How do I return an enum as a string for my WebDriverManager in Java?

Question

How do I create an enum as a String and call it for my WebDriverManager?

Resource I'm following: http://tutorials.jenkov.com/java/enums.html#enum-example

I want to clean up my webdrivermanager and make it cleaner and flexible by providing enums. Here is my attempt as I'd like every browser type to be returned as a String.

Enums:

public enum BrowserEnv {

    CHROME("chrome"),
    FIREFOX("firefox"),
    IE("internet explorer"),
    SAFARI("safari");

    private String browser;

    BrowserEnv(String browserName){
        browserName = browserName.CHROME;
        
    }

My webdrivermanager code:
I want to call on BrowserEnv but not sure how to get it to work.

public WebDriver initializeDriver() {

    if (BrowserEnv.CHROME)) { // I want to be able to change these on the fly
        WebDriverManager.chromedriver().setup();
        driver = new ChromeDriver();
    } else if (BrowserEnv.CHROME)) { // Want to be able to change this anytime
        WebDriverManager.firefoxdriver().setup();
        driver = new FirefoxDriver();
    }
    driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
    return driver;
}

[UPDATE] - Code below is what I'm trying to work out based on comments and continuous solutions until I get it to work.

Moved driver decisions to enums. used if statements to launch another browser in case chrome in this example should fail. Currently, getDriver is asking for WebDriverManager to return as an object.

public enum BrowserEnv {

    CHROME("chrome"),
    FIREFOX("firefox");

    private String browser;

    BrowserEnv(String browserName) {
        this.browser = browserName;
    }

    public WebDriverManager getWebDriverManager() {
        if (this == BrowserEnv.CHROME) {
            return WebDriverManager.chromedriver();
        } else if (this == BrowserEnv.FIREFOX) {
            return WebDriverManager.firefoxdriver();
        }

    public WebDriver getDriver() {
            if (this == BrowserEnv.CHROME) {
                return new ChromeDriver();
            } else if (this == BrowserEnv.FIREFOX) {
                return new FirefoxDriver();
            }
        }
    }

Initializing browser a Base class

public WebDriver initializeDriver(BrowserEnv browser) {
    setUrl();

    browser.getWebDriverManager().setup();
    driver = browser.getDriver();
    driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
    return driver;
}

@hev1 Thank you for the reply, it seems that is not working for me. It I get the following message: `It is illegal to access static member 'CHROME' from enum constructor or instance initializer`. — foragerEngineer, Jul 08 '20 at 03:02
@deadshot That didn't seem to work either. I have updated my questions and examples above as there was unecessary info and I just wanted to cut straight to the chase. — foragerEngineer, Jul 08 '20 at 03:12
I will leave examples updated example of how I'm working through this based on comments so its easier for everyone to follow what I'm doing wrong. — foragerEngineer, Jul 08 '20 at 03:13
@Beginner_SQA this will help https://stackoverflow.com/a/2965252/9050514 — deadshot, Jul 08 '20 at 03:34
I'm calling this answered as this was about the enums. I'll make a post about the new issue I'm having based on my [UPDATE] section. Thank you everyone. — foragerEngineer, Jul 08 '20 at 13:29

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 08 '20 at 03:22

1

Move all driver related decision making to your enum.

public enum BrowserEnv {

    CHROME("chrome"), FIREFOX("firefox"), IE("internet explorer"), SAFARI("safari");

    private String browser;

    BrowserEnv(String browserName){
        this.browser = browserName;        
    }
    
    public WebdriverManager getWebDriverManager() {
        switch(this) {
            case CHROME:
                return WebdriverManager.chromedriver();
                break;
            case FIREFOX:
                return WebdriverManager.firefoxdriver();
                break;
            case IE:
                return WebdriverManager.iedriver();
                break;
            case SAFARI:
                return WebdriverManager.safaridriver();
                break;
            default:
                break;
            
        }
    }
    
    public WebDriver getDriver() {
        switch(this) {
            case CHROME:
                return new ChromeDriver();
                break;
            case FIREFOX:
                return new FirefoxDriver();
                break;
            case IE:
                return new InternetExplorerDriver();
                break;
            case SAFARI:
                return new SafariDriver();
                break;
            default:
                break;
            
        }
    }
}

Then you can initialize and drive the browser type externally.

public WebDriver initializeDriver(BrowserEnv browser) {
    browser.getWebDriverManager().setup();
    driver = browser.getDriver();
    driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
    return driver;
}

answered Jul 08 '20 at 03:22

Zeeshan S.

2,041
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Wow. That's alot more elaborate than I thought. Can you modify `initializeDriver` to include the `If` statement in case chrome can't be invoked? – foragerEngineer Jul 08 '20 at 03:25
I would really like to have a back up browser launch in case one fails. – foragerEngineer Jul 08 '20 at 03:28
Then you can specify in the default switch-cases used internally the fallback browser. – Zeeshan S. Jul 08 '20 at 03:30
1

I'll give it a try and update my post to your solution. Thank you. – foragerEngineer Jul 08 '20 at 03:32
Before I post my fix based on your answer, will I need to add the IF statements in both `getWebDriverManager` and `getDriver` ? – foragerEngineer Jul 08 '20 at 03:45
Depends which one is more likely to fail. Use only in the function that is more likely to fail. Another way to avoid IF-ELSE is to perform a `null` check in `getWebDriverManager`. If it throws a NullPointerException, you initialize with the fallback. You can do this in both and avoid IF-ELSE by using TRY-CATCH-FINALLY instead. – Zeeshan S. Jul 08 '20 at 03:51
I'll most likely do chrome and firefox for now to show in my update and get your blessing on it lol – foragerEngineer Jul 08 '20 at 03:58
Haha! Sure thing. – Zeeshan S. Jul 08 '20 at 04:01
Ok I updated my code, and so far I've been able to work out the `getWebdriverManager`. IntelliJ sees `getDriver` as an error and is asking to return it as an object. Does that seem right to you? Please see update. – foragerEngineer Jul 08 '20 at 04:07
Correction: `getDriver` is asking for `getWebDriverManager` to be returned as an object. – foragerEngineer Jul 08 '20 at 04:41
I don't see any reference in the update where `getDriver` would have anything to do with `getWebDriverManager`. – Zeeshan S. Jul 08 '20 at 05:00
yea, it's odd. Shall we take this conversation to chat? – foragerEngineer Jul 08 '20 at 05:03
Let us [continue this discussion in chat](https://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/217463/discussion-between-beginner-sqa-and-zeeshan-siddiqui). – foragerEngineer Jul 08 '20 at 13:49

How do I return an enum as a string for my WebDriverManager in Java?

1 Answers1