Python selenium scroll to element-Scrolling to element using webdriver?

Question

I am still learning and in response to one of my questions where I was told that it might be because the element in question is not in view.

I looked through the documentation and SO, here was the most relevant answer: her

You can use the "org.openqa.selenium.interactions.Actions" class to move to an element:

WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.id("my-id"));

Actions actions = new Actions(driver);

actions.moveToElement(element);

## actions.click();

actions.perform();

When I try to use the above to scroll to the element: It says WebElement not defined.

I think this is because I have not imported the relevant module. Can someone point out what I am supposed to import?

But in the meantime right after trying to figure it out for some time. I have found out the import method for WebElement:

from selenium.webdriver.remote.webelement import WebElement

Might help someone like me.

The how of it is also a good lesson, IMO:

Went to the Documentation

class selenium.webdriver.remote.webelement.WebElement(parent, id_, w3c=False)

Need to be separated into the command form mentioned above.

Answer 1

You are trying to run Java code with Python. In Python/Selenium, the org.openqa.selenium.interactions.Actions are reflected in ActionChains class:

from selenium.webdriver.common.action_chains import ActionChains

element = driver.find_element_by_id("my-id")

actions = ActionChains(driver)

actions.move_to_element(element).perform()

Or, you can also "scroll into view" via scrollIntoView():

driver.execute_script("arguments[0].scrollIntoView();", element)

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If you wish to learn more about Python, visit the Python tutorial and Python Certification course by Intellipaat.

Comments

When i perform the first line (element = driver.find_element_by_id("my-id")), i get "Message: no such element: Unable to locate element: ... " error. This is because the element is visually not on the page. I want to scroll to the particular element, but i run into the error which halts me from moving on...

Any possible fix?

Answer 2

You're headed in the right direction with regards to web automation using Selenium, and I think that scrolling to an element is the next challenge ahead of you. Here is a brief explanation regarding how you can make it work without much struggle.

Getting Set Up

Here’s a complete import statement for everything you need to scroll to an element:

from selenium import webdriver

from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By

from selenium.webdriver.common.action_chains import ActionChains

from selenium.webdriver.common.keys import Keys

How to Scroll to an Element

Once you’ve got everything imported, you can use the ActionChains class to move to the element. Here’s an example to get you started:

# Set up the WebDriver (replace 'your_webdriver_path' with the actual path to your WebDriver executable)

driver = webdriver.Chrome(executable_path='your_webdriver_path')

# Open the desired webpage

driver.get("https://your-website-url.com")

# Find the element you want to scroll to (e.g., by its ID)

element = driver.find_element(By.ID, "my-id")

# Create an ActionChains instance

actions = ActionChains(driver)

# Scroll to the element

actions.move_to_element(element).perform()

# Optional: Interact with the element (like clicking it)

# element.click()

 

Alternative: Scrolling with JavaScript

In case you are still stuck, you can always try to scroll to the element using the JavaScript. This method works better with certain websites and is therefore preferred for those:

# Scroll using JavaScript

driver.execute_script("arguments[0].scrollIntoView();", element)

Wrapping Up

Some reminders:

• Verify that the WebDriver you are using is the latest version and installed in the appropriate position.

• Be sure to also call driver.quit() at the end to release the WebDriver; otherwise it will end up being left running in the background.