CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonhtmlpython-3.xseleniumselenium-webdriver
WholesomeGhost
WholesomeGhost

Reputation: 1121

Can't find element by id using selenium

I am making a script in python that goes on a webpage https://www.realtor.ca/ and searches for a specific location. My problem is at the very beginning. When you open a page in the middle is a large search element. Html for that element is:

<input name="ctl00$elContent$ctl00$home_search_input"
 maxlength="255"  id="home_search_input" class="m_hme_srch_ipt_txtbox"
 type="text" style="display: none;">

I am trying to access the element with find_element_by_id method but I always get the error:Message: Unable to locate element: [id="home_search_input"]

This is my code:

from selenium import webdriver as web
Url = "https://www.realtor.ca/"
browser = web.Firefox()
browser.get(Url)
TextField = browser.find_element_by_id("home_search_input")

Has anyone encountered a similar problem or does anyone know how to fix it?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 3808

Answers (1)

ralph.mayr
ralph.mayr

Reputation: 1340

When navigating to the page, the element with the id home_search_input isn't visibble at first. It seems that this one only gets visible once you click the "Where are you looking" placeholder (which disappears then). You'll need to do this explicitly in your test.

Additionally make sure to use either implicit or explicit wait statements to ensure that the elements you interact with are properly loaded and rendered.

Here's an example for your page using the Java client bindings - Python should be quite similar:

driver.get("https://www.realtor.ca/");

new WebDriverWait(driver, 5).until(ExpectedConditions.elementToBeClickable(By.id("m_hme_wherelooking_lnk"))).click();
driver.findElement(By.id("home_search_input")).sendKeys("demo");

Upvotes: 3

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