Why findElement by tagName in Selenium Java? - Purpose & Use Cases

The Big Idea

What if you could find any element on a page just by knowing its tag, instantly and without mistakes?

The Scenario

Imagine you have a big webpage with many buttons, links, and images. You want to check if a specific button is there. Manually looking through the page's code or visually scanning the page every time is tiring and slow.

The Problem

Manually searching for elements by their tag name is like finding a needle in a haystack. It takes a lot of time, you can easily miss the right element, and repeating this for many tests is exhausting and error-prone.

The Solution

Using findElement by tagName lets you quickly and reliably grab the first element of a certain type, like the first <button> or <input>, without guessing or scrolling. This makes your tests faster and more accurate.

Before vs After

✗ Before

WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.xpath("//button[1]"));

✓ After

WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.tagName("button"));

What It Enables

This method makes it easy to target elements by their type, enabling faster and cleaner test scripts that are easier to maintain.

Real Life Example

For example, when testing a login page, you can quickly find the first <input> tag to check if the username field is present without writing complex locators.

Key Takeaways

Manually finding elements by tag is slow and error-prone.

findElement by tagName quickly locates the first element of a given type.

This improves test speed, accuracy, and code simplicity.

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