I’m in a bit of a pickle and could really use some help. I need to run automated tests on my server, but I’m stuck using Java 1.7. Can’t upgrade, unfortunately.
I’ve been searching for a headless browser that works with this older Java version. So far, no luck. I tried jbrowserdriver and ui4j, but they’re not playing nice with 1.7.
Does anyone know of a headless browser solution that’s compatible with Java 1.7? Maybe there are older versions of these libraries that might work? Or perhaps you know of a different tool altogether?
I’m open to any suggestions. It would be a huge help if someone could point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance!
have u tried htmlunit? its been around for ages and might work with java 1.7. not as fancy as some newer options but it gets the job done for basic stuff. if that doesnt pan out, maybe look into phantomjs? heard it plays nice with older setups. good luck!
I feel your pain with legacy systems. Been there, done that. Have you looked into Cobra? It’s an older Java-based headless browser that might just fit the bill for Java 1.7. I used it on a project a few years back when we were stuck on an ancient JVM.
Another option worth exploring is Geb with HtmlUnit as the underlying driver. Geb’s earlier versions should work with 1.7, and it provides a nice Groovy-based DSL for writing tests.
If those don’t pan out, you might have to get creative. We once rigged up a hacky solution using a headless Firefox instance controlled via custom socket commands. Not elegant, but it got us through until we could upgrade.
Whatever route you go, make sure to thoroughly test for compatibility and stability. Old tech can be finicky.
I’ve been in a similar situation before, and I can empathize with your predicament. One option you might consider is Selenium WebDriver with the HtmlUnitDriver. It’s lightweight, doesn’t require a GUI, and should be compatible with Java 1.7. Another possibility is Apache HttpClient combined with JSoup for parsing HTML. This combination can simulate browser behavior for many testing scenarios without needing a full browser implementation. Remember to check the specific version requirements for these libraries to ensure Java 1.7 compatibility. If all else fails, you might need to explore running a separate headless browser process and communicating with it via a custom protocol or REST API.