Visual Editor Test Actions Glossary

Visual Editor test steps are built on actions such as Click, Fill, and Navigate. These actions mimic how a person interacts with your site. Use actions combined with elements to create test steps. Group frequently-used multiple steps into an embedded test.

What is a Step?

A step begins with an action. Depending on what the action requires, add combinations of options, elements, and values.

For example, Click requires an option such as left, right, middle, or hold. And you need to specify which element to click. Navigate requires a destination and an option for which browser tab to use, such as Current, New, or Incognito.

Actions

Actions represent an activity such as clicking a button or navigating to a URL.

Options

Options provide additional control over an action. For example, you can further define a click by indicating the left, middle, or right mouse button; or you can click-and-hold. You can navigate to a URL in the Current tab, a New tab, or an Incognito tab.

Note: Not all actions have options.

Organization

Actions are broken into three sections and are listed alphabetically within each section to make them easy to find and use.

• Comment. Provides context and clarity for a step, group of steps, or test.
• Interact. A core group of actions that allow interaction with a site or application.
• Assert. Confirmation actions that ensure an application is in a specific state.
• Embed. Groups of test steps that are frequently run together.

Comment Action

Comment Action steps are plain-text test steps that don’t execute within a test. Instead, they provide an easy way to share information with other users who read the test. Using comments strategically lets you create tests that are clear and easy to understand so other users can review, debug, and update.

Comment Action

Action

Comment
Provides information about the steps or test so others can more easily understand, debug, and update.

Does not execute anything.

Comment action.

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Comment Action Best Practices

• Be brief. Comments should be written so others can quickly skim and understand.
• Use freely but avoid line-by-line comments. Provide enough context so others can easily understand why the test was written that way.
• Avoid referring to items that might change. For example, don’t reference step numbers or other comments in the test directly.

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Are Comment Actions Counted Against Usage?

No. Since these steps are “skipped over” in your previews and runs, they don’t count against your usage—and they don’t cost anything.

Interaction Action Types

Interact Actions

Options and Values

Click
Clicks the Element.

Default: Left Mouse
Options: Middle Mouse, Right Mouse, and Hold

Note: Click-and-Hold requires the number of seconds.

Close Tab
Closes current browser tab.

None

Double-Click
Double-click the element.

None

Triple-Click
Triple-click the element.

None

Drag-and-Drop
Drag-and-drop one element to another.

None

Fill
Clicks into a text field and fills it with the specified content.
Combines Click and Type into a single step.

Requires a value.

Hover
Hovers over the specified element.

None

Navigate
Navigate to the specified URL.

Default: Current tab
Options: New tab, Incognito tab

Requires a value.

Press Key
Press the specified key or key combination.

Requires a value.
See Press Action Tips below for more information.

Refresh
Refreshes the current page.

None

Scroll
Scrolls the page in the specified direction until the element is located.

Default: Down
Options: Up, Left, Right

Note: You can execute up to 25 scrolls with a single scroll action.

Select
Selects specified item from the dropdown.

Select the dropdown menu, then select the value from the dropdown list.

Tester Instuction
An action for a human to complete.

Requires a value.

Note: If this action is used, the test is executed by the Tester Community.

Type
Types the specified text one character at a time.

Requires a value.

Wait
Waits the specified number of seconds.

Requires a value.

Note: Use this if a page requires an excessive amount of time to process a request or update.

Interact actions.

The Press Action

Press sends a single key, or a key combination such as Control + C. In addition to keys such as C, A, and V, the following are also available:

• ArrowDown
• ArrowLeft
• ArrowRight
• ArrowUp
• Backspace
• CapsLock
• Delete
• End
• Enter
• Escape
• Home
• PageDown
• PageUp
• Tab
• Space
• Super
• `
• -
• =
• [
• ]
• \
• ;
• '
• ,
• .
• /
• A through Z
• 0 through 9
• F1 through F12

We made pressing keys easy. Start typing in the Key field, and the available options appear.

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Using the Super Key

• Using Super on a Windows VM translates to the Windows key.
• Using Super on a iOS VM translates to the Command key.

The modifier is an additional key you can apply to the action. Note that it’s optional and should be left blank if not needed. Common modifiers include:

• Alt
• Control
• Shift
• Super

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Press Action Tips

Create Press actions that mimic the way you interact with your keyboard.

• When inside a text box, Backspace deletes one character starting at the cursor position.
• Use Enter instead of Return.
• You can use Super on Windows tests to act as the Windows key.
• To zoom a window in or out, use Shift + - and Shift + = respectively.

Note: Currently, Rainforest does not support three-key combinations such as Control + Shift + Delete.

Assertion Actions

Assertions affirm a specific behavior, such as a page loading, an element being present or not, or whether the behavior occurred at all.

Action Type

Assertion Actions

Observe
Checks whether an element is visible or not.

Default: visible
Option: Not visible

Tester Confirmation
Ask a question to confirm a behavior.

A test that has a Tester Confirmation action can only be run by the Tester Community.

Assertion actions.

Embed

Reusable Snippets are available for use within the current test. Reusable Snippets are alphabetically listed within the Snippets section.

Any test you created in Rainforest can be embedded into any other Rainforest test. Embedding a test is beneficial for frequently used steps, such as logging in or creating an account. For more information, see Reusable Snippets.

Note: If you previously used custom actions, they now show as embedded tests.

If you have any questions, reach out to us at [email protected].