Selenium in Python How use a If - else code if an element is not present

Question

All, I am in need of some serious " dumbed down " examples of how to write code in Python that will do something if a element is there or not there. I'm new to programing and I have reviewed a days worth of posts and I can't seem to figure it out....

Here is what I am trying to do.

from selenium.common.exceptions import NoSuchElementException, staleElementReferenceException

    elem = driver.find_element_by_partial_link_text('Create Activity')

    print("Searching for Create Activity.")

    if elem.is_displayed():
        elem.click() # this will click the element if it is there
        print("FOUND THE LINK CREATE ACTIVITY! and Clicked it!")
    else: 
        print ("NO LINK FOUND")

So, Providing that there is a LINK present that is element_by_partial_link_text('Create Activity')

I get the proper response ... Searching for Create Activity. FOUND THE LINK CREATE ACTIVITY! and Clicked it!

My problem is when there is NOT a link that Matches element_by_partial_link_text('Create Activity')

I don't get what I would expect that is in my else statement. print ("NO LINK FOUND")

I get ...

Traceback (most recent call last): File "", line 1, in File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Python35-32\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\remote\webdriver.py", line 341, in find_element_by_partial_link_text return self.find_element(by=By.PARTIAL_LINK_TEXT, value=link_text) File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Python35-32\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\remote\webdriver.py", line 745, in find_element {'using': by, 'value': value})['value'] File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Python35-32\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\remote\webdriver.py", line 236, in execute self.error_handler.check_response(response) File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Python35-32\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\remote\errorhandler.py", line 194, in check_response raise exception_class(message, screen, stacktrace) selenium.common.exceptions.NoSuchElementException: Message: no such element: Unable to locate element: {"method":"partial link text","selector":"Create Activity"}

How do I get selenium within Python to turn this exception or error to not halt my script and just process the ELSE statement.

Thanks,

what probably happens is that driver.find_element_by_partial_link_text('Create Activity') returns None and the elem.is_displayed() throws a NoSuchElementException. There are many things you can do as for example: if elem: and then the if elem.is_displayed() or a try-except block — Ma0
– Ma0, Commented Aug 25, 2016 at 13:59
Best way to use find_elements and check size of elements instead of exception caching, see provided answer...:) — Saurabh Gaur
– Saurabh Gaur, Commented Aug 25, 2016 at 14:24

ewcz · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-25 14:05:50Z

17

you can catch the exception and act accordingly:

try:
    elem = driver.find_element_by_partial_link_text('Create Activity')
    if elem.is_displayed():
        elem.click() # this will click the element if it is there
        print("FOUND THE LINK CREATE ACTIVITY! and Clicked it!")
except NoSuchElementException:
    print("...")

Also, I would probably modify the test to make sure that the element is indeed "clickable":

if elem.is_displayed() and elem.is_enabled():

edited Aug 25, 2016 at 14:05

answered Aug 25, 2016 at 13:58

ewcz

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Saurabh Gaur · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-25 15:38:19Z

10

find_element returns either element or throws NoSuchElementException, So for best way to determine element is present with if condition, You should try using find_elements instead of catching exception because it's returns either list of WebElement or empty list, so you just check its length as below :-

elems = driver.find_elements_by_partial_link_text('Create Activity')

if len(elems) > 0 and elems[0].is_displayed():
    elems[0].click()
    print("FOUND THE LINK CREATE ACTIVITY! and Clicked it!")
else: 
    print ("NO LINK FOUND")

edited Aug 25, 2016 at 15:38

answered Aug 25, 2016 at 14:15

Saurabh Gaur

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Peter M. - stands for Monica · Accepted Answer · 2016-12-05 18:34:22Z

-1

Even simpler than try/except is just use find_elements(). If not present, it will return empty list. If not empty, clink of first found: found[0].click()

answered Dec 5, 2016 at 18:34

Peter M. - stands for Monica

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