Hey dev community! 👋
I just had one of those "pulling my hair out" moments with Selenium automation, and I had to share this with you all. Maybe some of you have experienced this nightmare too?
The Plot Twist That Ruined My Day
Picture this: All my tests are green ✅, CI/CD is happy, and I'm feeling pretty confident about the release. Then my colleague casually mentions, "Hey, did you notice that error message when you submit the form?"
Wait, what error message? 🤔
Turns out, there were hidden DOM elements throwing critical error messages that my software testing with selenium scripts completely ignored. The elements were there, the errors were real, but my automation was blissfully unaware because I was only checking for basic element visibility.
The Rabbit Hole I Fell Into
This led me down a fascinating rabbit hole about DOM properties that I honestly never paid much attention to before. I always thought isDisplayed() was enough, but boy was I wrong!
I discovered there's a whole world of element states, CSS properties, and DOM attributes that can make or break user experience while flying completely under the radar of standard Selenium checks. Elements can be technically "present" but practically invisible, or visible but functionally broken.
What I Learned (The Hard Way)
The real game-changer was understanding how to properly interrogate DOM properties beyond the basic Selenium methods. Things like checking offsetHeight, offsetWidth, CSS visibility property, and even diving into computed styles became crucial for catching those sneaky hidden errors.
It's not just about finding elements anymore - it's about understanding their actual state and behavior from a user's perspective.
My Takeaway
This whole experience made me realize how much depth there is in automation testing that we often overlook in our rush to get tests written. The difference between automation that just "works" and automation that actually protects your users is often in these details.
Have you folks encountered similar "phantom failures" in your automation? I'm curious about your war stories! 🤯
Source: I dove deeper into this topic after reading this comprehensive breakdown: https://www.testleaf.com/blog/selenium-dom-properties-explained-fix-hidden-error-messages/
What's your approach to handling hidden DOM elements and error states? Let's discuss! 💬
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