I am trying to be able to test a website that uses javascript to render most of the HTML. With the HTMLUNIT browser how would you be able to access the html generated by the javascript? I was looking through their documentation but wasn't sure what the best approach might be.

WebClient webClient = new WebClient();
HtmlPage currentPage = webClient.getPage("some url");
String Source = currentPage.asXml();
System.out.println(Source);

This is an easy way to get back the html of the page but would you use the domNode or another way to access the html generated by the javascript?

I am trying to be able to test a website that uses javascript to render most of the HTML. With the HTMLUNIT browser how would you be able to access the html generated by the javascript? I was looking through their documentation but wasn't sure what the best approach might be.

WebClient webClient = new WebClient();
HtmlPage currentPage = webClient.getPage("some url");
String Source = currentPage.asXml();
System.out.println(Source);

This is an easy way to get back the html of the page but would you use the domNode or another way to access the html generated by the javascript?

• java
• javascript
• html-parsing
• htmlunit

2 Answers 2

You gotta give some time for the JavaScript to execute.

Check a sample working code below. The bucket divs aren't in the original source.

import java.io.IOException;
import java.net.MalformedURLException;
import java.util.List;
import com.gargoylesoftware.htmlunit.*;
import com.gargoylesoftware.htmlunit.html.HtmlPage;

public class GetPageSourceAfterJS {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws FailingHttpStatusCodeException, MalformedURLException, IOException {
        java.util.logging.Logger.getLogger("com.gargoylesoftware").setLevel(java.util.logging.Level.OFF); /* comment out to turn off annoying htmlunit warnings */
        WebClient webClient = new WebClient();
        String url = "http://www.futurebazaar.com/categories/Home--Living-Luggage--Travel-Airbags--Duffel-bags/cid-CU00089575.aspx";
        System.out.println("Loading page now: "+url);
        HtmlPage page = webClient.getPage(url);
        webClient.waitForBackgroundJavaScript(30 * 1000); /* will wait JavaScript to execute up to 30s */

        String pageAsXml = page.asXml();
        System.out.println("Contains bucket? --> "+pageAsXml.contains("bucket"));

        //get divs which have a 'class' attribute of 'bucket'
        List<?> buckets = page.getByXPath("//div[@class='bucket']");
        System.out.println("Found "+buckets.size()+" 'bucket' divs.");

        //System.out.println("#FULL source after JavaScript execution:\n "+pageAsXml);
    }
}

Output:

Loading page now: http://www.futurebazaar.com/categories/Mobiles-Mobile-Phones/cid-CU00089697.asp‌​x?Rfs=brandZZFly001PYXQcurtrayZZBrand
Contains bucket? --> true
Found 3 'bucket' divs.

HtmlUnit version used:

<dependency>
    <groupId>net.sourceforge.htmlunit</groupId>
    <artifactId>htmlunit</artifactId>
    <version>2.12</version>
</dependency>

Assuming the issue is HTML generated by JavaScript as a result of AJAX calls, have you tried the 'AJAX does not work' section in the HtmlUnit FAQ?

There's also a section in the howtos about how to use HtmlUnit with JavaScript.

If your question isn't answered here, I think we'll need some more specifics to be able to help.