clear text field using DELETE or BACK SPACE key in webdriver

Question

I am trying to clear a text field using this action:

emailField.sendKeys("gmail.com"); emailField.sendKeys(Keys.CONTROL,"a",Keys.DELETE); 

In above code, the last line only selects the text, does not delete it, but if I separate the actions it works.

emailField.sendKeys(Keys.CONTROL,"a"); emailField.sendKeys(Keys.DELETE); 

Answer 1

From the JavaDoc for WebElement.clear():

If this element is a text entry element, this will clear the value. Has no effect on other elements. Text entry elements are INPUT and TEXTAREA elements. Note that the events fired by this event may not be as you'd expect. In particular, we don't fire any keyboard or mouse events. If you want to ensure keyboard events are fired, consider using something like sendKeys(CharSequence) with the backspace key. To ensure you get a change event, consider following with a call to sendKeys(CharSequence) with the tab key.

Most likely you simply need to call:

emailField.sendKeys("gmail.com"); emailField.clear(); 

But if you need the clearing to be done via the keyboard for some reason, use Keys.BACKSPACE.