TL;DR — How to create a Function on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure that uses the Playwright library for running headless browser scenarios, for example for Web UI Health Check and Performance Monitoring, for tactical integration and simple RPA and for web based reporting. The article shows a custom Docker container image based on a community container image for headless chrome and Playwright with a custom Node application that interacts with the Google Translate web ui; the Project Fn hotwrap utility is added to this image to provide the bridge from the OCI FaaS serverless function framework based on Project Fn to the custom Node application. …
TL;DR — this article describes how Windows Sandbox can be used to prepare a well known environment for demonstrations, tutorials, tests etc. Scoop is a great package manager for quickly installing Windows packages (Node runtime, Git client, VS Code editor, …) into the Sandbox. I have applied these concepts to a series of somewhat complex demos around the Playwright library — but the generic approach is applicable in many circumstances.
Windows Sandbox to me is a light weight Windows 10 virtual machine that I can quickly start and stop and use to install and run programs. The Windows Sandbox provides a well defined, clean environment that is fresh every time it is started. Inside the Sandbox, any user can create an isolated environment for working through a tutorial or the labs in a workshop or for doing R&D to stuff they do not want (yet) in their regular Windows environment or that should not depend on the exact layout and composition of their Windows environment. …
Allow the user to interact with the browser before, after and during the scenarios.
The demonstration in this article shows three scenarios (The Netherlands, France, UK). Each country is introduced — using specific pages and sections on Wikipedia as well as through supporting sites. A callout is used to explain the scenario and each act. Balloon texts are used to further guide the user,
This screenshot shows the beginning of the scenario Tour of The Netherlands, act one. The user presses Play, the callout is shown, the balloon text is shown for the query field and Playwright starts typing the characters of “The Netherlands” in the search field.
The animation below shows the full scenario for The Netherlands — from starting the first act from the Play button. The scenario has four acts — opening, history, sports and culture. Each act is started from the play button. Acts can be skipped, The scenario can be reset (to the beginning) and other scenarios can be selected. The only user interaction here is pressing the play button to trigger each act. However: the user could be browsing Wikipedia between the acts — the browser session is freely available to the user. …
The objective I am pursuing is the following: I want to be able to open any web site or web application and have my own floating toolbar on top of the web site’s content. As I am making my way through the site or application, I can use functions from the toolbar — such as taking a snapshot of the current page state and saving it to file, downloading all images in the current page, fill in the form fields using predefined or random values and start a demo.
In various prior articles I have discussed Playwright — an open source Node library (also available for Java, C#, Go, Python) that provides access to an embedded web browser that can be fully controlled from the host Node application. Playwright allows interaction from the browser content with the application and vice versa. Node code can manipulate the DOM and the JavaScript context in the browser — add or alter DOM elements and JavaScript functions and objects. Node code can trap browser events as well as trigger browser events. If you have not encountered Playwright before, then I suggest you first read my earlier article for an overview of what it is can what it can be used for. …
Adding a short cut key combination to a web application or web site can be quite powerful. When the short cut key combination is activated — things can happen. Things that you have defined on top of everything the web application already offers. In this article I describe how I have used Playwright to inject a short cut key combination into a web site. This hotkey — activated by simply pressing ctrl+b — runs a function that downloads all images in the current browser context to the local file system. The function that is executed is a Node (JS) function that can on the one hand access the complete browser context (including DOM, JavaScript context, local storage, cookies etc) and on the other hand has all of Node and NPM at its disposal. …
Sending WhatsApp messages from services and applications has been a frequent request from our customers. It also was something I would have liked to use in workshops and demonstrations. It appeals to people. However, WhatsApp does not provide an open API for sending or receiving messages.
There is a business service that companies can leverage — through global solution providers and provided a contract is in place. Too much fuzz for simple use cases — if you even can get in. There is a plan B: a very simple way to build your own API for WhatsApp — on top of the WhatsApp Web UI using a simple Node application and leveraging the Playwright browser automation library. …
Browsers are our primary platform for running applications and retrieving information. We have to use browsers to test applications, verify health and current performance of applications, look up data and download (as) files, submit information, and do much of our daily work.
Suppose we had a new colleague — who is extremely good at operating a browser and who does not mind repetitive task; this colleague does not ask for pay or sustenance, we only need to provide clear instructions on the tasks this colleague needs to perform through the browser. …
Authors: José Rodrigues (Link Consulting, Portugal), Arturo Viveros (Sysco, Norway), Sven Bernhardt (OPITZ CONSULTING, Germany), Rolando Carrasco (SPS, Mexico), Lucas Jellema (AMIS|Conclusion, The Netherlands)
We hear this aspiration from a growing number of organizations. Sometimes as a quite literal question. This however is merely half of a wish. Apparently, organizations do not want one thing anymore — but have not yet stipulated what they desire instead. What is the objective that is pursued here?
And what is even meant by Oracle? Oracle has a broad product portfolio and is of course also a company, a business relationship. Should all products be removed and all ties with the Oracle company severed? Does the person asking to be helped even know what their company is using from that supplier? Is there a business case for such an operation, which obviously requires considerable costs, efforts, and risks? And as with every question we get asked as architects, we have to understand the background and real purpose of a request and so we ask the ‘power question’: why?? …
Oracle Database 21c has been released — for now only in the cloud. Starting to explore — that is what we call playing with it — it easy and free of any charge in the OCI Always Free Tier that includes two Oracle Database instances that now can be 21c instances.
In this article I will show the steps you should go through in order to get access to your own 21c database instance. It takes less than one minute of your time — and a few minutes waiting for provisioning of the instance. You need to install nothing. However, you do need to have an Oracle Cloud account — a free trial or a paid account. …
One of the best parts of my job is the opportunity to learn all the time. A day to loved is a day not lived, a day not laughed is day not lived and a day not learned certainly for me also is a day not lived. There seem to be few professional fields where learning opportunities are so abundant and where learning is so rewarding. Rewarding both from the perspective of personal growth, fun and satisfaction as well as from the angle of recognition, career options and plain old cash. …
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