VAF 3.0 beta

What is new

• .NET 10 alongside .NET Framework 4.7.2, with the same API.
• Any test framework: NUnit 3 and 4, MSTest and xUnit. A failed check throws VafAssertionException, which every framework reports as a failed test. The MSTest IsolatedContext workaround is no longer needed.
• Only Selenium as a dependency (Selenium.WebDriver and Selenium.Support 4.45 or any newer 4.x). VAF no longer brings NUnit, Newtonsoft.Json or RestSharp into your project.
• Settings from environment variables or app.config (see below).
• LetsSaveScreenshotTo(directory) saves a screenshot wherever you want and returns its path, so any test framework can attach it.
• Testing.On(browser) for a browser you create with settings — a remote grid, extra arguments — next to Testing.On<Chrome>() (example below).
• AndAlso() also after a check, so several checks on one section stay in one chain.
• One HTML report per test (VAF_Log_<test>_<date>_<time>.html) instead of one per minute, and a failed element or section check shows its full message in the report.

A new project

With 3.0, the NUnit Test Project template of Visual Studio 2026 (or dotnet new nunit with the .NET 10 SDK) works as it is: it creates a .NET 10 project with NUnit 4, and there is no need to switch to .NET Framework and NUnit 3 as the 2.1 Quick start describes. Create the project, then add the package with prereleases included, from the command line:

dotnet add package VisionAutomationFramework --prerelease

or in Manage NuGet Packages with Include prerelease ticked. The project file then looks like this:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>net10.0</TargetFramework>
    <IsPackable>false</IsPackable>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.NET.Test.Sdk" Version="17.12.0" />
    <PackageReference Include="NUnit" Version="4.2.2" />
    <PackageReference Include="NUnit3TestAdapter" Version="4.6.0" />
    <PackageReference Include="VisionAutomationFramework" Version="3.0.0-beta.2" />
  </ItemGroup>

</Project>

For .NET Framework, set <TargetFramework>net472</TargetFramework> (or newer 4.x); everything else stays. .NET 8 and 9 are not supported: the build stops with error VAF0001, which says so. The first test is the same as in 2.1:

using NUnit.Framework;
using VisionAutomationFramework;
using VisionAutomationFramework.Browsers;
using VisionAutomationFramework.Extensions;

namespace FirstVafTest
{
    public class Tests
    {
        [Test]
        public void OpensExampleDomain()
        {
            var browser = Testing.On<Chrome>();

            try
            {
                browser.LetsNavigateTo("https://example.com/")
                    .Should().HaveTitle("Example Domain");
            }
            finally
            {
                browser.Scope.Driver.Quit();
            }
        }
    }
}

When the title is wrong, the test fails with the same message as before: "Title on active tab isn't correctly populated", Expected: "…", But was: "…". NUnit labels the result Error rather than Failed, because the exception is VAF's own and not NUnit's.

Upgrading from 2.x

Update VisionAutomationFramework to 3.0.0-beta.2 (with Include prerelease) and rebuild. Most suites compile unchanged: page objects, shared steps and the fluent chains are the same. Check these points:

Screenshots with MSTest

[TestClass]
public class CheckoutTests
{
    public TestContext TestContext { get; set; }

    [TestMethod]
    public void OpensExampleDomain()
    {
        var browser = Testing.On<Chrome>();

        try
        {
            browser.LetsNavigateTo("https://example.com/")
                .Should().HaveTitle("Example Domain");
        }
        finally
        {
            string path = browser.LetsSaveScreenshotTo(TestContext.TestResultsDirectory);
            if (path != null)
            {
                TestContext.AddResultFile(path);
            }

            browser.Scope.Driver.Quit();
        }
    }
}

Under NUnit, LetsTakeScreenshot() still saves the file in the test directory and attaches it to the result, as in 2.x.

A browser with settings

Testing.On<Chrome>() needs a browser class without constructor parameters. For a remote grid or extra arguments, create the browser yourself and pass it in:

public class GridChrome : IBrowserDefinition
{
    private readonly IWebDriver _driver;

    public GridChrome(string gridUrl, params string[] arguments)
    {
        var options = new OpenQA.Selenium.Chrome.ChromeOptions();
        options.AddArguments(arguments);
        _driver = new OpenQA.Selenium.Remote.RemoteWebDriver(new System.Uri(gridUrl), options);
    }

    public IWebDriver GetDriver() => _driver;
}

// In a test:
var browser = Testing.On(new GridChrome("http://grid.example.com:4444/wd/hub", "--window-size=1920,1080"));

Catching a failed check

try
{
    App.Should().HaveSection<LoginForm>()
        .That.Should().HaveElement<LoginForm.Error>()
            .That.AsLabelText().Should().HaveValue("Invalid password");
}
catch (VafAssertionException e)   // 2.x: NUnit.Framework.AssertionException
{
    Assert.Fail("The login error is wrong: " + e.Message);
}

Settings

Each setting is read from the environment variable VAF_<name> first, then from appSettings in app.config. On .NET 10 app.config often does not reach the test run, so environment variables are the reliable way there, and in CI.