Selenium WebDriver Overview and Setup

Selenium is a free and open-source software that allows developers to control web browsers automatically. It is capable of mimicking user actions like clicking buttons, filling out forms, and navigating websites.

Selenium WebDriver is the core component of Selenium. It provides a programming interface (API) that allows developers to write code to interact with a browser.

The Web Element class is a fundamental part of Selenium. It represents a single, interactive element on a web page, such as a button, text field, or checkbox.

Selenium WebDriver is used for automating web browser tasks, including scripting repetitive actions, web scraping data, and performing automated testing.

The dependency 'selenium-java' needs to be added to your pom.xml file, along with 'webdrivermanager', to use Selenium WebDriver in a Java project.

This instructs the Selenium driver to switch to the new window.

This method returns the current window handle of the browser the Selenium driver is using.

This method returns an array of all open window handles in the browser.

The driver object's "navigate" method can be used to simulate common browser actions such as going back, forward, refreshing, and opening a new URL.

The get() method does not save browser session data like cookies, whereas the navigate.to() method does.

This method can be used to switch between open windows in the browser.

Using the "findElement" method allows you to locate a specific element on a web page based on its ID, class, or a CSS selector.

Selenium cannot directly interact with a browser's file upload dialog, but it can use the 'sendKeys()' method to provide the absolute file path to the input element.

The "findElements" method finds all elements matching the specified criteria, such as all elements with a specific class.

"NoSuchElementException" is thrown by Selenium if no element is found using the provided locator strategy.

When you navigate away from a page, any references to elements on that page may become stale, triggering a "StaleElementException" if you try to use them.

Removes any text content from an input field. Imagine clearing your search bar.

Simulates a user clicking on the center of a web element. Imagine clicking a button.

Retrieves the value of a specific attribute from a web element, like the "href" attribute of a link.

Returns the text content of a web element. Imagine grabbing the text inside a paragraph or a button.

Simulates user input into a field, such as typing text into a search box. You can also use this to upload files by using the path to the file.

A deprecated but still supported method for submitting forms. It was once the primary way to submit forms.

These allow you to wait for specific conditions to be met before proceeding, such as waiting for an element to appear or become clickable.

Selenium utilizes the "By" class to specify different ways to locate elements on a web page.

A powerful path-like language for traversing the structure of a web page and finding specific elements. It's like navigating a file system, but for web pages.

A global configuration applied to the WebDriver object that instructs it to wait for a specified amount of time before throwing an exception when looking for elements in the DOM.

A specific wait condition applied at a particular point in the code to wait for a certain condition to be true before proceeding. It offers more control over the waiting process.

An advanced type of wait that allows you to customize the polling frequency and ignore certain exceptions during the wait period.

The ExpectedConditions class provides pre-defined conditions to use in explicit waits, allowing you to wait for various elements or page states.

The ExpectedConditions.elementToBeVisible(By.id("someId")) method checks if the element with the ID 'someId' is visible on the page. If visible, the wait completes.

The new FluentWait(driver) method is used to create a FluentWait object, which is used to set the wait configuration.

The withTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(10)) method sets the maximum time to wait for the condition to be met.

The pollingEvery(Duration.ofSecond(2)) method sets the interval at which the wait checks for the condition to be met.

The ignoring(ElementNotInteractableException.class) method specifies that the wait should ignore a particular exception if it occurs.

Switching to an alert in the browser is crucial for interacting with it. Use the WebDriver's switchTo().alert() method.

The alert.getText() method retrieves the text content displayed inside an alert.

The alert.sendKeys() method types text into the alert if it accepts input.

The alert.accept() method clicks the 'OK' button on the alert, acknowledging it.

The alert.dismiss() method clicks the 'Cancel' button on the alert, dismissing it.

The Actions API provides a more user-like way of interacting with the browser, especially for actions that require precise control (drag and drop, slider manipulation).