Java SE: Open Web Page and Click a Button

Question

I have a Java 7 program (using WebStart technology, for Windows 7/8 computers only).

I need to add a function so that my program clicks a button on a page with known URL (https).

Some people suggest WebKit SWT, but I went to their site and they say that the project was discontinued. (http://www.genuitec.com/about/labs.html)

Other people say that JxBrowser is the only option but it looks like it's over $1,300 which is crazy. (http://www.teamdev.com/jxbrowser/onlinedemo/)

I'm looking for something simple, free, lightweight, and able to open HTTPS link, parse HTML, access a button through DOM and click it. Perhaps some JavaScript too, in case there are JS handlers.

Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

You may be looking for HtmlUnit -- a "GUI-Less browser for Java programs".

Here's a sample code that opens google.com, searches for "htmlunit" using the form and prints the number of results.

import com.gargoylesoftware.htmlunit.*;
import com.gargoylesoftware.htmlunit.html.*;

public class HtmlUnitFormExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        WebClient webClient = new WebClient();
        HtmlPage page = webClient.getPage("http://www.google.com");

        HtmlInput searchBox = page.getElementByName("q");
        searchBox.setValueAttribute("htmlunit");

        HtmlSubmitInput googleSearchSubmitButton = 
                          page.getElementByName("btnG"); // sometimes it's "btnK"
        page=googleSearchSubmitButton.click();

        HtmlDivision resultStatsDiv =
                                page.getFirstByXPath("//div[@id='resultStats']");

        System.out.println(resultStatsDiv.asText()); // About 309,000 results
        webClient.closeAllWindows();
    }
}

Other options are:

• Selenium: Will open a browser like Firefox and operate it.
• Watij: Also will open a browser, but in its own window.
• Jsoup: Good parser. No JavaScript, though.