keysim.js

Simulate typing into DOM elements. This can be used anywhere you need to simulate user keystrokes, but is particularly useful in testing environments.

Installation

# Install via npm to use with a web or node (e.g. with jsdom) project.
$ npm install keysim
# Install via bower to use with a web project.
$ bower install keysim
# Install by copying the dist file.
$ git clone https://github.com/eventualbuddha/keysim.js.git
$ cp keysim.js/dist/keysim.js path/to/vendor/keysim.js

Usage

There are two high-level methods for simulating keystrokes on a DOM element, one for typing input into an element and one for typing non-input "action" keystrokes. Note that none of the methods provided by keysim will trigger the browser's default behavior, such as inserting text or moving the cursor. It only allows you to test your event handling code by sending the correct DOM events.

Entering Text

Get a standard keyboard and use it to fire events onto a DOM element:

var input = document.getElementById('name');
var keyboard = Keysim.Keyboard.US_ENGLISH;
keyboard.dispatchEventsForInput('hello!', input);

This will fire events keydown, keypress, keyup, and textInput events for each typed character in the input string. In addition, some characters may require modifier keys in order to type. The keydown and keyup events will be fired for these modifier keys (e.g. the SHIFT key) as appropriate. ¹

Triggering Special Actions

It is also sometimes useful to simulate special keys, or actions that do not cause input. For example, here's how to simulate backward deleting a word and selecting all text in the input:

var input = document.getElementById('name');
var keyboard = Keysim.Keyboard.US_ENGLISH;
keyboard.dispatchEventsForAction('alt+backspace', input);
keyboard.dispatchEventsForAction((osx ? 'meta' : 'ctrl') + '+a', input);

Raw Keystroke Dispatch

If you need to dispatch events for an exact sequence of keystrokes you may use Keyboard#dispatchEventsForKeystroke, which is used by both Keyboard#dispatchEventsForInput and Keyboard#dispatchEventsForAction.

var input = document.getElementById('name');
var keyboard = Keysim.Keyboard.US_ENGLISH;
var ctrl_shift_enter = new Keysim.Keystroke(
  Keysim.Keystroke.CTRL | Keysim.Keystroke.SHIFT,
  13
);
keyboard.dispatchEventsForKeystroke(ctrl_shift_enter, input);

¹ Here is the complete set of events fired (as reported by this page):