By (selenium-api 2.36.0 API)

java.lang.Object
- org.openqa.selenium.By

Direct Known Subclasses:

By.ByClassName, By.ByCssSelector, By.ById, By.ByLinkText, By.ByName, By.ByPartialLinkText, By.ByTagName, By.ByXPath
```
public abstract class By
extends Object
```
Mechanism used to locate elements within a document. In order to create your own locating mechanisms, it is possible to subclass this class and override the protected methods as required, though it is expected that that all subclasses rely on the basic finding mechanisms provided through static methods of this class: public WebElement findElement(WebDriver driver) { WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.id(getSelector())); if (element == null) element = driver.findElement(By.name(getSelector()); return element; }

Nested Class Summary

Nested Classes
Modifier and Type	Class and Description
`static class`	`By.ByClassName`
`static class`	`By.ByCssSelector`
`static class`	`By.ById`
`static class`	`By.ByLinkText`
`static class`	`By.ByName`
`static class`	`By.ByPartialLinkText`
`static class`	`By.ByTagName`
`static class`	`By.ByXPath`

Constructor Summary

Constructors
Constructor and Description

By()

Constructors
Constructor and Description
`By()`

Method Summary

Methods
Modifier and Type	Method and Description
`static By`	`className(String className)` Finds elements based on the value of the "class" attribute.
`static By`	`cssSelector(String selector)` Finds elements via the driver's underlying W3 Selector engine.
`boolean`	`equals(Object o)`
`WebElement`	`findElement(SearchContext context)` Find a single element.
`abstract List<WebElement>`	`findElements(SearchContext context)` Find many elements.
`int`	`hashCode()`
`static By`	`id(String id)`
`static By`	`linkText(String linkText)`
`static By`	`name(String name)`
`static By`	`partialLinkText(String linkText)`
`static By`	`tagName(String name)`
`String`	`toString()`
`static By`	`xpath(String xpathExpression)`

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
clone, finalize, getClass, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

- Constructor Detail
  - By
```
public By()
```
- Method Detail
  - id
```
public static By id(String id)
```
    Parameters:
    id - The value of the "id" attribute to search for
    
    Returns:
    a By which locates elements by the value of the "id" attribute.
  - linkText
```
public static By linkText(String linkText)
```
    Parameters:
    linkText - The exact text to match against
    
    Returns:
    a By which locates A elements by the exact text it displays
  - partialLinkText
```
public static By partialLinkText(String linkText)
```
    Parameters:
    linkText - The text to match against
    
    Returns:
    a By which locates A elements that contain the given link text
  - name
```
public static By name(String name)
```
    Parameters:
    name - The value of the "name" attribute to search for
    
    Returns:
    a By which locates elements by the value of the "name" attribute.
  - tagName
```
public static By tagName(String name)
```
    Parameters:
    name - The element's tagName
    
    Returns:
    a By which locates elements by their tag name
  - xpath
```
public static By xpath(String xpathExpression)
```
    Parameters:
    xpathExpression - The xpath to use
    
    Returns:
    a By which locates elements via XPath
  - className
```
public static By className(String className)
```
    Finds elements based on the value of the "class" attribute. If an element has many classes then this will match against each of them. For example if the value is "one two onone", then the following "className"s will match: "one" and "two"
    
    Parameters:
    className - The value of the "class" attribute to search for
    
    Returns:
    a By which locates elements by the value of the "class" attribute.
  - cssSelector
```
public static By cssSelector(String selector)
```
    Finds elements via the driver's underlying W3 Selector engine. If the browser does not implement the Selector API, a best effort is made to emulate the API. In this case, we strive for at least CSS2 support, but offer no guarantees.
  - findElement
```
public WebElement findElement(SearchContext context)
```
    Find a single element. Override this method if necessary.
    
    Parameters:
    context - A context to use to find the element
    
    Returns:
    The WebElement that matches the selector
  - findElements
```
public abstract List<WebElement> findElements(SearchContext context)
```
    Find many elements.
    
    Parameters:
    context - A context to use to find the element
    
    Returns:
    A list of WebElements matching the selector
  - equals
```
public boolean equals(Object o)
```
    Overrides:
    
    equals in class Object
  - hashCode
```
public int hashCode()
```
    Overrides:
    
    hashCode in class Object
  - toString
```
public String toString()
```
    Overrides:
    
    toString in class Object

Class By

Nested Class Summary

Constructor Summary

Method Summary

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

Constructor Detail

By

Method Detail

id

linkText

partialLinkText

name

tagName

xpath

className

cssSelector

findElement

findElements

equals

hashCode

toString