Python: how come selenium can't find element on angularJS site?

Question

I'm trying to use selenium on a search box on this site: https://www.claytoncountyga.gov/government/sheriff/inmate-search

def clayton_search(last, first, middle):
    print("Clayton County Jail")
    url = "https://www.claytoncountyga.gov/government/sheriff/inmate-search"
    driver = webdriver.Chrome(chrome_options=(), executable_path="/usr/bin/chromedriver")
    driver.get(url)
    wait = WebDriverWait(driver, 30)
    wait.until(EC.visibility_of_element_located((By.CSS_SELECTOR, "#name")))
    driver.find_element_by_css_selector("#name").send_keys(last," ",first, " ", middle, Keys.ENTER)    
    return driver

driver = clayton_search(last, first, middle)

The site uses angularJS, and I know that on angularJS sites selenium wont see see elements unless you tell it to wait until the element is visible. Such as:

wait.until(EC.visibility_of_element_located((By.CSS_SELECTOR, "#name")))

But I get a timeout exception. I've tried finding the element by CSS selector, XPATH, and ID.

Even though the stack trace didn't indicate it might be hiding behind another element. I tried that too by using: driver.execute_script

I thought maybe the pop up menu from the navigator bar might be covering it, but It only appear when the cursor is over the nav bar.

Why am I not able to use wait.until(EC.visibility_of_element_located to locate the element on this AngularJS site?

element #name is inside iframe - for Selenium items in iframe are not part of page. You have to find iframe and switch_to() to this frame to find element in this iframe — furas
– furas, Commented Apr 7, 2019 at 20:48

KunduK · Accepted Answer · 2019-04-07 20:51:36Z

1

There is an iframe which stopping you to access the element.You have to switch the iframe first.try below code.

def clayton_search(last, first, middle):
    print("Clayton County Jail")
    url = "https://www.claytoncountyga.gov/government/sheriff/inmate-search"
    driver = webdriver.Chrome(chrome_options=(), executable_path="/usr/bin/chromedriver")

    driver.get(url)
    wait = WebDriverWait(driver, 30)
    wait.until(EC.frame_to_be_available_and_switch_to_it((By.ID,"Clayton County")))
    wait.until(EC.visibility_of_element_located((By.CSS_SELECTOR, "#name")))
    driver.find_element_by_css_selector("#name").send_keys(last," ",first, " ", middle, Keys.ENTER)
    return driver

answered Apr 7, 2019 at 20:51

KunduK

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furas · Accepted Answer · 2019-04-07 21:03:21Z

1

This page has #name in iframe and Selenium doesn't search in iframe.
You have to first switch_to.frame() and then you can search inside iframe

import selenium.webdriver

url = "https://www.claytoncountyga.gov/government/sheriff/inmate-search"
driver = selenium.webdriver.Firefox()
driver.get(url)

iframes = driver.find_elements_by_tag_name('iframe')
#print('iframes:', iframes)

driver.switch_to.frame(iframes[0])

item = driver.find_element_by_id('name')
#print('name:', item)
item.send_keys("John")

item = driver.find_element_by_name('NameSearch')
#print('name:', item)
item.click()

answered Apr 7, 2019 at 21:03

furas

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