Encountering a StaleElementReferenceException while testing a webpage with a table is proving to be a challenge. The table includes points and the status of two Blocking points, each with toggle state buttons for 'Yes' and 'No'.
The steps in this process are:
- Click the checkbox to display only the blocking points.
- If there are no blocking points in the table, you're done. Otherwise...
- Save the name of the point in the first row and check the first blocking status. If set to 'Yes', change it to 'No'.
- Check if the point still exists. If so, change the second blocking status to 'No' and confirm the point has been deleted.
Comments have been included in the code to help follow the process:
# << Setup >>
driver.get(url("/PointsTable/"))
assertExpectedConditionTrue(driver, "By.XPATH", "//td")
# < Confirm that the points blocking checkbox is enabled >
if not driver.find_element_by_id("BlockedPoints").is_selected():
assertExpectedConditionTrue(driver, "By.ID", "BlockedPoints")
driver.find_element_by_id("BlockedPoints").click()
assertCheckBoxEnabled(driver, "BlockedPoints")
# < First check if any points have a blocking state >
try:
assertExpectedConditionTrue(driver, "By.XPATH", "//td[contains(text(), 'No data available in table')]", None, 3)
except (NoSuchElementException):
# < Until all the points are out of the blocking state, begin changing blocking statuses
# for all the points >
while True:
# < Check if all the points are set to have no blocking statuses set to Yes >
try:
assertExpectedConditionFalse(driver, "By.XPATH", "//td[contains(text(), 'No data available in table')]", None, 2)
except (NoSuchElementException, TimeoutException):
break
# < Save the name of the point
# Check the first blocking status. If it is blocking, set the block to No >
assertExpectedConditionTrue(driver, "By.XPATH", "//td")
myPointVal = driver.find_element_by_xpath("//td").text
try:
assertExpectedConditionTrue(driver, "By.XPATH", "//tbody/tr[1]/td[5]/div/button[@class='btn active btn-success btn-small point-button']", None, 2)
except (NoSuchElementException):
assertExpectedConditionTrue(driver, "By.XPATH", "//tbody/tr[1]/td[5]/div/button[@class='btn btn-small point-button']")
driver.find_element_by_xpath("//tbody/tr[1]/td[5]/div/button[@class='btn btn-small point-button']").click()
# < Save the name of the point again. Compare it to the original saved point
# If the name is the same, then the second blocking status needs to be set to No
# If the name is different, that means the point in question is no longer blocked >
assertExpectedConditionTrue(driver, "By.XPATH", "//td")
if myPointVal == driver.find_element_by_xpath("//td").text:
assertExpectedConditionTrue(driver, "By.XPATH", "//tbody/tr[1]/td[6]/div/button[@class='btn btn-small point-button']")
driver.find_element_by_xpath("//tbody/tr[1]/td[6]/div/button[@class='btn btn-small point-button']").click()
assertExpectedConditionFalse(driver, "By.XPATH", "//td", myPointVal)
Once a point has had all its Blocking states removed, it disappears from the table, triggering the exception. The issue occurs when trying to click on the 'Yes' or 'No' button, likely due to changes in the table after successfully removing a point.
i.e. driver.find_element_by_xpath("//tbody/tr[1]/td[6]/div/button[@class='btn btn-small point-button']").click()
Sometimes the failure happens beyond this point in the code, when attempting to click on a button either after refreshing the page or navigating to another page where XPATH addresses remain the same but objects have changed. I comprehend the problem stated here. It appears to be consistent with the element no longer being attached to the DOM.
So far, I've tried using time.sleep() and driver.implicitly_wait() in areas where table changes occur, but the problem persists. How can I overcome this obstacle?