To use FireWatir, you need to install two things: the firewatir gem and an extension to firewater called JSSH (JavaScript SHell).
There are three steps involved in installing FireWatir:
1) Install the FireWatir Gem
If you are behind a proxy/firewall, see this page on how to still use ruby gems.
Windows
gem install firewatir
Linux/Mac
sudo gem install firewatir
You may need to first update rubygems using this command:
sudo gem update --system
2) Install the JSSH Firefox Extension
The correct extension depends on your platform and your version of Firefox.
Production FireWatir
| Platform | Firefox 2.0 | Firefox 3.0 | Firefox 3.5 | Firefox 3.6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windows | install | install | install | install |
| Mac | install | install | install | install |
| Linux | install | install | install |
For Windows user who are installing XPI for Firefox 3.0 make sure you have also installed "Redistributed package for VS 2005 SP1". Thanks to "Ryan Huynh" for figuring out this requirement. You can get the package from here
For Windows user who are installing XPI for Firefox 3.5 you may have to install "Redistributed package for VS 2008 SP1". You can get the package from here
For Debian user who are installing XPI for Firefox 3.0 and 3.5 you may have to install xulrunner development package: sudo aptitude install xulrunner-dev.
Experimental Support for Concurrent Testing (unsupported)
In addition to the above add-ons, there is a patched extension that some people are using with a patched version of FireWatir. This version supports driving multiple browsers concurrently, using multiple profiles. It is not compatible with production FireWatir.
Find out more about this here
Advanced Users: Compiling JSSH
There are instructions on how to compile JSSH here and here.
3) Ensure Firefox settings are correct
Certain firefox settings need to be changed to ensure FireWatir functions correctly. These instructions can be followed to get the Firefox#attach command to work.
- Make sure that pop ups are allowed in Firefox. You can allow all popups, or only for certain sites that you are testing.
- Make sure that Firefox opens a new window instead of a new tab when a link is clicked.
Comments (5)
May 03, 2009
Dennis Sutch says:
I would assume that the tests can be run by downloading the source and running m...I would assume that the tests can be run by downloading the source and running mozilla_all_tests.rb from the tests directory.
Sep 08, 2009
Hippie Hacker says:
None of the above xpi's for linux appear to be 64bit. Baroquebobcat has instruc...None of the above xpi's for linux appear to be 64bit.
Baroquebobcat has instructions to completely build from scratch to include jssh, however it seems a bit of overkill.
http://blog.baroquebobcat.com/2009/01/06/jssh-firefox-ubuntu-64bit/
I wonder if it would be possible to build just the 64bit xpi's for 3.0 and 3.5 under linux/firefox.
Jan 28
gary says:
Please forgive me but I'm still having trouble installing any of this. I've been...Please forgive me but I'm still having trouble installing any of this. I've been using watir for a while in IE and now would like to install firwewatir, safariwaitr, etc but I can't even fathom out how to install them.
I installed watir 1.5.1.1164 from a gem and it was straightforward. (Ruby 1.86 from one click installer) Put the gem in c drive and then from command prompt type gem install watir, hey presto works a treat.
The latest firewatir gems etc. are compressed as tar files which when extracted contain further tar files but no gems. What do i put were as I can't figure out what should be pretty basic?
Someone, anyone, please help as I'm a big fan of ruby and don't want to bin it and strat learning something else.
Thanks in advance.
Gary
Feb 05
Moises Siles says:
Someone knows something about the jssh firefox extesion for 3.6? Thanks in adva...Someone knows something about the jssh firefox extesion for 3.6?
Thanks in advance
Feb 05
Alister Scott says:
@Moises: I don't understand your question. Please clarify and rephrase and use ...@Moises: I don't understand your question.
Please clarify and rephrase and use the Watir Google Group to ask it.