Difference between `visit()` and `get()`

[nikophil]

Hello,

what's the difference between visit() and get()?

I've been struggling to use a connected user this way:

        $this->browser()
            ->setDefaultHttpOptions(
                (new HttpOptions())->withServer(
                    [
                        'PHP_AUTH_USER' => 'username',
                        'PHP_AUTH_PW' => 'pa$$word',
                    ]
                )
            )
            ->visit("/url/behind/firewall")

but using get() instead of visit() works perfectly!

I'm not 100% sure what's going on here. Any idea?

[Amoifr]

Sorry this sat unanswered for so long. It is not you: visit() really does ignore setDefaultHttpOptions(), while get() honours it.

The two go through different paths. KernelBrowser::request() merges the defaults:

if ($this->defaultHttpOptions) {
    $options = (clone $this->defaultHttpOptions)->merge($options);
}

and get(), post() and friends all route through it. Browser::visit() does not, it goes straight to the session with no options at all:

final public function visit(string $uri): self
{
    $this->session()->request('GET', $uri);

    return $this;
}

Proved it locally with the existing /http-method fixture: setDefaultHttpOptions(['headers' => ['x-foo' => 'bar']]) then get('/http-method') contains "x-foo":["Bar"], and the same with visit() does not.

Worth noting the README sets the expectation you had: it says the defaults apply to "all http requests".

The obstacle to a one-line fix is that visit() lives on the abstract Browser, shared with PantherBrowser and PlaywrightBrowser, and defaultHttpOptions only exists on KernelBrowser. On top of that visit() is final, so it cannot simply be overridden.

@kbond, which way would you like it?

• drop final from Browser::visit() and override it in KernelBrowser as return $this->get($uri);, so the defaults apply and the README becomes true;
• or keep the split deliberate, visit() being plain navigation and get() the HTTP-level entry point, and say so in the README.

Happy to send either.