Handling Flaky Drag-and-Drop Scenarios

Article Overview:

This article will cover how you can achieve the following:

• How to successfully perform drag-and-drop actions in flaky test applications.
• Implement alternative solutions when standard NLP commands and standard extensions fail.

Problem Statement:

In a test scenario involving dragging and dropping elements, standard approaches like NLP commands may fail. This often occurs due to flaky application behavior.

Solution:

Option 1: Using the Drag-and-Drop Extension

• Extension Link: Drag and Drop Extension
• Steps:
  1. Store the element details of the source and target elements.
  2. Use the extension to simulate the drag-and-drop action programmatically.
  3. Validate the action by checking the element placement.

Option 2: Mouse Down, Over, and Up Commands

When the drag-and-drop extension fails, use mouse commands to simulate the action:

1. Mouse Down: Click and hold the source element.
2. Mouse Over: Move the cursor to the target position.
3. Mouse Up: Release the cursor to drop the element.

This step-by-step approach ensures precise interaction and bypasses common application-level drag-and-drop issues.

Option 3: Move the Element Slightly Before Dragging

To address issues with the onDrag event not being triggered:

• First, move the source element by 1 pixel to trigger the onDrag event:

  Mouse move source element by 1px

  
• Perform the drag-and-drop action using the Mouse drag to instruction:

  Mouse drag to target element

  

This method ensures both the onDrag and onDrop events are triggered correctly.

Examples:

• Test Case: Dragging and dropping a task into a diary range.
• Problem: The action fails due to flaky event handling in the application.
• Solution: By first moving the element slightly and then performing the drag-and-drop using mouse commands, the issue was resolved.