How to use Leapwork's native plugin for automation on Internet Explorer?

Despite its many flaws, enterprises across all industries have complex IT landscapes that are still tied to Internet Explorer (IE) and rely on it to support software compliance regimes that keep their businesses safe and secure. It is therefore critical that QAs test and optimize web applications and websites for flawless functioning on this legacy browser.

However, when it comes to automation, the creation and execution of tests on IE has never been easy. Though Leapwork has offered a solution using the Selenium framework that has worked reasonably well, we have always looked to find a faster, more robust solution that doesn't rely on Selenium at all.

With the 2020.2 release, Leapwork has come up with a revolutionary change to IE automation by delivering the first-ever version of the Leapwork add-on for IE that negates the need for Selenium – to speed up both the capturing and execution process tremendously. If you are already working with IE in Leapwork, nothing will visibly change with regards to how you use Leapwork, but the new native plugin offers lightning-fast automation on the IE browser.

Installation:

The user just needs to install the 2020.2 release or above and Leapwork will automatically set up an IE add-on and enable it for them. The default settings for a new flow will use the new Leapwork plugin, however, these have been made configurable in case the user still wants to use the Selenium-based engine. Users can switch back and forth between the two options as per their requirements.

Please follow the below steps:

1. Download and Install the 2020.2 and above releases available from the downloads section on the Leapwork website.
2. Open Internet Explorer
3. Go to Settings >> Manage add-ons.
4. Users will automatically see an add-on installed in Internet explorer. Please enable the add-on if it is disabled.
5. Open the Leapwork Studio and create a new flow
6. Start the recorder (if you want to create a flow without the recorder, skip the steps 6-10 and directly choose Start Web Browser)
7. Choose Start Application >> Start Web Browser
8. Select the option 'IE' from the Browser to start the drop-down.
9. Ensure that the IE add-on checkbox is checked (it is checked by default)
10. Enter the web address and start capturing

In the Start Web Browser block, users can choose/modify the IE settings directly. If the IE add-on is selected, Leapwork will run the flow using the native add-on capability. However, if the checkbox is not selected, the old Selenium engine will be used to run the automation flow.

It is easy to switch back and forth between the IE add-on and Selenium engine, so users are free to choose the options for their cases as they like.

Features & Benefits:

• Internet Explorer versions 10 and 11 are fully supported by the add-on
• No need to configure the pre-requisites for IE as required by Selenium
• Users can even design flows using the IE add-on on their laptop and then run them on a cloud service such as Sauce Labs or BrowserStack using the Selenium option, without changing the flows at all

 For any clarification, please contact our Priority Support