File Actions

Getting a File Actions Instance

Use SHAFT.CLI.file() to get a FileActions instance:

FileActionsSetup.java

import com.shaft.driver.SHAFT;
import com.shaft.cli.FileActions;

FileActions file = SHAFT.CLI.file();

You can also use the legacy FileActions.getInstance() in existing projects.

Read File

readFile()

Reads and returns the complete contents of a file as a string.

ReadFile.java

FileActions file = SHAFT.CLI.file();

String content = file.readFile("src/test/resources/testData/users.json");

Practical example — load test data before a test:

LoadTestDataExample.java

import com.shaft.driver.SHAFT;
import com.shaft.cli.FileActions;
import org.testng.annotations.*;

public class UserImportTest {
    private SHAFT.API api;
    private String usersPayload;

    @BeforeClass
    public void loadTestData() {
        usersPayload = SHAFT.CLI.file()
                           .readFile("src/test/resources/testDataFiles/users.json");
    }

    @Test
    public void importUsersFromFile() {
        api.post("/users/import")
           .setRequestBody(usersPayload)
           .setContentType("application/json")
           .setTargetStatusCode(200);
    }

    @BeforeMethod
    public void setUp() {
        api = new SHAFT.API("https://api.example.com");
    }
}

Write to File

writeToFile()

Writes content to a file. Creates the file (and parent directories) if they do not exist; overwrites if the file already exists.

WriteFile.java

FileActions file = SHAFT.CLI.file();

file.writeToFile("target/reports/execution-summary.txt", "All 42 tests passed.");

SHAFT reports the target path and byte count for write operations; it does not attach raw byte payloads as action output.

Practical example — save API response for later comparison:

SaveResponseExample.java

SHAFT.API api = new SHAFT.API("https://api.example.com");
api.get("/config").setTargetStatusCode(200);

// Persist the baseline configuration
SHAFT.CLI.file().writeToFile("src/test/resources/baseline/config.json", api.getResponseBody());

Copy File

copyFile()

Copies a file from a source path to a destination path.

CopyFile.java

FileActions file = SHAFT.CLI.file();

// Back up a config file before the test modifies it
file.copyFile("config/app.properties", "config/app.properties.bak");

Delete File

deleteFile()

Deletes the file at the specified path. Safe to call even if the file does not exist.

DeleteFile.java

FileActions file = SHAFT.CLI.file();

// Clean up a temporary file after the test
file.deleteFile("target/temp/downloaded-report.pdf");

Complete Example: Download, Validate, and Clean Up

src/test/java/tests/ReportDownloadTest.java

import com.shaft.driver.SHAFT;
import com.shaft.cli.FileActions;
import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.testng.annotations.*;

public class ReportDownloadTest {
    private SHAFT.GUI.WebDriver driver;
    private FileActions file;
    private static final String DOWNLOAD_PATH = "target/downloads/report.pdf";

    @Test
    public void downloadAndVerifyReport() {
        driver.browser().navigateToURL("https://example.com/reports")
              .and().element().click(By.id("download-report-btn"));

        // Give the download a moment to complete, then read and validate
        String content = file.readFile(DOWNLOAD_PATH);
        SHAFT.Validations.assertThat()
             .object(content)
             .isNotNull()
             .withCustomReportMessage("Downloaded report file should not be empty");
    }

    @BeforeMethod
    public void setUp() {
        driver = new SHAFT.GUI.WebDriver();
        file   = SHAFT.CLI.file();
    }

    @AfterMethod
    public void tearDown() {
        driver.quit();
        file.deleteFile(DOWNLOAD_PATH);
    }
}

File Path Handling

Style	Example
Relative (from project root)	src/test/resources/data.json
Relative (target output)	target/reports/result.txt
Absolute — Linux / macOS	/home/runner/work/data/file.txt
Absolute — Windows	C:\\Users\\user\\data\\file.txt

Use forward slashes (/) for cross-platform compatibility; Java handles them on Windows too.

Integration with File Validations

File Actions pair naturally with SHAFT's file validation chain:

FileValidationIntegration.java

FileActions file = SHAFT.CLI.file();

// Create a file
file.writeToFile("target/output.txt", "Hello SHAFT");

// Validate it exists
SHAFT.Validations.assertThat()
     .file("target", "output.txt")
     .exists();

// Validate its content
SHAFT.Validations.assertThat()
     .file("target", "output.txt")
     .content().contains("Hello SHAFT");

// Clean up
file.deleteFile("target/output.txt");

For the full file validation API see the File validations → reference.

Best Practices

• Use relative paths from the project root for portability across machines and CI environments.
• Back up before modifying — use copyFile() to save a copy before overwriting configuration files.
• Clean up in teardown — delete temporary files in @AfterMethod or @AfterClass to keep the workspace clean.
• Never store secrets in files committed to version control — use environment variables instead.

More file actions

Method	What it does
createFile(String folderPath, String fileName) / createFolder(String folderPath)	Creates an empty file or a folder.
renameFile(String filePath, String newFileName)	Renames a file in place.
copyFolder(String sourceFolderPath, String destinationFolderPath) / deleteFolder(String folderPath)	Copies or deletes a folder.
copyFileFromJar(String sourceFolderPath, String destinationFolderPath, String fileName) / copyFolderFromJar(String sourceFolderPath, String destinationFolderPath)	Extracts a file or folder from the running JAR's resources to disk.
copyFileToLocalMachine(TerminalActions terminalSession, String targetFileFolderPath, String targetFileName, String... pathToTempDirectoryOnRemoteMachine)	Copies a file from a remote or dockerized machine to the local machine and returns its local path.
doesFileExist(String targetFile) / doesFileExist(String fileFolderName, String fileName, int numberOfRetries)	Checks whether a file exists, optionally retrying.
listFilesInDirectory(String targetDirectory) / listFilesInDirectory(String, TrueFileFilter) / listFilesInDirectory(TerminalActions, String)	Returns the file names in a directory, locally or through a terminal session.
getFileList(String targetDirectory)	Returns the files in a directory as a Collection<File>.
readFileAsByteArray(String path)	Reads a file as bytes.
readPDF(String relativeFilePath) / readPDF(String fileFolderName, String fileName)	Extracts the text of a PDF file.
zipFiles(String srcFolder, String destZipFile)	Zips a folder and returns whether it succeeded.
unpackArchive(URL url, String destinationFolderPath) / unpackArchive(File theFile, File targetDir)	Downloads (when given a URL) and extracts an archive.

Related

• Terminal Actions
• Docker Terminal
• CLI