WebDriver: How to check if an page object web element exists?

Question

How to check if an Element exists, when using Page Objects with webdriver.

So far I am doing it this way.

DefaultPage defaultPage = PageFactory.initE         


        

Answer 1

Webdriver is designed to throw an exception if an element is not found, So there aren't any methods to verify presence of an element in Webdriver.

Check this - http://groups.google.com/group/webdriver/browse_thread/thread/909a9b6cb568e341

Answer 2

I recently came across this old post and believe I've found one solution.

I was testing a page that had an Add User button. When the button was clicked, various editable text fields appeared (for First Name, Last Name, Email, etc..) and a single dropdown.

When a Cancel button was clicked, the fields disappeared and no longer existed. Using WebDriverWait with ExpectedConditions.visibilityOf() would not work since the elements no longer existed in the DOM.

I found that @FindAll was a solution for me, though I must admit my test ran noticeably slow at the my List assertion.

For your code, something like this:

public class DefaultPage {     
@FindAll({@FindBy(id = "link_i_user_create")}) List<WebElement> userCreateMenuLink;


public boolean isUserCreateMenuLinkPresent() {
    if (this.userCreateMenuLink.isEmpty()) fail("Link does not exist");}

I am able to use something similar in my own tests though, and it seems like a dependable way to skirt the 'No such element' exception. It's basically a page object adaptation of asserting: driver.findElements(By.locator).size() < 1.