Which is the better way to create instance of PageObject?

Question

I would like to know from the below which is better option for creating the instance of the PageObject class(Ex: LoginPage):-

1) Create an instance of Pageobject class in all the tests and steps (Wherever required)?

LoginPage loginpage = PageFactory.initElements(webDriver, LoginPage.class);

(or)

2) Create a class with a static method to return the instance for the requested PageObject class. In this method, check if the instance is null before creating a new instance for the requested class?

LoginPage loginpage = PageUtil.getPageObject("login");

Please advise.

Answer 1

There are multiple ways to do it. I like to create a BaseClass() and instantiate the PageFactory.initElements(driver, this); there. See my gist. Also, the public repository here

import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.support.PageFactory;

/**
* Created by Saifur on 2/14/2015.
*/
public class BaseClass {

//global driver instance.
WebDriver driver;

//super constructor
public BaseClass(WebDriver _driver)
 {
   //assigning driver instance globally.
   driver = _driver;

   /*Instantiating all elements since this is super class
   and inherited by each and every page object */

   PageFactory.initElements(driver, this);
 }
}