Support > Forums > OpenBots Studio > Native Browser vs Selenium commands (v1.7)
December 17,2021 at 12:18 PM
Hi Openbots experts, As result of some tests done to interact with a web browser using get text, set text and click element, I found out that Selenium commands are more reliable than the native Browser equivalent ones. To put an example, in a specific case to set the text into a field with a calendar format pop-up, using the native browser command the script somehow was not able to identify the next field to fill after including the date. However, using an equivalent script with Selenium commands the execution finished as expected with no errors. Is there any tecnical aspect that should considered when configuring native browser vs selenium commands. Kind regards.
This forum has 314 topics, 681 replies, and was last updated 14 days ago by Support Agent
December 20,2021 at 8:39 PM Hi David,
most of the features within Selenium are also present in Native Browser, except for the commands exclusive to Selenium like Execute Script and Switch Browser Frame. Moreover, Native Browser commands provide more tab functionality like the ability to open, activate, close and refresh a tab. As well as the ability to attach to an existing web session, send keys to a specific field and inject Js script.
We recommend using Selenium if the process requires an isolated instance, as Selenium will always create a web session free of cookies and cache. Keep in mind that Native Browser gives you the option of setting clicks and set text actions as simulations or manual actions. Depending on the website, one alternative will be better than the other and might cause different reactions like the one mentioned in your post.
Since Native Browser commands communicate through the OpenBots extension, it opens more opportunities to our development team to build on top of these commands and add exclusive functionality. However, it all depends on the automation. If Selenium gives you the best results on a website and the process does not need the extra Native Browser commands, then Selenium will be the best option.
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