how to pass command line arguments with protractor conf - node.js

Question

We have protractor-cucumber framework as e2e test. Till now we use the conf file with statically mentioning the environment details inside the conf json. I would like to pass user defined arguments with the protractor_conf file something like below.
protractor protractor_conf.js -DbrowserName=chrome -DexecPlatform=(native/sauce)
and would like to fetch this argument inside the conf.js and substitute under the capabilities section. I could not get proper details on net, so any help/suggestions would be appreciated.

Answer 1

You can add Parameters in your conf.js file then pass the arugs from the command line.
Here is an example.
// The params object will be passed directly to the Protractor instance,
// and can be accessed from your test as browser.params. It is an arbitrary
// object and can contain anything you may need in your test.
// This can be changed via the command line as:
// --params.environment.Browser "Firefox"
params: {
environment: {
browser: 'Chrome',
execPlatform: 'sauce',
password: 'default'
}
}
Now from we can pass the arugs from command line
protractor conf.js --parameters.environment.browser= Firefox --parameters.environment.execPlatform=sauce --parameters.environment.password=password123
Next, you can also refer these parameters in your spec file.
describe('describe some test', function() {
it('describe some step', function() {
$('.password').sendKeys(browser.params.login.password);
});
});
There are multiple advantages to having a parameter setup.
If we know we are going to be using the same values in multiple spec files (i.e login email and password), parameters are great for removing unnecessary repetition.
Being able to change parameter values at runtime makes it easier to run the same tests with different data.
Increases security – Having passwords hardcoded in your spec files is not a great approach. Parameters give you the ability to keep them out and instead provide them at runtime.

Answer 2

You can use process api to parse the arguments in cmd line.
// protractor conf.js
var readParamsFromCli = function() {
var paramsPair = process.argv.slice(3).filter(function(it){
return it.startsWith('-D');
});
var params = {};
paramsPair.forEach(function(pair){
var parts = pair.split('=');
var name = parts[0].trim().replace('-D', '');
var value = parts[1] && parts[1].trim() || true;
params[name] = value;
});
return params;
};
var params = readParamsFromCli();
var capbilities = {
browserName: params.browserName || 'chrome',
platform: params.execPlatform
};
exports.config = {
...
capbilities: capbilities
};
Then you can run case as following:
protractor protractor_conf.js -DbrowserName=chrome -DexecPlatform=native

Answer 3

You could split the configuration up into multiple config files. For example protractor-chrome.conf.js:
const baseConf = require('./protractor.conf').config;
exports.config = Object.assign({
capabilities: {
browserName: 'chrome'
}
}, baseConf);

Answer 4

This will be similar to 2nd example but uses the config file directly.
const args = require('minimist')(process.argv.slice(2));
exports.config = {
//your config stuff
baseUrl: args.Url ? args.URL : <your default>,
capabilities: {
'browserName': 'chrome',
chromeOptions: {
args: [args.Options]
},
}
}
Then in your package.json script like this:
"e2e": "protractor protractor.conf.js --Url=http://test.com" --Options=--headless