Some people still choose to browse the internet using the Internet Explorer browser. These people tend to be those who have been accustomed to using the IE browser for a long time and wish to keep doing so. Additionally, it must be kept in mind that IE was among the first brands to become established in the market. Any application may be tested using Selenium with IE browser blending because Selenium allows us to run our tests in various browsers. The Selenium tests are then run on Internet Explorer thanks to a driver for IE that establishes a link between Selenium WebDriver and IE. Let’s look at how to use Internet Explorer to run Selenium tests.

What is Selenium Internet Explorer Driver or IE Driver?

The connection that enables users to run Selenium test cases on the IE browser is known as the IE Driver. It is a separate server that controls the Selenium WebDriver Protocol, which is open-source software. The JsonWireProtocol, which translates Selenium commands into actions on the IE browser, is used by the Selenium tests to interface with the IE Driver.

The IE Driver’s primary goal is to interact with Internet Explorer. Without it, running Selenium test cases on IE is not practical. By creating an IE Driver object and assigning it to the WebDriver object, an IE Driver may be used after which applying it to browser operations.

What are the pre-conditions for Selenium Internet Explorer Driver or IE Driver?

We must take care of a few prerequisites on our system before we can start writing tests in Selenium or setup the IE Driver to enable us to run Selenium tests on Internet Explorer:

Java JDK: For Java programs, we require the JDK or Java Development Kit. It includes the JRE as well as several development tools like the compiler and debugger.
Java IDE: Writing Java programs is aided by the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for Java. It includes a variety of programming features for end users. We’ll be using the Eclipse IDE in this case. You can also use any other Java IDE alternative.
Selenium WebDriver: Selenium WebDriver is necessary in order to create the Selenium tests. It is available for download from the Selenium website.

How to install IE Driver on Windows?

Let’s move on to the next section to talk about configuring the IE Driver for your Selenium Java project and running test cases on IE. We’ll first download the IE Driver. Let’s look into how to do it on the Windows operating system.

On Windows, how do you download the IE Driver?

We shall take note of the version of the IE browser installed on our system before downloading the IE Driver. The version of IE Driver that we must get must be compatible with IE. To determine the browser version, follow the instructions below:

First, select Help from the menu to find out what version of IE is installed on your computer.
The second step is to select About Internet Explorer from the submenu.

A pop-up will appear after selecting the About Internet Explorer option. As a result, we will learn the information about the IE version.
Now that we know the IE browser version, we may continue. Follow the instructions listed below to configure the IE Driver:

Visit the link first. Both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows Internet Explorer are shown in the image below. You can download the IE Driver zip file that is compatible with your browser and operating system.
Once the download has been completed successfully, unzip the zip file and save it in a specific area.

Eclipse should be opened before making a Java project. Include each and every project dependency. To know how to be able to build a Java project with Selenium WebDriver in Eclipse, go through the Selenium certification course.

We need to make this IE Driver available to the Selenium tests as the next step.

How do I set up the Windows IE Driver?

The IE Driver executable file should be made available to the test scripts in order to configure IE Driver with Selenium and perform Selenium tests on Internet Explorer. One of the following approaches can be used by Selenium test cases to interact with the IE Driver:

System Properties in Environment Variables are used to configure the IE Driver.
Setting up the IE Driver in the script’s System Properties.

Conclusion.

In conclusion, even though IE has been deprecated, we continue to utilize it for cross-browser testing. Finally, be certain to establish the browser zoom level of 100% for IE before execution. Check out the Selenium training to learn more.

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