Question

I have installed ruby 1.9.2 and watir on my windows 7 system. Now I want to automate my web browser. Suppose there are 10 different links which I want my browser to browse after certain amount of time. How do I do this? I am new to ruby and watir. Can someone suggest me how the process of coding would be or suggest me a site or an ebook where I can get material regarding this.

Answer 1

Since a lot of the basics of scripting (conditional logic, loops, waiting, etc) are relative to the basic Ruby language and not the specific classes and methods implemented by Watir, I’d suggest starting off with a good book on scripting with Ruby.

My favorite is by one of the original folks responsible for Watir itself, Brian Marick “Everyday Scripting with Ruby: for Teams, Testers, and You“.

In terms of watir, there’s the tutorials in the Watir wiki, and the book that Zelkjo is working on.

The thing you describe, is 90% scripting (repeating a given type of action, with a different input, after a specified time interval) and 10% watir (navigating to the link value), so I’d start with the scripting stuff first.

For someone on a budget, I would also offer the following “free” books (I put ‘free’ in quotes because I’m familiar with all the time and effort that goes into authoring a book, and these are not ‘free’. They come at the expense of a lot of blood, sweat and tears on the part of authors/editors etc. who have then been generous enough to then offer up their work without pay. I think calling them ‘free’ devalues the labor that went into creating them.)

• “Programming Ruby: The Pragmatic Programmers Guide” is often installed by the Ruby installer (depending on version) or can be accessed at the link above. I’ve used this more as a reference than a learning tool, but it might work for you.
• Why’s (Poignant) Guide to Ruby, available in both HTML and PDF versions, is somewhat iconic in the Ruby community. I found the writing style amusing and got some good stuff out it it, but then I’v been programming in a variety of languages since the days of teletypes and 110baud acoustically coupled modems.
• Mr. Neighborly’s Humble Little Ruby Book – I’ve not read this one, but it seems well regarded if a tiny bit out of date. Aaron Sumner said of it “it’s relatively short (under 150 pages) and in a very friendly, accessible tone. If you’re still getting familiar with the Ruby language itself, it’s as good an introduction as there is out there.”

All of those are I think more geared to someone who already understands programming, and not as good for a new tester starting out doing automation. For that you’d be better served spending the money for Marik’s book, Since he’s worked as a tester, and understands testing, and the book is largely aimed at testers, I thus think you can get far more out of it. Seriously it may not be free, but consider it an investment in your education and career.