Web Scraping Using Selenium - Explicit Wait For Element To Be Selected

Selenium Wait - Explicit Wait For Element To Be Selected

Waiting in selenium can be done in different ways. In this tutorial, we will use the explicit wait functionality for waiting if the element is to be selected.

But before that, please make sure you have read the first blog on this series to do the prerequisites.

Selenium Explicit Wait For Selected

1. Create a file seleniumwaitelementselected.py and paste the following codes

   from selenium import webdriver
   from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait
   from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC
   from selenium.common.exceptions import TimeoutException
   from datetime import datetime
   

   The codes above imports the required library that we will use.
2. Add this line

   driver = webdriver.Firefox(executable_path="geckodriver.exe")
   

   The code above will create a webdriver instance for Firefox.
3. Add this line

   driver.get("https://slackingslacker.github.io/seleniumindex#/seleniumwait")
   

   The line will got to the website (https://slackingslacker.github.io/seleniumindex#/seleniumwait).
4. Add this function as is

   def wait_for_element_selected(wait_time: int, element):
       try:
           print("[{}] Waiting element".format(str(datetime.now())))
           WebDriverWait(driver, wait_time).until(
               EC.element_to_be_selected(element)
           )
           print("[{}] Element selected".format(str(datetime.now())))
       except TimeoutException as e:
           print("[{}] Element not selected".format(str(datetime.now())))
   

   This method will wait for the element to be selected. It will print a message if the element did loaded or not.
5. Add these lines

   check_el = driver.find_element_by_css_selector("div#elementSelected input[name='forSelectedRadio']")
   uncheck_el = driver.find_element_by_css_selector("div#elementSelected input[name='notSelectedRadio']")
   

   This lines will find the radio buttons that we will use.
6. Add this line

   wait_for_element_selected(3, check_el)
   

   This line will call the method we created and will wait within 3 seconds until it displays Element selected.
7. Add this line

   wait_for_element_selected(6, uncheck_el)
   

   Again will call the method we created and wait for 6 seconds until it gives a message Element not selected.
8. Add this line

   driver.close()
   

   The line will close the webdriver as well as the browser.
9. Run the seleniumwaitelementselected.py. It should do the following:
   • Open the firefox browser
   • Browser goes to https://slackingslacker.github.io/seleniumindex#/seleniumwait
   • Finds 2 radio buttons and put them in variables
   • Call the Method 2 time which prints messages in the console
   • Closes the browser

 

Program Sample Output

[2020-06-12 21:29:41.509204] Waiting element
[2020-06-12 21:29:41.527520] Element selected
[2020-06-12 21:29:41.527520] Waiting element
[2020-06-12 21:29:47.616751] Element not selected

Output explanations

1. The code waits for an selected element.
2. The code found the a selected radio button
3. The code looks for another selected element
4. The code does not find the element within 6 seconds because the radio button is not selected

 

Final Selenium Code

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait
from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC
from selenium.common.exceptions import TimeoutException
from datetime import datetime

driver = webdriver.Firefox(executable_path="geckodriver.exe")
driver.get("https://slackingslacker.github.io/seleniumindex#/seleniumwait")

def wait_for_element_selected(wait_time: int, element):
    try:
        print("[{}] Waiting element".format(str(datetime.now())))
        WebDriverWait(driver, wait_time).until(
            EC.element_to_be_selected(element)
        )
        print("[{}] Element selected".format(str(datetime.now())))
    except TimeoutException as e:
        print("[{}] Element not selected".format(str(datetime.now())))

check_el = driver.find_element_by_css_selector("div#elementSelected input[name='forSelectedRadio']")
uncheck_el = driver.find_element_by_css_selector("div#elementSelected input[name='notSelectedRadio']")

wait_for_element_selected(3, check_el)
wait_for_element_selected(6, uncheck_el)
driver.close()

 

Conclusion

Waiting time in selenium can be used for waiting a selected element.