How to start WinAppDriver.exe programmatically using Java ?

Download WindowsApplicationDriver.msi from https://github.com/Microsoft/WinAppDriver/releases

First let’s see how to start it manually

To run the application, simply start WinAppDriver.exe from its installation directory (E.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Application DriverIt will open a command line window with Press enter to exit messages. By default Windows Application Driver listening for requests at: http://127.0.0.1:4723/

Don’t type that address in browser and press enter WinAppDriver.exe get closed.

So prior to run your desktop automation scripts , you must start it manually.

Is there a way to automatically start it? Do I need admin rights to start it ?

No , you don’t need admin rights ,you can use below Java code sample .

@BeforeSuite
public void startWinAppDriver() throws IOException {
//option 1
String command = "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Windows Application Driver\\WinAppDriver.exe";
ProcessBuilder builder = new ProcessBuilder(command).inheritIO();
Process p=   builder.start();
//To terminate the process at the end p.destroy(); Better to add this in @AfterSuite
//Option 2- 
Runtime.getRuntime().exec("C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Windows Application Driver\\WinAppDriver.exe");
}

Please see the full code which I wrote for notepad .

package winappdriver.sam.demo.winappdriver.demo.samjava;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.net.URL;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;
import org.openqa.selenium.remote.DesiredCapabilities;
import org.testng.Assert;
import org.testng.annotations.AfterClass;
import org.testng.annotations.BeforeClass;
import org.testng.annotations.BeforeSuite;
import org.testng.annotations.Test;
import io.appium.java_client.windows.WindowsDriver;
public class NotePadDemoWithtWinAppDriver {
private static WindowsDriver driver = null;
private static WebElement editBox = null;
private static String NotepadAppId = "C:\\Windows\\System32\\notepad.exe";
static Process p;
@BeforeSuite
public void startWinAppDriver() throws IOException {
String command = "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Windows Application Driver\\WinAppDriver.exe";
ProcessBuilder builder = new ProcessBuilder(command).inheritIO();
p = builder.start();
// The other way is below  commented line of  code 
// Runtime.getRuntime().exec("C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Windows Application// Driver\\WinAppDriver.exe");
}
@BeforeClass
public static void setup() {
try {
DesiredCapabilities capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
capabilities.setCapability("app", NotepadAppId);
driver = new WindowsDriver(new URL("http://127.0.0.1:4723"), capabilities);
driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(12, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
Assert.assertEquals("Untitled - Notepad", driver.getTitle());
editBox = driver.findElementByClassName("Edit");
Assert.assertNotNull(editBox);
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} finally {
}
}
@AfterClass
public static void TearDown() {
editBox = null;// Set the result variable to null
if (driver != null) {// Check the driver not equal to null
driver.close();// Close the current window, quitting the browser if it's the last window
// currently open.
// Click Don't save to exit
driver.findElementByName("Don't Save").click();
driver.quit(); // quit the session Quits this driver, closing every associated window.
// To terminate the process at the end
p.destroy();
}
driver = null; // set the driver to null
}
@Test
public void typeText() {
System.out.println("olla mundo");
editBox.sendKeys("olla mundo");
Assert.assertEquals("olla mundo", editBox.getText());
}
}