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I am initializing a variable in the beginning of my class:

public WebElement logout;

Later on in the code, in some method, the first time I encounter the logout button, I assign a value to that variable (in the brackets of an if/else statement):

logout = driver.findElement(By.linkText("Logout")); logout.click();

I then use "logout" once more, successfully, at another stage of my test:

logout.click();

And at the end of the test, at a place where the element is the same (By.linkText ("Logout")), I get this error:

Element not found in the cache - perhaps the page has changed since it was looked up

Why?

EDIT: Actually, I dont successfully use the logout.click(); commant at another stage of my test. Looks like I cant use it again. I have to create a logout1 webelement and use it...

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4
  • Has the page changed at any point between when your reference worked and when it no longer does? Commented Jul 31, 2013 at 13:55
  • No, there have been no changes as far as I know. No one is deploying anything, Im using some ajax stuff, but the link text remains the same, and the link is still in the footer Commented Jul 31, 2013 at 14:00
  • If AJAX has been performed it is possible that the page has changed - as such the WebDriver reference to your element would now be 'stale' as the DOM has changed. What happens if you try and find the element again before trying to click it at the stage it would normally break? An idea, why not create a logout method that finds and clicks the element each time it is required? Commented Jul 31, 2013 at 14:04
  • Oh, I see - it looks for Link Text the first time and it records the result in some other way, related to DOM, so the second time calling the variable will not look for the Link Text, but for the DOM reference? Tried your way and it worked! If you answer my question with that post, I will accept it. Commented Jul 31, 2013 at 14:13

3 Answers 3

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If there has been any changes to the page after you have initially found the element the webdriver reference will now contain a stale reference. As the page has changed, the element will no longer be where webdriver expects it to be.

To solve your issue, try finding the element each time you need to use it - writing a small method that you can call as and when is a good idea.

import org.openqa.selenium.support.ui.WebDriverWait public void clickAnElementByLinkText(String linkText) { wait.until(ExpectedConditions.presenceOfElementLocated(By.linkText(linkText))); driver.findElement(By.linkText(linkText)).click(); }

Then within your code you'd only need to:

clickAnElementByLinkText("Logout");

So each time it will find the element and click on it, as such even if the page changes as it is 'refreshing' the reference to that element it all successfully click it.

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5 Comments

Very helpfull, indeed!
Welcome, hope it helps. :)
This exception can still be thrown due to race conditions if there's javascript running on the page which manipulates the DOM (for example, a dynamic flyout).
I tried out this code but im getting a error saying "Canot resolved the symbol 'wait'" What should i import?
You can try to use this: WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(driver, 10); see http://docs.seleniumhq.org/docs/04_webdriver_advanced.jsp
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The browser rebuilds the DOM structure of the dynamic pages, so the elements do not need to keep you have to find them before to use.

Using XPath, for example. This approach is not correct(can cause exception org.openqa.selenium.StaleElementReferenceException in the future):

WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.xpath("//ul[@class=\"pagination\"]/li[3]/a")); ...// Some Ajax interaction here element.click(); //<-- Element might not be exists

This approach is correct:

driver.findElement(By.xpath("//ul[@class=\"pagination\"]/li[3]/a")).click();
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-7

This is because you are not giving proper time to load the page.So you have to give Thread.sleep(); code for the Given page.
I am also getting the same issue for my project but after using the Thread.sleep(); its working fine for me give the web page as much as it is possible for 30 to 50 secs.

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2 Comments

The problem was actually that the page had changed after the element had been assigned to a variable. Hence, the stale reference.
+1 for @nabsATX. To be more specific, in integration tests or acceptance tests, it is always a smell when I see a sleep() (whatever the language) : it slows down the tests and except in real time systems, it never guarantees that the thread/process that you are waiting for will be prioritized. Instead, ask what event are you waiting for. Cf Growing Object Oriented Software Guided By Tests chpt 27 : testing asynchronous code.

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