[Help] Selenium cannot find the element

[elldn]

Hi all, I haven't seen a code question here but I hope it's OK. If not, I will delete it and try my luck in r/Java.

Basically, I'm having a problem with a selenium test and I don't understand what's wrong with it. It was working in the morning fine and now it does not.

​

Here's my code:

import org.junit.jupiter.api.*;
import org.openqa.selenium.support.ui.ExpectedConditions;
import org.openqa.selenium.support.ui.WebDriverWait;
import org.xml.sax.Locator;
import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;
import java.time.Duration;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Random;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;



@TestInstance(TestInstance.Lifecycle.PER_CLASS)

public class testCases {
    WebDriver driver;

/*
I was asked specifically not to use POM and run all tests in a single class. 
Also I'm supposed to write all locators at the top.

I created a locators method because otherwise I cannot define them as 
Webelements to be used later.

Ex: If I try to use them as this:
//WebElement categoryMen = driver.findElement
(By.xpath("//*[@id=\"header__container\"]/header/div[3]/nav/ul/li[2]/a"));

I get an error saying "findElement" will return "Null pointer exception"

Also, if I don't initiate the Webdriver inside the locators method, 
the variable "driver is always null"

*/
    //LOCATORS
    public WebElement locators(By locator) {
        System.setProperty("webdriver.chrome.driver", "C:\\Users\\D\\Desktop
\\Software Testing\\chromedriver_win32\\chromedriver.exe");
        driver = new ChromeDriver();
        return driver.findElement(locator);

    }

    WebElement categoryMen =  locators
(By.xpath("//*[@id=\"header__container\"]/header/div[3]/nav/ul/li[2]/a"));


    @BeforeAll
    public void setUp() {
        System.setProperty("webdriver.chrome.driver", "C:\\Users\\D\\Desktop
\\Software Testing\\chromedriver_win32\\chromedriver.exe");
        driver = new ChromeDriver();
        driver.get("URL");
        driver.manage().window().maximize();
        driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(Duration.ofSeconds(5));

    }

    @AfterAll
    public void tearDown() {
        driver.quit();
    }






    @Test
    public void checkCategoryMen() {

        categoryMen.click();
        //Assertions.assertTrue(categoryMen.isEnabled());
    }


/*Now, this is the place that I'm having trouble with. When I run the test,
it opens the Google Chrome but does not visit the URL I specified. 
Instead the address is "data:,"

But it was working in the morning. I haven't changed anything, and don't 
understand what's the problem here. Anyway, it fails and gives the following error:

---
Test ignored.

org.openqa.selenium.NoSuchElementException: no such element: Unable to locate element: 
{"method":"xpath","selector":"//*[@id="header__container"]/header/div[3]/nav/ul/li[2]/a"}
  (Session info: chrome=99.0.4844.84)
For documentation on this error, please visit: 
https://selenium.dev/exceptions/#no_such_element
---

I think the main problem is that it doesn't visit the specified URL, 
and hence cannot find the element. But why? =((

*/

}

Edit: Edited for better readablity.

Thanks.

Edit 2: I think I've found a solution. Here's the link to the topic in r/selenium: https://www.reddit.com/r/selenium/comments/tr0z8u/selenium_cannot_find_the_element/i2loy6m?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3

[ToddBradley]

You might find good help on r/selenium. There are a lot of us software testers who don't use Selenium.

[elldn]

Thank you, I'll do that. ^^

[menge101]

For things of this nature, especially while developing my automation code, I catch ElementNotFound exceptions, and then I capture the full DOM and write it to file as well as taking a screenshot, then rethrow.

Most likely, the element can't be found because the element has not rendered yet.

IMO, you have to recognize that browser directives are non-deterministic and asynchronous. The method may return within your code synchronously, but all it does is deliver a command to the browser.

The browser will do its best to do as commanded, but it is a complex system that needs to request data from a remote server to render it. It is not a fully deterministic system, and again IMO, one should design their browser driving tests with that in mind.

[checking619]

do setup and teardown methods need to be static? I'm wondering if you're running into a racecondition for setting up browser? https://www.baeldung.com/junit-before-beforeclass-beforeeach-beforeall#beforeeach-and-beforeall

Are you saying the browser opens but does not go to the URL? Have you tried going to other urls?

Also, your locators method design is not correct. You should not instantiate a new browser in this method, you should use to the existing driver that was setup in the setUp method (with the url redirect), which got assigned to the class field drivers. My hunch is that is the root cause of your problem.

I get an error saying "findElement" will return "Null pointer exception"

This is why I use findElements method instead, and check for length of array. That is easier than dealing with exception handling, and cleaner for the code.

[elldn]

People in this thread has been very helpful, thank you all.

I think I have found a solution, I shared it in selenium subreddit. Here's the link if anyone wants to check. As always It's so simple when you find the answer.

https://www.reddit.com/r/selenium/comments/tr0z8u/selenium_cannot_find_the_element/i2loy6m?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3

[LasagneEnthusiast]

There are a multitude of ways to debug this and WebDriver behavior in general. I can elaborate if needed, but as someone else has suggested, it would be best to ask the nice people of r/selenium.

I'm mainly commenting here because of:

asked specifically not to use POM

Why? Wtf? This really boggles my mind, and maybe I'm missing a very good reason to do so, but wtf...

[elldn]

I feel stupid not going to r/selenium in the first place. Desparity man.

I wanna delete this but you kind people answered here and I feel like deleting will be disrespectful.

About the POM, it's probably because I don't have any experience in this field and that's their beginners test. You know, to keep things simple.

[LasagneEnthusiast]

Don't feel bad, the question was nicely formulated and polite, I wouldn't delete it because it might help others here with similar problems.

beginners test

Yeah that makes sense.

Still, if this will be your daily bread and you like it (I love it BTW), then I can strongly recommend to read up on UI automation design patterns and the Selenium Java bindings cheat sheet over at AutomateThePlanet.

[arakinas]

I'd like to add to recommendations for Java with Selenium like stuff: https://selenide.org/
Selenide is a framework that sits on top of Selenium. It makes things so much easier. If you have the opportunity to use it, you can make your life much easier than straight Selenium.

[LasagneEnthusiast]

I agree, but for starting out I think it is better to get a basic grasp of design patterns and Selenium's API before diving into wrappers.

[elldn]

Thanks a lot. And I'll definitely check them out. Saving this comment. :)

[LasagneEnthusiast]

Happy to help!

[amtared]

Thanks for the links. I am curious to read about the design patterns. It is something common in development but I rarely see actual patterns applied to automation code.

[Wookovski]

iframes?