StaleElementReferenceException Selenium Python

Question

Alright guys... I know this issue has seemingly been answered before but I have tried several solutions and none have worked. If I see StaleElementReferenceException one more time, I'm going to lose it. My wife's boyfriend is mocking me, please help.

EDIT: Removed some code as I don't think it's relevant anymore in an effort to condense this post.

UPDATE: From @vitaliis suggestion below, I changed the code to:

        while True:
            xpath_atc = '//div[@class="fulfillment-add-to-cart-button"]'

            try:
                wait = WebDriverWait(self.driver, 60)
                wait.until(EC.visibility_of_all_elements_located((By.XPATH, xpath_atc)))
            except TimeoutException:
                print(f'A timeout occured after 60s. Refreshing page and trying again...')
                self.driver.refresh()
                continue
                
            element_arr = self.driver.find_elements_by_xpath(xpath_atc)
            for i in range(len(element_arr)):
                wait.until(EC.visibility_of(element_arr[i]))
                if element_arr[i].text == 'Add to Cart':
                    element_arr[i].click()
                    return

            time.sleep(30)
            self.driver.refresh()

Now, this code seems to be the most effective code I've tried so far in that it produces less StaleElementReferenceExceptions but it still does produce them...

I am seriously so confused, it's inconsistent, sometimes the exception occurs, sometimes it doesn't. Any other thoughts on this issue would be appreciated.

SOLUTION: tldr; This works

element = self.driver.find_element_by_xpath(xpath)
while(EC.staleness_of(disc_ele).__call__(False)):
    element = self.driver.find_element_by_xpath(xpath)
text = element.text

If anyone is interested in why this works, I'll give my best guess. The staleness_of class is defined as follows:

class staleness_of(object):
    """ Wait until an element is no longer attached to the DOM.
    element is the element to wait for.
    returns False if the element is still attached to the DOM, true otherwise.
    """
    def __init__(self, element):
        self.element = element

    def __call__(self, ignored):
        try:
            # Calling any method forces a staleness check
            self.element.is_enabled()
            return False
        except StaleElementReferenceException:
            return True

When used in conjunction with the WebDriverWait class, i.e WebDriverWait(driver, timeout).until(EC.staleness_of(element)) we are waiting for the element to be stale which is what we're looking for right? Well, due to the inconsistency of the stale exception, the element may not be stale, and if it is not stale, then we'll get a timeout exception which is not the desired result.

Luckily, the staleness_of class has a method __call__() which returns true if the element is stale and false otherwise. So, using a while loop, we can continually check if the element is stale by updating the element each iteration and checking staleness with the __call__() method on the updated element. Eventually, the updated element will not be stale and the __call__() method will return false exiting the loop.

EDIT: Welp, doesn't work. I guess there's a case where the element is not stale at time of the while loop condition but becomes stale at time of calling .text.

vitaliis · Accepted Answer · 2021-04-03 01:24:04Z

1

Is your locator unique? Try to wait till your element is clickable:

from selenium.webdriver.support.wait import WebDriverWait
from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By

wait = WebDriverWait(driver, 20)
wait.until(EC.element_to_be_clickable(
                (By.XPATH, '//div[@class="fulfillment-add-to-cart-button"]')))
button = driver.find_element_by_xpath('//div[@class="fulfillment-add-to-cart-button"]')
button.click()

If there are many elements with the same locator, try visibility_of_all_elements_located instead of element_to_be_clickable

I can suggest the following algorithm:

wait for the page to load
Use find_elements_by_xpath to find all elements with the same locator
In a loop click them one by one. But add until they are clickable (in a loop)

edited Apr 3, 2021 at 1:24

answered Apr 3, 2021 at 1:18

vitaliis

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9 Comments

cap2 Over a year ago

thanks for the suggestion, the locator is a list of 2 element objects however

cap2 Over a year ago

legend, visibility_of_all_elements_located worked. Didn't see this method, thanks so much

cap2 Over a year ago

if you have a moment, would you mind checking my update please @vitaliis

vitaliis Over a year ago

Maybe, later. BUt I suggest you to ask a different question, as it is completely different now. Alos, more people will look at it. And edit this one as it was previously.

cap2 Over a year ago

well it's the same issue of getting the exception, i'll still go ahead and post another question ty

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