Answer

Launching Desktop Apps with Playwright

Yes, you can launch a desktop app with Playwright. It supports launching and interacting with desktop applications across different platforms. It provides a unified API that allows you to automate actions on both web and standalone apps.

Launching a Desktop App

To launch a desktop app, use the launch method provided by Playwright. This method allows you to specify the type of browser engine to use, such as Chromium, Firefox, or WebKit. By choosing the appropriate browser engine, you can target specific platforms and launch desktop applications accordingly.

Here's an example of launching a desktop app using Chromium as the browser engine:

const { chromium } = require('@playwright/test');

const browser = await chromium.launch();

Once the browser is launched, you can interact with the desktop app by navigating to its URL or performing various actions like clicking buttons, filling forms, or capturing screenshots.

Integrating Web and Standalone Apps

Playwright also allows integration with web applications. You can automate actions on both web and standalone apps within the same test script or automation flow.

For example, if your test needs to interact with a web application first and then switch to a standalone app for further testing, Playwright provides methods like newPage and newContext that allow creating multiple pages or contexts within the same browser instance.

const { newPage, newContext } = require('@playwright/test');

const page = await newPage();
const context = await newContext();

By leveraging these methods along with appropriate navigation techniques like goto, waitForNavigation, or even intercepting network requests using request interception capabilities provided by Playwright, it is possible to seamlessly integrate both web and standalone apps in your automation workflow.

For more tips on writing efficient Playwright test scripts, check out this blog post.