Why Common assertions (exist, be.visible, have.text) in Cypress? - Purpose & Use Cases

The Big Idea

What if you could catch hidden bugs just by writing a few simple checks?

The Scenario

Imagine you have a website with many buttons and messages. You want to check if a button is there, if it can be seen, and if it shows the right words. Doing this by looking at the screen and clicking around takes a lot of time and you might miss things.

The Problem

Manually checking each element is slow and tiring. You can easily forget to check some parts or make mistakes. Also, if the website changes, you have to check everything again by hand. This wastes time and can cause bugs to slip through.

The Solution

Using common assertions like exist, be.visible, and have.text in Cypress lets you write simple commands that automatically check if elements are present, visible, and have the correct text. This makes testing fast, reliable, and repeatable.

Before vs After

✗ Before

if (document.querySelector('#submit')) {
  if (document.querySelector('#submit').offsetParent !== null) {
    if (document.querySelector('#submit').textContent === 'Send') {
      console.log('Button is ready')
    }
  }
}

✓ After

cy.get('#submit').should('exist').and('be.visible').and('have.text', 'Send')

What It Enables

It enables you to quickly and confidently check that your web page works as expected without missing important details.

Real Life Example

For example, when testing a login page, you can automatically verify that the 'Login' button exists, is visible to users, and shows the correct label before trying to click it.

Key Takeaways

Manual checks are slow and error-prone.

Common assertions automate presence, visibility, and text checks.

This leads to faster, more reliable testing.

Practice

1. Which Cypress assertion checks if an element is present in the DOM, regardless of visibility?

easy

A. should('contain.text')

B. should('be.visible')

C. should('have.text')

D. should('exist')

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the meaning of exist assertion

   The exist assertion checks if the element is present in the DOM, even if it is hidden.

2. Step 2: Compare with other assertions

   be.visible checks if the element is visible, have.text checks exact text content, and contain.text checks partial text. Only exist fits the question.

3. Final Answer:

   should('exist') -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Check presence = should('exist') [OK]

Hint: Exist means element is in DOM, visible or not [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing 'exist' with 'be.visible'
• Using 'have.text' to check presence
• Thinking 'contain.text' checks existence

2. Which of the following is the correct Cypress syntax to assert that an element with id submitBtn is visible?

easy

A. cy.get('#submitBtn').should('exist')

B. cy.get('#submitBtn').should('contain', 'Submit')

C. cy.get('#submitBtn').should('be.visible')

D. cy.get('#submitBtn').should('have.text', 'Submit')

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify the assertion for visibility

   The assertion should('be.visible') checks if the element is visible on the page.

2. Step 2: Match syntax with element selector

   cy.get('#submitBtn') selects the element by id. Combining with should('be.visible') is correct syntax to check visibility.

3. Final Answer:

   cy.get('#submitBtn').should('be.visible') -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Visible check = should('be.visible') [OK]

Hint: Use should('be.visible') to check if element shows on page [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using 'exist' instead of 'be.visible' for visibility
• Confusing 'have.text' with visibility check
• Using 'contain' without 'text' for exact text check

3. What will be the result of this Cypress test code?

cy.get('.message').should('have.text', 'Welcome!')

Assuming the element <div class='message'>Welcome!</div> is present and visible.

medium

A. Test passes because text matches exactly

B. Test fails because element is not checked for visibility

C. Test fails because 'have.text' is incorrect syntax

D. Test passes but ignores text content

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand have.text assertion

   This assertion checks if the element's text content exactly matches the given string.

2. Step 2: Check element and text

   The element <div class='message'>Welcome!</div> matches the text 'Welcome!' exactly, so the assertion passes.

3. Final Answer:

   Test passes because text matches exactly -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Exact text match = test passes [OK]

Hint: Exact text match means test passes with have.text [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming visibility must be checked separately
• Thinking 'have.text' is invalid syntax
• Confusing 'have.text' with partial text check

4. Identify the error in this Cypress test code:

cy.get('.alert').should('be.visible').should('have.text', 'Error occurred')

Given the element <div class='alert' style='display:none'>Error occurred</div> is hidden.

medium

A. The element selector is incorrect

B. The element is hidden, so 'be.visible' assertion fails

C. 'have.text' assertion syntax is wrong

D. Chaining assertions is not allowed in Cypress

Solution

1. Step 1: Check element visibility

   The element has style='display:none', so it is hidden and not visible.

2. Step 2: Understand assertion failure

   The should('be.visible') assertion will fail because the element is hidden, causing the test to fail before checking text.

3. Final Answer:

   The element is hidden, so 'be.visible' assertion fails -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Hidden element fails 'be.visible' [OK]

Hint: Hidden elements fail 'be.visible' assertion [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming 'have.text' runs even if visibility fails
• Thinking chaining assertions is invalid
• Ignoring element's CSS display property

5. You want to write a Cypress test to confirm a button with class .save-btn exists, is visible, and has the exact text Save. Which code snippet correctly performs all these checks?

hard

A. cy.get('.save-btn').should('exist').should('be.visible').should('have.text', 'Save')

B. cy.get('.save-btn').should('be.visible').should('contain.text', 'Save')

C. cy.get('.save-btn').should('exist').should('have.text', 'Save')

D. cy.get('.save-btn').should('have.text', 'Save').should('be.visible')

Solution

1. Step 1: Check presence, visibility, and exact text

   We need to confirm the element exists, is visible, and has exact text 'Save'.

2. Step 2: Verify chaining of assertions

   cy.get('.save-btn').should('exist').should('be.visible').should('have.text', 'Save') chains should('exist'), should('be.visible'), and should('have.text', 'Save') correctly to check all conditions.

3. Final Answer:

   cy.get('.save-btn').should('exist').should('be.visible').should('have.text', 'Save') -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Chain exist, visible, exact text for full check [OK]

Hint: Chain all assertions to check presence, visibility, and text [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Skipping 'exist' check before visibility
• Using 'contain.text' instead of 'have.text' for exact match
• Not chaining all required assertions