Set value of input instead of sendKeys() - Selenium WebDriver nodejs

Question

I have a long string to test and sendKeys() takes too long. When I tried to set the value of the text the program crashes. I know the Selenium sendKeys() is the best way to test the actual user input, but for my application it takes too much time so I am trying to avoid it.

Is there a way to set the value right away?

See this quick example:

var webdriver = require('selenium-webdriver');

var driver = new webdriver.Builder().
   withCapabilities(webdriver.Capabilities.chrome()).
      build();

driver.get('http://www.google.com');

// find the search input field on google.com
inputField = driver.findElement(webdriver.By.name('q'));

var longstring = "test"; // not really long for the sake of this quick example

// this works but is slow
inputField.sendKeys(longstring);

// no error but no values set
inputField.value = longstring;

// Output: TypeError: Object [object Object] has no method 'setAttributes'

inputField.setAttributes("value", longstring);

Indeed the alternative to sendKeys would be to set the value of the input DOM element directly. However, you show only fragment of how you try to do it and you don't explain how the program "crashes" exactly. ("Crashes" is not precise at all.) — Louis
– Louis, Commented Aug 30, 2014 at 15:01
Your code is still showing only fragments of how you do it. You don't show how input gets a value. You do show how inputField gets a value but not input, which is a different variable. — Louis
– Louis, Commented Aug 30, 2014 at 15:12
That was unfortunately a typo. It should be inputField throughout. With .value = longstring the program executes fine, but doesn't actually set the value. — F. Rakes
– F. Rakes, Commented Aug 30, 2014 at 15:19
Similar for Python: Set attribute of an element using webdriver at SQA — kenorb
– kenorb, Commented May 23, 2015 at 19:56

John Smith · Accepted Answer · 2023-09-02 21:36:49Z

60

Try to set the element's value using the executeScript method of JavascriptExecutor:

WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver();
JavascriptExecutor jse = (JavascriptExecutor)driver;
jse.executeScript("document.getElementById('elementID').setAttribute('value', 'new value for element')");

edited Sep 2, 2023 at 21:36

John Smith

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answered Aug 30, 2014 at 15:35

Andrey Egorov

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13 Comments

F. Rakes Over a year ago

I get the same error as when I try to do .value = longstring Error: ElementNotVisibleError: element not visible

Andrey Egorov Over a year ago

Could you please add sample of your html? Because for google this code work excellent. Possibly problem with your element on page (it's hidden i think)

F. Rakes Over a year ago

I'm actually using this example to test it with google. Could you put your code that worked for you here, please?

Andrey Egorov Over a year ago

here you are. driver.executeScript("document.getElementById('gbqfq').setAttribute('value','Selenium Web Driver')");

Chris Hawkes Over a year ago

In Python Selenium it's execute_script

|

F. Rakes · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-31 02:55:53Z

15

Extending from the correct answer of Andrey-Egorov using .executeScript() to conclude my own question example:

inputField = driver.findElement(webdriver.By.id('gbqfq'));
driver.executeScript("arguments[0].setAttribute('value', '" + longstring +"')", inputField);

answered Aug 31, 2014 at 2:55

F. Rakes

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3 Comments

Andrey Egorov Over a year ago

Yeah, this also will work. But also can be modified, to be more simplier: driver.executeScript("arguments[0].setAttribute('value', arguments[1])", inputField, longstring);

Johannes Brodwall Over a year ago

driver.executeScript("arguments[0].value = '" + longstring + "'", inputField) is another possible improvement that also works with textAreas (I've only tested in Chrome, though)

Jeremy Kahan Over a year ago

A slight modification to the above 2 ideas because at least in my context I was trying to set a textarea and it complained about the syntax. This is in protractor: browser.executeScript("arguments[0].value=arguments[1].toString()", inputField, longstring); I also found that to make the field update, it helped to then inputField.sendKeys(" "), where in my context the extra space was harmless.

iamsankalp89 · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-01 06:47:58Z

13

Thanks to Andrey Egorov, in my case with python setAttribute not working, but I found I can set the property directly,

Try this code:

driver.execute_script("document.getElementById('q').value='value here'")

edited Sep 1, 2017 at 6:47

iamsankalp89

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answered Apr 14, 2017 at 3:48

Larry Song

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Comments

Dave · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-04 17:19:46Z

4

An alternative way of sending a large number of repeating characters to a text field (for instance to test the maximum number of characters the field will allow) is to type a few characters and then repeatedly copy and paste them:

inputField.sendKeys('0123456789');
for(int i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
    inputField.sendKeys(Key.chord(Key.CONTROL, 'a'));
    inputField.sendKeys(Key.chord(Key.CONTROL, 'c'));
    for(int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
        inputField.sendKeys(Key.chord(Key.CONTROL, 'v'));
    }
}

Unfortunately pressing CTRL doesn't seem to work for IE unless REQUIRE_WINDOW_FOCUS is enabled (which can cause other issues), but it works fine for Firefox and Chrome.

answered Feb 4, 2016 at 17:19

Dave

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Comments

harmider · Accepted Answer · 2019-09-16 14:01:22Z

3

In a nutshell, this is the code which works for me :)

WebDriver driver;
WebElement element;
String value;

JavascriptExecutor jse = (JavascriptExecutor)driver;
jse.executeScript("arguments[0].value='"+ value +"';", element);

answered Sep 16, 2019 at 14:01

harmider

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Comments

Leojet · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-19 20:39:24Z

2

Thanks to Andrey-Egorov and this answer, I've managed to do it in C#

IWebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();
IJavaScriptExecutor js = (IJavaScriptExecutor)driver;
string value = (string)js.ExecuteScript("document.getElementById('elementID').setAttribute('value', 'new value for element')");

answered Oct 19, 2017 at 20:39

Leojet

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2 Comments

Stepan Novikov Over a year ago

What's new in your answer in comparison with previous answers?

Leojet Over a year ago

@Stepan - not much, but none of the answers were in C# which is what I was looking for but couldn't find it anywhere. So here it is. It could help someone like me in the future.

Das_Geek · Accepted Answer · 2020-03-13 20:58:36Z

1

If you want to use some variable, you may use this way:

String value= "your value";
driver.execute_script("document.getElementById('q').value=' "+value+" ' ");

edited Mar 13, 2020 at 20:58

Das_Geek

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answered Mar 13, 2020 at 20:10

Navraj Joshi

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1 Comment

Gaurav Mall Over a year ago

When writing a code snippet, use the code icon to write them.

Zoe - Save the data dump · Accepted Answer · 2019-04-26 16:25:31Z

0

JavascriptExecutor js = (JavascriptExecutor)driver;
js.executeScript("document.querySelector('attributeValue').value='new value'");

edited Apr 26, 2019 at 16:25

Zoe - Save the data dump

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answered Apr 26, 2019 at 16:24

Rakesh

1

1 Comment

Valentino Over a year ago

Hello! While this code may answer the question, providing additional context regarding why and/or how this code answers the question improves its long-term value.

Gustavo · Accepted Answer · 2021-04-30 12:08:42Z

0

Thanks guys, here's how I've managed to do this in Java

public static void sendKeysJavascript(By element, String keysToSend) {
    WebElement el = driver.findElement(element);
    JavascriptExecutor ex = (JavascriptExecutor) driver;
    ex.executeScript("arguments[0].value='"+ keysToSend +"';", el);
}

answered Apr 30, 2021 at 12:08

Gustavo

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