What is Watir Syntax?

The Watir syntax is shown later with three views. One is the view that we see objects on a web page while viewing them in a web browser. The next view is an example of the Watir code that would be needed to automate an action using that web page object. The third view is the object on the web page shown in its HTML form. This is the way it looks when we view the source of a web page, or open the file in a text editor.

Require the Watir Tool

To use the Watir tool, first enter the following in your test script:

require 'watir'

This allows our test script to use the Watir tool.

Create a Test Instance of Internet Explorer

To create a test instance of Internet Explorer, enter the following in your test script:

ie = Watir::IE.new

Watir sends a message to Internet Explorer, telling to create a new instance of itself, and assigns that instance to ie.
To create an instance of Internet Explorer and navigate to the site with one statement:

ie = Watir::IE.start("http://mytestsite")

Watir uses the start method to both create a browser instance and navigate to a site.

Site Navigation

To direct your test script to the web application you are testing, enter the URL in this command:

ie.goto("http://mytestsite")

In the example above, enter in your application's URL in place of mytestsite.
Watir sends the goto message to Internet Explorer, telling it to enter the address you entered as a method argument in the Address bar, and to direct the browser to that site.