How do I handle infinite loops or page hangs in Puppeteer?
Davide S

Handling infinite loops or page hangs in Puppeteer requires setting up a timeout mechanism to limit the execution time of a certain action or navigating to a different page. Here's a detailed explanation of how to handle infinite loops or page hangs in Puppeteer: 1. Launching a new browser instance and creating a new page:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

   const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');

   (async () => {
     const browser = await puppeteer.launch();
     const page = await browser.newPage();

     // Perform actions with the page here

     // Close the browser
     await browser.close();
   })();

This code sets up a basic Puppeteer script. It launches a new headless browser instance and creates a new page to work with. 2. Handling infinite loops or page hangs using a timeout mechanism: To handle infinite loops or page hangs, you can utilize thesetTimeout() function to set a maximum execution time for a certain action. If the action doesn't complete within the specified timeout, you can choose to interrupt or skip it. - Setting a timeout for an action:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

     const actionTimeout = 5000; // Timeout duration in milliseconds
     const actionPromise = new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
       setTimeout(() => {
         reject(new Error('Action timed out.'));
       }, actionTimeout);
     });

     try {
       await Promise.race([actionPromise, yourAction()]);
     } catch (error) {
       console.error(error);
       // Handle the timeout error
     }

In this example, a timeout duration of 5000 milliseconds (5 seconds) is set for theyourAction() function. APromise is created, and thesetTimeout() function is used to reject the promise with an error if the action doesn't complete within the specified timeout. ThePromise.race() method is used to race between the action promise and the timeout promise. If the action doesn't complete within the timeout, the error is caught, and you can handle it appropriately. - Navigating to a different page on page hangs:

1
2
3
4

     const navigationTimeout = 10000; // Timeout duration in milliseconds
     await page.goto('https://example.com', { timeout: navigationTimeout });

In this example, thepage.goto() method is used to navigate to a different page (https://example.com). Thetimeout option is set to a specific duration (in milliseconds), and if the page doesn't load within the specified timeout, aTimeoutError is thrown. You can handle this error to handle page hangs and decide on the necessary action, such as navigating to a different page or reporting the issue. By implementing a timeout mechanism, you can prevent Puppeteer scripts from getting stuck in infinite loops or hanging indefinitely. This ensures that actions complete within a reasonable timeframe and allows you to control the flow of your automation tasks.

Similar Questions