webdriver API study

This chapter cover all the interfaces of Selenium WebDriver.

Recommended Import Style

The API definitions in this chapter shows the absolute location of classes. However the recommended import style is as given below:

from selenium import webdriver

Then, you can access the classes like this:

webdriver.Firefox
webdriver.FirefoxProfile
webdriver.Chrome
webdriver.ChromeOptions
webdriver.Ie
webdriver.Opera
webdriver.PhantomJS
webdriver.Remote
webdriver.DesiredCapabilities
webdriver.ActionChains
webdriver.TouchActions
webdriver.Proxy

The special keys class (Keys) can be imported like this:

from selenium.webdriver.common.keys import Keys

The exception classes can be imported like this (Replace the TheNameOfTheExceptionClass with actual class name given below):

from selenium.common.exceptions import [TheNameOfTheExceptionClass]

Conventions used in the API

Some attributes are callable (or methods) and others are non-callable (properties). All the callable attributes are ending with round brackets.

Here is an example for property:

• current_url

  URL of the current loaded page.

  Usage:

  driver.current_url
  

Here is an example for a method:

• close()

  Closes the current window.

  Usage:

  driver.close()
  

7.1. Exceptions

Exceptions that may happen in all the webdriver code.

exceptionselenium.common.exceptions.ElementNotSelectableException(msg=None, screen=None,stacktrace=None)

Bases: selenium.common.exceptions.InvalidElementStateException

Thrown when trying to select an unselectable element.

For example, selecting a ‘script’ element.

exceptionselenium.common.exceptions.ElementNotVisibleException(msg=None, screen=None,stacktrace=None)

Bases: selenium.common.exceptions.InvalidElementStateException

Thrown when an element is present on the DOM, but it is not visible, and so is not able to be interacted with.

Most commonly encountered when trying to click or read text of an element that is hidden from view.

exceptionselenium.common.exceptions.ErrorInResponseException(response, msg)

Bases: selenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException

Thrown when an error has occurred on the server side.

This may happen when communicating with the firefox extension or the remote driver server.

exceptionselenium.common.exceptions.ImeActivationFailedException(msg=None, screen=None,stacktrace=None)

Bases: selenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException

Thrown when activating an IME engine has failed.

exceptionselenium.common.exceptions.ImeNotAvailableException(msg=None, screen=None,stacktrace=None)

Bases: selenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException

Thrown when IME support is not available. This exception is thrown for every IME-related method call if IME support is not available on the machine.

exceptionselenium.common.exceptions.InvalidCookieDomainException(msg=None, screen=None,stacktrace=None)

Bases: selenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException

Thrown when attempting to add a cookie under a different domain than the current URL.

exceptionselenium.common.exceptions.InvalidElementStateException(msg=None, screen=None,stacktrace=None)

Bases: selenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException

exceptionselenium.common.exceptions.InvalidSelectorException(msg=None, screen=None,stacktrace=None)

Bases: selenium.common.exceptions.NoSuchElementException

Thrown when the selector which is used to find an element does not return a WebElement. Currently this only happens when the selector is an xpath expression and it is either syntactically invalid (i.e. it is not a xpath expression) or the expression does not select WebElements (e.g. “count(//input)”).

exceptionselenium.common.exceptions.InvalidSwitchToTargetException(msg=None, screen=None,stacktrace=None)

Bases: selenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException

Thrown when frame or window target to be switched doesn’t exist.

exceptionselenium.common.exceptions.MoveTargetOutOfBoundsException(msg=None, screen=None,stacktrace=None)

Bases: selenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException

Thrown when the target provided to the ActionsChains move() method is invalid, i.e. out of document.

exceptionselenium.common.exceptions.NoAlertPresentException(msg=None, screen=None,stacktrace=None)

Bases: selenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException

Thrown when switching to no presented alert.

This can be caused by calling an operation on the Alert() class when an alert is not yet on the screen.

exceptionselenium.common.exceptions.NoSuchAttributeException(msg=None, screen=None,stacktrace=None)

Bases: selenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException

Thrown when the attribute of element could not be found.

You may want to check if the attribute exists in the particular browser you are testing against. Some browsers may have different property names for the same property. (IE8’s .innerText vs. Firefox .textContent)

exceptionselenium.common.exceptions.NoSuchElementException(msg=None, screen=None,stacktrace=None)

Bases: selenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException

Thrown when element could not be found.

If you encounter this exception, you may want to check the following:

• Check your selector used in your find_by...
• Element may not yet be on the screen at the time of the find operation,

(webpage is still loading) see selenium.webdriver.support.wait.WebDriverWait() for how to write a wait wrapper to wait for an element to appear.

exceptionselenium.common.exceptions.NoSuchFrameException(msg=None, screen=None,stacktrace=None)

Bases: selenium.common.exceptions.InvalidSwitchToTargetException

Thrown when frame target to be switched doesn’t exist.

exceptionselenium.common.exceptions.NoSuchWindowException(msg=None, screen=None,stacktrace=None)

Bases: selenium.common.exceptions.InvalidSwitchToTargetException

Thrown when window target to be switched doesn’t exist.

To find the current set of active window handles, you can get a list of the active window handles in the following way:

print driver.window_handles

exceptionselenium.common.exceptions.RemoteDriverServerException(msg=None, screen=None,stacktrace=None)

Bases: selenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException

exceptionselenium.common.exceptions.StaleElementReferenceException(msg=None, screen=None,stacktrace=None)

Bases: selenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException

Thrown when a reference to an element is now “stale”.

Stale means the element no longer appears on the DOM of the page.

Possible causes of StaleElementReferenceException include, but not limited to:

• You are no longer on the same page, or the page may have refreshed since the element

was located. * The element may have been removed and re-added to the screen, since it was located. Such as an element being relocated. This can happen typically with a javascript framework when values are updated and the node is rebuilt. * Element may have been inside an iframe or another context which was refreshed.

exceptionselenium.common.exceptions.TimeoutException(msg=None, screen=None, stacktrace=None)

Bases: selenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException

Thrown when a command does not complete in enough time.

exceptionselenium.common.exceptions.UnableToSetCookieException(msg=None, screen=None,stacktrace=None)

Bases: selenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException

Thrown when a driver fails to set a cookie.

exceptionselenium.common.exceptions.UnexpectedAlertPresentException(msg=None, screen=None,stacktrace=None, alert_text=None)

Bases: selenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException

Thrown when an unexpected alert is appeared.

Usually raised when when an expected modal is blocking webdriver form executing any more commands.

exceptionselenium.common.exceptions.UnexpectedTagNameException(msg=None, screen=None,stacktrace=None)

Bases: selenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException

Thrown when a support class did not get an expected web element.

exceptionselenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException(msg=None, screen=None,stacktrace=None)

Bases: exceptions.Exception

Base webdriver exception.

7.2. Action Chains

The ActionChains implementation,

classselenium.webdriver.common.action_chains.ActionChains(driver)

Bases: object

ActionChains are a way to automate low level interactions such as mouse movements, mouse button actions, key press, and context menu interactions. This is useful for doing more complex actions like hover over and drag and drop.

Generate user actions.

When you call methods for actions on the ActionChains object, the actions are stored in a queue in the ActionChains object. When you call perform(), the events are fired in the order they are queued up.

ActionChains can be used in a chain pattern:

menu = driver.find_element_by_css_selector(".nav")
hidden_submenu = driver.find_element_by_css_selector(".nav #submenu1")

ActionChains(driver).move_to_element(menu).click(hidden_submenu).perform()

Or actions can be queued up one by one, then performed.:

menu = driver.find_element_by_css_selector(".nav")
hidden_submenu = driver.find_element_by_css_selector(".nav #submenu1")

actions = ActionChains(driver)
actions.move_to_element(menu)
actions.click(hidden_submenu)
actions.perform()

Either way, the actions are performed in the order they are called, one after another.

click(on_element=None)

Clicks an element.

Args:	on_element: The element to click. If None, clicks on current mouse position.

click_and_hold(on_element=None)

Holds down the left mouse button on an element.

Args:	on_element: The element to mouse down. If None, clicks on current mouse position.

context_click(on_element=None)

Performs a context-click (right click) on an element.

Args:	on_element: The element to context-click. If None, clicks on current mouse position.

double_click(on_element=None)

Double-clicks an element.

Args:	on_element: The element to double-click. If None, clicks on current mouse position.

drag_and_drop(source, target)

Holds down the left mouse button on the source element,

then moves to the target element and releases the mouse button.

Args:	source: The element to mouse down. target: The element to mouse up.

drag_and_drop_by_offset(source, xoffset, yoffset)

Holds down the left mouse button on the source element,

then moves to the target offset and releases the mouse button.

Args:	source: The element to mouse down. xoffset: X offset to move to. yoffset: Y offset to move to.

key_down(value, element=None)

Sends a key press only, without releasing it.

Should only be used with modifier keys (Control, Alt and Shift).

Args:	value: The modifier key to send. Values are defined in Keys class. element: The element to send keys. If None, sends a key to current focused element.

Example, pressing ctrl+c:

ActionsChains(driver).key_down(Keys.CONTROL).send_keys('c').key_up(Keys.CONTROL).perform()

key_up(value, element=None)

Releases a modifier key.

Args:	value: The modifier key to send. Values are defined in Keys class. element: The element to send keys. If None, sends a key to current focused element.

Example, pressing ctrl+c:

ActionsChains(driver).key_down(Keys.CONTROL).send_keys('c').key_up(Keys.CONTROL).perform()

move_by_offset(xoffset, yoffset)

Moving the mouse to an offset from current mouse position.

Args:	xoffset: X offset to move to, as a positive or negative integer. yoffset: Y offset to move to, as a positive or negative integer.

move_to_element(to_element)

Moving the mouse to the middle of an element.

Args:	to_element: The WebElement to move to.

move_to_element_with_offset(to_element, xoffset, yoffset)

Move the mouse by an offset of the specified element.

Offsets are relative to the top-left corner of the element.

Args:	to_element: The WebElement to move to. xoffset: X offset to move to. yoffset: Y offset to move to.

perform()

Performs all stored actions.

release(on_element=None)

Releasing a held mouse button on an element.

Args:	on_element: The element to mouse up. If None, releases on current mouse position.

send_keys(*keys_to_send)

Sends keys to current focused element.

Args:	keys_to_send: The keys to send. Modifier keys constants can be found in the ‘Keys’ class.

send_keys_to_element(element, *keys_to_send)

Sends keys to an element.

Args:	element: The element to send keys. keys_to_send: The keys to send. Modifier keys constants can be found in the ‘Keys’ class.

7.3. Alerts

The Alert implementation.

classselenium.webdriver.common.alert.Alert(driver)

Bases: object

Allows to work with alerts.

Use this class to interact with alert prompts. It contains methods for dismissing, accepting, inputting, and getting text from alert prompts.

Accepting / Dismissing alert prompts:

Alert(driver).accept()
Alert(driver).dismiss()

Inputting a value into an alert prompt:

name_prompt = Alert(driver) name_prompt.send_keys(“Willian Shakesphere”) name_prompt.accept()

Reading a the text of a prompt for verification:

alert_text = Alert(driver).text self.assertEqual(“Do you wish to quit?”, alert_text)

accept()

Accepts the alert available.

Usage:: Alert(driver).accept() # Confirm a alert dialog.

dismiss()

Dismisses the alert available.

send_keys(keysToSend)

Send Keys to the Alert.

Args:	keysToSend: The text to be sent to Alert.

text

Gets the text of the Alert.

7.4. Special Keys

The Keys implementation.

classselenium.webdriver.common.keys.Keys

Bases: object

Set of special keys codes.

ADD= u'\ue025'

ALT= u'\ue00a'

ARROW_DOWN= u'\ue015'

ARROW_LEFT= u'\ue012'

ARROW_RIGHT= u'\ue014'

ARROW_UP= u'\ue013'

BACKSPACE= u'\ue003'

BACK_SPACE= u'\ue003'

CANCEL= u'\ue001'

CLEAR= u'\ue005'

COMMAND= u'\ue03d'

CONTROL= u'\ue009'

DECIMAL= u'\ue028'

DELETE= u'\ue017'

DIVIDE= u'\ue029'

DOWN= u'\ue015'

END= u'\ue010'

ENTER= u'\ue007'

EQUALS= u'\ue019'

ESCAPE= u'\ue00c'

F1= u'\ue031'

F10= u'\ue03a'

F11= u'\ue03b'

F12= u'\ue03c'

F2= u'\ue032'

F3= u'\ue033'

F4= u'\ue034'

F5= u'\ue035'

F6= u'\ue036'

F7= u'\ue037'

F8= u'\ue038'

F9= u'\ue039'

HELP= u'\ue002'

HOME= u'\ue011'

INSERT= u'\ue016'

LEFT= u'\ue012'

LEFT_ALT= u'\ue00a'

LEFT_CONTROL= u'\ue009'

LEFT_SHIFT= u'\ue008'

META= u'\ue03d'

MULTIPLY= u'\ue024'

NULL= u'\ue000'

NUMPAD0= u'\ue01a'

NUMPAD1= u'\ue01b'

NUMPAD2= u'\ue01c'

NUMPAD3= u'\ue01d'

NUMPAD4= u'\ue01e'

NUMPAD5= u'\ue01f'

NUMPAD6= u'\ue020'

NUMPAD7= u'\ue021'

NUMPAD8= u'\ue022'

NUMPAD9= u'\ue023'

PAGE_DOWN= u'\ue00f'

PAGE_UP= u'\ue00e'

PAUSE= u'\ue00b'

RETURN= u'\ue006'

RIGHT= u'\ue014'

SEMICOLON= u'\ue018'

SEPARATOR= u'\ue026'

SHIFT= u'\ue008'

SPACE= u'\ue00d'

SUBTRACT= u'\ue027'

TAB= u'\ue004'

UP= u'\ue013'

7.5. Locate elements By

These are the attributes which can be used to locate elements. See the Locating Elements chapter for example usages.

The By implementation.

classselenium.webdriver.common.by.By

Bases: object

Set of supported locator strategies.

classmethodis_valid(by)

CLASS_NAME= 'class name'

CSS_SELECTOR= 'css selector'

ID= 'id'

LINK_TEXT= 'link text'

NAME= 'name'

PARTIAL_LINK_TEXT= 'partial link text'

TAG_NAME= 'tag name'

XPATH= 'xpath'

7.6. Desired Capabilities

See the Using Selenium with remote WebDriver section for example usages of desired capabilities.

The Desired Capabilities implementation.

classselenium.webdriver.common.desired_capabilities.DesiredCapabilities

Bases: object

Set of default supported desired capabilities.

Use this as a starting point for creating a desired capabilities object for requesting remote webdrivers for connecting to selenium server or selenium grid.

Usage Example:

from selenium import webdriver

selenium_grid_url = “http://198.0.0.1:4444/wd/hub“

# Create a desired capabilities object as a starting point. capabilities = DesiredCapabilities.FIREFOX.copy() capabilities[‘platform’] = “WINDOWS” capabilities[‘version’] = “10”

# Instantiate an instance of Remote WebDriver with the desired capabilities. driver = webdriver.Remote(desired_capabilities=capabilities,

command_executor=selenium_grid_url)

Note: Always use ‘.copy()’ on the DesiredCapabilities object to avoid the side effects of altering the Global class instance.

ANDROID= {'platform': 'ANDROID', 'browserName': 'android', 'version': '', 'javascriptEnabled': True}

CHROME= {'platform': 'ANY', 'browserName': 'chrome', 'version': '', 'javascriptEnabled': True}

FIREFOX= {'platform': 'ANY', 'browserName': 'firefox', 'version': '', 'javascriptEnabled': True}

HTMLUNIT= {'platform': 'ANY', 'browserName': 'htmlunit', 'version': ''}

HTMLUNITWITHJS= {'platform': 'ANY', 'browserName': 'htmlunit', 'version': 'firefox', 'javascriptEnabled': True}

INTERNETEXPLORER= {'platform': 'WINDOWS', 'browserName': 'internet explorer', 'version': '', 'javascriptEnabled': True}

IPAD= {'platform': 'MAC', 'browserName': 'iPad', 'version': '', 'javascriptEnabled': True}

IPHONE= {'platform': 'MAC', 'browserName': 'iPhone', 'version': '', 'javascriptEnabled': True}

OPERA= {'platform': 'ANY', 'browserName': 'opera', 'version': '', 'javascriptEnabled': True}

PHANTOMJS= {'platform': 'ANY', 'browserName': 'phantomjs', 'version': '', 'javascriptEnabled': True}

SAFARI= {'platform': 'ANY', 'browserName': 'safari', 'version': '', 'javascriptEnabled': True}

7.7. Utilities

The Utils methods.

selenium.webdriver.common.utils.free_port()

Determines a free port using sockets.

selenium.webdriver.common.utils.is_connectable(port)

Tries to connect to the server at port to see if it is running.

Args:	port: The port to connect.

selenium.webdriver.common.utils.is_url_connectable(port)

Tries to connect to the HTTP server at /status path and specified port to see if it responds successfully.

Args:	port: The port to connect.

7.8. Firefox WebDriver

classselenium.webdriver.firefox.webdriver.WebDriver(firefox_profile=None, firefox_binary=None,timeout=30, capabilities=None, proxy=None)

Bases: selenium.webdriver.remote.webdriver.WebDriver

quit()

Quits the driver and close every associated window.

NATIVE_EVENTS_ALLOWED= True

firefox_profile

7.9. Chrome WebDriver

classselenium.webdriver.chrome.webdriver.WebDriver(executable_path='chromedriver', port=0,chrome_options=None, service_args=None, desired_capabilities=None, service_log_path=None)

Bases: selenium.webdriver.remote.webdriver.WebDriver

Controls the ChromeDriver and allows you to drive the browser.

You will need to download the ChromeDriver executable fromhttp://chromedriver.storage.googleapis.com/index.html

create_options()

quit()

Closes the browser and shuts down the ChromeDriver executable that is started when starting the ChromeDriver

7.10. Remote WebDriver

The WebDriver implementation.

classselenium.webdriver.remote.webdriver.WebDriver(command_executor='http://127.0.0.1:4444/wd/hub',desired_capabilities=None, browser_profile=None, proxy=None, keep_alive=False)

Bases: object

Controls a browser by sending commands to a remote server. This server is expected to be running the WebDriver wire protocol as defined here:http://code.google.com/p/selenium/wiki/JsonWireProtocol

Attributes:

command_executor - The command.CommandExecutor object used to execute commands. error_handler - errorhandler.ErrorHandler object used to verify that the server did not return an error. session_id - The session ID to send with every command. capabilities - A dictionary of capabilities of the underlying browser for this instance’s session. proxy - A selenium.webdriver.common.proxy.Proxy object, to specify a proxy for the browser to use.

add_cookie(cookie_dict)

Adds a cookie to your current session.

Args:	cookie_dict: A dictionary object, with required keys - “name” and “value”; optional keys - “path”, “domain”, “secure”, “expiry”

Usage:

driver.add_cookie({‘name’ : ‘foo’, ‘value’ : ‘bar’}) driver.add_cookie({‘name’ : ‘foo’, ‘value’ : ‘bar’, ‘path’ : ‘/’}) driver.add_cookie({‘name’ : ‘foo’, ‘value’ : ‘bar’, ‘path’ : ‘/’, ‘secure’:True})

back()

Goes one step backward in the browser history.

Usage:	driver.back()

close()

Closes the current window.

Usage:	driver.close()

create_web_element(element_id)

Creates a web element with the specified element_id.

delete_all_cookies()

Delete all cookies in the scope of the session.

Usage:	driver.delete_all_cookies()

delete_cookie(name)

Deletes a single cookie with the given name.

Usage:	driver.delete_cookie(‘my_cookie’)

execute(driver_command, params=None)

Sends a command to be executed by a command.CommandExecutor.

Args:	driver_command: The name of the command to execute as a string. params: A dictionary of named parameters to send with the command.
Returns:	The command’s JSON response loaded into a dictionary object.

execute_async_script(script, *args)

Asynchronously Executes JavaScript in the current window/frame.

Args:	script: The JavaScript to execute. *args: Any applicable arguments for your JavaScript.
Usage:	driver.execute_async_script(‘document.title’)

execute_script(script, *args)

Synchronously Executes JavaScript in the current window/frame.

Args:	script: The JavaScript to execute. *args: Any applicable arguments for your JavaScript.
Usage:	driver.execute_script(‘document.title’)

find_element(by='id', value=None)

‘Private’ method used by the find_element_by_* methods.

Usage:	Use the corresponding find_element_by_* instead of this.
Return type:	WebElement

find_element_by_class_name(name)

Finds an element by class name.

Args:	name: The class name of the element to find.
Usage:	driver.find_element_by_class_name(‘foo’)

find_element_by_css_selector(css_selector)

Finds an element by css selector.

Args:	css_selector: The css selector to use when finding elements.
Usage:	driver.find_element_by_css_selector(‘#foo’)

find_element_by_id(id_)

Finds an element by id.

Args:	id_ - The id of the element to be found.
Usage:	driver.find_element_by_id(‘foo’)

find_element_by_link_text(link_text)

Finds an element by link text.

Args:	link_text: The text of the element to be found.
Usage:	driver.find_element_by_link_text(‘Sign In’)

find_element_by_name(name)

Finds an element by name.

Args:	name: The name of the element to find.
Usage:	driver.find_element_by_name(‘foo’)

find_element_by_partial_link_text(link_text)

Finds an element by a partial match of its link text.

Args:	link_text: The text of the element to partially match on.
Usage:	driver.find_element_by_partial_link_text(‘Sign’)

find_element_by_tag_name(name)

Finds an element by tag name.

Args:	name: The tag name of the element to find.
Usage:	driver.find_element_by_tag_name(‘foo’)

find_element_by_xpath(xpath)

Finds an element by xpath.

Args:	xpath - The xpath locator of the element to find.
Usage:	driver.find_element_by_xpath(‘//div/td[1]’)

find_elements(by='id', value=None)

‘Private’ method used by the find_elements_by_* methods.

Usage:	Use the corresponding find_elements_by_* instead of this.
Return type:	list of WebElement

find_elements_by_class_name(name)

Finds elements by class name.

Args:	name: The class name of the elements to find.
Usage:	driver.find_elements_by_class_name(‘foo’)

find_elements_by_css_selector(css_selector)

Finds elements by css selector.

Args:	css_selector: The css selector to use when finding elements.
Usage:	driver.find_elements_by_css_selector(‘.foo’)

find_elements_by_id(id_)

Finds multiple elements by id.

Args:	id_ - The id of the elements to be found.
Usage:	driver.find_element_by_id(‘foo’)

find_elements_by_link_text(text)

Finds elements by link text.

Args:	link_text: The text of the elements to be found.
Usage:	driver.find_elements_by_link_text(‘Sign In’)

find_elements_by_name(name)

Finds elements by name.

Args:	name: The name of the elements to find.
Usage:	driver.find_elements_by_name(‘foo’)

find_elements_by_partial_link_text(link_text)

Finds elements by a partial match of their link text.

Args:	link_text: The text of the element to partial match on.
Usage:	driver.find_element_by_partial_link_text(‘Sign’)

find_elements_by_tag_name(name)

Finds elements by tag name.

Args:	name: The tag name the use when finding elements.
Usage:	driver.find_elements_by_tag_name(‘foo’)

find_elements_by_xpath(xpath)

Finds multiple elements by xpath.

Args:	xpath - The xpath locator of the elements to be found.
Usage:	driver.find_elements_by_xpath(“//div[contains(@class, ‘foo’)]”)

forward()

Goes one step forward in the browser history.

Usage:	driver.forward()

get(url)

Loads a web page in the current browser session.

get_cookie(name)

Get a single cookie by name. Returns the cookie if found, None if not.

Usage:	driver.get_cookie(‘my_cookie’)

get_cookies()

Returns a set of dictionaries, corresponding to cookies visible in the current session.

Usage:	driver.get_cookies()

get_log(log_type)

Gets the log for a given log type

Args:	log_type: type of log that which will be returned
Usage:	driver.get_log(‘browser’) driver.get_log(‘driver’) driver.get_log(‘client’) driver.get_log(‘server’)

get_screenshot_as_base64()

Gets the screenshot of the current window as a base64 encoded string

which is useful in embedded images in HTML.

Usage:	driver.get_screenshot_as_base64()

get_screenshot_as_file(filename)

Gets the screenshot of the current window. Returns False if there is

any IOError, else returns True. Use full paths in your filename.

Args:	filename: The full path you wish to save your screenshot to.
Usage:	driver.get_screenshot_as_file(‘/Screenshots/foo.png’)

get_screenshot_as_png()

Gets the screenshot of the current window as a binary data.

Usage:	driver.get_screenshot_as_png()

get_window_position(windowHandle='current')

Gets the x,y position of the current window.

Usage:	driver.get_window_position()

get_window_size(windowHandle='current')

Gets the width and height of the current window.

Usage:	driver.get_window_size()

implicitly_wait(time_to_wait)

Sets a sticky timeout to implicitly wait for an element to be found,

or a command to complete. This method only needs to be called one time per session. To set the timeout for calls to execute_async_script, see set_script_timeout.

Args:	time_to_wait: Amount of time to wait (in seconds)
Usage:	driver.implicitly_wait(30)

maximize_window()

Maximizes the current window that webdriver is using

quit()

Quits the driver and closes every associated window.

Usage:	driver.quit()

refresh()

Refreshes the current page.

Usage:	driver.refresh()

save_screenshot(filename)

Gets the screenshot of the current window. Returns False if there is

any IOError, else returns True. Use full paths in your filename.

Args:	filename: The full path you wish to save your screenshot to.
Usage:	driver.get_screenshot_as_file(‘/Screenshots/foo.png’)

set_page_load_timeout(time_to_wait)

Set the amount of time to wait for a page load to complete

before throwing an error.

Args:	time_to_wait: The amount of time to wait
Usage:	driver.set_page_load_timeout(30)

set_script_timeout(time_to_wait)

Set the amount of time that the script should wait during an

execute_async_script call before throwing an error.

Args:	time_to_wait: The amount of time to wait (in seconds)
Usage:	driver.set_script_timeout(30)

set_window_position(x, y, windowHandle='current')

Sets the x,y position of the current window. (window.moveTo)

Args:	x: the x-coordinate in pixels to set the window position y: the y-coordinate in pixels to set the window position
Usage:	driver.set_window_position(0,0)

set_window_size(width, height, windowHandle='current')

Sets the width and height of the current window. (window.resizeTo)

Args:	width: the width in pixels to set the window to height: the height in pixels to set the window to
Usage:	driver.set_window_size(800,600)

start_client()

Called before starting a new session. This method may be overridden to define custom startup behavior.

start_session(desired_capabilities, browser_profile=None)

Creates a new session with the desired capabilities.

Args:	browser_name - The name of the browser to request. version - Which browser version to request. platform - Which platform to request the browser on. javascript_enabled - Whether the new session should support JavaScript. browser_profile - A selenium.webdriver.firefox.firefox_profile.FirefoxProfile object. Only used if Firefox is requested.

stop_client()

Called after executing a quit command. This method may be overridden to define custom shutdown behavior.

switch_to_active_element()

Deprecated use driver.switch_to.active_element

switch_to_alert()

Deprecated use driver.switch_to.alert

switch_to_default_content()

Deprecated use driver.switch_to.default_content

switch_to_frame(frame_reference)

Deprecated use driver.switch_to.frame

switch_to_window(window_name)

Deprecated use driver.switch_to.window

application_cache

Returns a ApplicationCache Object to interact with the browser app cache

current_url

Gets the URL of the current page.

Usage:	driver.current_url

current_window_handle

Returns the handle of the current window.

Usage:	driver.current_window_handle

desired_capabilities

returns the drivers current desired capabilities being used

file_detector

log_types

Gets a list of the available log types

Usage:	driver.log_types

mobile

name

Returns the name of the underlying browser for this instance.

Usage:	driver.name

orientation

Gets the current orientation of the device

Usage:	orientation = driver.orientation

page_source

Gets the source of the current page.

Usage:	driver.page_source

switch_to

title

Returns the title of the current page.

Usage:	driver.title

window_handles

Returns the handles of all windows within the current session.

Usage:	driver.window_handles

7.11. WebElement

classselenium.webdriver.remote.webelement.WebElement(parent, id_)

Bases: object

Represents a DOM element.

Generally, all interesting operations that interact with a document will be performed through this interface.

All method calls will do a freshness check to ensure that the element reference is still valid. This essentially determines whether or not the element is still attached to the DOM. If this test fails, then an StaleElementReferenceException is thrown, and all future calls to this instance will fail.

clear()

Clears the text if it’s a text entry element.

click()

Clicks the element.

find_element(by='id', value=None)

find_element_by_class_name(name)

Finds element within this element’s children by class name.

Args:	name - class name to search for.

find_element_by_css_selector(css_selector)

Finds element within this element’s children by CSS selector.

Args:	css_selector - CSS selctor string, ex: ‘a.nav#home’

find_element_by_id(id_)

Finds element within this element’s children by ID.

Args:	id_ - ID of child element to locate.

find_element_by_link_text(link_text)

Finds element within this element’s children by visible link text.

Args:	link_text - Link text string to search for.

find_element_by_name(name)

Finds element within this element’s children by name.

Args:	name - name property of the element to find.

find_element_by_partial_link_text(link_text)

Finds element within this element’s children by partially visible link text.

Args:	link_text - Link text string to search for.

find_element_by_tag_name(name)

Finds element within this element’s children by tag name.

Args:	name - name of html tag (eg: h1, a, span)

find_element_by_xpath(xpath)

Finds element by xpath.

Args:	xpath - xpath of element to locate. “//input[@class=’myelement’]”

Note: The base path will be relative to this element’s location.

This will select the first link under this element.

myelement.find_elements_by_xpath(".//a")

However, this will select the first link on the page.

myelement.find_elements_by_xpath("//a")

find_elements(by='id', value=None)

find_elements_by_class_name(name)

Finds a list of elements within this element’s children by class name.

Args:	name - class name to search for.

find_elements_by_css_selector(css_selector)

Finds a list of elements within this element’s children by CSS selector.

Args:	css_selector - CSS selctor string, ex: ‘a.nav#home’

find_elements_by_id(id_)

Finds a list of elements within this element’s children by ID.

Args:	id_ - Id of child element to find.

find_elements_by_link_text(link_text)

Finds a list of elements within this element’s children by visible link text.

Args:	link_text - Link text string to search for.

find_elements_by_name(name)

Finds a list of elements within this element’s children by name.

Args:	name - name property to search for.

find_elements_by_partial_link_text(link_text)

Finds a list of elements within this element’s children by link text.

Args:	link_text - Link text string to search for.

find_elements_by_tag_name(name)

Finds a list of elements within this element’s children by tag name.

Args:	name - name of html tag (eg: h1, a, span)

find_elements_by_xpath(xpath)

Finds elements within the element by xpath.

Args:	xpath - xpath locator string.

Note: The base path will be relative to this element’s location.

This will select all links under this element.

myelement.find_elements_by_xpath(".//a")

However, this will select all links in the page itself.

myelement.find_elements_by_xpath("//a")

get_attribute(name)

Gets the given attribute or property of the element.

This method will first try to return the value of a property with the given name. If a property with that name doesn’t exist, it returns the value of the attribute with the same name. If there’s no attribute with that name, None is returned.

Values which are considered truthy, that is equals “true” or “false”, are returned as booleans. All other non-None values are returned as strings. For attributes or properties which do not exist, None is returned.

Args:	name - Name of the attribute/property to retrieve.

Example:

# Check if the "active" CSS class is applied to an element.
is_active = "active" in target_element.get_attribute("class")

is_displayed()

Whether the element is visible to a user.

is_enabled()

Returns whether the element is enabled.

is_selected()

Returns whether the element is selected.

Can be used to check if a checkbox or radio button is selected.

send_keys(*value)

Simulates typing into the element.

Args:	value - A string for typing, or setting form fields. For setting file inputs, this could be a local file path.

Use this to send simple key events or to fill out form fields:

form_textfield = driver.find_element_by_name('username')
form_textfield.send_keys("admin")

This can also be used to set file inputs.

file_input = driver.find_element_by_name('profilePic')
file_input.send_keys("path/to/profilepic.gif")
# Generally it's better to wrap the file path in one of the methods
# in os.path to return the actual path to support cross OS testing.
# file_input.send_keys(os.path.abspath("path/to/profilepic.gif"))

submit()

Submits a form.

value_of_css_property(property_name)

The value of a CSS property.

id

Internal ID used by selenium.

This is mainly for internal use. Simple use cases such as checking if 2 webelements refer to the same element, can be done using ==:

if element1 == element2:
    print("These 2 are equal")

location

The location of the element in the renderable canvas.

location_once_scrolled_into_view

THIS PROPERTY MAY CHANGE WITHOUT WARNING. Use this to discover where on the screen an element is so that we can click it. This method should cause the element to be scrolled into view.

Returns the top lefthand corner location on the screen, or None if the element is not visible.

parent

Internal reference to the WebDriver instance this element was found from.

rect

A dictionary with the size and location of the element.

size

The size of the element.

tag_name

This element’s tagName property.

text

The text of the element.

7.12. UI Support

classselenium.webdriver.support.select.Select(webelement)

deselect_all()

Clear all selected entries. This is only valid when the SELECT supports multiple selections. throws NotImplementedError If the SELECT does not support multiple selections

deselect_by_index(index)

Deselect the option at the given index. This is done by examing the “index” attribute of an element, and not merely by counting.

Args:	index - The option at this index will be deselected

deselect_by_value(value)

Deselect all options that have a value matching the argument. That is, when given “foo” this would deselect an option like:

<option value=”foo”>Bar</option>

Args:	value - The value to match against

deselect_by_visible_text(text)

Deselect all options that display text matching the argument. That is, when given “Bar” this would deselect an option like:

<option value=”foo”>Bar</option>

Args:	text - The visible text to match against

select_by_index(index)

Select the option at the given index. This is done by examing the “index” attribute of an element, and not merely by counting.

Args:	index - The option at this index will be selected

select_by_value(value)

Select all options that have a value matching the argument. That is, when given “foo” this would select an option like:

<option value=”foo”>Bar</option>

Args:	value - The value to match against

select_by_visible_text(text)

Select all options that display text matching the argument. That is, when given “Bar” this would select an option like:

<option value=”foo”>Bar</option>

Args:	text - The visible text to match against

all_selected_options

Returns a list of all selected options belonging to this select tag

first_selected_option

The first selected option in this select tag (or the currently selected option in a normal select)

options

Returns a list of all options belonging to this select tag

classselenium.webdriver.support.wait.WebDriverWait(driver, timeout, poll_frequency=0.5,ignored_exceptions=None)

Bases: object

until(method, message='')

Calls the method provided with the driver as an argument until the return value is not False.

until_not(method, message='')

Calls the method provided with the driver as an argument until the return value is False.

7.13. Color Support

classselenium.webdriver.support.color.Color(red, green, blue, alpha=1)

Bases: object

Color conversion support class

Example:

from selenium.webdriver.support.color import Color

print(Color.from_string('#00ff33').rgba)
print(Color.from_string('rgb(1, 255, 3)').hex)
print(Color.from_string('blue').rgba)

staticfrom_string(str_)

hex

rgb

rgba

7.14. Expected conditions Support

classselenium.webdriver.support.expected_conditions.alert_is_present

Bases: object

Expect an alert to be present.

classselenium.webdriver.support.expected_conditions.element_located_selection_state_to_be(locator,is_selected)

Bases: object

An expectation to locate an element and check if the selection state specified is in that state. locator is a tuple of (by, path) is_selected is a boolean

classselenium.webdriver.support.expected_conditions.element_located_to_be_selected(locator)

Bases: object

An expectation for the element to be located is selected. locator is a tuple of (by, path)

classselenium.webdriver.support.expected_conditions.element_selection_state_to_be(element,is_selected)

Bases: object

An expectation for checking if the given element is selected. element is WebElement object is_selected is a Boolean.”

classselenium.webdriver.support.expected_conditions.element_to_be_clickable(locator)

Bases: object

An Expectation for checking an element is visible and enabled such that you can click it.

classselenium.webdriver.support.expected_conditions.element_to_be_selected(element)

Bases: object

An expectation for checking the selection is selected. element is WebElement object

classselenium.webdriver.support.expected_conditions.frame_to_be_available_and_switch_to_it(locator)

Bases: object

An expectation for checking whether the given frame is available to switch to. If the frame is available it switches the given driver to the specified frame.

classselenium.webdriver.support.expected_conditions.invisibility_of_element_located(locator)

Bases: object

An Expectation for checking that an element is either invisible or not present on the DOM.

locator used to find the element

classselenium.webdriver.support.expected_conditions.presence_of_all_elements_located(locator)

Bases: object

An expectation for checking that there is at least one element present on a web page. locator is used to find the element returns the list of WebElements once they are located

classselenium.webdriver.support.expected_conditions.presence_of_element_located(locator)

Bases: object

An expectation for checking that an element is present on the DOM of a page. This does not necessarily mean that the element is visible. locator - used to find the element returns the WebElement once it is located

classselenium.webdriver.support.expected_conditions.staleness_of(element)

Bases: object

Wait until an element is no longer attached to the DOM. element is the element to wait for. returns False if the element is still attached to the DOM, true otherwise.

classselenium.webdriver.support.expected_conditions.text_to_be_present_in_element(locator,text_)

Bases: object

An expectation for checking if the given text is present in the specified element. locator, text

classselenium.webdriver.support.expected_conditions.text_to_be_present_in_element_value(locator,text_)

Bases: object

An expectation for checking if the given text is present in the element’s locator, text

classselenium.webdriver.support.expected_conditions.title_contains(title)

Bases: object

An expectation for checking that the title contains a case-sensitive substring. title is the fragment of title expected returns True when the title matches, False otherwise

classselenium.webdriver.support.expected_conditions.title_is(title)

Bases: object

An expectation for checking the title of a page. title is the expected title, which must be an exact match returns True if the title matches, false otherwise.

classselenium.webdriver.support.expected_conditions.visibility_of(element)

Bases: object

An expectation for checking that an element, known to be present on the DOM of a page, is visible. Visibility means that the element is not only displayed but also has a height and width that is greater than 0. element is the WebElement returns the (same) WebElement once it is visible

classselenium.webdriver.support.expected_conditions.visibility_of_element_located(locator)

Bases: object

An expectation for checking that an element is present on the DOM of a page and visible. Visibility means that the element is not only displayed but also has a height and width that is greater than 0. locator - used to find the element returns the WebElement once it is located and visible

8. Appendix: Frequently Asked Questions

Another FAQ: https://code.google.com/p/selenium/wiki/FrequentlyAskedQuestions

8.1. How to use ChromeDriver ?

Download the latest chromedriver from download page. Unzip the file:

unzip chromedriver_linux32_x.x.x.x.zip

You should see a chromedriver executable. Now you can create an instance of Chrome WebDriver like this:

driver = webdriver.Chrome(executable_path="/path/to/chromedriver")

The rest of the example should work as given in other documentation.

8.2. Does Selenium 2 support XPath 2.0 ?

Ref: http://seleniumhq.org/docs/03_webdriver.html#how-xpath-works-in-webdriver

Selenium delegates XPath queries down to the browser’s own XPath engine, so Selenium support XPath supports whatever the browser supports. In browsers which don’t have native XPath engines (IE 6,7,8), Selenium supports XPath 1.0 only.

8.3. How to scroll down to the bottom of a page ?

Ref: http://blog.varunin.com/2011/08/scrolling-on-pages-using-selenium.html

You can use the execute_script method to execute javascript on the loaded page. So, you can call the JavaScript API to scroll to the bottom or any other position of a page.

Here is an example to scroll to the bottom of a page:

driver.execute_script("window.scrollTo(0, document.body.scrollHeight);")

The window object in DOM has a scrollTo method to scroll to any position of an opened window. ThescrollHeight is a common property for all elements. The document.body.scrollHeight will give the height of the entire body of the page.

8.4. How to auto save files using custom Firefox profile ?

Ref: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1176348/access-to-file-download-dialog-in-firefox

Ref: http://blog.codecentric.de/en/2010/07/file-downloads-with-selenium-mission-impossible/

The first step is to identify the type of file you want to auto save.

To identify the content type you want to download automatically, you can use curl:

curl -I URL | grep "Content-Type"

Another way to find content type is using the requests module, you can use it like this:

import requests
content_type = requests.head('http://www.python.org').headers['content-type']
print(content_type)

Once the content type is identified, you can use it to set the firefox profile preference:browser.helperApps.neverAsk.saveToDisk

Here is an example:

import os

from selenium import webdriver

fp = webdriver.FirefoxProfile()

fp.set_preference("browser.download.folderList",2)
fp.set_preference("browser.download.manager.showWhenStarting",False)
fp.set_preference("browser.download.dir", os.getcwd())
fp.set_preference("browser.helperApps.neverAsk.saveToDisk", "application/octet-stream")

browser = webdriver.Firefox(firefox_profile=fp)
browser.get("http://pypi.python.org/pypi/selenium")
browser.find_element_by_partial_link_text("selenium-2").click()

In the above example, application/octet-stream is used as the content type.

The browser.download.dir option specify the directory where you want to download the files.

8.5. How to upload files into file inputs ?

Select the <input type="file"> element and call the send_keys() method passing the file path, either the path relative to the test script, or an absolute path. Keep in mind the differences in path names between Windows and Unix systems.

8.6. How to use firebug with Firefox ?

First download the Firebug XPI file, later you call the add_extension method available for the firefox profile:

from selenium import webdriver

fp = webdriver.FirefoxProfile()

fp.add_extension(extension='firebug-1.8.4.xpi')
fp.set_preference("extensions.firebug.currentVersion", "1.8.4") #Avoid startup screen
browser = webdriver.Firefox(firefox_profile=fp)

8.7. How to take screenshot of the current window ?

Use the save_screenshot method provided by the webdriver:

from selenium import webdriver

driver = webdriver.Firefox()
driver.get('http://www.python.org/')
driver.save_screenshot('screenshot.png')
driver.quit()