Python selenium scrolling doesn't work when used in class instance

Question

I'm trying to write a selenium script with python that downloads my bills from a website. There are more bills (rows) that can fit in the view port, and when the script reaches the end of the view port it fails. So I tried:

ActionChains(self.driver).move_to_element(element).perform() ==> NOK
element.location_once_scolled_into_view ==> OK in console
self.driver.execute_script("window.scrollTo({});") ==> OK in console

Number 2. and 3. worked like a charm when I ran it in the pycharm python console line-by-line:

the sidebar scroll moves down to the target element
can .click() the element in question.

When used in a class

the scroll bar does not move at all, and throws this error:
selenium.common.exceptions.ElementClickInterceptedException: Message: element click intercepted: Element is not clickable at point (1187, 642)

   def downloader(self, count, provider):
       print("count: ", count)  # count is the number of row for a 
                                  provider
       for number in range(1, (count + 1)) :
           #sleep(2)
           element = self.wait.until(EC.visibility_of(
                             self.driver.find_element(By.XPATH, 
                          "//table/tbody/tr[{}]/td[6]".format(number)))) 
           location = element.location_once_scolled_into_view
           # ActionChains(self.driver).move_to_element(element)
                                                           .perform()
           #self.driver.execute_script("arguments[0]
                                       .scrollIntoView(true);",element);
           # self.wait.until(EC.element_to_be_clickable(element))
           # sleep(1) 
           self.driver.execute_script("window.scrollTo({});"
                                               .format(location))
           element.click()

Hi AbiSaran, it is not a public url. You would need a user/pwd and about 10-20 bill already in the account for you to replicate the problem. — Zsolt, Feb 08 '23 at 15:01
try using javascript click() function - driver.execute_script("arguments[0].click();", element) — AbiSaran, Feb 08 '23 at 17:00
Thank you, that worked. :) Didn't scroll down, but it could click out side of the viewport. — Zsolt, Feb 09 '23 at 05:53

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 08 '23 at 06:27

The issue could be due to the fact that the element is not being scrolled into view completely when being executed as part of a class. When you're executing the script line by line in the console, it has enough time to complete the scroll before the element is clicked.

To resolve the issue, you can try adding an explicit wait after scrolling to give the page enough time to load before attempting to click the element.

Here's an updated version of your code with the added explicit wait:

def downloader(self, count, provider):
    print("count: ", count)  # count is the number of row for a provider
    for number in range(1, (count + 1)):
        element = self.wait.until(EC.visibility_of(
            self.driver.find_element(By.XPATH, "//table/tbody/tr[{}]/td[6]".format(number))))
        location = element.location_once_scolled_into_view
        self.driver.execute_script("window.scrollTo({});".format(location))
        # Add explicit wait
        self.wait.until(EC.element_to_be_clickable(element))
        element.click()

Hi Langit Tahta Widodo, thank you I tried it out. Now it scrolls down a bit, but the error is still there. I think maybe because in chrome the downloads are shown in the viewport in a line and maybe that blocks a part of the element should be clicked. I think I will try to roll it a little further if that is possible. — Zsolt, Feb 08 '23 at 09:29

Python selenium scrolling doesn't work when used in class instance

1 Answers1