Select class for dropdowns 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 selects an option from a dropdown by visible text. What will be the output if the dropdown contains options: "Red", "Green", "Blue" and the code selects "Green"?

Selenium Java

WebElement dropdown = driver.findElement(By.id("colors"));
Select select = new Select(dropdown);
select.selectByVisibleText("Green");
String selected = select.getFirstSelectedOption().getText();
System.out.println(selected);

A Blue

B Red

C Green

D NoSuchElementException

💡 Hint

The method selectByVisibleText chooses the option matching the exact visible text.

The Select class's selectByVisibleText method selects the option with the exact visible text. Then getFirstSelectedOption returns that option's text, which is "Green" here.

❓ assertion

intermediate

Which assertion correctly verifies the selected dropdown option?

You want to verify that the dropdown with id "fruits" has "Apple" selected after selection. Which assertion is correct in Java with TestNG?

Selenium Java

WebElement dropdown = driver.findElement(By.id("fruits"));
Select select = new Select(dropdown);
select.selectByVisibleText("Apple");

A Assert.assertEquals(select.getFirstSelectedOption().getText(), "Apple");

B Assert.assertTrue(select.getOptions().contains("Apple"));

C Assert.assertEquals(dropdown.getText(), "Apple");

D Assert.assertFalse(select.isMultiple());

💡 Hint

Check the selected option's visible text, not the dropdown element's text or options list.

getFirstSelectedOption().getText() returns the visible text of the selected option. This is the correct way to assert the selected value.

❓ locator

advanced

Which locator is best to find a dropdown element for Select class usage?

You want to locate a dropdown for selecting a country. The dropdown has a unique id "country-select". Which locator is best practice for Selenium?

A By.cssSelector("select[name='country']")

B By.id("country-select")

C By.xpath("//select[@name='country']")

D By.className("dropdown")

💡 Hint

Using unique ids is the fastest and most reliable locator.

By.id("country-select") is the best locator because ids are unique and fast to locate elements.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Why does this code throw UnexpectedTagNameException?

Analyze the code below. The dropdown element is a

with options inside, not a . Why does the Select class throw UnexpectedTagNameException?

Selenium Java

WebElement dropdown = driver.findElement(By.id("custom-dropdown"));
Select select = new Select(dropdown);
select.selectByIndex(1);

A Select class only works with <select> HTML elements, not <div> or custom dropdowns.

B The dropdown id is incorrect, so element is not found.

C selectByIndex requires zero-based index, 1 is invalid here.

D The driver is not initialized properly before usage.

💡 Hint

Select class expects a

tag, not other HTML elements.

Select class constructor checks if the element is a tag. If not, it throws UnexpectedTagNameException.

❓ framework

expert

How to design a reusable method to select dropdown options by visible text?

You want to create a reusable Java method in your Selenium framework to select any dropdown option by visible text. Which method signature and implementation is best?

A

public void selectDropdownOption(WebDriver driver, By locator, String visibleText) {
  WebElement dropdown = driver.findElement(locator);
  Select select = new Select(dropdown);
  select.selectByVisibleText(visibleText);
}

B

public void selectDropdownOption(By locator, String visibleText) {
  Select select = new Select(driver.findElement(locator));
  select.selectByVisibleText(visibleText);
}

C

public void selectDropdownOption(String id, String visibleText) {
  WebElement dropdown = driver.findElement(By.id(id));
  Select select = new Select(dropdown);
  select.selectByVisibleText(visibleText);
}

D

public void selectDropdownOption(WebElement dropdown, String visibleText) {
  Select select = new Select(dropdown);
  select.selectByVisibleText(visibleText);
}

💡 Hint

Passing WebElement is more flexible and avoids driver dependency inside method.

Option D accepts a WebElement dropdown and visible text, making it reusable and decoupled from driver or locator details.