Selenium webdriver With Java Session#3 Part-1 (Basic Locators) in Hindi

Main ideas / concepts covered

• Purpose of Selenium locators

  • Locators are used to identify web elements on a page.
  • Before any action (like click or sending keys), the element must be located using a locator.

• Locator strategies (basic locating strategies)

  • Common locator strategies include:
    • By ID
    • By Name
    • By Class Name
    • By Tag Name
    • By Link Text
    • By Partial Link Text
    • By Text
    • By Position (index/position-based reference)
  • Fallback idea when elements can’t be located
    • If basic locators don’t work, you can use more advanced approaches such as CSS/XPath-style “custom” locators.

• findElement vs findElements

  • findElement
    • Returns one element (the single match).
    • If multiple matches exist, it typically returns the first matching element.
    • If nothing matches, it can throw a NoSuchElementException.
  • findElements
    • Returns a list of all matching elements.
    • If nothing matches, it returns an empty list (no exception).
  • Key distinction:
    • Return type (single element vs list)
    • Behavior with multiple matches (first match vs all matches)

• Practical example: Login automation

  • Uses a sample webpage and performs:
    1. Launch Chrome
    2. Open a URL
    3. Locate:
       • Username field
       • Password field
       • Login button
    4. Enter credentials using sendKeys
    5. Click the login button

• Choosing locators correctly (uniqueness matters)

  • A locator strategy must be unique enough to target the correct element.
  • Examples shown:
    • Using By name or By tag name may lead to multiple matches, causing confusion or incorrect targeting.
    • If multiple elements share the same attribute (e.g., same name or same tag), Selenium may return the wrong one (especially with findElement).

• Practical example: Clicking product links

  • Uses link-based locators to navigate to a product page:
    • Locates links via link text / partial link text
  • Highlights a common Selenium requirement:
    • If navigation opens content in another window/tab, you must:
      • Get window handles
      • Switch to the correct window handle before clicking the target link.

• Selecting by partial text safely

  • Partial link text can be used as a substring instead of full exact text.
  • If the partial text matches multiple links:
    • findElement may click the first matching link
    • findElements returns all matching links, letting you choose among them

• Element list size usage

  • Uses findElements and prints the list size to determine how many matching elements exist for a locator/text.

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Methodology / instruction-like steps (detailed)

A) Login flow using locators

1. Setup
   • Create a Java class for the Selenium test.
   • Configure WebDriver for ChromeDriver.
2. Open page
   • driver.get("http://...") (demo URL referenced in subtitles)
3. Locate elements
   • Locate username input using a chosen strategy (example uses By ID).
   • Locate password input using a chosen strategy (example uses By name).
   • Locate login button using a chosen strategy (example uses By class name).
4. Enter credentials
   • usernameElement.sendKeys("...")
   • passwordElement.sendKeys("...")
5. Click login
   • loginButton.click()

B) Verify locator accuracy (avoid wrong targeting)

• When a locator strategy returns ambiguous results:
  • If using findElement and the locator matches multiple elements:
    • make the locator unique (e.g., use a more specific attribute like ID, or more specific text)
  • If using findElements:
    • collect all matches into a list and inspect them (e.g., check list.size())

C) Navigating via links + handling windows/tabs

• After login, locate and click a link that opens the product page.
• If the product opens in a new window/tab:
  • Get all window handles: driver.getWindowHandle(s) (handle retrieval referenced in subtitles)
  • Switch: driver.switchTo().window(handle)
  • Then locate the product link and click it.

D) Finding link(s) by text / partial text

• Use link text options:
  • By Link Text: matches the link’s complete visible text
  • By Partial Link Text: matches only a portion of visible text
• If partial text matches multiple links:
  • Use findElement if you’re okay with the first match
  • Use findElements if you need all matches

E) List-based approach with findElements

• Use:
  • List<WebElement> list = driver.findElements(<locator>);
• Then:
  • System.out.println(list.size()); (to know how many elements/links match)
• Iterate selection logic (implied):
  • choose the correct element based on expected position/text among the list

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Speakers / sources featured (as identified in subtitles)

• Shailendra Chauhan (speaker/host)
• Subhash Gupta (mentioned)