findElement by tagName in Selenium Java - Test Execution Trace

Test Overview

This test opens a webpage, finds the first <h1> tag on the page using findElement(By.tagName), and verifies that the heading text matches the expected value.

Test Code - JUnit with Selenium WebDriver

Selenium Java

import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterEach;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;

public class FindElementByTagNameTest {
    private WebDriver driver;

    @BeforeEach
    public void setUp() {
        driver = new ChromeDriver();
    }

    @Test
    public void testFindH1ByTagName() {
        driver.get("https://example.com");
        WebElement heading = driver.findElement(By.tagName("h1"));
        String headingText = heading.getText();
        assertEquals("Example Domain", headingText);
    }

    @AfterEach
    public void tearDown() {
        if (driver != null) {
            driver.quit();
        }
    }
}

Execution Trace - 6 Steps

Step	Action	System State	Assertion	Result
1	Test starts and Chrome browser opens	Chrome browser window is open and ready	—	PASS
2	Navigate to https://example.com	Browser displays the Example Domain webpage with a visible <h1> heading	—	PASS
3	Find the first <h1> element using driver.findElement(By.tagName("h1"))	The <h1> element with text 'Example Domain' is located	Verify the <h1> element is found and not null	PASS
4	Get the text of the <h1> element	Text 'Example Domain' is retrieved from the <h1> element	—	PASS
5	Assert that the heading text equals 'Example Domain'	The heading text matches the expected string	assertEquals("Example Domain", headingText)	PASS
6	Close the browser and end the test	Browser window is closed	—	PASS

Failure Scenario

Failing Condition: The <h1> tag is not found on the page or the text does not match 'Example Domain'

Execution Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What does driver.findElement(By.tagName("h1")) do in this test?

A Finds all <h1> elements on the page

B Finds the first <h1> element on the page

C Finds an element by its ID 'h1'

D Finds an element by its class name 'h1'

Key Result

Always verify that the element you find by tag name exists and contains the expected text to ensure your test checks the correct page content.

Practice

1. What does the Selenium method findElement(By.tagName("button")) do?

easy

A. Finds the first <button> element on the page

B. Finds all <button> elements on the page

C. Finds the element with id 'button'

D. Finds the element with class name 'button'

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the method purpose

   findElement returns the first matching element found by the locator.

2. Step 2: Analyze the locator type

   By.tagName("button") looks for elements with the tag <button>.

3. Final Answer:

   Finds the first <button> element on the page -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   findElement + tagName = first matching element [OK]

Hint: findElement with tagName finds only the first matching tag [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing findElement with findElements
• Using tagName but expecting multiple elements
• Mixing tagName with id or class selectors

2. Which of the following is the correct syntax to find the first <input> element using Selenium in Java?

easy

A. driver.findElement(By.tagName['input']);

B. driver.findElement(By.tagName(input));

C. driver.findElement(By.tagName("input"));

D. driver.findElement(By.tagName{input});

Solution

1. Step 1: Check method usage

   The method findElement requires a By locator with a string argument for tagName.

2. Step 2: Validate syntax correctness

   Only driver.findElement(By.tagName("input")); uses correct Java syntax with quotes around "input" and parentheses.

3. Final Answer:

   driver.findElement(By.tagName("input")); -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Correct method call with string tag name [OK]

Hint: Always put tag name in quotes inside By.tagName() [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Missing quotes around tag name
• Using wrong brackets like [] or {}
• Omitting parentheses after findElement

3. Given the HTML snippet:

<div>
  <h1>Title</h1>
  <h1>Subtitle</h1>
</div>

What text will be printed by this Java Selenium code?

WebElement header = driver.findElement(By.tagName("h1"));
System.out.println(header.getText());

medium

A. Subtitle

B. Title

C. TitleSubtitle

D. No text, throws exception

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand findElement behavior

   findElement returns the first matching element, here the first <h1> which contains "Title".

2. Step 2: Check getText output

   Calling getText() on the first <h1> returns its text content "Title" only.

3. Final Answer:

   Title -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   findElement returns first tag's text [OK]

Hint: findElement by tagName returns first element only [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming it returns all matching elements
• Expecting concatenated text of all tags
• Confusing findElement with findElements

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

WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.tagName("button"));
System.out.println(element.getText());

Assuming the page has no <button> tags.

medium

A. It compiles but does not run

B. It returns null and prints nothing

C. It prints empty string without error

D. It throws NoSuchElementException at runtime

Solution

1. Step 1: Check element presence

   Since no <button> tags exist, findElement cannot find any matching element.

2. Step 2: Understand exception behavior

   findElement throws NoSuchElementException if no element is found, causing runtime error.

3. Final Answer:

   It throws NoSuchElementException at runtime -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   findElement throws error if no match [OK]

Hint: findElement throws exception if tag not found [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Expecting null instead of exception
• Assuming empty string returned
• Confusing with findElements behavior

5. You want to click the first <input> element of type 'submit' on a page using Selenium Java. Which code snippet correctly finds it using findElement(By.tagName()) and then clicks it?

hard

A. WebElement submit = driver.findElement(By.tagName("input")); if ("submit".equals(submit.getAttribute("type"))) submit.click();

B. WebElement submit = driver.findElement(By.tagName("input[type='submit']")); submit.click();

C. WebElement submit = driver.findElement(By.tagName("submit")); submit.click();

D. WebElement submit = driver.findElement(By.tagName("input")); submit.click();

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand tagName limitations

   By.tagName("input") finds the first <input> element regardless of type attribute.

2. Step 2: Filter by type attribute manually

   Check if the found element's type attribute equals "submit" before clicking.

3. Step 3: Analyze options

   WebElement submit = driver.findElement(By.tagName("input")); if ("submit".equals(submit.getAttribute("type"))) submit.click(); correctly finds first input, checks type, then clicks. WebElement submit = driver.findElement(By.tagName("input[type='submit']")); submit.click(); uses invalid tagName syntax. WebElement submit = driver.findElement(By.tagName("submit")); submit.click(); searches for non-existent tag <submit>. WebElement submit = driver.findElement(By.tagName("input")); submit.click(); clicks first input without type check.

4. Final Answer:

   WebElement submit = driver.findElement(By.tagName("input")); if ("submit".equals(submit.getAttribute("type"))) submit.click(); -> Option A

5. Quick Check:

   Use tagName then check attribute for type [OK]

Hint: findElement by tagName finds tag only; check attributes separately [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Trying to use CSS selector syntax inside tagName
• Assuming tagName can filter by attribute
• Clicking without verifying element type