Transitions

Version Note

This tutorial was originally created for an earlier version of Brobot but has been updated for version 1.1.0 with the new annotation system.

Transitions define how to navigate between states. With the new annotation system, transitions are now separate classes with the @Transition annotation.

Here are the transition classes:

Homepage to Harmony Transition

package com.example.mrdoob.transitions;

import io.github.jspinak.brobot.annotations.Transition;
import io.github.jspinak.brobot.action.Action;
import com.example.mrdoob.states.Homepage;
import com.example.mrdoob.states.Harmony;
import lombok.RequiredArgsConstructor;
import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Component;

@Transition(from = Homepage.class, to = Harmony.class)
@Component
@RequiredArgsConstructor
@Slf4j
public class HomepageToHarmonyTransition {
    
    private final Action action;
    private final Homepage homepage;
    
    public boolean execute() {
        log.info("Transitioning from Homepage to Harmony");
        return action.click(homepage.getHarmony()).isSuccess();
    }
}

Harmony to About Transition

package com.example.mrdoob.transitions;

import io.github.jspinak.brobot.annotations.Transition;
import io.github.jspinak.brobot.action.Action;
import com.example.mrdoob.states.Harmony;
import com.example.mrdoob.states.About;
import lombok.RequiredArgsConstructor;
import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Component;

@Transition(from = Harmony.class, to = About.class)
@Component
@RequiredArgsConstructor
@Slf4j
public class HarmonyToAboutTransition {
    
    private final Action action;
    private final Harmony harmony;
    
    public boolean execute() {
        log.info("Transitioning from Harmony to About");
        return action.click(harmony.getAbout()).isSuccess();
    }
}

Key Improvements with Annotations

Before (Manual Registration)

@Component
public class HomepageTransitions {
    
    public HomepageTransitions(StateTransitionsRepository repository,
                               Action action, Homepage homepage) {
        StateTransitions transitions = new StateTransitions.Builder("homepage")
                .addTransitionFinish(this::finishTransition)
                .addTransition(new StateTransition.Builder()
                        .addToActivate("harmony")
                        .setFunction(this::gotoHarmony)
                        .build())
                .build();
        repository.add(transitions);  // Manual registration
    }
    
    private boolean finishTransition() { /* ... */ }
    private boolean gotoHarmony() { /* ... */ }
}

After (Automatic Registration)

@Transition(from = Homepage.class, to = Harmony.class)
@Component
@RequiredArgsConstructor
@Slf4j
public class HomepageToHarmonyTransition {
    public boolean execute() {
        // Just implement the transition logic
        return action.click(homepage.getHarmony()).isSuccess();
    }
}

Benefits

1. Declarative: @Transition(from = X.class, to = Y.class) clearly shows the navigation
2. Less Code: No StateTransitions.Builder or manual registration
3. Single Responsibility: Each transition is a focused class
4. Automatic Wiring: Framework handles all the connections
5. Type Safety: Compile-time checking of state relationships

Transition Patterns

Simple Click Transition

@Transition(from = SourceState.class, to = TargetState.class)
public class SimpleTransition {
    public boolean execute() {
        return action.click(element).isSuccess();
    }
}

Multiple Actions

@Transition(from = FormState.class, to = ResultState.class)
public class FormSubmitTransition {
    public boolean execute() {
        return action.type(nameField, "John Doe").isSuccess() &&
               action.type(emailField, "john@example.com").isSuccess() &&
               action.click(submitButton).isSuccess();
    }
}

Error Handling

@Transition(from = SearchState.class, to = ResultsState.class)
public class SearchTransition {
    public boolean execute() {
        try {
            action.type(searchBox, searchTerm);
            action.click(searchButton);
            return action.find(resultsPanel).isSuccess();
        } catch (Exception e) {
            log.error("Search transition failed", e);
            return false;
        }
    }
}

Best Practices

1. Use these standard annotations:

   @Transition(from = X.class, to = Y.class)
   @Component               // Spring component registration
   @RequiredArgsConstructor  // For dependency injection
   @Slf4j                   // For logging

2. Keep transitions simple and focused on navigation

3. Log important steps for debugging

4. Return true for success, false for failure

5. Inject dependencies via constructor (Action, states, etc.)

With states and transitions using annotations, the entire state machine is automatically configured!