"browser" is undefined in before-hook INSIDE globals

[wiesesascha]

Describe the bug

Issue got closed by bot and still is not resolved within 1.7.8
#1487

Your Environment

Executable	Version
nightwatch	1.7.8
node	v12.22.1

Browser driver	Version
chromedriver	^93.0.1
selenium-server	^3.141.59

OS	Version
NAME	VERSION
Ubuntu	18.04.5

[gravityvi]

The purpose of before and after hook is very different. These hooks are executed before the session is started and after the session is terminated. The above states the reason for browser object not being available in these hooks. You can refer this here

[beatfactor]

As Ravi pointed out, it's not possible to use the browser object in the global before since it doesn't exist. But you can use it in the global beforeEach. Still, if you can tell us what is your use case maybe we can find alternatives.

[evictor]

Random outsider here who stumbled upon ticket #1487 looking for something else. I'm not familiar with Nightwatch but read through the comment chain anyway and believe I understand what's desired enough to the extent that the actual tech involved doesn't matter. Sorry for resurrecting old thread if it's no longer relevant.

It sounds to me like what is desired is just a "run this code dependent on browser once before all tests". Whereas intuitively that would go in the before hook, since at this time that hook has no access (and cannot be made to have access since it fires before browser exists), one could at the very least implement the solution using flags to ensure the code only runs once as such:

let didRun = false
beforeEach(browser => {
  // Effectively runs once before first test
  if(!didRun) {
    didRun = true

    // TODO: the rest of the code, incl. the part that depends on browser...
  }
})

This is perhaps not the most semantically cogent solution, but it at least doesn't require modifying library code for now. A more satisfying solution that allows for modifying library code would have the addition of a hook like before that runs once before all tests, but at the point when browser is ready, for example:

// A new hook
afterSessionStart(browser => {
  // TODO: the rest of the code
})

Of course name that one as appropriate... afterSessionStart, beforeAll, etc.