getting current <select> value from drop-down menu with Python Selenium

Question

I am checking the selected value from a drop down field on a web page in Selenium Python. I would like to print out what the selected value is. I am getting all of the values from the drop down printed out. E.g. The drop down has a list of the following values: "Floating Point", "Date/Time", "Text string", "Integer" E.g. The selected value is "Text String" When i print the value it is printing out "Floating pointDate/timeText stringInteger"

My code snippet is:

def get_selected_value_from_user_defined_type_dropdown(self, type):
    # Params : the selected value for the user defined type dropdown e.g. Text string
    user_defined_type_dropdown_element = self.get_element(By.XPATH, '//table[@id="data_configuration_edit_data_object_tab_details_tb_fields"]/tbody/tr[1]//td[3]//select')
    print ("------------------------------")
    print user_defined_type_dropdown_element.text
    return user_defined_type_dropdown_element.text

Get Element is in my base class, the implmentation is:

# returns the element if found
def get_element(self, how, what):
    # params how: By locator type
    # params what: locator value
    try:
        element = self.driver.find_element(by=how, value=what)
    except NoSuchElementException, e:
        print what
        print "Element not found "
        print e
        screenshot_name = how + what + get_datetime_now() # create screenshot name of the name of the element + locator + todays date time.  This way the screenshot name will be unique and be able to save
        self.save_screenshot(screenshot_name)
        raise
    return element

The HTML is:

<table id="data_configuration_edit_data_object_tab_details_tb_fields" class="GJPPK2LBJE border" cellspacing="0" __gwtcellbasedwidgetimpldispatchingfocus="true" __gwtcellbasedwidgetimpldispatchingblur="true">
<thead aria-hidden="false">
<colgroup>
<tbody style="">
    <tr class="GJPPK2LBCD GJPPK2LBJD" __gwt_subrow="0" __gwt_row="0">
    <td class="GJPPK2LBBD GJPPK2LBDD GJPPK2LBED GJPPK2LBKD">
    <td class="GJPPK2LBBD GJPPK2LBDD GJPPK2LBKD">
    <td class="GJPPK2LBBD GJPPK2LBDD GJPPK2LBKD">
        <div __gwt_cell="cell-gwt-uid-214" style="outline-style:none;">
            <select tabindex="-1">
                <option value="Floating point">Floating point</option>
                <option value="Date/time">Date/time</option>
                <option selected="selected" value="Text string">Text string</option>
                <option value="Integer">Integer</option>
        </select>
        </div>
    </td>
        <td class="GJPPK2LBBD GJPPK2LBDD GJPPK2LBOD GJPPK2LBKD">
    </tr>
    <tr class="GJPPK2LBCE" __gwt_subrow="0" __gwt_row="1">
</tbody>
<tbody style="display: none;">
<tfoot style="display: none;" aria-hidden="true"/>

How do i print out what the selected value is?

I have tried to use first_selected_option but i get the following error:

    Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Webdriver\ClearCore 501 Regression Test\ClearCore 501 - Regression Test\TestCases\DataObjectsPage_TestCase.py", line 294, in testk_edit_Data_Objects_ACVSEQ_Is_The_Saved_Details_Present
    self.assertTrue(data_objects_edit_page.is_value_saved_from_user_defined_type_dropdown("Text string"), "Data Objects ACVSEQ type drop down does not show the expected saved value. Please see log for details")
  File "C:\Webdriver\ClearCore 501 Regression Test\ClearCore 501 - Regression Test\Pages\data_objects_edit.py", line 140, in is_value_saved_from_user_defined_type_dropdown
    return self.get_selected_value_from_user_defined_type_dropdown(str(value)) == value
  File "C:\Webdriver\ClearCore 501 Regression Test\ClearCore 501 - Regression Test\Pages\data_objects_edit.py", line 133, in get_selected_value_from_user_defined_type_dropdown
    selected_option_element = user_defined_type_dropdown_element.first_selected_option
AttributeError: 'WebElement' object has no attribute 'first_selected_option'

My code snippet is:

def get_selected_value_from_user_defined_type_dropdown(self, type):
    #Params : the selected value for the user defined type dropdown e.g. Text string
    user_defined_type_dropdown_element = self.get_element(By.XPATH, '//table[@id="data_configuration_edit_data_object_tab_details_tb_fields"]/tbody/tr[1]//td[3]//select')
    selected_option_element = user_defined_type_dropdown_element.first_selected_option
    print ("------------------------------")
    print selected_option_element.text
    return selected_option_element.text

I got the snippet for Python to use first_selected_option from this post: https://sqa.stackexchange.com/questions/12029/how-do-i-work-with-dropdowns-in-selenium-webdriver

Why is first_selected_option not working? What is the syntax please?

Thanks, Riaz

Answer 1

user_defined_type_dropdown_element is the <select> tag, that is why you are getting all the options when printing it. If you want the selected option use Select class and first_selected_option

# initialize Select object
select = Select(user_defined_type_dropdown_element)

# to print the text
print select.first_selected_option.text

# to print the value
print select.first_selected_option.get_attribute("value")