An application has different Web Elements like buttons, text boxes, checkboxes, menus, sliders, and more. While testing using Selenium, you can simulate certain scenarios by automating low-level interactions with the WebElement(s) in the DOM, such as keypresses and mouse button operations (such as click, double click, and right-click). One such action is Mouse hover over a web element.&nbsp;



Moving the cursor over an element in a graphical user interface (GUI) without clicking is called hovering. In web design, hovering is frequently used to show more details or options related to an element. For instance, a submenu displaying more options may emerge when you hover over a menu item.&nbsp;



In this blog, we&#8217;d see how to perform mouse hover actions in Selenium WebDriver.



Let’s get started!



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#What_is_a_Mouse_Hover_Action">1 What is a Mouse Hover Action?</a></li><li><a href="#Importance_of_Mouse_Hover_Actions_in_GUI_Testing">2 Importance of Mouse Hover Actions in GUI Testing</a></li><li><a href="#Understanding_the_Actions_Class_in_Selenium">3 Understanding the Actions Class in Selenium</a><ul><li><a href="#Overview_of_the_Actions_Class">3.1 Overview of the Actions Class</a></li><li><a href="#Methods_and_Properties_of_the_Actions_Class">3.2 Methods and Properties of the Actions Class</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#How_to_implement_Mouse_Hover_in_Selenium_using_the_Actions_Class">4 How to implement Mouse Hover in Selenium using the Actions Class?</a></li><li><a href="#How_can_I_position_the_mouse_cursor_at_an_offset_element">5 How can I position the mouse cursor at an offset element?</a></li><li><a href="#Conclusion">6 Conclusion</a></li><li><a href="#Frequently_Asked_Questions">7 Frequently Asked Questions</a><ul><li><a href="#nbspHow_to_mouse_hover_and_click_in_selenium">7.1 &nbsp;How to mouse hover and click in selenium?</a></li><li><a href="#How_to_get_hover_text_in_Selenium">7.2 How to get hover text in Selenium?</a></li><li><a href="#How_to_perform_mouse_actions_in_selenium">7.3 How to perform mouse actions in selenium?</a></li></ul></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="h-what-is-a-mouse-hover-action">What is a Mouse Hover Action?</h2>



In <a href="https://www.selenium.dev/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Selenium</a>, you can simulate a mouse hover action to test an element&#8217;s behavior when it has hovered over. This involves using the Actions class to create a new Actions object and then using the moveToElement method to move the mouse cursor over the element. The perform method is then used to execute the mouse hover action.



<h2 id="h-importance-of-mouse-hover-actions-in-gui-testing">Importance of Mouse Hover Actions in GUI Testing</h2>



This type of interaction is common in many web applications and is used to display additional information or options associated with an element.&nbsp;



By testing the behavior of elements during mouse hover actions, you can verify that the application&#8217;s GUI is functioning as intended and that the user experience is consistent and intuitive. This is particularly important for applications that rely heavily on hover-based interactions, such as those with complex navigation menus or dynamic product displays.



Automating mouse hover actions in Selenium also helps to catch subtle bugs and design issues that may not be immediately apparent. For example, if the submenu appears in the wrong location or does not display the expected options, these issues can be identified and addressed before the application is released.



<h2 id="h-understanding-the-actions-class-in-selenium">Understanding the Actions Class in Selenium</h2>



<h3 id="h-overview-of-the-actions-class">Overview of the Actions Class</h3>



The Actions class in Selenium is a class used to simulate user interactions with a web page. It provides a way to perform advanced mouse and keyboard interactions, such as moving the mouse over an element, clicking and holding an element, and dragging and dropping elements. The Actions class is part of the org.openqa.selenium.interactions package in Selenium and can be used with the WebDriver API.



The Actions class has several methods and properties that allow you to simulate a wide range of user interactions. For example, the click method can be used to simulate a mouse click, the moveToElement method can be used to move the mouse over an element, and the keyDown method can be used to simulate a key press.



To use the Actions class, you must first create a new Actions object and then chain together the desired actions using the methods provided by the class. Once you have defined the actions you want to perform, you can use the perform method to execute the actions.



In summary, the Actions class in Selenium provides a powerful and flexible way to simulate advanced user interactions with a web page. It is an essential tool for performing mouse hover actions and other types of interactions in <a href="https://website.testsigma.com/blog/selenium-based-automated-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Selenium testing</a>.



<h3 id="h-methods-and-properties-of-the-actions-class">Methods and Properties of the Actions Class</h3>



The Actions class in Selenium has several methods and properties that can be used to simulate user interactions with a web page. Some of the most commonly used methods and properties are listed below:



Methods:



<ul><li>click: Simulates a mouse click on an element.</li><li>clickAndHold: Clicks and holds down the mouse button on an element.</li><li>doubleClick: Performs a double-click on an element.</li><li>keyDown: Simulates pressing a key on the keyboard.</li><li>keyUp: Simulates releasing a key on the keyboard.</li><li>moveToElement: Moves the mouse cursor over an element.</li><li>release: Releases the mouse button.</li><li>sendKeys: Simulates typing text on the keyboard.</li><li>perform: Executes the defined actions.</li></ul>



<h2 id="h-how-to-implement-mouse-hover-in-selenium-using-the-actions-class">How to implement Mouse Hover in Selenium using the Actions Class?</h2>



In Selenium, the Actions class can be used to perform mouse hover actions. Here&#8217;s how you can perform a mouse hover using the Actions class in Selenium:



Syntax:



moveToElement​(WebElement element)&nbsp;– Move the mouse to the middle of the element (i.e. element) which is passed to the method



Step by Step explanation



1. Set the chrome driver path



System.setProperty(&#8220;webdriver.chrome.driver&#8221;, &#8220;/path/to/chromedriver&#8221;);



2. Instantiate the browser driver



WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();



3. Launch the browser and website



driver.get(&#8220;https://www.example.com&#8221;);
WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.id(&#8220;locatorvalue&#8221;));



4. Create an instance of an Actions class



Actions actions = new Actions(driver);



5. Perform the Mouse hover action



actions.moveToElement(element).build().perform();



Code Snippet:&nbsp;



package demo;

import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.interactions.Actions;

public class MouseHover {
 public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
 // Set the path of the ChromeDriver
 System.setProperty(&#8220;webdriver.chrome.driver&#8221;, &#8220;.\\chromedriver.exe&#8221;);

 // Instantiate the Chrome driver
 WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();

 // Launch a website
 driver.get(&#8220;https://website.testsigma.com/&#8221;);
 driver.manage().window().maximize();
 // Identify the element to be hovered
 WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.xpath(&#8220;//a[text()=&#8217;Resources&#8217;]&#8221;));

 // Instantiate the Actions class
 Actions actions = new Actions(driver);

 // Perform the mouse hover action
 actions.moveToElement(element).build().perform();
 
 // close the browser
 driver.close();
 }
}



<h2 id="h-how-can-i-position-the-mouse-cursor-at-an-offset-element">How can I position the mouse cursor at an offset element?</h2>



In Selenium, the Actions class can be used to move the mouse cursor to a specific offset relative to an element. Here&#8217;s how you can perform this action using the Actions class in Selenium:



Syntax:



moveToElement​(WebElement, X, Y)&nbsp;– Move to an offset (x_Offset and y_Offset) from the WebElement’s in canter viewpoint.



Code Snippet:



package demo;
import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.interactions.Actions;

public class MouseHoverByOffset {
 public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
 //Set the path of the Chromedriver path
 System.setProperty(&#8220;webdriver.chrome.driver&#8221;, &#8220;C:\\Users\\sgokhru\\Downloads\\chromedriver_win32\\chromedriver.exe&#8221;);

 //Instantiate the Chrome driver
 WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();

 //Launch the website
 driver.get(&#8220;https://website.testsigma.com/&#8221;);
 driver.manage().window().maximize();

 //Identify the element to be hovered
 WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.xpath(&#8220;//a[text()=&#8217;Resources&#8217;]&#8221;));

 //Instantiate of the Actions class
 Actions actions = new Actions(driver);

 // Perform the mouse hover action
 actions.moveToElement(element, 10, 20).build().perform();
 Thread.sleep(3000);
 //close the browser
 driver.close();
 }
}



In this example, the Chrome driver is being used, so the path to the chromedriver executable must be set. The element_id is the id of the element on the page to which you want to move the mouse cursor. The Actions class is used to simulate mouse events, and the moveToElement method is used to move the mouse to a specific offset relative to the specified element. 



The first argument to the moveToElement method is the element, and the second and third arguments are the x and y offsets, respectively. The build method is used to compile the actions into a single step, and the perform method is used to execute the actions.



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<h2 id="h-conclusion">Conclusion</h2>



In conclusion, mouse hover is a commonly used interaction in web applications and can be easily simulated using the Actions class in Selenium. The Actions class provides a way to simulate mouse and keyboard events in the browser, and the moveToElement method can be used to perform mouse hover actions. You can also move the mouse cursor to a specific offset relative to an element by using the moveToElement method with x and y offset arguments.



It&#8217;s important to note that mouse hover actions can be used to uncover hidden elements or drop-down menus and can be useful in navigating and <a href="https://website.testsigma.com/automated-web-application-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">testing web applications</a>.&nbsp;



<h2 id="h-frequently-asked-questions">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>



<h3 id="h-how-to-mouse-hover-and-click-in-selenium">&nbsp;How to mouse hover and click in selenium?</h3>



You can perform a mouse hover and click action in Selenium using the following steps in Java:



<ul><li>Locate the element: First, you need to locate the element you want to perform the mouse hover and click action on. You can locate the element using its id, class name, xpath, or any other method supported by Selenium.</li> <li>Import the Actions class: In order to perform mouse actions, you need to import the Actions class from the org.openqa.selenium.interactions.Actions package.</li> <li>Create an instance of Actions: After importing the Actions class, create an instance of Actions and pass the web driver instance as the parameter.</li> <li>Mouse hover: Use the moveToElement method of the Actions class to move the mouse cursor over the element you want to hover.</li> <li>Click: To perform the click action, use the click method of the Actions class.</li></ul>



Syntax :



WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.id(&#8220;element-id&#8221;));
 Actions actions = new Actions(driver);
 actions.moveToElement(element).perform();
 actions.click(element).perform();



 <h3 id="h-how-to-get-hover-text-in-selenium">How to get hover text in Selenium?</h3>



In Selenium, you can get the text displayed on an element when you hover over element by using the following steps in Java:



<ul><li>Locate the element: First, you need to locate the element you want to get the hover text from. You can locate the element using its id, class name, xpath, or any other method supported by Selenium.</li> <li>Import the Actions class: In order to perform mouse actions, you need to import the Actions class from the org.openqa.selenium.interactions.Actions package.</li> <li>Create an instance of Actions: After importing the Actions class, create an instance of Actions and pass the web driver instance as the parameter.</li> <li>Mouse hover: Use the moveToElement method of the Actions class to move the mouse cursor over the element you want to hover.</li> <li>Get the hover text: To get the hover text, you can use the getAttribute method of the WebElement class and pass the title as the argument. The title attribute contains the text displayed when you hover over the element.</li></ul>



Syntax:



WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.id(&#8220;element-id&#8221;));
 Actions actions = new Actions(driver);
 actions.moveToElement(element).perform();
 String hoverText = element.getAttribute(&#8220;title&#8221;);
 System.out.println(&#8220;Hover text: &#8221; + hoverText);



 <h3 id="h-how-to-perform-mouse-actions-in-selenium">How to perform mouse actions in selenium?</h3>



In Selenium, you can perform mouse actions (such as hover, click, right-click, double-click, etc.) in Java by using the Actions class. Here&#8217;s how you can do it:



<ul><li>Import the Actions class: Import the Actions class from the org.openqa.selenium.interactions.Actions package.</li> <li>Create an instance of Actions: Create an instance of Actions and pass the web driver instance as the parameter.</li> <li>Locate the element: Locate the element you want to perform the mouse action on.</li> <li>Perform the mouse action: Use the appropriate method of the Actions class to perform the mouse action. For example, to perform a mouse hover, use the moveToElement method. To click an element, use the click method. To right-click an element, use the contextClick method. To double-click, an element, use the doubleClick method.</li> <li>Build and perform the action: After performing the mouse action, you need to call the build method of the Actions class and then call the perform method to execute the action.</li></ul>



Here&#8217;s an example that demonstrates how to perform a double click in Selenium:



Syntax:



WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.id(&#8220;element-id&#8221;));
 Actions actions = new Actions(driver);
actions.doubleClick(element ).perform();

How to perform Mouse Hover Action in Selenium

When automating a web application, we occasionally run across the NoSuchElementException exception, which is thrown when the element being interacted with cannot be located.



The main reason for this error is that the element that has to be interacted with is present on the page but takes some time to load and show up for the user. You can see how this could become a significant problem during automation and cause our scripts to fail. Here is when Selenium Java&#8217;s Thread.sleep() function comes into action. 



Let&#8217;s first learn the fundamentals of the Thread.sleep() Selenium sleep function before we look at how to use it effectively.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Overview_of_Threadsleep">1 Overview of Thread.sleep()?</a></li><li><a href="#Types_of_Wait_Commands_in_Selenium_Java">2 Types of Wait Commands in Selenium Java.</a></li><li><a href="#How_does_Threadsleep_work">3 How does Thread.sleep() work?</a></li><li><a href="#Why_Do_We_Use_Threadsleep_in_Selenium">4 Why Do We Use Thread.sleep() in Selenium?</a></li><li><a href="#How_to_use_Threadsleep_in_Selenium_test_automation">5 How to use Thread.sleep() in Selenium test automation?</a></li><li><a href="#Alternatives_to_Threadsleep">6 Alternatives to Thread.sleep().</a></li><li><a href="#Limitation_of_Threadsleep">7 Limitation of Thread.sleep().</a></li><li><a href="#Conclusion">8 Conclusion</a><ul><li><a href="#A_new_approach_to_Test_Automation">8.1 A new approach to Test Automation</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Frequently_Asked_Questions">9 Frequently Asked Questions:</a><ul><li><a href="#What_is_the_alternative_for_thread_sleep_in_Selenium">9.1 What is the alternative for thread sleep in Selenium?</a></li></ul></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="h-overview-of-thread-sleep">Overview of Thread.sleep()?</h2>



Thread.sleep is a <a href="https://website.testsigma.com/blog/selenium-wait-for-page-to-load/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wait command in Selenium</a>&nbsp; that instructs the program to suspend the execution for a certain condition or a specific amount of time.



Here are some reasons why wait commands are necessary in Selenium.



<ul><li>Page loading: Web pages can take varying amounts of time to load depending on network speed, server response time, and other factors. If you try to interact with elements on the page before the page has fully loaded, your script may fail.</li> <li>Dynamic content: Many modern web pages use dynamic content that is loaded asynchronously, meaning that it can take time for certain elements to become available. If you try to interact with these elements before they are available, your script may fail.</li> <li>Latency: Network latency can cause delays in the time it takes for elements on a page to become available. If you don&#8217;t use wait commands, your script may fail if it attempts to interact with elements before they are fully loaded.</li> <li>Animations: Some web pages use animations or other visual effects that can cause delays in the loading of elements or the timing of events on the page. If you don&#8217;t use wait commands, your script may fail if it attempts to interact with elements during these animations.</li></ul>



<h2 id="types-of-wait-commands-in-selenium-java">Types of Wait Commands in Selenium Java.</h2>



There are three types of wait commands in Selenium Java:



<ul><li>Implicit Wait: Implicit waits are used to set a default waiting time for the web driver to search for an element if it is not immediately available. It is applied to the driver instance globally and is set using the driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait() method. Once set, the implicit wait will remain in effect for the entire lifetime of the WebDriver object, and it will wait for the specified time before throwing a NoSuchElementException. This is useful when you have to perform several operations on a web page that may load or change over time.</li> <li>Explicit Wait: Explicit waits are used to wait for a specific condition to occur before proceeding further in the script. You can define a custom wait condition using the ExpectedConditions class provided by Selenium. The explicit wait is triggered when you use the WebDriverWait class and specify a maximum wait time using the until method. It checks for the presence, visibility, or any other condition of a web element before proceeding. If the condition is not met within the specified time, it throws a TimeoutException.</li> <li>Fluent Wait: Fluent waits are used to define more complex waiting strategies that involve polling for an element repeatedly until a specific condition is met. It can be used to wait for an element to become clickable, and visible, or to wait for a certain amount of time. It is created using the Wait interface and is used to define the maximum wait time, the polling interval, and the condition to wait for. The fluent wait is more flexible than the implicit and explicit waits and allows you to define a custom condition and polling interval, making it useful for waiting for elements that may load or change over time.</li></ul>



Using these wait commands can help to ensure that your Selenium scripts are more stable and reliable by allowing the script to wait for the web page to load or for specific elements to become available before proceeding further.



<h2 id="how-does-thread-sleep-work">How does Thread.sleep() work?</h2>



Thread.sleep() is a method in Java that pauses the current thread for a specified amount of time, allowing other threads to execute. When you call Thread.sleep(), the current thread enters a blocked state for the duration of the sleep period. During this time, the thread doesn&#8217;t execute any code and doesn&#8217;t consume any CPU resources.



Here&#8217;s how Thread.sleep() works:



<ol><li>When you call Thread.sleep(), the current thread enters a blocked state, which means it&#8217;s waiting for a certain amount of time to elapse.</li> <li>The thread scheduler removes the blocked thread from the list of threads that are ready to execute and puts it in a waiting state.</li> <li>While the thread is in a waiting state, the CPU is free to execute other threads that are ready to run.</li> <li>After the specified time has elapsed, the thread scheduler moves the blocked thread back to the list of threads that are ready to execute.</li> <li>The blocked thread is now ready to execute again, and the CPU can execute it along with other ready threads.</li></ol>



It&#8217;s important to note that the actual amount of time that a thread is blocked by Thread.sleep() may be longer or shorter than the specified sleep period. This is because the thread scheduler doesn&#8217;t guarantee precise timing of thread execution, and there may be other factors that affect the thread&#8217;s ability to execute, such as CPU load or other system resources.



<h2 id="why-do-we-use-thread-sleep-in-selenium">Why Do We Use Thread.sleep() in Selenium?</h2>



In Selenium sleep, Thread.sleep() is used to add a delay between operations or to wait for an element to appear on the page. This delay can be useful in a variety of scenarios, such as:



<ul><li>Waiting for page loading: Sometimes, the web page can take a while to load, and you need to wait for it to finish loading before performing any operations on it. In this case, Thread.sleep() can be used to add a delay to allow the page to finish loading.</li> <li>Waiting for element visibility: In some cases, you may need to wait for an element to become visible on the page before you can interact with it. Thread.sleep() can be used to wait for the element to appear on the page.</li> <li>Waiting for element interaction: Sometimes, you need to wait for an element to be interactable before you can click on it or perform any other operation on it. In this case, Thread.sleep() can be used to add a delay to allow the element to become interactable.</li></ul>



<h2 id="how-to-use-thread-sleep-in-selenium-test-automation">How to use Thread.sleep() in Selenium test automation?</h2>



To use the Thread.sleep() method in Java, you need to have a Java program with at least one thread. The Thread.sleep() method is used to pause the execution of a thread for a specified amount of time.



Snippet Code:



<styled-code>
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;
import org.testng.Assert;
import org.testng.annotations.Test;

public class Sample {
	@Test
	public void TestSigmaLogin() {
		System.setProperty(&#8220;webdriver.chrome.driver&#8221;, &#8220;path of driver&#8221;);

		WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(); // instantiate the browser
		driver.manage().window().maximize(); // maximize the browser
		driver.get(&#8220;https://app.testsigma.com/ui&#8221;); // opening the application
		Thread.sleep(3000); //It will wait for 3sec.
											 
		driver.findElement(By.id(&#8220;loginUsername&#8221;)).sendKeys(&#8220;xxxxxx@abc.com&#8221;);			 driver.findElement(By.name(&#8220;password&#8221;)).sendKeys(&#8220;xxxxxxx&#8221;); 
		driver.findElement(By.xpath(&#8220;//button[text()=&#8217;SIGN IN&#8217;]&#8221;)).click();
											
		String actualURL = &#8220;https://app.testsigma.com/home&#8221;;
		String expectedURL = driver.getCurrentUrl(); // It will fetch the current URL
		Assert.assertEquals(expectedURL, actualURL); 
		driver.close(); // It will close the current browser.
	}
}
</styled-code>



<h2 id="alternatives-to-thread-sleep">Alternatives to Thread.sleep().</h2>



<ol><li>Implicit waits: Implicit waits are used to tell Selenium to wait for a certain amount of time before throwing a &#8220;NoSuchElementException&#8221;. Implicit waits are set once and will be in effect for the entire duration of your test script.</li></ol>



Syntax:



<styled-code>
driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
</styled-code>



This code will set the implicit wait time to 10 seconds. If the element is not found within 10 seconds, a&nbsp; &nbsp; &#8220;NoSuchElementException&#8221; will be thrown.



 <ol start="2"><li>Explicit waits: Explicit waits are used to tell Selenium to wait for a certain condition to occur before moving on to the next step in your script. You can specify the maximum amount of time to wait, and the condition that must be met.</li></ol>



Syntax:



<styled-code>
WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(driver, 10);
WebElement element = wait.until(ExpectedConditions.elementToBeClickable(By.id(&#8220;someid&#8221;)));
</styled-code>



This code will wait up to 10 seconds for the element with the ID &#8220;someid&#8221; to be clickable. Once the element is clickable, it will be returned and you can interact with it.



 <ol start="3"><li>Fluent waits: Fluent waits are similar to explicit waits, but they allow you to chain together multiple conditions that must be met before moving on to the next step in your script.</li></ol>



Syntax:



<styled-code>
Wait<WebDriver> wait = new FluentWait<WebDriver>(driver)
 .withTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(10))
 .pollingEvery(Duration.ofSeconds(1))
 .ignoring(NoSuchElementException.class);

WebElement element = wait.until(new Function<WebDriver, WebElement>() {
 public WebElement apply(WebDriver driver) {
 return driver.findElement(By.id(&#8220;someid&#8221;));
 }
});
</styled-code>



 <h2 id="limitation-of-thread-sleep">Limitation of Thread.sleep().</h2>



There are several limitations of using Thread.sleep() in your code:



<ul><li>Fixed wait time: When you use Thread.sleep(), you are specifying a fixed wait time, which means your code will wait for that exact amount of time before moving on to the next step, regardless of whether the operation it is waiting for has actually finished. This can cause your code to waste time waiting for something that has already been completed, or to move on before an operation has finished.</li> <li>Inaccurate timing: The Thread.sleep() method can be inaccurate, as the time it waits can be affected by external factors such as the performance of the machine running the code or other processes that are running at the same time.</li> <li>Hard to maintain: When you use Thread.sleep(), it can be difficult to maintain your code over time, as you may need to adjust the wait times based on changes to your application or system performance. This can make your code harder to read and understand.</li> <li>Potential for race conditions: Using Thread.sleep() can also create potential race conditions in your code, where one thread is waiting for a certain amount of time while another thread is attempting to perform an operation that the first thread is waiting for. This can cause unexpected behavior and bugs in your code.</li></ul>



<h2 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h2>



Waits play a significant role in<a href="https://website.testsigma.com/automated-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> test automation</a>. The Cost of maintenance becomes a challenge without using correct waiting techniques. In the above article, we have advantages and disadvantages for Thread.sleep().



Thread.sleep() has its own limitation. Waits like implicit and explicit waits are more precise and maintainable than Thread.sleep(), as they allow you to specify the maximum amount of time to wait, and the condition that must be met.



Waits like implicit and explicit waits are more precise and maintainable than Thread.sleep(), as they allow you to specify the maximum amount of time to wait, and the condition that must be met



<h3 id="a-new-approach-to-test-automation">A new approach to Test Automation</h3>



While Selenium is an open source and free tool for automating your cross browser tests, it also requires coding expertise. There might be times when you need a tool that would let you do all you do in Selenium, without the need of any coding experience. At such times you can use Testsigma, a no-code test automation tool that is open source too. With Testsigma, You can automate your tests for web, mobile, APIs and desktops from the same place. Not only that, you can start <a href="https://website.testsigma.com/blog/what-types-of-test-cases-should-be-automated-for-efficient-cross-browser-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">automating your test cases</a> with Testsigma, from day 1.



<button class="btn bg-primary cta-btn" style="display: block;
 margin: auto;"><a href="https://github.com/testsigmahq/testsigma" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color:#fff">Get Testsigma Open Source Here</a></button>



 <h2 id="frequently-asked-questions">Frequently Asked Questions:</h2>



<h3 id="what-is-the-alternative-for-thread-sleep-in-selenium">What is the alternative for thread sleep in Selenium?</h3>



In Selenium, there are several alternatives to using Thread.sleep() to pause the execution of your test script for a specific amount of time:



<ol><li>Implicit Wait</li><li>Explicit Wait</li><li>Fluent Wait.</li></ol>

Role of Thread.sleep() in Selenium Webdriver

Role of Thread.sleep() in Selenium

A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is a web address that specifies the location of a resource on the internet. The URL of an application typically refers to the web address or endpoint that allows users to access or interact with the application.



The URL of an application can vary depending on the specific application and how it is hosted or deployed. For example, if the application is a web-based application hosted on a server, the URL may look something like this:



http://www.example.com/my-application/



If the application is a mobile application, the URL may refer to a specific endpoint or resource that the application interacts with through an API (Application Programming Interface).



It is important to test the URL-related functionality, and <a href="https://www.selenium.dev/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Selenium</a> helps us validate URL or related content.&nbsp;



getCurrentUrl() is a method in Selenium WebDriver that retrieves the current URL of the web page opened in the browser. This method returns a String value representing the current URL of the web page.



Let’s get started!



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Pre-requisite">1 Pre-requisite</a></li><li><a href="#Selenium_and_Selenium_WebDriver">2 Selenium and Selenium WebDriver</a></li><li><a href="#How_to_get_the_current_URL_in_Selenium_8211_Java">3 How to get the current URL in Selenium &#8211; Java?</a><ul><li><a href="#Code_Snippet">3.1 Code Snippet:</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Conclusion">4 Conclusion</a></li><li><a href="#Frequently_Asked_Questions">5 Frequently Asked Questions</a><ul><li><a href="#What_are_the_different_methods_to_open_a_URL_in_Selenium">5.1 What are the different methods to open a URL in Selenium?</a></li><li><a href="#How_to_get_the_current_URL_in_Selenium_using_JavaScript_executor">5.2 How to get the current URL in Selenium using JavaScript executor?</a></li></ul></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="h-pre-requisite">Pre-requisite</h2>



To get started with <a href="https://website.testsigma.com/blog/selenium-based-automated-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Selenium</a> automation getCurrentUrl(), the following components are necessary:



<ol><li>Download and Install JDK</li> <li>Download and Install IDE (Integrated Development Environment) like Eclipse, and IntelliJ</li> <li>Selenium Client Configuration</li> <li>Integrate TestNG with IDE</li> <li>Browser drivers for Firefox, Chrome, IE, etc.</li></ol>



<h2 id="h-selenium-and-selenium-webdriver">Selenium and Selenium WebDriver</h2>



Selenium is an open-source test automation framework that automates web browsers. It is used for functional and <a href="https://website.testsigma.com/regression-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">regression testing</a> of web applications and supports a variety of programming languages, including Java, Python, C#, and Ruby.



Selenium WebDriver is a component of the Selenium framework that automates the interaction of a web browser with a web application. It provides a programming interface for controlling and automating web browsers. This allows users to perform actions like clicking buttons, filling out forms, and navigating between pages. WebDriver supports several popular web browsers, including Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Internet Explorer.



Selenium WebDriver provides a rich set of APIs that enable developers to write automated tests in their preferred programming language, making it a flexible and powerful tool for automating web applications. Its key features include support for multiple browsers and operating systems, the ability to interact with <a href="https://website.testsigma.com/blog/web-element-in-selenium/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">web elements</a> using a variety of locators, and the ability to wait for elements to load and perform actions asynchronously.



Overall, Selenium and Selenium WebDriver are popular tools in the field of <a href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">test automation</a>, providing a robust and flexible solution for <a href="https://website.testsigma.com/website-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">automating web application testing</a>.



<h2 id="h-how-to-get-the-current-url-in-selenium-java">How to get the current URL in Selenium &#8211; Java?</h2>



In Selenium-Java, you can use the getCurrentUrl() method of the WebDriver interface to get the current URL of the web page.



Method name &#8211; getCurrentUrl()



<h3 id="h-code-snippet">Code Snippet:</h3> 




import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;

import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
public class CurrentUrl{
 public static void main(String[] args) {
 System.setProperty(&#8220;webdriver.chrome.driver&#8221;, &#8220;C:\Users\Sgokhru\Desktop\Java\chromedriver.exe&#8221;);
 WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();
 String url = &#8221; https://website.testsigma.com/&#8221;;
 driver.get(url);
 driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
 // get the current URL
 String strUrl = driver.getCurrentUrl();
 //Print the URL
 System.out.println(&#8220;Current Url is:&#8221;+ strUrl);
 //Close the browser
 driver.close();
 }
}




In this example, we first create a new instance of the Chrome driver and navigate to a web page using the get() method. Then, we call getCurrentUrl() to get the current URL of the web page and store it in a String variable called currentUrl. Finally, we print the current URL to the console and close the browser using the close() method.



getCurrentUrl() returns a String that represents the URL of the current web page. This method can be useful for verifying that the browser has navigated to the expected URL, or for capturing the current URL for later use in your test script.



<h2 id="h-conclusion">Conclusion</h2>



The getCurrentUrl() method in Selenium Java is a useful method that returns the URL of the current web page being displayed in the browser. It verifies that the browser has navigated to the expected URL after performing some action, such as clicking a link or submitting a form.



This method is part of the WebDriver interface, which is the main interface used to control the browser in Selenium. It can be called on an instance of the WebDriver object, which is typically obtained by instantiating a subclass of the WebDriver interface, such as the ChromeDriver or FirefoxDriver.



<h2 id="h-frequently-asked-questions">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>



<h3 id="h-what-are-the-different-methods-to-open-a-url-in-selenium">What are the different methods to open a URL in Selenium?</h3>



There are several methods in Selenium to open a URL:



<ul><li>get(): The get() method is the most commonly used method to open a URL in Selenium. It opens the specified URL in the current browser window or tab. Example: driver.get(&#8220;https://www.example.com&#8221;)</li> <li>navigate().to(): The navigate().to() method is also used to open a URL, but it provides more flexibility than get(). It allows you to navigate back and forward through the browser history, and also to refresh the page. Example: driver.navigate().to(&#8220;https://www.example.com&#8221;)</li></ul>



<h3 id="h-how-to-get-the-current-url-in-selenium-using-javascript-executor">How to get the current URL in Selenium using JavaScript executor?</h3>



You can get the current URL in Selenium using JavaScript executor in the following way:




JavascriptExecutor js = (JavascriptExecutor) driver;
String currentURL = (String) js.executeScript(&#8220;return window.location.href;&#8221;);
System.out.println(&#8220;The current URL is: &#8221; + currentURL);

Selenium Get Current URL using Java: Tutorial

The most fundamental step in <a href="https://website.testsigma.com/automated-web-application-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">web test automation</a> is element identification. There are numerous methods for QEs to locate elements. In <a href="https://www.selenium.dev/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Selenium</a>, Find element by Text is used to locate a web element based on its text attribute. The text value is mostly used when the basic element identification properties, such as ID or Class, are dynamic and make it difficult to locate the web element.



In such cases,&nbsp; it becomes very difficult to <a href="https://website.testsigma.com/blog/element-locators-automated-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">locate web elements</a>. One option that comes to save us is text or partial text attributes.



In this blog, we will see how text or partial text can be useful when other IDs or class name are dynamic.&nbsp;



Let’s get started.&nbsp;



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#What_is_Find_Element_in_Selenium">1 What is Find Element in Selenium?</a></li><li><a href="#Difference_between_findElement_and_findElements">2 Difference between findElement and findElements</a></li><li><a href="#How_to_Find_Element_by_Text_in_Selenium_for_a_Complete_Text_match">3 How to Find Element by Text in Selenium for a Complete Text match</a><ul><li><a href="#Code_snippetnbsp">3.1 Code snippet:&nbsp;</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#How_to_Find_Elements_by_Text_in_Selenium_for_Partial_Text_match">4 How to Find Elements by Text in Selenium for Partial Text match</a><ul><li><a href="#Code_Snippet">4.1 Code Snippet:</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Conclusion">5 Conclusion</a></li><li><a href="#Frequently_Asked_Questions">6 Frequently Asked Questions</a><ul><li><a href="#How_do_you_search_text_in_Selenium">6.1 How do you search text in Selenium?</a></li><li><a href="#How_do_I_find_an_element_by_tag">6.2 How do I find an element by tag?</a></li><li><a href="#How_to_use_Selenium_to_find_elements_by_Attribute_Value">6.3 How to use Selenium to find elements by Attribute Value?</a></li></ul></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="h-what-is-find-element-in-selenium">What is Find Element in Selenium?</h2>



When you begin writing your Selenium automation script, the interaction with web elements is the first and most important step because it is the WebElements you experiment with within your test script. Interaction with these web elements is now possible only if you identify them correctly.



&#8220;Find Element&#8221; in Selenium refers to the process of locating a web element on a page, such as a button, text box, or link, in order to interact with it through a script. This is typically done using the Selenium WebDriver&#8217;s find_element_by_locator method, where a locator can be a unique identifier of a web element such as &#8220;id&#8221;, &#8220;name&#8221;, &#8220;class name&#8221;, &#8220;xpath&#8221;, etc. The method returns the first web element that matches the search criteria.



The syntax for find element is:



WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.xpath(“//*[text()=’xyz’]”));



Different types of locators:



<ul><li>ID</li><li>Name</li><li>Class Name</li><li>Tag Name</li><li>Link Text</li><li>Partial Link Text</li><li>XPath</li><li>CSS Selector</li></ul>



<h2 id="h-difference-between-findelement-and-findelements">Difference between findElement and findElements</h2>



findElement and findElements in Selenium with Java are used to locate web elements on a page.



The difference between the two methods is that findElement returns a single WebElement object that represents the first element on the page that matches the search criteria, while findElements returns a list of all WebElement objects that match the search criteria.



For example, if you want to locate a button with the text &#8220;Submit&#8221; on a page, you could use the following code:



WebElement submitButton = driver.findElement(By.xpath(&#8220;//button[text()=&#8217;Submit&#8217;]&#8221;));



And if you want to locate all the links on a page, you could use the following code:



List links = driver.findElements(By.tagName (&#8220;a&#8221;));



 <h2 id="h-how-to-find-element-by-text-in-selenium-for-a-complete-text-match">How to Find Element by Text in Selenium for a Complete Text match</h2>



To find an element by its text in Selenium for a complete text match in Java, you can use the XPath locator strategy and the text() function.



To understand it better, let’s consider a use case.&nbsp;



Use case:



<ol><li>Launch the Testsigma website.</li> <li>Identify the web element and capture the text of the button ‘Schedule a demo’</li> <li>Compare the expected value to the actual.</li> <li>Close the browser.</li></ol>



<h3 id="h-code-snippet">Code snippet:&nbsp;</h3> 



package demo;
import static org.testng.Assert.assertEquals;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;


public class CompleteText{
	public static void main(String[] args) {

		System.setProperty(&#8220;webdriver.chrome.driver&#8221;, &#8220;C:\\Users\\sgokhru\\Downloads\\chromedriver_win32\\chromedriver.exe&#8221;);

		WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();
		String url = &#8220;https://testsigma.com&#8221;;
		driver.get(url);
		driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);

		// Locating element with text()
		WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.xpath(&#8220;//span[text()=&#8217;Schedule a demo &#8216;]&#8221;));
		assertEquals(element .getText(), &#8220;Schedule a demo&#8221;);
		System.out.println(&#8220;Both the text are equal&#8221;);
		driver.quit();
	}
}



 <h2 id="h-how-to-find-elements-by-text-in-selenium-for-partial-text-match">How to Find Elements by Text in Selenium for Partial Text match</h2>



The contains() function is a built-in XPath function that is used to search for a substring within a string.



To understand it better, let’s consider a use case.



Use case:



<ol><li>Launch the website&nbsp; &#8211; https://testsigma.com</li> <li>Identify the WebElement and capture the text of ‘&#8217;Build stable and reliable automated tests’</li> <li>Compare the expected value to the actual.</li> <li>Close the browser.</li></ol>



<h3 id="h-code-snippet-1">Code Snippet:</h3> 



package demo;
import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
public class PartialText{
	public static void main(String[] args) {

		System.setProperty(&#8220;webdriver.chrome.driver&#8221;,
				&#8220;C:\\Users\\sgokhru\\Downloads\\chromedriver_win32\\chromedriver.exe&#8221;);

		WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();
		String url = &#8220;https://testsigma.com&#8221;;
		driver.get(url);
		//It will maximize the browser
		driver.manage().window().maximize();
		
		driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);

// Locating element with text()
		WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.xpath(&#8220;//p[contains(text(), &#8216;Build stable and reliable automated tests&#8217;)]&#8221;));

		System.out.println(&#8220;Element with text(): &#8221; + element.getText());
		driver.quit();
	}
}



<h2 id="h-conclusion">Conclusion</h2>



In this blog, we looked at finding an element using text() method. We saw how to use the text() method for both full and partial text matches. We also saw how we could use it in the FindElements case to get a list of Web Elements via text match. Using a text() can be really useful when other attributes such as IDs or class names are dynamic in nature, and they keep changing the moment you refresh your page.



As evident, to use Selenium, one needs to be an expert in one of the programming languages. There is where a no-code test automation comes in. <a href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Testsigma</a> is a no-code, AI-powered test automation tool that lets you create test cases in minutes, using plain English NLPs. You don’t need to learn coding, and it’s open source too!



<button class="btn bg-primary cta-btn" style="margin: auto"><a href="https://github.com/testsigmahq/testsigma" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color:#fff">Check out Testsigma Open Source</a></button>



Happy Testing..!



<h2 id="h-frequently-asked-questions">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>



<h3 id="h-how-do-you-search-text-in-selenium">How do you search text in Selenium?</h3>



You can search for text in Selenium using the findElement or findElements method. The getText() method in Selenium Java is used to retrieve the text content of an element on a web page.



<h3 id="h-how-do-i-find-an-element-by-tag">How do I find an element by tag?</h3>



In Selenium, you can find an element on a web page by its HTML tag name using the findElement or findElements method and the By.tagName locator strategy. Here&#8217;s an example using the findElement method to find a single input element:



WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.tagName(&#8220;input&#8221;));



<h3 id="h-how-to-use-selenium-to-find-elements-by-attribute-value">How to use Selenium to find elements by Attribute Value?</h3>



In Selenium, you can find elements on a web page by their attribute value using the findElement or findElements method and a locator strategy such as By.xpath or By.cssSelector. Here&#8217;s an example using the findElement method to find an element with a specific value for the &#8220;value&#8221; attribute:



WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.xpath(&#8220;//*[@value=&#8217;Search Value&#8217;]&#8221;));



In this example, the driver is an instance of the WebDriver interface, and By.xpath(&#8220;//*[@value=&#8217;Search Value&#8217;]&#8221;) specifies the locator strategy and the value to search for.



You can replace &#8220;value&#8221; with any other attribute name, and &#8220;Search Value&#8221; with the desired attribute value, to search for elements with different attribute values.

How to Find Element by Text in Selenium: Tutorial with Example

Page Object Model and Page Factory in Selenium WebDriver

Page Factory and Page Object Model in Selenium WebDriver

Action Class in Selenium: Its Method and Implementation

How to Setup and Configure Selenium WebDriver with Eclipse

When you encounter 404/Page Not Found/Dead Hyperlinks on a website, what do you think of it? You would find it irritating to encounter broken links, so you should continuously concentrate on eliminating their presence in your web product (or website).



The rankings of your web product on search engines (like Google) will also suffer if it contains numerous pages (or links) that lead to a 404 error (or page not found). Dead links could damage the credibility of your product as the user needed to get the information for which they have visited the page.&nbsp;



In this blog, we will look into finding and locating broken links using Selenium WebDriver; 



Check out this detailed tutorial on how to use <a href="https://website.testsigma.com/blog/selenium-based-automated-testing/#Selenium_WebDriver" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Selenium WebDriver</a> to know more about what and how to use Selenium WebDriver.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#What_are_Broken_links">1 What are Broken links?</a></li><li><a href="#Common_Reasons_for_Broken_Links">2 Common Reasons for Broken Links.</a></li><li><a href="#Reasons_to_Check_for_Broken_Links">3 Reasons to Check for Broken Links</a></li><li><a href="#Different_HTTP_Status_Codes">4 Different HTTP Status Codes</a></li><li><a href="#How_to_Find_Broken_Links_in_the_Selenium_WebDriver">5 How to Find Broken Links in the Selenium WebDriver?</a><ul><li><a href="#1_Retrieve_all_links_from_a_web_page">5.1 1. Retrieve all links from a web page: </a></li><li><a href="#2_Verify_each_link">5.2 2. Verify each link: </a></li><li><a href="#3_Check_the_status_code">5.3 3. Check the status code: </a></li><li><a href="#4_Repeat_for_each_link">5.4 4. Repeat for each link: </a></li><li><a href="#5_Report_the_Results">5.5 5. Report the Results: </a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Conclusion">6 Conclusion</a></li><li><a href="#Frequently_Asked_Questions">7 Frequently Asked Questions</a><ul><li><a href="#How_do_you_handle_broken_links">7.1 How do you handle broken links?</a></li><li><a href="#What_causes_a_broken_link">7.2 What causes a broken link?</a></li><li><a href="#How_do_I_track_broken_links">7.3 How do I track broken links?</a></li></ul></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="h-what-are-broken-links">What are Broken links?</h2>



A broken link on a website leads to a page or resource that is no longer available. This can happen for various reasons, such as the page being deleted, moved to a different URL, or the website being temporarily down. Broken links can occur on any website and can be found on pages, images, videos, and other resources.



Broken links can be a problem for website visitors and search engines, leading to a poor user experience and negatively impacting search engine optimization (SEO). When a user clicks on a broken link, they will typically be taken to a &#8220;404 not found&#8221; page, which can be frustrating and cause them to leave the website. Additionally, search engines may view broken links as a sign of a poorly maintained website, which can lead to a lower search engine ranking.



To avoid these issues, it&#8217;s essential to regularly check your website for broken links and fix them as soon as they are discovered. This can be done manually by visiting each page of your website and clicking on each link to see if it leads to a &#8220;404 not found&#8221; page or by using automated tools such as <a href="https://www.selenium.dev/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Selenium</a> or other link checker software.



<h2 id="common-reasons-for-broken-links">Common Reasons for Broken Links.</h2>



There are several reasons why broken links may appear on a website, including.&nbsp;



<ul><li>Page Deletion: A previously linked page may have been deleted, causing the link to lead to a &#8220;404 not found&#8221; page.</li><li>URL Changes: If a page&#8217;s URL is changed, any links pointing to the old URL will become broken.</li><li>Website Redesign: During a <a href="https://www.webcitz.com/website-design/redesign.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">website redesign</a>, URLs may change, causing previously valid links to become broken.</li><li>Moving to a New Domain: If a website is moved to a new domain, all links pointing to the old domain will become broken.</li><li>Typos: Mistyping a URL or copying and pasting it wrongly can result in a broken link.</li><li>Third-Party Content: If a website links to content hosted on another website, and that content is removed or moved, the link will become broken.</li><li>Server Outages: If a website is temporarily down, links to that site will become broken.</li></ul>



By regularly checking for and fixing broken links, website owners can ensure that their website provides a good user experience and positively impacts their SEO.



<h2 id="reasons-to-check-for-broken-links">Reasons to Check for Broken Links</h2>



There are several reasons why it&#8217;s important to check for and fix broken links on a website:



<ul><li>User Experience: Broken links can frustrate website visitors and lead to a poor user experience. If a user clicks on a broken link, they will be taken to a &#8220;404 not found&#8221; page, which can be confusing and cause them to leave the website.</li><li>Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Search engines view broken links as a sign of a poorly maintained website, which can negatively impact the website&#8217;s search engine ranking.</li><li>Maintenance: Broken links can signal that a website needs to be regularly maintained and updated, leading to other issues, such as outdated content and security vulnerabilities.</li><li>Data Accuracy: Broken links can lead to incorrect or outdated information being displayed on a website, which can harm the website&#8217;s reputation.</li><li>Link Equity: When a website links to another page, it passes on some of its link equity, a measure of the value that search engines place on a link. If the linked page is no longer available, the link equity is lost, which can negatively impact the linking website&#8217;s search engine ranking. Make sure to improve your metrics with the correct use of the <a href="https://buzznberry.com/link-building-services/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">white hat link building</a> so your website can have better rankings.</li><li>By regularly checking for and fixing broken links, website owners can ensure that their website provides a good user experience, positively impacts their SEO, and is regularly maintained and updated.</li></ul>



<h2 id="different-http-status-codes">Different HTTP Status Codes</h2>



HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) status codes are numerical codes that are returned by a web server to indicate the status of a request made by a client (e.g., a web browser). The most encountered HTTP status codes are



<ul><li>200 OK: The request was successful, and the server has returned the requested content.</li><li>201 Created: The request was successful, and the server has created a new resource.</li><li>204 No Content: The request was successful, but there needs to be a representation to return (i.e., the response is empty).</li><li>300 Multiple Choices: The request has multiple options, and the server directs the client to choose one.</li><li>301 Moved Permanently: The requested resource has been moved to a new URL, and future requests should use the new URL.</li><li>302 Found (Previously &#8220;Moved temporarily&#8221;): The requested resource has been temporarily moved to a new URL.</li><li>304 Not Modified: The client&#8217;s cached copy of the resource is up to date, and the server indicates that the client should use its cached copy.</li><li>400 Bad Request: The request must be understood or include the required parameters.</li><li>401 Unauthorized: Authentication failed, or the user does not have permission for the requested operation.</li><li><a href="https://www.cloudways.com/blog/wordpress-403-forbidden-error/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">403 Forbidden</a>: Authentication succeeded, but the authenticated user cannot access the requested resource.</li><li>404 Not Found: The requested resource could not be found on the server.</li><li>500 Internal Server Error: An error occurred on the server while processing the request.</li></ul>



<h2 id="how-to-find-broken-links-in-the-selenium-webdriver">How to Find Broken Links in the Selenium WebDriver?</h2>



To find broken links in Selenium WebDriver, you can use the following steps:



<h3 id="1-retrieve-all-links-from-a-web-page">1. Retrieve all links from a web page: </h3>



You can use Selenium WebDriver&#8217;s &#8220;findElements&#8221; method to find all the links (i.e., &#8220;a&#8221; elements) on a web page. You can store the links in a list for later processing.



<h3 id="2-verify-each-link">2. Verify each link: </h3>



For each link, you can use the &#8220;getAttribute&#8221; method to retrieve the &#8220;href&#8221; attribute of the link, which represents the URL that the link points to. You can then use the &#8220;HttpURLConnection&#8221; class in Java to check the status code of the URL.



<h3 id="3-check-the-status-code">3. Check the status code: </h3>



You can use the &#8220;getResponseCode&#8221; method of the &#8220;HttpURLConnection&#8221; class to retrieve the HTTP status code of the URL. The link is broken if the status code is not in the 200 or 300 range. You can store the broken links in a separate list for later reporting.



<h3 id="4-repeat-for-each-link">4. Repeat for each link: </h3>



Repeat the above steps on the page until all links have been checked.



<h3 id="5-report-the-results">5. Report the Results: </h3>



After all, links have been checked, you can use Selenium WebDriver&#8217;s &#8220;assert&#8221; method to check that the list of broken links is empty. If the list is not empty, you can report the broken links to the console or write them to a file for later analysis.



Let&#8217;s understand the code.&nbsp;



Code Snippet:




package demo;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
import java.net.MalformedURLException;
import java.net.URL;
import java.util.Iterator;
import java.util.List;

import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;

public class Demo {

	

	public static void main(String[] args) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub

	 System.setProperty(&#8220;webdriver.chrome.driver&#8221;,&#8221;.\\chromedriver.exe&#8221;);
	 	 
	 //Initialising the driver
	 WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();

		String homePage = &#8220;https://google.com/&#8221;;
		String url = &#8220;&#8221;;
		HttpURLConnection con = null;
		int responseCode = 200;

		driver = new ChromeDriver();

		driver.manage().window().maximize();

		driver.get(homePage);

		List links = driver.findElements(By.tagName(&#8220;a&#8221;));

		Iterator it = links.iterator();

		while (it.hasNext()) {

			url = it.next().getAttribute(&#8220;href&#8221;);


			try {
				con = (HttpURLConnection) (new URL(url).openConnection());

				con.setRequestMethod(&#8220;HEAD&#8221;);

				con.connect();

				responseCode = con.getResponseCode();

				if (responseCode &gt;= 400) {
					System.out.println(url + &#8221; is a broken link&#8221;);
				} else {
					System.out.println(url + &#8221; is a valid link&#8221;);
				}

			} catch (MalformedURLException e) {

				e.printStackTrace();
			} catch (IOException e) {

				e.printStackTrace();
			}
		}

		driver.quit();

	}
}




Output:



The output indicates all valid links except one broken link.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/2i3tK4HGsyPniQ0F5u4Q7SCx0No9kH-G6qH2fOnJEdwznyWojGHHLXauAs782RMXo4Hkd3EjILGy7LBVeKJBbEVHrGW4M3G0kviDv7PPbD9XF4XWZ4KfhmK8PnxS46Is_G_FIdrL1XewzlsZcKepiw" alt="Output - Find Broken Links in the Selenium WebDriver" width="600" height="300" /></figure></div>



<h2 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h2>



Broken links are a common issue in web development and can negatively impact the user experience. Regular checking for broken links is essential for maintaining a functional and professional-looking website. Using tools such as Selenium WebDriver, developers can automate the process of checking for broken links, saving time and effort while ensuring a higher level of website quality. Fixing broken links provides users with a seamless and error-free browsing experience. In addition, checking for broken links can help identify other issues, such as outdated or misconfigured URLs, which can be corrected to improve the website&#8217;s overall functionality.



<h2 id="frequently-asked-questions">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>



<h3 id="how-do-you-handle-broken-links">How do you handle broken links?</h3>



Handling broken links means finding and fixing the underlying causes of the broken links. Here are some steps you can follow to manage broken links:



<ul><li>Identify the broken links: Use tools like Selenium WebDriver or online broken link checkers to identify all broken links on your website.</li><li>Analyze the cause: Determine why the link is broken. Is it due to a misconfigured URL, a page that has been moved or deleted, or a server-side error?</li><li>Fix or replace the link: If the cause of the broken link is a misconfigured URL or a page that has been moved, update the link to the correct URL. If the reason is a server-side error, contact the website owner or webmaster to resolve the issue.</li><li>Monitor the links: Regularly check for broken links to ensure they do not reappear. You can automate this process using tools like Selenium WebDriver to save time and effort.</li><li>Implement a redirect: If a page has been permanently removed, consider implementing a redirect to a related page to maintain a positive user experience.</li></ul>



<h3 id="what-causes-a-broken-link">What causes a broken link?</h3>



A variety of reasons can cause broken links. A few are listed below:



<ul><li>Moved or deleted pages: If a page has been moved or deleted, the link pointing to it will become broken.</li><li>Misconfigured URLs: Typing errors, incorrect link syntax, or incorrect casing can cause links to be misconfigured and lead to broken links.</li><li>Server-side errors: Broken links can also be caused by server-side errors, such as a misconfigured server, a server that is down, or a server that is experiencing high traffic.</li><li>Outdated links: Over time, some links may become outdated as the information they point to changes or becomes unavailable.</li><li>Third-party services: If a third-party service that your website depends on is down or unavailable, links that point to it may become broken.</li><li>Change in website structure: If the website&#8217;s structure changes, links that point to pages within the website may become broken.</li></ul>



<h3 id="how-do-i-track-broken-links">How do I track broken links?</h3>



There are several ways to track broken links on your website, including



<ul><li>Manual checking: Check each link on your website to see if it works correctly. This method can be time-consuming but is useful for small websites.</li><li>Online broken link checkers: Use online tools, such as W3C Link Checker, Dead Link Checker, or Broken Link Checker, to scan your website for broken links. These tools will identify broken links and report the issue for you.</li><li>Automated testing with Selenium WebDriver: Use Selenium WebDriver to automate checking for broken links. You can write a script that visits each page on your website, follows all the links, and checks the response code of each link to determine if it is broken.</li><li>Monitoring tools: Use monitoring tools, such as Google Analytics or Google Search Console, to monitor your website&#8217;s performance and receive notifications when broken links are detected</li></ul>

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