Functional testing on DDEV Selenium Standalone Chrome

05 May 2025

DDEV has really changed the game for developers by making it easier to set up local development environments in no time! When you team it up with the amazing automation features of Selenium, you get a powerful duo for doing thorough functional tests. In this article, your favorite Drupal development team looks at how this combination can boost your development efficiency and enhance the quality of your projects.

Drupal: DDEV Selenium Standalone Chrome

Drupal is a multifunctional system that allows you to create great websites. But, developers sometimes need additional solutions and tools to evaluate quality, conduct detailed testing, and find weak points in web projects.
Selenium is a set of special libraries and powerful tools with open-source code. It helps automate the browser. The corresponding solution is widely used to test the functionality of sites and web applications through various browsers, including Chrome. It is also an effective way to perform cross-browser testing. It allows you to check how uniformly and efficiently the site works when launched through different browsers.
Selenium has a single interface, which allows you to easily create and use various test scenarios in popular programming languages. The solution is distinguished by excellent extensibility and provides opportunities for integration with other tools and frameworks.

Key Features For Testing

Serious disadvantages of manual testing of the Drupal web projects are the labor intensity of the processes and the likelihood of human errors. But with the help of Selenium, you can perform many tasks as accurately, quickly, and efficiently as possible, minimizing possible errors.
The solution has several essential features and advantages:

  • support for various programming languages;
  • support for working with popular browsers;
  • excellent scalability;
  • parallel testing functions;
  • reusable test scripts;
  • documentation and reporting;
  • continuous deployment and integration.

Therefore, it is unsurprising that Selenium has gained immense popularity as a powerful and modern solution for testing Drupal websites and applications.

Selenium Components

As mentioned earlier, Selenium interacts well with various browsers, including Chrome. It opens up excellent opportunities for testing and Drupal development.
Selenium is a unique set of testing tools. This solution cannot automate desktop applications' work but is suitable for automating browsers. The test suite includes several components, the most important of which are WebDriver and Grid.

  • WebDriver. The system's main component provides access to the programming interface and opens up opportunities for managing browsers. With its help, you can write tests in various programming languages. It allows you to organize interaction with web components, simulate various interactions with users, and also execute specified assertions;
  • Grid. It is a specialized tool for implementing test cases in browsers, machines, and OS. Moreover, these processes co-occur. This solution allows you to perform multiple test tasks in parallel, accelerating the execution of complex test sets.

It is worth taking a closer look at the features of testing using the Chrome Driver. It is an autonomous server that Selenium uses to manage Chrome. With the Chrome Driver, Selenium test scripts can be run through the Chrome browser.

Setting Up Chrome Driver Before Testing

Before you start testing Drupal web applications, you need to perform some setup operations, which can be done differently.
Most often, Drupal developers use environment variables to set up Chrome Driver. It is relevant for those who work with the Windows operating system:

  • extract the Chrome Driver executable file and move it to the desired location;
  • copy this location, which will allow you to set the path to the file in environment variables;
  • launch the "Environment Variables" pop-up window;
  • perform a direct search for environment variables through the OS search tool;
  • when you see the "System Properties" window, you can go to the "Environment Variables" section;
  • click on the "Path Variable" button to change the parameters;
  • in the new window, click "New," which will allow you to add the appropriate location for the executable file;
  • save the changed configurations.

Such settings allow you to automatically determine the path using system variables when creating each instance of Chrome Driver using the Selenium script.

Features of Automated Testing

If you decide to test a Drupal web project using Selenium, Chrome may be the best solution. After all, this web browser currently occupies more than 65% of the entire market. Most developers are focused on adapting their web projects and applications to this browser as much as possible.
To perform testing, you will need to complete several key steps:

  • Programming language. First, you must choose which programming language to write test scripts. Most often, these are Java, Python, PHP, and others. You will need to install the appropriate development environment for the selected language and the required additional tools;
  • IDE. The next step is to download and install an integrated development environment. They are needed to write and manage test scripts based on Selenium. Most often, Drupal specialists choose Eclipse. But you can also use Visual Studio;
  • WebDriver. Next, you must download and install the appropriate Selenium tools. You need to configure the Web Driver based on the programming language you previously selected;
  • Chrome. Now, your task is to download and configure the browser driver. In our case, we are using Chrome. Accordingly, you will need to download and install the Chrome Driver;
  • Libraries and dependency settings. You must install packages or libraries, including test frameworks and additional utilities' libraries, for effective and accurate testing.

Experienced Drupal specialists also recommend using the tools necessary for managing builds and dependencies. However, this step is not mandatory. But at the same time, special build tools will give you an excellent opportunity to manage your project's dependencies. They also participate in automating the loading library process and the settings used.

Instructions for Running Selenium Tests Through the Chrome Browser

Now, it is worth considering running Selenium test scripts using the most popular web browser, Chrome, and CMS Drupal. As you remember, you must download and install the Chrome Driver in advance.

  • Using Eclipse or another convenient IDE, create a Java project. The resulting jar file should be added to the appropriate section "Java build path";
  • Next, create a special Java class file and add a code. It will allow you to run the BStackDemo application using the popular Chrome web browser;
  • At the next stage, you need to set the properties. To do this, specify the driver type and the path to the storage location;
  • Launch the Chrome Driver object and start initialization. It will launch the browser itself;
  • Using the driver.get() method, you can navigate to the URL you need. Additionally, you can find the necessary web components using specialized locators. To do this, you will need to study the Selenium locator guide;
  • Finally, you must open the browser and go to the corresponding site, bstackdemo.com.

If you configured the Chrome Driver through the environment variable, you must delete the corresponding line (System.setProperty()) from the code shown on the screen. Then, everything will work fine, and you will get the desired testing results.

3 Useful Tips from Golems

If you want to work with Drupal projects and use Selenium and Chrome Driver, then before you start testing, be sure to listen to a few valuable tips:

  • Testing on different browsers. Although Chrome is the most popular and in-demand, to ensure that your web application works correctly in different browsers, run tests separately for each of them;
  • Parallel tests. Specialized platforms such as Automate BrowserStack provide an excellent opportunity to run tests in parallel for different browsers, platforms, and devices. It will significantly save you time and effort;
  • Real devices. It is essential to run tests using real devices like laptops, desktop PCs, smartphones, and tablets to ensure the web application works correctly and is displayed on users' screens.

Additionally, record your actions, take screenshots, and record videos of your steps. It will allow you to quickly find errors and create templates for subsequent testing of sites and web applications developed with Drupal. Let our experts handle your functional testing. Benefit from our deep understanding of Selenium, ChromeDriver, and Drupal. Contact us to see how we can optimize your testing strategy.