Download a file in IE using Selenium

Question

OK, so I am trying to export a file using Selenium. My browser is IE. When I click on the export button a native windows dialogue box comes up.

Image of the pop up

Answer 1

This is a hack by Dave Haefner. If you don't care if a file was downloaded or not and you want to confirm only that a file can be downloaded, you can use an HTTP request. Instead of downloading the file you'll receive the header information for the file which contains things like the content type and length. With this information, you can confirm the file is you expect.

    String link = driver.findElement(By.cssSelector("download-link-element")).getAttribute("href");

    HttpClient httpClient = HttpClientBuilder.create().build();
    HttpHead request = new HttpHead(link);
    HttpResponse response = httpClient.execute(request);
    String contentType = response.getFirstHeader("Content-Type").getValue();
    int contentLength = Integer.parseInt(response.getFirstHeader("Content-Length").getValue());

    assertThat(contentType, is("application/octet-stream"));
    assertThat(contentLength, is(not(0)));