Top 30 Protractor Interview Questions and Answers

Learn and master Protractor with Top 30 Interview Questions and Answers often asked in technical interviews.

1. What is Protractor JS?

Protractor JS is an end-to-end testing framework specifically designed for Angular and AngularJS applications. It runs tests against the application in a real browser, simulating user interactions and verifying the application’s behavior.

2. How do you install Protractor globally using npm?

You can install Protractor globally using the following command:

npm install -g protractor

3. How do you set up Protractor in a project?

To set up Protractor in a project, you need to install it locally in your project’s directory and configure it. Follow these steps:

     1. Install Protractor as a local dependency: `npm install protractor`

     2. Set up the Protractor configuration file: `protractor.conf.js`

     3. Write your test scripts using Protractor’s API.

4. How do you write a basic Protractor test case?

 In Protractor, you can use the `describe` and `it` functions to define test suites and test cases. Here’s an example of a basic Protractor test case:

describe('Protractor Demo App', function() {
   it('should have a title', function() {
      browser.get('http://www.example.com/');
      expect(browser.getTitle()).toEqual('Example');
   });
});

5. How do you handle asynchronous code in Protractor?

Protractor is designed to work with asynchronous code in Angular applications. It automatically waits for Angular to finish any pending asynchronous tasks before executing test assertions.

6. How do you run Protractor tests from the command line?

You can run Protractor tests from the command line using the following command:

protractor protractor.conf.js

7. How do you run a specific Protractor test file or pattern?

You can run a specific Protractor test file or pattern using the `–specs` option followed by the file or pattern. For example:

protractor protractor.conf.js --specs=path/to/myTestFile.js

8. How do you handle test-specific configuration in Protractor?

Protractor provides a configuration file (`protractor.conf.js`) where you can specify test-specific configuration options.

For example, you can set the base URL, specify the browser to use, or configure test timeouts.

9. How do you handle waits and synchronization in Protractor?

Protractor provides built-in methods for waiting and synchronization.

You can use `browser.wait` to wait for a specific condition or `browser.sleep` to pause the execution for a specified time.

10. How do you handle browser interactions in Protractor?

Protractor allows you to interact with the browser using the `browser` object.

You can perform actions like navigating to a URL, clicking elements, entering text, and more. For example:

browser.get('http://www.example.com/');
element(by.css('button')).click();
element(by.css('input')).sendKeys('Hello');

11. How do you select elements in Protractor?

Protractor uses element locators to select elements on the page. You can use various locators like `by.id`, `by.css`, `by.xpath`, `by.model`, etc. For example:

element(by.id('myButton'));
element(by.css('.myClass'));
element(by.xpath('//div[@class="myClass"]'));
element(by.model('myModel'));

12. How do you handle dropdowns and select options in Protractor?

Protractor provides the `element` and `element.all` APIs to interact with dropdowns and select options. You can use the `element` function to select the dropdown element and then use the `element.all` function to select the options. For example:

const dropdown = element(by.id('myDropdown'));
dropdown.click();
const options = dropdown.all(by.tagName('option'));
options.get(2).click();

 13. How do you perform mouse actions in Protractor?

Protractor allows you to perform mouse actions using the `browser.actions` API.

You can chain different actions like `mouseMove`, `click`, `doubleClick`, etc. For example:

const elementToClick = element(by.id('myElement'));
browser.actions().mouseMove(elementToClick).click().perform();

14. How do you handle alerts and pop-ups in Protractor?

Protractor provides the `browser.switchTo().alert()` function to handle alerts and pop-ups. You can use methods like `getText`, `accept`, or `dismiss` to interact with alerts. For example:

const alert = browser.switchTo().alert();
const alertText = alert.getText();
alert.accept();

15. How do you take screenshots in Protractor?

Protractor allows you to take screenshots using the `browser.takeScreenshot()` function. You can save the screenshot to a file or use it for debugging purposes. For example:

browser.takeScreenshot().then(function(base64Data) {
  // Save or process the screenshot data
});

16. How do you run Protractor tests in parallel?

You can use tools like `protractor-jasmine2-parallel` or `protractor-parallel` to run Protractor tests in parallel.

These tools allow you to split your test suites across multiple processes or browsers.

17. How do you generate HTML test reports in Protractor?

Protractor provides the `protractor-html-reporter-2` package to generate HTML test reports.

You can configure it in your Protractor configuration file to generate detailed HTML reports.

18. How do you handle page navigation and redirects in Protractor?

Protractor automatically waits for Angular to stabilize before performing actions.

If a page navigation or redirect occurs during a test, Protractor will wait for the new page to load before executing further actions or assertions.

19. How do you handle file uploads in Protractor?

Protractor does not support file uploads directly. However, you can use third-party libraries like `webdriverjs-file-detector` or `protractor-file-detector` to handle file uploads in Protractor tests.

20. How do you perform assertion in Protractor?

Protractor supports various assertion frameworks like `chai`, `jasmine`, and `expect.js`.

You can choose the assertion library of your choice and use its functions to perform assertions in your Protractor tests.

21. How do you handle iframes in Protractor?

To interact with elements inside iframes, you need to switch the Protractor’s focus to the iframe using the `browser.switchTo().frame()` function.

After interacting with the elements inside the iframe, you can switch back to the default content using `browser.switchTo().defaultContent()`.

22. How do you handle AngularJS-specific features in Protractor?

Protractor is specifically designed for Angular and AngularJS applications.

It automatically handles Angular-specific features like synchronization, waiting for promises, and tracking Angular’s internal state changes.

23. How do you run Protractor tests on different browsers?

Protractor allows you to run tests on different browsers by

 specifying the browser name in the Protractor configuration file. You can define multiple capabilities for different browsers and run the tests with the desired configuration.

24. How do you interact with non-Angular pages in Protractor?

If you need to interact with non-Angular pages within a Protractor test, you can use the `browser.ignoreSynchronization` property and set it to `true`.

This will disable the synchronization with Angular and allow you to interact with non-Angular elements.

25. How do you handle test data in Protractor tests?

You can handle test data in Protractor tests by storing it in variables or using external data sources like JSON files, CSV files, or databases.

You can read the test data before each test and use it within your test scripts.

26. How do you handle page timeouts in Protractor?

Protractor provides a `browser.manage().timeouts()` function to handle different types of timeouts, such as script timeout, page load timeout, and implicit wait timeout.

You can set the desired timeout values in the Protractor configuration file.

27. How do you handle SSL certificates in Protractor?

If your application uses SSL certificates, you can configure Protractor to ignore SSL certificate errors by setting the `ignoreSynchronization` and `ignoreUncaughtExceptions` properties to `true` in the Protractor configuration file.

28. How do you handle browser window resizing in Protractor?

Protractor allows you to resize the browser window using the `browser.manage().window().setSize()` function.

You can specify the width and height in pixels to resize the browser window.

29. How do you handle browser cookies in Protractor?

Protractor provides the `browser.manage().addCookie()` and `browser.manage().deleteAllCookies()` functions to handle browser cookies.

You can add or delete cookies during your tests using these functions.

30. How do you handle data-driven testing in Protractor?

Protractor supports data-driven testing by using external data sources like JSON files, CSV files, or databases.

You can read test data from these sources and use loops or functions to iterate through the data and perform tests with different input values.