Add a way to set values to fields regardless of its attributes

[latin-panda]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
It'd be helpful to have a way to set values to fields regardless of its attributes (hidden, required, readonly, ...)

For example a field is required but has appearance hidden, then when running test case, it can't set the value (current validation code) and an error occurs when filling the form: “Required fields missing”

--- form inputs file ----
module.exports = {
  my_form: [['a09b9570-116e-11ec-82a8-0242ac130003'], [], [-12.113344], ['RUNNING']],

--- test case ----

it('Should show correct task when form is submitted', async () => {
    const result = await harness.fillForm('my_form', ...formInputs.my_form);

Describe alternatives you've considered
It'd be nice to use field name + group(s) name to find a field regardless if it’s visible, required, optional, readonly, hidden, or location deepness (groups). So we can pass something like key:value

"/inputs/contact/parent/name": "Facility abc"
-------- then
$([name="field_key"]).value(field_value) 

• It doesn't rely in array position, if same level groups change order, the test won't be affected. No need to add empty arrays representing pages.
• Easier to spot errors while building the form inputs for tests, because field location is specified. So no unexpected fields getting wrong values.
• Have to check or be careful about performance if doing this approach.
• Have to be backward compatible to not break existing tests.

Additional context
We were designing a form where some fields are automatically populated after a button action, these fields have hidden appearance because the data wasn't friendly or not relevant to the user, additionally the fields are required to prevent the user of continuing to the next page without performing the action.

Samples:

type	name	label	appearance	required	default	...
string	case_uuid	NO_LABEL	hidden	yes		...
string	latitude	NO_LABEL	hidden	yes		...

At the end to move forward, we've worked around the form design because test coverage is important however the UX decreased.

[kennsippell]

Thanks for te issue @latin-panda! Consider this workaround which has been used with forms containing cht widgets to set values or make fields not required. You'll have to execute this magic after you loadForm and before you fillForm.

await harness.loadForm('myform');
await harness.page.evaluate(() => $$('input[name$="/breath_timer"]').removeAttr('data-required')`
const result = await harness.fillForm(['a'], ['b']);
expect(result.errors).to.be.empty;

https://github.com/medic/config-muso/blob/master/test/widget-hacks.js

Currently, the behaviour of fillForm strictly emulates the behaviour of users. Completing operations like "set the arbitrary value for this hidden field" is a paradigm shift away from that - which is fine, but also feels a bit hacky as tests reach into the internals of the system-under-test and alter the system's behaviour. I suspect what might be preferred is to support cht-core enketo widgets as first-class citizens in the harness. #46 so tests aren't responsible for "spooky data setting to emulate behaviour of widgets". Or using e2e tests with the ful cht-core stack.

[kennsippell]

Please reactivate if the above workaround is not satisfactory.

[kennsippell]

Please reactivate if the above workaround is not satisfactory.