Keyboard

Keyboard provides an api for managing a virtual keyboard. The high level api is Keyboard#type, which takes raw characters and generates proper keydown, keypress/input, and keyup events on your page.

For finer control, you can use Keyboard#down, Keyboard#up, and Keyboard#insert_text to manually fire events as if they were generated from a real keyboard.

An example of holding down Shift in order to select and delete some text:

page.keyboard.type("Hello World!")
page.keyboard.press("ArrowLeft")
page.keyboard.down("Shift")
6.times { page.keyboard.press("ArrowLeft") }
page.keyboard.up("Shift")
page.keyboard.press("Backspace")
# result text will end up saying "Hello!"

An example of pressing uppercase A

page.keyboard.press("Shift+KeyA")
# or
page.keyboard.press("Shift+A")

An example to trigger select-all with the keyboard

# on windows and linux
page.keyboard.press("Control+A")
# on mac_os
page.keyboard.press("Meta+A")

down

def down(key)

Dispatches a keydown event.

key can specify the intended keyboardEvent.key value or a single character to generate the text for. A superset of the key values can be found here. Examples of the keys are:

F1 - F12, Digit0- Digit9, KeyA- KeyZ, Backquote, Minus, Equal, Backslash, Backspace, Tab, Delete, Escape, ArrowDown, End, Enter, Home, Insert, PageDown, PageUp, ArrowRight, ArrowUp, etc.

Following modification shortcuts are also supported: Shift, Control, Alt, Meta, ShiftLeft, ControlOrMeta. ControlOrMeta resolves to Control on Windows and Linux and to Meta on macOS.

Holding down Shift will type the text that corresponds to the key in the upper case.

If key is a single character, it is case-sensitive, so the values a and A will generate different respective texts.

If key is a modifier key, Shift, Meta, Control, or Alt, subsequent key presses will be sent with that modifier active. To release the modifier key, use Keyboard#up.

After the key is pressed once, subsequent calls to Keyboard#down will have repeat set to true. To release the key, use Keyboard#up.

NOTE: Modifier keys DO influence keyboard.down. Holding down Shift will type the text in upper case.

insert_text

def insert_text(text)

Dispatches only input event, does not emit the keydown, keyup or keypress events.

Usage

page.keyboard.insert_text("嗨")

NOTE: Modifier keys DO NOT effect keyboard.insertText. Holding down Shift will not type the text in upper case.

press

def press(key, delay: nil)

NOTE: In most cases, you should use Locator#press instead.

key can specify the intended keyboardEvent.key value or a single character to generate the text for. A superset of the key values can be found here. Examples of the keys are:

F1 - F12, Digit0- Digit9, KeyA- KeyZ, Backquote, Minus, Equal, Backslash, Backspace, Tab, Delete, Escape, ArrowDown, End, Enter, Home, Insert, PageDown, PageUp, ArrowRight, ArrowUp, etc.

Following modification shortcuts are also supported: Shift, Control, Alt, Meta, ShiftLeft, ControlOrMeta. ControlOrMeta resolves to Control on Windows and Linux and to Meta on macOS.

Holding down Shift will type the text that corresponds to the key in the upper case.

If key is a single character, it is case-sensitive, so the values a and A will generate different respective texts.

Shortcuts such as key: "Control+o", key: "Control++ or key: "Control+Shift+T" are supported as well. When specified with the modifier, modifier is pressed and being held while the subsequent key is being pressed.

Usage

page.goto("https://keycode.info")
page.keyboard.press("a")
page.screenshot(path: "a.png")
page.keyboard.press("ArrowLeft")
page.screenshot(path: "arrow_left.png")
page.keyboard.press("Shift+O")
page.screenshot(path: "o.png")

Shortcut for Keyboard#down and Keyboard#up.

type

def type(text, delay: nil)

NOTE: In most cases, you should use Locator#fill instead. You only need to press keys one by one if there is special keyboard handling on the page - in this case use Locator#press_sequentially.

Sends a keydown, keypress/input, and keyup event for each character in the text.

To press a special key, like Control or ArrowDown, use Keyboard#press.

Usage

page.keyboard.type("Hello") # types instantly
page.keyboard.type("World", delay: 100) # types slower, like a user

NOTE: Modifier keys DO NOT effect keyboard.type. Holding down Shift will not type the text in upper case.

NOTE: For characters that are not on a US keyboard, only an input event will be sent.

up

def up(key)

Dispatches a keyup event.