it a second time, it doesn't cancel the previous promise, it just re-assigns $scope.counter to the new promise.
Check out the AngularJS $interval page to see their example and method of avoiding this problem.
A simple solution is to check to see whether the var you're assigning your promise to has already been defined when you are about to create a new promise. For example:
if ( angular.isDefined($scope.counter) ) return;
You can also use a boolean var to maintain the status as to whether it has been started or not if you prefer that.

How to trigger a method when Angular is done adding scope updates to the DOM?

I am looking for a way to execute code when after I add changes to a $scope variable, in this case $scope.results. I need to do this in order to call some legacy code that requires the items to be in the DOM before it can execute.
My real code is triggering an AJAX call, and updating a scope variable in order to update the ui. So I currently my code is executing immediately after I push to the scope, but the legacy code is failing because the dom elements are not available yet.
I could add an ugly delay with setTimeout(), but that doesn't guarantee that the DOM is truly ready.
My question is, is there any ways I can bind to a "rendered" like event?
var myApp = angular.module('myApp', []);
myApp.controller("myController", ['$scope', function($scope){
var resultsToLoad = [{id: 1, name: "one"},{id: 2, name: "two"},{id: 3, name: "three"}];
$scope.results = [];
$scope.loadResults = function(){
for(var i=0; i < resultsToLoad.length; i++){
$scope.results.push(resultsToLoad[i]);
}
}
function doneAddingToDom(){
// do something awesome like trigger a service call to log
}
}]);
angular.bootstrap(document, ['myApp']);
Link to simulated code: http://jsfiddle.net/acolchado/BhApF/5/
Thanks in Advance!
The $evalAsync queue is used to schedule work which needs to occur outside of current stack frame, but before the browser's view render. -- http://docs.angularjs.org/guide/concepts#runtime
Okay, so what's a "stack frame"? A Github comment reveals more:
if you enqueue from a controller then it will be before, but if you enqueue from directive then it will be after. -- https://github.com/angular/angular.js/issues/734#issuecomment-3675158
Above, Misko is discussing when code that is queued for execution by $evalAsync is run, in relation to when the DOM is updated by Angular. I suggest reading the two Github comments before as well, to get the full context.
So if code is queued using $evalAsync from a directive, it should run after the DOM has been manipulated by Angular, but before the browser renders. If you need to run something after the browser renders, or after a controller updates a model, use $timeout(..., 0);
See also https://stackoverflow.com/a/13619324/215945, which also has an example fiddle that uses $evalAsync().
I forked your fiddle.
http://jsfiddle.net/xGCmp/7/
I added a directive called emit-when. It takes two parameters. The event to be emitted and the condition that has to be met for the event to be emitted. This works because when the link function is executed in the directive, we know that the element has been rendered in the DOM. My solution is to emit an event when the last item in the ng-repeat has been rendered.
If we had an all Angular solution, I would not recommend doing this. It is kind of hacky. But, it might be an okey solution for handling the type of legacy code that you mention.
var myApp = angular.module('myApp', []);
myApp.controller("myController", ['$scope', function($scope){
var resultsToLoad = [
{id: 1, name: "one"},
{id: 2, name: "two"},
{id: 3, name: "three"}
];
function doneAddingToDom() {
console.log(document.getElementById('renderedList').children.length);
}
$scope.results = [];
$scope.loadResults = function(){
$scope.results = resultsToLoad;
// If run doneAddingToDom here, we will find 0 list elements in the DOM. Check console.
doneAddingToDom();
}
// If we run on doneAddingToDom here, we will find 3 list elements in the DOM.
$scope.$on('allRendered', doneAddingToDom);
}]);
myApp.directive("emitWhen", function(){
return {
restrict: 'A',
link: function(scope, element, attrs) {
var params = scope.$eval(attrs.emitWhen),
event = params.event,
condition = params.condition;
if(condition){
scope.$emit(event);
}
}
}
});
angular.bootstrap(document, ['myApp']);
Using timeout is not the correct way to do this. Use a directive to add/manipulate the DOM. If you do use timeout make sure to use $timeout which is hooked into Angular (for example returns a promise).
If you're like me, you'll notice that in many instances $timeout with a wait of 0 runs well before the DOM is truly stable and completely static. When I want the DOM to be stable, I want it to be stable gosh dang it. And so the solution I've come across is to set a watcher on the element (or as in the example below the entire document), for the "DOMSubtreeModified" event. Once I've waited 500 milliseconds and there have been no DOM changes, I broadcast an event like "domRendered".
IE:
//todo: Inject $rootScope and $window,
//Every call to $window.setTimeout will use this function
var broadcast = function () {};
if (document.addEventListener) {
document.addEventListener("DOMSubtreeModified", function (e) {
//If less than 500 milliseconds have passed, the previous broadcast will be cleared.
clearTimeout(broadcast)
broadcast = $window.setTimeout(function () {
//This will only fire after 500 ms have passed with no changes
$rootScope.$broadcast('domRendered')
}, 500)
});
//IE stupidity
} else {
document.attachEvent("DOMSubtreeModified", function (e) {
clearTimeout(broadcast)
broadcast = $window.setTimeout(function () {
$rootScope.$broadcast('domRendered')
}, 500)
});
}
This event can be hooked into, like all broadcasts, like so:
$rootScope.$on("domRendered", function(){
//do something
})
I had a custom directive and I needed the resulting height() property of the element inside my directive which meant I needed to read it after angular had run the entire $digest and the browser had flowed out the layout.
In the link function of my directive;
This didn't work reliably, not nearly late enough;
scope.$watch(function() {});
This was still not quite late enough;
scope.$evalAsync(function() {});
The following seemed to work (even with 0ms on Chrome) where curiously even ẁindow.setTimeout() with scope.$apply() did not;
$timeout(function() {}, 0);
Flicker was a concern though, so in the end I resorted to using requestAnimationFrame() with fallback to $timeout inside my directive (with appropriate vendor prefixes as appropriate). Simplified, this essentially looks like;
scope.$watch("someBoundPropertyIexpectWillAlterLayout", function(n,o) {
$window.requestAnimationFrame(function() {
scope.$apply(function() {
scope.height = element.height(); // OK, this seems to be accurate for the layout
});
});
});
Then of course I can just use a;
scope.$watch("height", function() {
// Adjust view model based on new layout metrics
});
interval works for me,for example:
interval = $interval(function() {
if ($("#target").children().length === 0) {
return;
}
doSomething();
$interval.cancel(interval);
}, 0);

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