Selenium assertEquals behavior

Question

Why does the following assertEquals() statement:

WebElement submit = driver.findElement(By.name("send"));
Assert.assertEquals("optional", "xxxLogin", submit.getAttribute("value"));

give this java error result:

java.lang.AssertionError:  expected [xxxLogin] but found [optional]

The button label is Login

I was expecting to see something like expected [xxxLogin] but found [Login] (the button label). I read that the first argument is an optional string message but it seems to be used as part of the Equals test?

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 18 '13 at 20:24

2

The optional string message should be the last argument:

Assert.assertEquals("xxxLogin", submit.getAttribute("value"), "optional");

answered Dec 18 '13 at 20:24

Joe Attardi

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score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 18 '13 at 20:29

What is the intended purpose of the "optional" string in there?

assertEquals("xxxLogin", submit.getAttribute("value")); should cover your needs from what I'm seeing but you can put the string in there as a third argument if needed.

An alternative could also be:

Assert.assertTrue(
                submit.getAttribute("value").equals("xxxLogin"),
                "Incorrect value message" //you can add the value you found to this string
        );

Essentially the same thing but easier to read in my opinion as you're checking for a TRUE state.

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 18 '13 at 21:22

0

I've seen some VERY strange behaviour with using assertEquals... It'd be a good idea for you to use assertTrue or assertFalse as your assertion statements. In your case, it'd be:

assertTrue("this test failed!", submit.getAttribute("value").equals("xxxLogin"));

this will no doubt work for you.

answered Dec 18 '13 at 21:22

ddavison

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a good read: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1201927/java-is-assertequalsstring-string-reliable – ddavison Dec 18 '13 at 21:23

Selenium assertEquals behavior

3 Answers3