Why Does `.click()` Fail in PhantomJS and How Can I Properly Click Elements?

Trouble Clicking an Element in PhantomJS

Attempts to click an element using .click() often fail in PhantomJS, resulting in errors like "undefined is not a function...". This issue arises because .click() is not part of the standard DOM specification.

To successfully click an element, it is necessary to create and dispatch an event as follows:

function click(el) {
  var ev = document.createEvent("MouseEvent");
  ev.initMouseEvent(
    "click",
    true /* bubble */, true /* cancelable */,
    window, null,
    0, 0, 0, 0, /* coordinates */
    false, false, false, false, /* modifier keys */
    0 /*left*/, null
  );
  el.dispatchEvent(ev);
}

Then, you can use this function to click the desired span element by passing it as an argument:

click(document.getElementById('idButtonSpan'));

This approach simulates a mouse click event, allowing you to successfully click elements even if they do not have built-in click functionality, addressing the limitations faced with Casper in this specific scenario.

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