How to find element using type in Selenium and Python

Question

I have the below html code.

<div align="center">
    <input type="file" name="filePath"><br>
    <input type="Submit" value="Upload File"><br>
</div>

I am trying to find the two elements "file" and "submit" using Selenium with Python. Below is the code I have tried to use.

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.common.keys import Keys

# create a new Firefox session
driver = webdriver.Chrome()

# Maximize the browser window
driver.maximize_window()

# Enter the url to load
driver.get("<<MY PAGE TO LOAD>>")

# Wait for the page to load
driver.implicitly_wait(5)

# find the upload file type and pass a test value
upload_field = driver.find_element_by_partial_link_text('file')
upload_field.clear()
upload_field.send_keys("test")

When I run this code, I am able to load the page successfully in the Chrome browser but I get the below exception.

# Exception when trying to get element by type
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\TEST\Desktop\Test.py", line 33, in <module>
    upload_field = driver.find_element_by_partial_link_text('file')
  File "C:\Python\Python36\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\remote\webdriver.py", line 453, in find_element_by_partial_link_text
    return self.find_element(by=By.PARTIAL_LINK_TEXT, value=link_text)
  File "C:\Python\Python36\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\remote\webdriver.py", line 955, in find_element
    'value': value})['value']
  File "C:\Python\Python36\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\remote\webdriver.py", line 312, in execute
    self.error_handler.check_response(response)
  File "C:\Python\Python36\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\remote\errorhandler.py", line 237, 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":"file"}
  (Session info: chrome=63.0.3239.132)
  (Driver info: chromedriver=2.35.528161 (5b82f2d2aae0ca24b877009200ced9065a772e73),platform=Windows NT 10.0.14393 x86_64)

I looked at the solution provided here but this too is throwing an error. I am currently using Python 3.6.4 x64 with Selenium 3.8.1. My OS is Windows 7 x64 bit. How can I get elements with 'type' in html?

Nucleotidase

Why don't you try the complete xpath(//input[@name='filePath']) , instead of partial text. – Gaskell

A bit off-topic, but instead of using implicitly_wait use explicit wait. It'll be faster and more reliable. – Tagmemics

Answer 1

Checkout the docs on finding elements. I find xpaths or css selectors particularly powerful because they are extremely generalizable.

xpath

upload_field = driver.find_element_by_xpath("//input[@type='file']")

css selector

upload_field = driver.find_element_by_css_selector("input[name='filePath'][type='file']")

Lockjaw

Thanks @Alex. I used the driver.find_element_by_xpath method for finding both elements file and Submit. It worked flawlessly. I do have one more follow up query. The file element expects a file to be passed. What if I wanted the user to select the file of his choice rather than hardcoding it in the code? – Nucleotidase

@Nucleotidase This should pop up a dialog where the user can select a file... You might want to ask a new question if you are having trouble with it! – Lockjaw

Well it does not seem to be popping up the dialog box. But as you suggested, I can use 'tkinter` to make the user provide the path of the upload file separately. Thanks for the inputs and guidance. This solves all my problems with reading elements in selenium. – Nucleotidase

@Nucleotidase Glad to hear it! – Lockjaw

sorry but I have another query. Normally, the file to be uploaded would be huge. ~50-100mb size. The system does not show any 'upload completed' message once a file is uploaded. How to I ensure that the entire file is completely uploaded before I click the submit button? Do I need to raise this as a separate question in SO? – Nucleotidase

@Nucleotidase I don't know. You probably want to post a new question as this one is about selenium... You will get better responses if you have a question tagged with html. – Lockjaw

Answer 2

find_element_by_partial_link_text looks for the element text. In addition, it works only on <a> tags. For example, driver.find_element_by_partial_link_text('file') will match the following html

<a type="file" name="filePath">file</a>

But not your html as the element has no text.

You could locate the element by the name attribute instead

driver.find_element_by_name('filePath')

Hydromagnetics

Thanks @Guy, this works for the element file. It does not work for the element Submit. – Nucleotidase

@Nucleotidase Because submit doesn't have name attribute. You can use css_selector to locate by value, driver.find_element_by_css_selector('[value="Upload File"]') – Hydromagnetics

find_element_by_partial_link_text() works with links only (e.g. <a ...>...</a>)! Update your answer appropriately to not confuse OP – Multiangular

Answer 3

Its not the proper way to use the partial text in selenium . Please go through the link to understand how to use partial link https://www.softwaretestingmaterial.com/how-to-locate-element-by-link-text-and-partial-link-text-locator/

Answer to your question. Use the other attribute like name to identify the locator.

Otherwise try this locator "//input[@name='filePath']"

Gaskell

thanks for the inputs @Pradeep hebbar. I used the driver.find_element_by_partial_link_text incorrectly in this case. Appreciate you sharing the link on how it can be used correctly. It may help me in the future. – Nucleotidase

Answer 4

Method driver.find_element_by_css_selector is now deprecated in selenium >=4.3.0

From https://github.com/SeleniumHQ/selenium/blob/a4995e2c096239b42c373f26498a6c9bb4f2b3e7/py/CHANGES

Selenium 4.3.0

• Deprecated find_element_by_* and find_elements_by_* are now removed (#10712)

New method is:

driver.find_element('xpath', '//button[text()="Some text"]')

From https://selenium-python.readthedocs.io/locating-elements.html

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