Selenium Essentials: A Comprehensive Guide to Using Syntax and Methods

By Lavish Jain

Oct 24, 2024 3 Min Read 715 Views

(Last Updated)

Selenium is an integral part of automation testing and one cannot exist without the usage of others. In that case, it is important for testers to remember all the Selenium essentials!

To ease that out, we made this article that is nothing but a list of Selenium Essentials that can help you remember everything and can help you recollect when in need! Let us see all about them in this article!

Selenium Essentials: A List of All Essential Syntax and Methods
Selenium Essentials: A Comprehensive Guide to Using Syntax and Methods
Different approaches to creating XPath and CSS Selector
Important Tagname and their Description
Conclusion

Selenium Essentials: A List of All Essential Syntax and Methods

Driver Initialization

WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();

WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver();

WebDriver driver = new InternetExplorerDriver();

WebDriver driver = new HtmlUnitDriver();

Element Locators

driver.findElement(By.id(“Id Value”));

driver.findElement(By.name(“Name Value”));

driver.findElement(By.className(“Class Name Value”));

driver.findElement(By.linkText(“Link text Value”));

driver.findElement(By.partialLinkText(“Partial Text ConstantValue”));

driver.findElement(By.tagName(“Tag Name Value”));

driver.findElement(By.cssSelector(“CSS Value”));

driver.findElement(By.xpath(“Xpath Value”));

driver.findElement(new ByAll(By.className(“ElementClass Name”), By.id(“Element Id”), By.name(“Element Name”)))

Elements Operations

WebElement element = driver.FindElement(By.ElementLocator(“Value of ElementLocator”));

element.click();

element.sendKeys(“Input Text”);

element.clear();

element.submit();

element.getAttribute(“type”);

String innerText = element.getText();

boolean enabledstatus = element.isEnabled();

boolean displayedstatus = element.isDisplayed();

boolean selectedstatus = element.isSelected();

//Operation on drop down

Select select = new Select(element);

select.selectByIndex(Integer Index);

select.selectByVisibleText(“Text”);

select.SelectByValue(“Value”);

select.deselectAll();

select.deselectByIndex(Integer Index);

select.deselectByVisibleText(“Text”);

select.deselectByValue(“Value”);

WebElement selectedOptions = select.getOptions();

Browser Operations

String pageTitle = driver.getTitle();

String currentURL = getCurrentUrl();

String currentPageSource = driver.getPageSource();

// Navigation history

driver.get(“https://www.facebook.com/”);

driver.manage().window().maximize();

driver.navigate().to(“https://www.google.com/”);

driver.navigate().back();

driver.navigate().forward();

driver.navigate().refresh();

Selenium Essentials: A List of All Essential Syntax and Methods

Selenium Essentials: A Comprehensive Guide to Using Syntax and Methods

driver.close();
driver.quit();
// Handle Alert
Alert alert = driver.switchTo().alert();
alert.accept();
alert.dismiss();
alert.getText();
alert.sendKeys(“Input Data”);
//Handle Cookies
Cookie cookie = new Cookie(“cookieName”, “cookieValue”);
driver.manage().addCookie(cookie);
driver.manage().getCookies();
driver.manage().getCookieNamed(arg0);
driver.manage().deleteAllCookies();
driver.manage().deleteCookieNamed(arg0);
// Handle frames
driver.switchTo().frame(int Frame Index);
driver.switchTo().frame(“frameName”);
WebElement element = driver.FindElement(By.ElementLocator(“Value of ElementLocator”));
driver.switchTo().frame(element);
driver.SwitchTo().defaultContent();

Screenshots Capture
TakesScreenshot screenshot =((TakesScreenshot)driver);
File srcFile= screenshot.getScreenshotAs(OutputType.FILE);
FileHandler.copy(srcFile, destFile);

Manage Timeouts
driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(10,TimeUnit.SECONDS);
welement = wait.until(Syntax: WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(driver, timeout); ExpectedConditions.elementToBeClickable(locator));welement.click();
Thread.sleep(Long milli-seconds)
driver.manage().timeouts().pageLoadTimeout(30,TimeUnit.SECONDS);

Scroll Down or Up Web Page
JavascriptExecutor js = (JavascriptExecutor)driver;
js.executeScript(“window.scrollBy(0,100)”);
js.executeScript(“window.scrollTo(0,document.body.scrollHeight)”);
WebElement element =driver.FindElement(By.ElementLocator(“Value of Element Locator”));
js. executeScript(“arguments[0].scrollIntoView()”, element);

Selenium Essentials: A Comprehensive Guide to Using Syntax and Methods

Different approaches to creating XPath and CSS Selector

Description	XPath	CSS Selector
Whole WebPage	html
Whole WebPage body	/html/body	body
image element	//img	img
Link	//a[@href = ‘url’]	a[href = ‘url’]
Direct Child	//div/a	div > a
Id	//tagName[@id=’idValue’]	tagName#idValue
Class	//tagName[@class=’classValue’]	tagName.Value of Classattribute
Attribute	//tagname[@attribute-name=’value1′]	tagName[attribute=Value of attribute]
Multiple Attributes	//input[@type=’submit’ and @name=’btnLogin’]	tagname[attribute1=’val ue1′][attribute2=’value2′]
Contains	//*[contains(@type,’sub’)]	<HTMLtag><[attribute*=subString]>
Starts with	//tagname[starts-with(@attribute, ‘Start value’)]	<HTMLtag><[attribute^=prefix of the String]>
Ends with	//tagname[ends-with(@attribute, ‘End value’)]	<HTMLtag><[attribute$=suffix of the String]>
Matches	//*[matches(@type,’value’)]	N/A
First Child	//ul[@id=’list’]/li[1]	ul#list li:first-child
Last Child	//ul[@id=’list’]/li[last()]	ul#list li:last-child
nth Child	//ul[@id=’list’]/li[3]	ul#list li:nth-child(3)
Text Value	//td[text()=‘textname’]	N/A
Element preceding some sibling	//E2/preceding-sibling::E1	N/A
Sibling element immediately preceding	//E/preceding-sibling::*[1]	N/A
User interface element that is disabled	//E[@disabled]	E:disabled
Checkbox (or radio button) that is checked	//*[@checked]	*:checked
Text Value	//td[text()=‘textname’]	N/A

Different approaches to creating XPath and CSS Selector

Important Tagname and their Description

Tag Name	Specification
<ul>	Defines an unordered list of items.
<tr>	Defines a row of cells in atable.
<title>	Represents the title to an HTML document.
<th>	Used for creating a header of a group of cells in an HTML table.
<table>	Used to define a table in an HTML document.
<tbody>	Used for grouping table rows.
<td>	Used for creates standarddata cell in HTML table.
<span>	Used to grouping and applying styles to inline elements.
Defines an unordered list of items.	Used to divide a document into a number of different generic sections.
<select>	Used to create a drop-down list.
<menu>	Used to display an unordered list of items/menu of commands.
<li>	Define a list item either an ordered list or an unordered list.
<iframe>	Defines an inline frame that embeds external content into a current web document.
<img>	Used to insert an image into a web document.
<input>	Define a get information in selected input
<div>	Define a division part
<body>	Defines a main section(body) part in an HTML document
<br />	Specific a single-line break
<button>	Specifies a press/push button
<a>	Specific an anchor (Hyperlink)

Important Tagname and their Description

These are all the Selenium essentials that you need to keep in mind whenever you are testing!

In case you want to learn more about Selenium essentials in automation testing, consider enrolling for GUVI’s Selenium Automation Testing Course which teaches you everything from scratch by providing an industry-grade certificate!

Conclusion

In conclusion, mastering the Selenium essentials like syntax and methods is crucial for any automation tester looking to efficiently write and maintain test scripts. This comprehensive list serves as a quick reference to help you navigate the most common Selenium operations, from driver initialization to handling alerts, cookies, frames, and more.

By familiarizing yourself with these essentials, you’ll be better equipped to tackle real-world automation challenges and confidently deliver reliable test results.

Career transition

About the Author

Lavish Jain

A Professional Developer Mentor and Corporate Trainer with over 10 years of experience, I have contributed to technological advancements through comprehensive training and mentorship. My journey includes pivotal roles at Cluebix, Focus-4D,ThoughtWorks, and currently with Guvi -HCL Group, where I shape the careers of aspiring developers. I specialize in simplifying complex concepts, making them accessible to learners at all levels, and have successfully trained lakhs of budding developer through corporate and boot camp courses focused on full-stack development.