[java] How do I setup the InternetExplorerDriver so it works

I am using WebDriver and I have downloaded the InternetExplorerDriver and was wondering what I do with it after it is downloaded?

This says to put the driver in my path. Not really certain what exactly they are talking about there.

Has anyone used this and if so could you provide detailed steps on how to set it up so it will work?

I am getting the following error:

The path to the driver executable must be set by the webdriver.ie.driver system property

I downloaded the executables for IE and the Chrome driver. Where do I set it at?

Basically you need to download the IEDriverServer.exe from Selenium HQ website without executing anything just remmeber the location where you want it and then put the code on Eclipse like this

System.setProperty("webdriver.ie.driver", "C:\\Users\\juan.torres\\Desktop\\QA stuff\\IEDriverServer_Win32_2.32.3\\IEDriverServer.exe");
WebDriver driver= new InternetExplorerDriver();

driver.navigate().to("http://www.youtube.com/");

for the path use double slash //

ok have fun !!

Here is the exact solution, which worked in my case:

1. On IE 7 or higher on Windows Vista or Windows 7, you must set the Protected Mode settings for each zone to be the same value. The value can be on or off, as long as it is the same for every zone. To set the Protected Mode settings, choose "Internet Options..." from the Tools menu, and click on the Security tab. For each zone, there will be a check box at the bottom of the tab labeled "Enable Protected Mode". Additionally, "Enhanced Protected Mode" must be disabled for IE 10 and higher. This option is found in the Advanced tab of the Internet Options dialog.

2. System.setProperty("webdriver.ie.driver","C:\\Users\\ssin22\\Downloads\\IEDriverServer_x64_2.48.0\\IEDriverServer.exe");

package Testing;

import java.io.File;

import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.ie.InternetExplorerDriver;

public class LaunchIE {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub

        System.setProperty("webdriver.ie.driver","C:\\Users\\ssin22\\Downloads\\IEDriverServer_x64_2.48.0\\IEDriverServer.exe");

    WebDriver driver=new InternetExplorerDriver();
    driver.get("http://google.com");

    }

}

WebDriverManager allows to automate the management of the binary drivers (e.g. chromedriver, geckodriver, etc.) required by Selenium WebDriver.

Link: https://github.com/bonigarcia/webdrivermanager

you can use something link this: WebDriverManager.iedriver().setup();

add the following dependency for Maven:

<dependency>
    <groupId>io.github.bonigarcia</groupId>
    <artifactId>webdrivermanager</artifactId>
    <version>x.x.x</version>
    <scope>test</scope>
</dependency> 

or see: https://www.toolsqa.com/selenium-webdriver/webdrivermanager/

If you are using RemoteDriver things are different. From http://element34.ca/blog/iedriverserver-webdriver-and-python :

You will need to start the server using a line like

java -jar selenium-server-standalone-2.26.0.jar -Dwebdriver.ie.driver=C:\Temp\IEDriverServer.exe

I found that if the IEDriverServer.exe was in C:\Windows\System32\ or its subfolders, it couldn't be found automatically (even though System32 was in the %PATH%) or explicitly using the -D flag.

This is just to help somebody in future. When we initiate InternetExplorerDriver() instance in a java project it uses IEDriver.exe (downloaded by individuals) which tries to extract temporary files in user's TEMP folder when it's not in path then ur busted.

Safest way is to provide your own extract path as shown below

System.setProperty("webdriver.ie.driver.extractpath", "F:\\Study\\");
System.setProperty("webdriver.ie.driver", "F:\\Study\\IEDriverServer.exe");
System.setProperty("webdriver.ie.logfile", "F:\\Study\\IEDriverServer.log");
InternetExplorerDriver d = new InternetExplorerDriver();
d.get("http://www.google.com");
d.quit();

    using System.Text;
    ...
    ..
    static void Main(String[] args){ 
    var driver =  new InternetExplorerDriver(@"C:\Users\PathToTheFolderContainingIEDriver.exe"); 
    driver.Navigate().GoToUrl("https://www.google.com/");
    Console.Read();
    }

You need not include the .exe file. The path to the folder containing the .exe worked for me

public class NavigateUsingAllBrowsers {


public static void main(String[] args) {

WebDriver driverFF= new FirefoxDriver();
driverFF.navigate().to("http://www.firefox.com");


File file =new File("C:/Users/mkv/workspace/ServerDrivers/IEDriverServer.exe");
System.setProperty("webdriver.ie.driver", file.getAbsolutePath());
WebDriver driverIE=new InternetExplorerDriver();
driverIE.navigate().to("http://www.msn.com");

// Download Chrome Driver from http://code.google.com/p/chromedriver/downloads/list

file =new File("C:/Users/mkv/workspace/ServerDrivers/ChromeDriver.exe");
System.setProperty("webdriver.chrome.driver", file.getAbsolutePath());
WebDriver driverChrome=new ChromeDriver();
driverChrome.navigate().to("http://www.chrome.com");

}

}

Another way to resolve this problem is:

Let's assume:

path_to_driver_directory = C:\Work\drivers\

driver = IEDriverServer.exe

When getting messsage about path you can always add path_to_driver_directory containing driver to the PATH environment variable. Check: http://java.com/en/download/help/path.xml

Then simply check in cmd window if driver is available - just run cmd in any location and type name of driver.

If everything works fine then you get:

C:\Users\A>IEDriverServer.exe
Started InternetExplorerDriver server (32-bit)
2.28.0.0
Listening on port 5555

Thats it.