Storing Selenium WebElement in memory for extended periods to retrieve its details: A guide in C#

Question

Storing Selenium WebElement in memory for extended periods to retrieve its details: A guide in C#

I am using Selenium and C# to monitor a website for any new items that may appear. The website contains a list of <div class="myClass"> elements displayed in a table format with multiple sub-divs. Periodically, I scan all the displayed divs to check if any new ones have been added. However, the number of divs is limited and when a new element appears, the oldest one is removed, causing issues in my code.

For example: The maximum number of items allowed is 3.

I currently have 3 items A,B,C.
A new item D shows up.
As I read the 3 displayed items, another new item E appears while I'm reading the sub-divs of D. This causes D to move and triggers an error saying "Element is no longer attached to the DOM."

This error occurs because it takes too long to read all the sub-divs of D.

I obtain the webelement using FindElement(By.Name("elemName"). Is there a way to retain the element in memory even if it gets moved or removed from the DOM?

Thank you!

c#html selenium dom

Answer 1

Answer №1

Dealing with dynamic changes in WebElement objects can be a real challenge. I remember encountering this issue before, where my list of elements would unexpectedly update based on the page content.

In response to your query, I'm uncertain if it's feasible to retain the WebElement itself without replacing the old div. An alternate approach could involve creating a custom Element class to store the WebElements and essentially create a personalized cache of elements.

Consider this example:


public class Element
{
    public string TagName { get; set; }
    public string Text { get; set; }
    public bool Displayed { get; set; }
    // any other attributes you wish to include
}

public List<Element> StoreWebElements(List<IWebElement> seleniumElements)
{
    var result = new List<Element>();
    foreach (var elem in seleniumElements)
    {
       result.Add(new Element { TagName = elem.TagName,
                                Text = elem.Text, 
                                Displayed = elem.Displayed
                               };
    }
}


// your code
var divList = Driver.FindElements(By.Name("elemName"));

// "store" the elements
var cachedElements = StoreWebElements(divList);

// manipulate the page to make changes
// divList will update, while cachedElements remain unchanged.

While this solution may seem unconventional, personally I have not found a more effective workaround for the described issue. It would be interesting to discover if others have alternative explanations or solutions to offer.

Answer 2

Dealing with dynamic changes in WebElement objects can be a real challenge. I remember encountering this issue before, where my list of elements would unexpectedly update based on the page content.

In response to your query, I'm uncertain if it's feasible to retain the WebElement itself without replacing the old div. An alternate approach could involve creating a custom Element class to store the WebElements and essentially create a personalized cache of elements.

Consider this example:


public class Element
{
    public string TagName { get; set; }
    public string Text { get; set; }
    public bool Displayed { get; set; }
    // any other attributes you wish to include
}

public List<Element> StoreWebElements(List<IWebElement> seleniumElements)
{
    var result = new List<Element>();
    foreach (var elem in seleniumElements)
    {
       result.Add(new Element { TagName = elem.TagName,
                                Text = elem.Text, 
                                Displayed = elem.Displayed
                               };
    }
}


// your code
var divList = Driver.FindElements(By.Name("elemName"));

// "store" the elements
var cachedElements = StoreWebElements(divList);

// manipulate the page to make changes
// divList will update, while cachedElements remain unchanged.

While this solution may seem unconventional, personally I have not found a more effective workaround for the described issue. It would be interesting to discover if others have alternative explanations or solutions to offer.

Storing Selenium WebElement in memory for extended periods to retrieve its details: A guide in C#

Answer №1

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