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

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

What is the output of this Selenium Java code snippet?

Consider the following Selenium Java code that tries to find a link by its exact visible text and clicks it. What will happen when this code runs if the link with text "Home" exists on the page?

Selenium Java

WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();
driver.get("https://example.com");
WebElement link = driver.findElement(By.linkText("Home"));
link.click();
System.out.println("Clicked the Home link");

A The browser navigates to the Home page and prints "Clicked the Home link"

B NoSuchElementException is thrown because linkText is case-insensitive

C StaleElementReferenceException is thrown immediately after findElement

D The code compiles but does nothing because linkText only works with partial text

💡 Hint

Remember that findElement(By.linkText()) matches the exact visible text of the link.

The findElement(By.linkText("Home")) locates the anchor element whose visible text exactly matches "Home". If found, clicking it navigates the browser and the print statement executes. The method is case-sensitive and requires exact match.

❓ assertion

intermediate

Which assertion correctly verifies the link text found by findElement(By.linkText())?

You have located a link using findElement(By.linkText("Contact Us")). Which assertion correctly checks that the link's visible text is exactly "Contact Us"?

Selenium Java

WebElement contactLink = driver.findElement(By.linkText("Contact Us"));

A assertTrue(contactLink.getText().contains("Contact"));

B assertNotNull(contactLink.getAttribute("href"));

C assertFalse(contactLink.getText().equalsIgnoreCase("contact us"));

D assertEquals("Contact Us", contactLink.getText());

💡 Hint

Check for exact text equality, not partial or case-insensitive matches.

assertEquals("Contact Us", contactLink.getText()) verifies the link's visible text exactly matches "Contact Us". Other options check partial text, attribute presence, or negate case-insensitive equality, which are not exact text assertions.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Why does this findElement(By.linkText()) call throw NoSuchElementException?

Given the code below, why does the findElement call throw NoSuchElementException even though the link text "About Us" is visible on the page?

Selenium Java

WebElement aboutLink = driver.findElement(By.linkText("About Us"));

A The linkText locator only works for partial matches, so exact text fails

B The linkText locator is case-insensitive and the text "About Us" does not match exactly

C The element is inside an iframe and driver is not switched to it

D The link text contains extra spaces or hidden characters not visible to the user

💡 Hint

Check if the element is inside a frame or iframe that requires switching context.

If the link is inside an iframe, Selenium cannot find it unless the driver switches to that iframe first. The NoSuchElementException occurs because the element is not in the current DOM context. linkText is case-sensitive and requires exact match, but that is not the cause here.

🧠 Conceptual

advanced

What is a limitation of using findElement(By.linkText()) in Selenium tests?

Which of the following is a known limitation when using findElement(By.linkText()) to locate links in Selenium?

A It can locate elements inside shadow DOM without extra handling

B It only matches links with exact visible text, so partial matches fail

C It ignores case differences in the link text

D It automatically waits for the element to appear up to 30 seconds

💡 Hint

Think about how exact the text match must be for linkText locator.

findElement(By.linkText()) requires the link's visible text to match exactly, including case and spacing. It does not support partial matches (use By.partialLinkText for that). It does not handle shadow DOM automatically nor does it implicitly wait for 30 seconds.

❓ framework

expert

How to implement a robust method to click a link by visible text using Selenium Java?

You want to create a reusable method in your Selenium Java test framework that clicks a link by its visible text. The method should handle the case where the link is inside an iframe and wait up to 10 seconds for the link to be clickable. Which code snippet correctly implements this?

A

public void clickLinkByText(WebDriver driver, String text) {
  driver.switchTo().frame("frame1");
  new WebDriverWait(driver, Duration.ofSeconds(10))
    .until(ExpectedConditions.elementToBeClickable(By.linkText(text))).click();
  driver.switchTo().defaultContent();
}

B

public void clickLinkByText(WebDriver driver, String text) {
  new WebDriverWait(driver, Duration.ofSeconds(10))
    .until(ExpectedConditions.elementToBeClickable(By.linkText(text))).click();
}

C

public void clickLinkByText(WebDriver driver, String text) {
  driver.switchTo().defaultContent();
  driver.findElement(By.linkText(text)).click();
}

D

public void clickLinkByText(WebDriver driver, String text) {
  driver.switchTo().frame(0);
  driver.findElement(By.partialLinkText(text)).click();
  driver.switchTo().parentFrame();
}

💡 Hint

Consider iframe switching, explicit wait, and exact link text matching.

Option A switches to the iframe named "frame1", waits up to 10 seconds for the link with exact visible text to be clickable, clicks it, then switches back to the main page. This handles iframe context and waiting properly. Other options miss iframe switching, waiting, or use partialLinkText which is not exact.