t.selectEditableContent Method

Selects editable content on a web page. Can be chained with other TestController methods.

t.selectEditableContent(startSelector, endSelector [, options]) → this | Promise<any>
Parameter Type Description
startSelector Function | String | Selector | Snapshot | Promise Identifies a webpage element from which selection starts. The start position of selection is the first character of the element's text. See Select Target Elements.
endSelector Function | String | Selector | Snapshot | Promise Identifies a webpage element at which selection ends. The end position of selection is the last character of the element's text. See Select Target Elements.
options (optional) Object A set of options that provide additional parameters for the action. See Options.

This function works for HTML elements that have the contentEditable attribute enabled.

According to Web standards, start and end elements must have a common ancestor with the contentEditable attribute set to true - the range root.

The example below shows how to select several sections within a contentEditable area.

import { Selector } from 'testcafe';

fixture `My fixture`
    .page `http://www.example.com/`;

test('Delete text within a contentEditable element', async t => {
    await t
        .selectEditableContent('#foreword', '#chapter-3')
        .pressKey('delete')
        .expect(Selector('#chapter-2').exists).notOk()
        .expect(Selector('#chapter-4').exists).ok();
});

If the HTML element defined by endSelector is located on a higher level of the page hierarchy than the one defined by startSelector, the action will perform a backward selection.

You can also select <textarea> content with the t.selectTextareaContent method and editable content with the t.selectEditableContent method.

Select Target Elements

For actions that target DOM elements, use the selector parameter to identify the desired element.

You can pass any of the following objects as a selector.

  • A CSS selector string.

    test('My Test', async t => {
    
        // Click will be performed on the first element
        // that matches the CSS selector.
        await t.click('#submit-button');
    });
    
  • A selector.

    import { Selector } from 'testcafe';
    
    fixture `My fixture`
        .page `http://www.example.com/`;
    
    const lastItem = Selector('.toc-item:last-child');
    
    test('My Test', async t => {
    
        // Click will be performed on the element selected by
        // the 'getLastItem' selector.
        await t.click(lastItem);
    });
    
  • A client-side function that returns a DOM element.

    test('My Test', async t => {
    
        // Click will be performed on the element returned by the function,
        // which is the third child of the document's body.
        await t.click(() => document.body.children[2]);
    });
    
  • A DOM node snapshot.

    import { Selector } from 'testcafe';
    
    fixture `My fixture`
        .page `http://www.example.com/`;
    
    test('My Test', async t => {
        const topMenuSnapshot = await Selector('#top-menu');
    
        // Click will be performed on the element whose snapshot
        // is specified. This is an element with the '#top-menu' ID.
        await t.click(topMenuSnapshot);
    });
    
  • A Promise returned by a selector.

    import { Selector } from 'testcafe';
    
    const submitButton = Selector('#submit-button');
    
    fixture `My fixture`
        .page `http://www.example.com/`;
    
    test('My Test', async t => {
    
        // Click will be performed on the element specified by the selector
        // as soon as the promise is resolved.
        await t.click(submitButton());
    });
    

Before executing an action, TestCafe waits for the target element to appear in the DOM and become visible. If this does not happen within the selector timeout, the test fails.

Note that TestCafe cannot interact with page elements under other elements. If the target element is not on top when an action is triggered, TestCafe waits for this element to appear in the foreground. If this does not happen within the selector timeout, the action is performed with an overlaying element. For information on why the target element can be overlaid, see the stacking description in the z-index topic.

Upload action is the only method that does not require the target input to be visible. You can also perform the upload action when the input is overlaid.

Options

Basic action options provide additional parameters for the t.pressKey, t.selectText, t.selectTextAreaContent and t.selectEditableContent actions.

{
    speed: Number
}
Parameter Type Description Default
speed Number The speed of action emulation. Defines how fast TestCafe performs the action when running tests. A number between 1 (the maximum speed) and 0.01 (the minimum speed). If test speed is also specified in the CLI, API or in test code, the action speed setting overrides test speed. 1

Example

import { Selector } from 'testcafe';

const nameInput = Selector('#developer-name');

fixture `My Fixture`
    .page `http://devexpress.github.io/testcafe/example/`

test('My Test', async t => {
    await t
        .typeText(nameInput, 'Peter')
        .typeText(nameInput, ' Parker', { speed: 0.1 });
});