The Top 10 Textbox Interview Questions for Testers in 2023

Textboxes are one of the most common UI elements that testers need to interact with during web and desktop application testing, Having a good understanding of how to test textboxes and being well-versed with textbox testing techniques is crucial for testers aspiring for automation testing roles

In this article we will look at some of the most frequently asked interview questions on textboxes that testers encounter during job interviews. Mastering answers to these questions will help you stand out from other candidates and land your dream job!

1. What are the different ways to locate a textbox on a web page?

Some common techniques to locate textboxes on a web page include:

• Using ID attribute – driver.findElement(By.id("username"))

• Using name attribute – driver.findElement(By.name("email"))

• Using CSS selector – driver.findElement(By.cssSelector("#login-form input[type='text']"))

• Using XPath – driver.findElement(By.xpath("//input[@type='text']"))

• Using class name – driver.findElement(By.className("form-control"))

• Using link text – driver.findElement(By.linkText("Create an account"))

Being familiar with all the locator techniques is important as each page may use different attributes to identify textboxes.

2. How can you check if a textbox allows only numeric input?

Some ways to validate if a textbox accepts only numeric values are:

• Try passing alphanumeric text and verify if it throws an error

• Inspect element to check if it has attributes like type="number" or pattern="[0-9]*"

• Check if it allows special characters like !, @, # etc.

• Pass input values like 1.5, 1,000 etc. to see if decimals or thousands separators are allowed

• Try paste text in the textbox using keyboard shortcuts (CTRL+V)

Validating the allowed format and values for textboxes is important to prevent invalid submissions.

3. How do you test textbox character limits?

Some tips to test maximum character length allowed in a textbox:

• Inspect the textbox to check if maxlength attribute is specified

• Try pasting long text or entering multiple characters to hit the limit

• After hitting the limit, verify if extra characters are truncated

• Check behavior on reaching limit – does it block more input or throw an error

• Try copy-pasting text within the length limit to verify allowed actions

• Test special characters like spaces, line breaks within length limit

Checking enforced character limits ensures users get appropriate validations while entering data.

4. What are some important validations to test for textboxes?

Some key validations to test for textboxes are:

• Required vs optional textboxes

• Accepts appropriate data types – numeric, alphabetic, alphanumeric, special characters

• Enforced character limits – minlength and maxlength

• Default values pre-populated

• Masking of input characters like password fields

• Server-side validations for incorrect or invalid data

• Error messages for incorrect data and empty required fields

• Correct form submission and field resets on empty or invalid data

Covering textbox validation flows thoroughly prevents bugs down the line.

5. How do you test autocomplete on textboxes?

To test autocomplete functionality for textboxes:

• Begin entering data and check if suggestions start appearing

• Verify suggestions match expected data types like email domains, names etc.

• Check if suggestions appear after minimum number of entered characters

• Select different suggestions using mouse and keyboard

• Verify if selected suggestion correctly fills textbox

• Check behavior if suggestions list is empty or no matches are found

• Clear textbox data & recheck suggestions appear appropriately

• Disable autocomplete and verify suggestions are not shown

Thoroughly testing autocomplete behavior improves data entry experience for users.

6. How do you test textboxes for security vulnerabilities?

Some tips to test textboxes for potential security issues:

• Try injecting script tags, HTML, JavaScript etc. to check for XSS vulnerabilities

• Attempt SQL injection by passing queries as input to textboxes

• Check for limits on length, allowed characters to prevent buffer overflow attacks

• Verify textboxes are not prefilled with sensitive information

• Test autocomplete attributes are disabled for sensitive textboxes

• Check form submissions happen over HTTPS for password fields

• Try tampering hidden form fields passed via textboxes

Identifying security flaws like XSS and SQLi protects the application and users’ data.

7. What tools can you use to automate textbox testing?

Some popular tools to automate textbox testing are:

• Selenium – Open-source tool, supports multiple languages like Java, C#, Python etc.

• TestComplete – Supports keyword-driven and codeless test automation

• Ranorex – Good for desktop, web and mobile testing

• Test Studio – Easy to use, no-code test automation tool

• Katalon Studio – Free automation tool, integration with CI/CD pipelines

• Cypress – Mocha-based automation framework, behavior driven

• Robot Framework – Python-based keyword driven testing framework

Using the right automation tools can speed up repetitive textbox test cases.

8. What best practices should be followed while automating textboxes?

Some best practices include:

• Storing textbox locators in external files/objects repositories for easy maintenance

• Parameterizing test data instead of hard-coding it in test scripts

• Using consistent naming conventions for test functions and variables

• Creating custom reusable methods for common actions like enter text, clear textbox etc.

• Implementing synchronization techniques like waits and fluent wait

• Validating test results by capturing screenshots and videos

• Running tests on multiple browsers, devices and viewports

Following best practices improves maintainability, reusability and reliability of test automation.

9. How can you ensure reliability when automating textbox testing?

Some tips to improve reliability of textbox automation are:

• Having proper exception handling and failure recovery mechanisms

• Implementing robust locator strategies like CSS, XPath instead of ID/name

• Retrying failed tests multiple times before marking them as failed

• Running tests on different environments like Dev, QA, Stage etc.

• Setting up performance testing to catch issues under load

• Integrating automation with CI/CD to run on code changes

• Tracking and analyzing test metrics like pass %, failures, flaky tests

• Regularly refactoring tests to keep them maintainable

Reliable test automation provides confidence in code deployments and releases.

10. How would you estimate testing efforts required for textboxes?

Factors to consider when estimating textbox testing efforts:

• Number of textboxes on application pages

• Unique validations and business rules for each textbox

• Whether values are validated real-time or on form submission

• Presence of autocomplete, masked inputs or rich text formatting

• Testing on multiple viewports, devices and browsers

• Both happy path and negative test scenarios

• Time required for test design, automation and manual exploratory

• Effort for integration with CI/CD pipelines and reporting dashboard

• Test maintenance effort due to requirement changes

Carefully considering these factors results in an accurate test estimation.

Thoroughly preparing answers to these popular textbox testing interview questions will help you highlight your skills and knowledge to interviewers. Concentrate on areas like different locator strategies, input validations, automation tools and best practices to showcase your expertise. With some practice, you’ll be able to ace your next automation testing interview!