Interacting with WebElements

In the previous section, we saw how to locate WebElements on a web page by using different locator methods. Here, we will see all the different user actions that can be performed on a WebElement. Different WebElements will have different actions that can be taken on them. For example, in a textbox element, we can type in some text or clear the text that is already typed in it. Similarly, for a button, we can click on it, get the dimensions of it, and so on, but we cannot type into a button, and for a link, we cannot type into it. So, though all the actions are listed in one WebElement interface, it is the test script developer's responsibility to use the actions that are supported by the target element. In case we try to execute the wrong action on a WebElement, we don't see any exception or error thrown and we don't see any action get executed; WebDriver ignores such actions silently.

Now, let's get into each of the actions individually by looking at their Javadocs and a code example.