findElement by className in Selenium Java - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

Output of findElement by className with multiple matches

What will be the output of the following Selenium Java code snippet when multiple elements share the same class name?

Selenium Java

WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();
driver.get("https://example.com");
WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.className("btn"));
System.out.println(element.getText());

A Throws NoSuchElementException if more than one element has class 'btn'

B Prints the text of the first element with class 'btn' on the page

C Throws InvalidSelectorException because className cannot be used with multiple elements

D Prints the text of all elements with class 'btn' concatenated

💡 Hint

Remember that findElement returns only the first matching element.

The findElement method returns the first WebElement matching the locator. Even if multiple elements share the class name, only the first is returned and its text printed.

❓ assertion

intermediate

Correct assertion for element found by className

Which assertion correctly verifies that the element found by className "header" is displayed on the page?

Selenium Java

WebElement header = driver.findElement(By.className("header"));

A assertNotNull(driver.findElement(By.className("header")));

B assertEquals(header.getText(), "header");

C assertTrue(header.isDisplayed());

D assertFalse(header.isEnabled());

💡 Hint

Check if the element is visible to the user.

The isDisplayed() method returns true if the element is visible. Using assertTrue with isDisplayed() confirms the element is shown on the page.

❓ locator

advanced

Identify invalid className locator usage

Which of the following className locators is invalid and will cause an error in Selenium Java?

A By.className("btn-primary")

B By.className("nav-item")

C By.className("header")

D By.className("btn primary")

💡 Hint

Class names with spaces are not valid for By.className locator.

The By.className locator accepts only a single class name without spaces. "btn primary" contains a space and will cause an InvalidSelectorException.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Debugging NoSuchElementException with className

Given the code below, why does it throw NoSuchElementException?

Selenium Java

WebElement menu = driver.findElement(By.className("menu-item"));

A The element with class 'menu-item' does not exist on the current page

B The driver was not initialized before calling findElement

C The className locator cannot find elements with hyphens in class names

D The findElement method requires an XPath locator, not className

💡 Hint

Check if the page contains the element with the specified class.

NoSuchElementException occurs when no element matches the locator. If the class 'menu-item' is not present on the page, this exception is thrown.

❓ framework

expert

Best practice for waiting for element by className

Which code snippet correctly waits up to 10 seconds for an element with className "submit-btn" to be visible before interacting with it?

A new WebDriverWait(driver, Duration.ofSeconds(10)).until(ExpectedConditions.visibilityOfElementLocated(By.className("submit-btn")));

B Thread.sleep(10000); driver.findElement(By.className("submit-btn"));

C driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(Duration.ofSeconds(10)); driver.findElement(By.className("submit-btn"));

D driver.findElement(By.className("submit-btn")).isDisplayed();

💡 Hint

Use explicit waits to wait for specific conditions.

Using WebDriverWait with ExpectedConditions.visibilityOfElementLocated waits up to 10 seconds for the element to be visible, avoiding timing issues.

Practice

1. What does the Selenium method findElement(By.className("btn-primary")) do in a test script?

easy

A. It finds an element by its HTML tag name "btn-primary".

B. It finds all web elements with the CSS class "btn-primary" on the page.

C. It finds the first web element with the CSS class "btn-primary" on the page.

D. It finds an element by its ID "btn-primary".

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the method purpose

   The method findElement locates a single element on the page.

2. Step 2: Analyze the locator type

   Using By.className("btn-primary") targets elements with the CSS class "btn-primary".

3. Final Answer:

   It finds the first web element with the CSS class "btn-primary" on the page. -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   findElement + className = first matching element [OK]

Hint: findElement with className returns first matching element [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing findElement with findElements (plural)
• Using className to find by ID or tag
• Expecting multiple elements returned

2. Which of the following is the correct syntax to find an element by class name "login-button" in Selenium Java?

easy

A. driver.findElement(By.classname("login-button"));

B. driver.findElement(By.className("login-button"));

C. driver.findElement(By.class_name("login-button"));

D. driver.findElement(By.class("login-button"));

Solution

1. Step 1: Recall correct method usage

   The correct method to locate by class name is By.className() with capital N.

2. Step 2: Check syntax correctness

   driver.findElement(By.className("login-button")); uses the exact correct syntax: By.className("login-button").

3. Final Answer:

   driver.findElement(By.className("login-button")); -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Correct method name is className with capital N [OK]

Hint: Use By.className with capital N for correct syntax [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using By.class instead of By.className
• Wrong method casing like class_name or classname
• Missing quotes around class name

3. Given the HTML snippet:

<button class="submit-btn primary">Submit</button>

What will the following code return?

WebElement btn = driver.findElement(By.className("primary"));
System.out.println(btn.getText());

medium

A. Submit

B. primary

C. submit-btn

D. NoSuchElementException

Solution

1. Step 1: Locate element by class name "primary"

   The button has class "primary" among others, so it matches.

2. Step 2: Get the text of the found element

   The getText() method returns the visible text inside the button, which is "Submit".

3. Final Answer:

   Submit -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   findElement by className finds element, getText returns inner text [OK]

Hint: getText() returns visible text inside found element [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Expecting class name as text output
• Confusing class attribute with element text
• Assuming exception if multiple classes present

4. What is wrong with this Selenium Java code snippet?

WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.className("btn primary"));

It tries to find an element with classes "btn" and "primary".

medium

A. The syntax is correct; it finds elements with both classes.

B. It should use findElements instead of findElement.

C. It should use By.id instead of By.className.

D. className locator cannot contain spaces; it matches only one class.

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand className locator rules

   The By.className locator accepts only a single class name without spaces.

2. Step 2: Identify the error in locator usage

   Using "btn primary" with space is invalid and causes an error; it cannot find elements with multiple classes this way.

3. Final Answer:

   className locator cannot contain spaces; it matches only one class. -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   className accepts single class only, no spaces [OK]

Hint: Use single class name without spaces in className locator [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Trying to find multiple classes with space-separated string
• Expecting findElement to accept compound class selectors
• Confusing className with CSS selector syntax

5. You want to click the first button with class "nav-item active" on a page. Which is the best way to do this using Selenium Java?

hard

A. driver.findElement(By.cssSelector(".nav-item.active")).click();

B. driver.findElement(By.className("nav-item active")).click();

C. driver.findElement(By.className("nav-item")).click();

D. driver.findElement(By.xpath("//button[@class='nav-item active']")).click();

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand limitation of className locator

   The By.className locator cannot handle multiple classes separated by spaces.

2. Step 2: Use CSS selector for multiple classes

   The CSS selector .nav-item.active matches elements with both classes and works correctly.

3. Step 3: Compare other options

   driver.findElement(By.className("nav-item active")).click(); is invalid due to space in className; driver.findElement(By.className("nav-item")).click(); matches only one class; driver.findElement(By.xpath("//button[@class='nav-item active']")).click(); uses XPath but is less concise.

4. Final Answer:

   driver.findElement(By.cssSelector(".nav-item.active")).click(); -> Option A

5. Quick Check:

   Use CSS selector for multiple classes, not className [OK]

Hint: Use CSS selector for multiple classes, not className [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using className with multiple classes separated by space
• Using only one class when both are needed
• Ignoring CSS selectors as a better alternative