By.classname works differently in Java and Python

🐛 Bug Report

in Python multiple classes can be found by replacing space with ‘.’

To Reproduce Python:

from selenium import webdriver

import time

from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC

driver = webdriver.Chrome()
driver.get("https://stackoverflow.com/questions/65579491/find-element-by-class-name-in-selenium-giving-error/65579606?noredirect=1#comment115946541_65579606")
time.sleep(5)
elem = driver.find_element_by_class_name('overflow-x-auto.ml-auto.-secondary.grid.ai-center.list-reset.h100')

print(elem.get_attribute("outerHTML"))

Java:

    ChromeDriver driver=new ChromeDriver();
driver.get("https://stackoverflow.com/questions/65579491/find-element-by-class-name-in-selenium-giving-error/65579606?noredirect=1#comment115946541_65579606");

    WebElement a = driver.findElementByClassName("overflow-x-auto.ml-auto.-secondary.grid.ai-center.list-reset.h100");
    System.out.print(a.getAttribute("outerHTML"));

Detailed steps to reproduce the behavior:

behavior

In python script works fine

In Java noELement exception is thrown: ( it seems the functions add frontslash to the locator

##Expected behavior:

Both should work as same

Environment

OS: Browser:

Language Bindings version: Java and Python Selenium Grid version (if applicable):3.141.59

[SalmonMode]

Hey there!

You’re right, both should behave the same. However, it’s not my call to make which way should be the way. In the meantime though, I would suggest using a CSS selector instead (that’s what it uses under the hood anyway).

[diemol]

Java is escaping the locator, which is expected. If you’d prefer to treat the locator as it is, better use By.cssSelector.

What is important to notice is that when By.className("overflow-x-auto.ml-auto.-secondary.grid.ai-center.list-reset.h100") is used, you are expecting an element that looks lke <div class="overflow-x-auto.ml-auto.-secondary.grid.ai-center.list-reset.h100">, and on the provided link, there is no element with that class.

I understand that the locator worked for you with the Python bindings, but there might be small implementation differences between the language bindings, and seems you bumped into one. The important thing to realize here, is that the locator is more suited as a cssSelector.

If you have more questions or comments, please drop by our Slack/IRC channel where we can continue the conversation. Links for the channels can be seen here https://www.selenium.dev/support/

Thanks to @barancev, @shs96c and @AutomatedTester for helping to debug this.