Select iframe using Python + Selenium

Question

So, I was absolutely baffled as to how to do this in Selenium, and couldn't find the answer anywhere, so I'm sharing my experience.

I was trying to select an iframe and having no luck (or not repeatably anyway). The HTML is:

<iframe id="upload_file_frame" width="100%" height="465px" frameborder="0" framemargin="0" name="upload_file_frame" src="/blah/import/">
<html>
    <body>
        <div class="import_devices">
            <div class="import_type">
                <a class="secondary_button" href="/blah/blah/?source=blah">
                    <div class="import_choice_image">
                        <img alt="blah" src="/public/images/blah/import/blah.png">
                    </div>
                    <div class="import_choice_text">Blah Blah</div>
                </a>
            </div>
        </div>
    </body>
</html>

The Python code (using the selenium library) was trying to find this iframe using this:

    @timed(650)
def test_pedometer(self):
    sel = self.selenium
    ...
    time.sleep(10)
    for i in range(5):
        try:
            if sel.select_frame("css=#upload_file_frame"): break
        except: pass
        time.sleep(10)
    else: self.fail("Cannot find upload_file_frame, the iframe for the device upload image buttons")

Repeated fails with every combination of Selenium commands I could find.

The occasional success would not be reproducible, so perhaps it was some sort of race condition or something? Never did find the right way to get it in selenium proper.

score 98 · Answer 1 · edited Oct 01 '18 at 01:56

98

This worked for me with Python (v. 2.7), webdriver & Selenium when testing with iframes and trying to insert data within an iframe:

self.driver = webdriver.Firefox()

## Give time for iframe to load ##
time.sleep(3)
## You have to switch to the iframe like so: ##
driver.switch_to.frame(driver.find_element_by_tag_name("iframe"))
## Insert text via xpath ##
elem = driver.find_element_by_xpath("/html/body/p")
elem.send_keys("Lorem Ipsum")
## Switch back to the "default content" (that is, out of the iframes) ##
driver.switch_to.default_content()

edited Oct 01 '18 at 01:56

Asclepius

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answered Jun 18 '14 at 13:05

Michael Whitman

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Somehow the WebDriver finds the elements into the iframe when searching with xpath. I've tried finding elements by CSS, ID but it always gave me an error of not existing element (timeout failure actually because I used the waitForElement command). I didn't think searching element by xpath would make the difference, but I fortunately gave it a try when I was running out of ideas. Thanks a lot! – GOstrowsky Jan 30 '15 at 18:57
Especially handy when working with iframes that seem to have names and URLs that are being generated dynamically. Really useful, thank you – Tom Bush Mar 13 '20 at 13:27

score 30 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 11 '18 at 08:19

If iframe is dynamic node, it's also possible to wait for iframe appearence explicitly and then switch to it using ExpectedConditions:

from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC
from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait as wait

driver = webdriver.Chrome()
driver.get(URL)
wait(driver, 10).until(EC.frame_to_be_available_and_switch_to_it("iframe_name_or_id"))

If iframe doesn't have @id or @name it can be found as common WebElement using driver.find_element_by_xpath(), driver.find_element_by_tag_name(), etc..:

wait(driver, 10).until(EC.frame_to_be_available_and_switch_to_it(driver.find_element_by_xpath("//iframe[@class='iframe_class']")))

To switch back from iframe:

driver.switch_to.default_content()

This is probably the best solution for switching to frame but [frame_to_be_available_and_switch_to_it](https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/docs/api/py/_modules/selenium/webdriver/support/expected_conditions.html#frame_to_be_available_and_switch_to_it) expects either a tuple `(By.ID,"frameID")` or WebElement, not plain string. — rain01, May 27 '20 at 17:47

score 12 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:34

12

What finally worked for me was:

        sel.run_script("$('#upload_file_frame').contents().find('img[alt=\"Humana\"]').click();")

Basically, don't use selenium to find the link in the iframe and click on it; use jQuery. Selenium has the capability to run an arbitrary piece of javascript apparently (this is python-selenium, I am guessing the original selenium command is runScript or something), and once I can use jQuery I can do something like this: Selecting a form which is in an iframe using jQuery

edited May 23 '17 at 12:34

Community

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answered Sep 23 '11 at 20:47

rossdavidh

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You'd be better off using Selenium's getEval command (probably "get_eval" in the Python bindings) instead of its runScript command. getEval won't return until the JavaScript code completes, whereas runScript simple inserts a – Ross Patterson Sep 24 '11 at 14:19
what exactly is `sel.run_script`? I can find no mention of this function in the docs or with google. While this may have worked for you, its a poor answer because you dont explain what `self.selenium` is or how to get `run_script` That said, driver.execute_script worked for me – Wesley Smith Nov 10 '16 at 04:21
Well, to be honest, it was five years ago, I have no idea by now. Glad that driver.execute_script worked for you, though, good that you posted that here for the future readers. – rossdavidh Nov 25 '16 at 23:45

score 8 · Answer 4 · edited Oct 01 '18 at 01:21

You don't need to use JavascriptExecutor. All you needed to do was switch into the frame and then switch back out, like so:

// do stuff on main window
driver.switch_to.frame(frame_reference)
// then do stuff in the frame
driver.switch_to.default_content()
// then do stuff on main window again

As long as you are careful with this, you will never have a problem. The only time I always use a JavascriptExecutor is to get window focus since I think using Javascript is more reliable in that case.

score 3 · Answer 5 · answered Feb 16 '21 at 11:04

To shift Selenium's focus within the <iframe> you can use either of the following Locator Strategies:

Using ID:

driver.switch_to.frame("upload_file_frame")

Using CSS_SELECTOR:

driver.switch_to.frame(driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "iframe#upload_file_frame"))

Using XPATH:

driver.switch_to.frame(driver.find_element(By.XPATH, "//iframe[@id='upload_file_frame']"))

Ideally, you have to induce WebDriverWait for the desired frame to be available and switch to it and you can use either of the following Locator Strategies:

Using ID:

WebDriverWait(driver, 20).until(EC.frame_to_be_available_and_switch_to_it((By.ID,"upload_file_frame")))

Using CSS_SELECTOR:

WebDriverWait(driver, 20).until(EC.frame_to_be_available_and_switch_to_it((By.CSS_SELECTOR,"iframe#upload_file_frame")))

Using XPATH:

WebDriverWait(driver, 20).until(EC.frame_to_be_available_and_switch_to_it((By.XPATH,"//iframe[@id='upload_file_frame']")))

Note : You have to add the following imports :

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

Reference

You can find a couple of relevant discussions in:

score 3 · Answer 6 · answered Sep 24 '11 at 14:31

Selenium's selectFrame command accepts all the standard locators like css=, but it also has a an extra set of locators that work specifically with FRAME and IFRAME elements.

As the doc says:

selectFrame ( locator ) Selects a frame within the current window. (You may invoke this command multiple times to select nested frames.) To select the parent frame, use "relative=parent" as a locator; to select the top frame, use "relative=top". You can also select a frame by its 0-based index number; select the first frame with "index=0", or the third frame with "index=2".

You may also use a DOM expression to identify the frame you want directly, like this: dom=frames["main"].frames["subframe"]

Arguments: locator - an element locator identifying a frame or iframe

In general, you'll have better luck using the specialized locators, especially if you establish the right context first (e.g., select_frame("relative=top"); select_frame("id=upload_file_frame");).

Yeah, selectFrame didn't work for me. Doesn't mean it won't work for anyone, but I found it to actually select the frame about one time in 5. — rossdavidh, Sep 26 '11 at 13:33

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Mar 02 '20 at 17:34

you can use this simple code to look for the iframe using xpath

sample use set_iframe("/html/body/div[2]/table/")

def set_iframe(xpath):
    print('set_iframe')
    driver.switch_to.default_content()
    seq = driver.find_elements_by_tag_name('iframe')
    for x in range(0, len(seq)):
        driver.switch_to.default_content()
        print ("iframe-"+str(x))
        try:
            driver.switch_to.frame(int(x))
            driver.find_element_by_xpath(xpath)
            return str(x)
        except:
            continue

Select iframe using Python + Selenium

7 Answers7

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