Can I interact with web page elements, such as clicking buttons or links, using Symfony Panther?

Yes, Symfony Panther enables comprehensive interaction with web page elements, including clicking buttons, links, filling forms, and performing complex user interactions. As a PHP library built on the WebDriver protocol, it provides full browser automation capabilities for testing and web scraping.

Installation

First, install Symfony Panther via Composer:

composer require symfony/panther

Basic Element Interactions

Clicking Links and Buttons

<?php

require __DIR__.'/vendor/autoload.php';

use Symfony\Component\Panther\PantherTestCase;

class ElementInteractionTest extends PantherTestCase
{
    public function testElementInteractions()
    {
        $client = static::createPantherClient();
        $client->request('GET', 'https://example.com');
        $crawler = $client->getCrawler();

        // Click a link by text
        $link = $crawler->selectLink('About Us')->link();
        $client->click($link);

        // Click a button by ID
        $button = $crawler->filter('#submit-btn')->first();
        $button->click();

        // Click using CSS selector
        $client->getCrawler()->filter('button.primary')->first()->click();

        // Click by XPath
        $client->getCrawler()->filterXPath('//button[@data-action="save"]')->first()->click();
    }
}

Form Interactions

public function testFormSubmission()
{
    $client = static::createPantherClient();
    $client->request('GET', 'https://example.com/contact');

    $crawler = $client->getCrawler();

    // Fill and submit a form
    $form = $crawler->selectButton('Submit')->form([
        'name' => 'John Doe',
        'email' => 'john@example.com',
        'message' => 'Hello from Symfony Panther!'
    ]);

    $client->submit($form);

    // Alternative: Fill form fields individually
    $crawler->filter('input[name="username"]')->sendKeys('myusername');
    $crawler->filter('input[name="password"]')->sendKeys('mypassword');
    $crawler->filter('input[type="submit"]')->click();
}

Advanced Interactions

Dropdown Selection

public function testDropdownSelection()
{
    $client = static::createPantherClient();
    $client->request('GET', 'https://example.com/form');

    $crawler = $client->getCrawler();

    // Select dropdown option by value
    $form = $crawler->selectButton('Submit')->form();
    $form['country']->select('US');
    $client->submit($form);

    // Or interact with dropdown directly
    $crawler->filter('select[name="category"]')->selectOption('technology');
}

Checkbox and Radio Button Handling

public function testCheckboxAndRadio()
{
    $client = static::createPantherClient();
    $client->request('GET', 'https://example.com/preferences');

    $crawler = $client->getCrawler();

    // Check/uncheck checkboxes
    $form = $crawler->selectButton('Save')->form();
    $form['newsletter']->tick();      // Check checkbox
    $form['promotions']->untick();    // Uncheck checkbox

    // Select radio button
    $form['gender']->select('male');

    $client->submit($form);
}

File Upload

public function testFileUpload()
{
    $client = static::createPantherClient();
    $client->request('GET', 'https://example.com/upload');

    $crawler = $client->getCrawler();

    $form = $crawler->selectButton('Upload')->form();
    $form['file']->upload('/path/to/your/file.pdf');

    $client->submit($form);
}

Non-Test Context Usage

For standalone scripts outside of test classes:

<?php

require __DIR__.'/vendor/autoload.php';

use Symfony\Component\Panther\Client;

// Create client directly
$client = Client::createChromeClient();

// Navigate and interact
$client->request('GET', 'https://example.com');

// Click elements
$client->getCrawler()->filter('a.download-link')->first()->click();

// Fill forms
$client->getCrawler()->filter('input[name="search"]')->sendKeys('symfony panther');
$client->getCrawler()->filter('button[type="submit"]')->click();

// Wait for elements to appear
$client->waitFor('.results');

// Extract data after interaction
$title = $client->getCrawler()->filter('h1')->text();
echo "Page title: " . $title;

$client->quit();

Waiting and Synchronization

Handle dynamic content with wait methods:

public function testWithWaiting()
{
    $client = static::createPantherClient();
    $client->request('GET', 'https://example.com/dynamic-content');

    // Wait for element to appear
    $client->waitFor('.dynamic-element');

    // Wait for element to disappear
    $client->waitForInvisibility('.loading-spinner');

    // Wait for specific text
    $client->waitForText('Data loaded successfully');

    // Then interact with the element
    $client->getCrawler()->filter('.dynamic-element button')->click();
}

Best Practices

1. Always refresh the crawler after page changes:

   $client->click($link);
   $crawler = $client->refreshCrawler(); // Get updated DOM

1. Use explicit waits for dynamic content:

   $client->waitFor('.ajax-content');

1. Handle errors gracefully:

   try {
       $element = $crawler->filter('#optional-element')->first();
       if ($element->count() > 0) {
           $element->click();
       }
   } catch (\Exception $e) {
       // Handle missing element
   }

1. Close the browser when done:

   $client->quit();

Symfony Panther provides a comprehensive solution for browser automation, enabling you to perform virtually any user interaction programmatically while maintaining the full context of a real browser session.