Skip table if not found using selenium

Question

I have html code that is very similar to this:

<TH CLASS="ddtitle">MovieOne</TH>
        <TABLE  CLASS="datadisplaytable" ><CAPTION class="captiontext">Movies</CAPTION>
    <TR>
    <TH CLASS="ddheader" scope="col" >Genre</TH>
    <TH CLASS="ddheader" scope="col" >Time</TH>
    <TH CLASS="ddheader" scope="col" >Days</TH>
    <TH CLASS="ddheader" scope="col" >Where</TH>
    <TH CLASS="ddheader" scope="col" >Date Range</TH>
    <TH CLASS="ddheader" scope="col" >Seating</TH>
    <TH CLASS="ddheader" scope="col" >Actors</TH>
    </TR>
    <TR>
    <TD CLASS="dddefault">Action</TD>
    <TD CLASS="dddefault">10:00 am - 12:00 pm</TD>
    <TD CLASS="dddefault">SMTWTHFSA</TD>
    <TD CLASS="dddefault">AMC Showplace</TD>
    <TD CLASS="dddefault">Aug 20, 2014 - Sept 12, 2014</TD>
    <TD CLASS="dddefault">Reservations</TD>
    <TD CLASS="dddefault">Will Ferrel (<ABBR title= "Primary">P</ABBR>)  target="Will Ferrel" ></TD>
    </TR>
    </TABLE>
<TH CLASS="ddtitle">MovieTwo</TH>
        <TABLE  CLASS="datadisplaytable" ><CAPTION class="captiontext">Movies</CAPTION>
    <TR>
    <TH CLASS="ddheader" scope="col" >Genre</TH>
    <TH CLASS="ddheader" scope="col" >Time</TH>
    <TH CLASS="ddheader" scope="col" >Days</TH>
    <TH CLASS="ddheader" scope="col" >Where</TH>
    <TH CLASS="ddheader" scope="col" >Date Range</TH>
    <TH CLASS="ddheader" scope="col" >Seating</TH>
    <TH CLASS="ddheader" scope="col" >Actors</TH>
    </TR>
    <TR>
    <TD CLASS="dddefault">Action</TD>
    <TD CLASS="dddefault">11:00 am - 12:30 pm</TD>
    <TD CLASS="dddefault">SMTWTHFSA</TD>
    <TD CLASS="dddefault">Showplace Cinemas</TD>
    <TD CLASS="dddefault">Aug 20, 2014 - Sept 12, 2014</TD>
    <TD CLASS="dddefault">TBA</TD>
    <TD CLASS="dddefault">Zach Galifinakis (<ABBR title= "Primary">P</ABBR>)  target="Zach Galifinakis" ></TD>
    </TR>
    </TABLE>
<TH CLASS="ddtitle">MovieThree</TH>
<BR>
<BR>
Coming Soon
<BR>

What I want to be able to do, is take the individual table data that is relevant for the movie title, and if a Movie doesn't have a table I want to say the values are TBA. So far, I am able to get the relevant table information, but I am unable to skip a table. For example I use this code to get the genre of the movie:

int tcounter = 1;

for (Element elements : li) {
WebElement genre = driver.findElement(By.xpath("//table[@class='datadisplaytable']/descendant::table["+tcounter+"]//td[1]"));
WebElement time = driver.findElement(By.xpath("//table[@class='datadisplaytable']/descendant::table["+tcounter+"]//td[2]"));
WebElement days = driver.findElement(By.xpath("//table[@class='datadisplaytable']/descendant::table["+tcounter+"]//td[3]"));
WebElement where = driver.findElement(By.xpath("//table[@class='datadisplaytable']/descendant::table["+tcounter+"]//td[4]"));
WebElement date_range = driver.findElement(By.xpath("//table[@class='datadisplaytable']/descendant::table["+tcounter+"]//td[5]"));
WebElement seating = driver.findElement(By.xpath("//table[@class='datadisplaytable']/descendant::table["+tcounter+"]//td[6]"));
WebElement actors = driver.findElement(By.xpath("//table[@class='datadisplaytable']/descendant::table["+tcounter+"]//td[7]"));
tcounter++;
}

elements refers to a list storing all links on the webpage (result for [1] would be action, [2] would be 10:00 am - 12:00pm ...). This is within a for loop that increments the value of the tcounter by 1 in order to receive the data for different tables. Is there a way I can be able to tell the program to see if a table is present under the TH class, and if not give the values TBA and skip it?

This is my second attempt based on siking's answer:

List<WebElement> linstings = driver.findElements(By.className("ddtitle"));
    String genre = "";
    String time = "";
    String days = "";
    String where = "";
    String dateRange = "";
    String seating = "";
    String actors = "";
    for(WebElement potentialMovie : linstings) {
        try {
            WebElement actualMovie = potentialMovie.findElement(By.xpath("//table[@class='datadisplaytable']"));
            // System.out.println("Actual: " + actualMovie.getText());
            // make all your assignments, for example:
            type = actualMovie.findElement(By.xpath("/descendant::table//td")).getText();
            time = actualMovie.findElement(By.xpath("/descendant::table//td[2]")).getText();
            days = actualMovie.findElement(By.xpath("/descendant::table//td[3]")).getText();
            location = actualMovie.findElement(By.xpath("/descendant::table//td[4]")).getText();
            dates = actualMovie.findElement(By.xpath("/descendant::table//td[5]")).getText();
            schedType = actualMovie.findElement(By.xpath("/descendant::table//td[6]")).getText();
            instructor = actualMovie.findElement(By.xpath("/descendant::table//td[7]")).getText();
            System.out.println(genre+" "+time+" "+days+" "+where+" "+dateRange+" "+actors);

        } catch(Exception ex) {
            // there is no table, so:
            genre = "TBA";
        }
    }

The problem with this code is that it keeps returning the values for only the first table.

SiKing · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-09 19:13:02Z

1

I trimmed down your HTML sample to the following:

<TH CLASS="ddtitle">MovieOne</TH>
<TABLE CLASS="datadisplaytable">
    <CAPTION class="captiontext">Movies</CAPTION>
    <TR>
        <TH CLASS="ddheader" scope="col">Genre</TH>
    </TR>
    <TR>
        <TD CLASS="dddefault">Action</TD>
    </TR>
</TABLE>
<TH CLASS="ddtitle">MovieTwo</TH>
<BR/>
<BR/>
Coming Soon
<BR/>
<TH CLASS="ddtitle">MovieThree</TH>
<TABLE CLASS="datadisplaytable">
    <CAPTION class="captiontext">Movies</CAPTION>
    <TR>
        <TH CLASS="ddheader" scope="col">Genre</TH>
    </TR>
    <TR>
        <TD CLASS="dddefault">Action</TD>
    </TR>
</TABLE>

Hopefully it is representative of all your cases!

Don't use a counter, but use the actual WebElements to iterate over:

// default all your variables to TBA, like:
String genre = "TBA";

// find all the listings on the page...
List<WebElement> linstings = driver.findElements(By.className("ddtitle"));
// ... and iterate over them
for (WebElement listing : linstings) {

    // grab whatever is the _first_ element under the TH ...
    WebElement potentialMovie = listing.findElement(By.xpath("following-sibling::*[1]"));
    // ... check if it has a child element CAPTION
    if (potentialMovie.findElement(By.xpath("caption")) != null) {
        // make all your assignments, for example:
        genre = potentialMovie.findElement(By.xpath("tr[2]/td[1]")).getText();
    }
}

Please note that this code is untested, your mileage may vary!

edited Jul 9, 2014 at 19:13

answered Jun 23, 2014 at 20:28

SiKing

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15 Comments

user3566896 Over a year ago

OK, but how would I construct an if statement that would give TBA values to a TH that isn't followed by a table with info. xpath? css selection? For example: how would I tell the program that since movieThree doesn't have a table below it, everything equals TBA?

SiKing Over a year ago

Where is this "TBA" stored? You need to post more of your code, and be more clear in your requirement.

user3566896 Over a year ago

Thanks for the response, I've added some more information. What I specifically want to do is be able to tell the program that if there is not a table with the movie information directly below the TH tag that contains the movie name (ex: MovieOne), then to give TBA values for each variable, and move on to the next table.

user3566896 Over a year ago

Cool thanks. I need to work on the mileage for a little bit, but I can tell already that using a loop is a much better way to go than the counter, I'll let you know if I can get it to work fully.

user3566896 Over a year ago

Hey SiKing, I just edited my question to include my attempt using your answer. The problem I'am having now is that it keeps returning only the information from the first table. Did I not use your answer correctly?

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