Selenium checking isDisplayed equals false throws NoSuchElementException

Question

I am getting NoSuchElementException when I check for isDisplayed() equals false for an element. Here is my code:

XYZpage.java:

public WebElement cancelButton() { return driver.findElement(By.cssSelector(".cancelButton")); }

XYZtest.java:

softAssertions.assertThat(sellerVehicleEditPage.cancelButton().isDisplayed())
            .isEqualTo(false);

I am asserting here that an element is not displayed. I have seen other solutions on this website and other places where people are suggesting to try ExpectedConditions, among other things. But since the element doesn't exist even ExpectedConditions is eventually throwing NoSuchElementException. This is what I tried in XYZpage.java:

WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(driver, 5);
public WebElement cancelButton() { return wait.until(ExpectedConditions.visibilityOfElementLocated(By.cssSelector(".cancelButton"))); }

I have more than 1000 elements with each element used multiple times in different tests. So I do not want to pass By every time I need to call the element, as some of the solutions suggests. Is there a more elegant way to check conditions like .isDisplayed() equals false without getting NoSuchElementException?

Prophet · Accepted Answer · 2021-08-02T18:40:40.157

Selenium web driver fails finding element matching the locator you are using there, this is why NoSuchElementException Exception is thrown.
isDisplayed() method can be applied on web element returned by

driver.findElement(By.cssSelector(".cancelButton"))

or by

wait.until(ExpectedConditions.visibilityOfElementLocated(By.cssSelector(".cancelButton")))

methods.
But this method is not involved since NoSuchElementException exception is thrown before that and the process flow is broken on that point.
To wait for element presence you can use this method:

public boolean waitForElementPresence(By element){
    WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(driver);
    try {
        wait.until(ExpectedConditions.presenceOfElementLocated(element));
        return true;
    }catch (Throwable t){
        return false;
    }
}

To wait for element visibility:

public boolean waitForElementVisibility(By element){
    WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(driver);
    try {
        wait.until(ExpectedConditions.visibilityOfElementLocated(element));
        return true;
    }catch (Throwable t){
        return false;
    }
}

For more simply element presence validation:

public boolean isElementFound(By element){
    wait(300);
    return !driver.findElements(element).isEmpty();
}

UPD
To use with WebElement as parameter:

public boolean waitForElementVisibility(WebElement element){
    WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(driver);
    try {
        wait.until(ExpectedConditions.visibilityOf(element));
        return true;
    }catch (Throwable t){
        return false;
    }
}

The element does not exist on the DOM. My goal is to check in assertion that the element does not exists. But since Selenium does not have function equivalent to Protractor's isPresent() function, I am using isDisplayed() instead. I tried multiple options for validating that the element does not exist but I am still getting NoSuchElementException. That's why I moved to trying isDisplayed() rather than checking whether the element exists or not. Anyway to validate whether the element does not exist without getting NoSuchElementException will be good. — Zeus, Aug 02 '21 at 17:52
Ah, OK. Now I understand. I will give you a simple solution, moment. — Prophet, Aug 02 '21 at 17:53
Thank you for your answer! So I always have to pass the By to the element for checking it's presence/visibility? I cannot pass a WebElement instead of By? So taking my example I cannot pass cancelButton()? — Zeus, Aug 02 '21 at 18:18
Can you please provide an example where it works by passing WebElement rather than By? I tried multiple but none worked for me. — Zeus, Aug 02 '21 at 18:25

Selenium checking isDisplayed equals false throws NoSuchElementException

1 Answers1