Do we have any generic function to check if page has completely loaded in Selenium

Question

I am trying to check if web page is loaded completed or not (i.e. checking that all the control is loaded) in selenium.

I tried below code:

new WebDriverWait(firefoxDriver, pageLoadTimeout).until(
          webDriver -> ((JavascriptExecutor) webDriver).executeScript("return document.readyState").equals("complete"));

but even if page is loading above code does not wait.

I know that I can check for particular element to check if its visible/clickable etc but I am looking for some generic solution

Answer 1

As you mentioned if there is any generic function to check if the page has completely loaded through Selenium the answer is No.

First let us have a look at your code trial which is as follows :

new WebDriverWait(firefoxDriver, pageLoadTimeout).until(webDriver -> ((JavascriptExecutor) webDriver).executeScript("return document.readyState").equals("complete"));

The parameter pageLoadTimeout in the above line of code doesn't really reseambles to actual pageLoadTimeout().

Here you can find a detailed discussion of pageLoadTimeout in Selenium not working

---

Now as your usecase relates to page being completely loaded you can use the pageLoadStrategy() set to normal [ the supported values being none, eager or normal ] using either through an instance of DesiredCapabilities Class or ChromeOptions Class as follows :

• Using DesiredCapabilities Class :

   import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
   import org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxDriver;
   import org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxOptions;
   import org.openqa.selenium.remote.DesiredCapabilities;
  
   public class myDemo 
   {
      public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception 
      {
          System.setProperty("webdriver.gecko.driver", "C:\\Utility\\BrowserDrivers\\geckodriver.exe");
          DesiredCapabilities dcap = new DesiredCapabilities();
          dcap.setCapability("pageLoadStrategy", "normal");
          FirefoxOptions opt = new FirefoxOptions();
          opt.merge(dcap);
          WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver(opt);
          driver.get("https://www.google.com/");
          System.out.println(driver.getTitle());
          driver.quit();
      }
  }
  

• Using ChromeOptions Class :

  import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
  import org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxDriver;
  import org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxOptions;
  import org.openqa.selenium.PageLoadStrategy;
  
  public class myDemo 
  {
      public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception 
      {
          System.setProperty("webdriver.gecko.driver", "C:\\Utility\\BrowserDrivers\\geckodriver.exe");
          FirefoxOptions opt = new FirefoxOptions();
          opt.setPageLoadStrategy(PageLoadStrategy.NORMAL);
          WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver(opt);
          driver.get("https://www.google.com/");
          System.out.println(driver.getTitle());
          driver.quit();
      }
  }
  

You can find a detailed discussion in Page load strategy for Chrome driver (Updated till Selenium v3.12.0)

---

Now setting PageLoadStrategy to NORMAL and your code trial both ensures that the Browser Client have (i.e. the Web Browser) have attained 'document.readyState' equal to "complete". Once this condition is fulfilled Selenium performs the next line of code.

You can find a detailed discussion in Selenium IE WebDriver only works while debugging

But the Browser Client attaining 'document.readyState' equal to "complete" still doesn't guarantees that all the JavaScript and Ajax Calls have completed.

---

To wait for the all the JavaScript and Ajax Calls to complete you can write a function as follows :

public void WaitForAjax2Complete() throws InterruptedException
{
    while (true)
    {
        if ((Boolean) ((JavascriptExecutor)driver).executeScript("return jQuery.active == 0")){
            break;
        }
        Thread.sleep(100);
    }
}

You can find a detailed discussion in Wait for ajax request to complete - selenium webdriver

---

Now, the above two approaches through PageLoadStrategy and "return jQuery.active == 0" looks to be waiting for indefinite events. So for a definite wait you can induce WebDriverWait inconjunction with ExpectedConditions set to titleContains() method which will ensure that the Page Title (i.e. the Web Page) is visible and assume the all the elements are also visible as follows :

driver.get("https://www.google.com/");
new WebDriverWait(driver, 10).until(ExpectedConditions.titleContains("partial_title_of_application_under_test"));
System.out.println(driver.getTitle());
driver.quit();

---

Now, at times it is possible though the Page Title will match your Application Title still the desired element you want to interact haven't completed loading. So a more granular approach would be to induce WebDriverWait inconjunction with ExpectedConditions set to visibilityOfElementLocated() method which will make your program wait for the desired element to be visible as follows :

driver.get("https://www.google.com/");
WebElement ele = new WebDriverWait(driver, 10).until(ExpectedConditions.visibilityOfElementLocated(By.xpath("xpath_of_the_desired_element")));
System.out.println(ele.getText());
driver.quit();

---

References

You can find a couple of relevant detailed discussions in:

• Selenium IE WebDriver only works while debugging
• Selenium how to manage wait for page load?