Problem automating the new Excite Mail due to nested divs

[NS]

Hello,

I am new to Ruby and Watir and as my first assignment, I am trying to
fix the ruby script which automated the opening and browsing messages
in the Excite Mail. After Excite changed interface, the script has
been failing.

I used IE toolbar to see the underlying elements in the page and it
seems that it is lots of nested divs before you find an actual #text
which provides the visible text for the link.

I am not sure how to access the divs deep down to find the text value
I want and than click it.

The structure of HTML for "Logout" link looks like this.

<DIV class=ApplicationHeader id=ApplicationHeader>
<DIV class=NavigationBar>
<DIV class=NavigationBar_Padding>...</DIV>
<DIV class=NavigationBar_logo>...</DIV>
<DIV class=NavigationBar_buttons>...</DIV>
<DIV class=NavigationBar_extra>
<DIV class=NavigationBar_Search>
<DIV class=NavigationBar_Links>
<DIV class=NavigationLink>...</DIV>
<DIV class=NavigationLink>...</DIV>
<DIV class=NavigationLink>...</DIV>
<DIV class=NavigationLink>
<DIV class=NavigationLink_Icon>...</DIV>
<DIV class=NavigationLink_text>
#text

I tried following but it didn't work.

if ($ie.div(:id, "ApplicationHeader").div(:index,
1).div(:index,4).div(:index,2).div(:index,4).div(:text,/
Logout/).exists?)
thr = Thread.new{$ie.div(:id,
"ApplicationHeader").div(:index,1).div(:index,4).div(:index,
2).div(:index,4).div(:text,/Logout/).click}
if (thr.join(MaxPageLoadWait).nil?)
thr.exit
end
debug "Clicked logout link"
end

I am able to find the div ApplicationHeader using following

$ie.div(:id, "ApplicationHeader")


Any help would be highly appreciated.

Thanks,
Nisha

[Nathan Lane]

On thing about Watir is that it generally does what the browser does, so if you really click on a DIV to perform an action on a web site, then using Watir click on the DIV. This may be the case here with your situation, though I am not certain how Excite Mail is actually structured (your HTML example is obviously trimmed down quite a bit), and I don't see and links (<A HREF="...">...</A> tags). Anyway for example, if I have a DIV that is like this:

<div class="navigationLink" onclick="javascript: logMeOut();">Logout</div>

Then I could just go

div(:class, "navigationLink").click

likewise let's say that I have this structure, and no other "links" are located under it. i.e. this is the exact structure:

<div class="navigationLink" onclick="javascript: logMeOut();">
  <div>
    <div>
      <div>
        Logout
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

Then I can still do

div(:class, "navigationLink").click

and the browser will feel the click down at the bottom..actually it feels it at the top, but the link the user would see is at the bottom.

Nathan

--
Nathan Lane
Home, http://www.nathandelane.com
Blog, http://nathandelane.blogspot.com

[NS]

Nathan,

Thanks for your reply.

There is no actual <A> tag that I see in the IE toolbar.

The HTML structure that I have posted with original message is the one
I see in IE toolbar and the places where I have put "..." between
<DIV> tags..there are more divs there.I don't know how to attach a
screenshot here otherwise I can attach the Excite Mail page and you
can see how things are rendered.

Also I was wondering how div(:class, "NavigationLink") would find the
"Logout" link only because there are other divs defined with the same
class.

Thanks,
Nisha

[Nathan Lane]

You might have to do

div(:class => "NavigationLink", :index => 4).click

The :index is 1-based, so the fourth link would be index = 4. This is one of the really helpful features of Watir, namely multiple attributes so that you can define exactly which element to click on or manipulate more specifically.

Nathan

[NS]

Hi Nathan,

Thanks for your help. This one worked. But it is not consistent. It
works few times and it doesn't work the next time.

Also I am trying the same approach for another "INBOX" link and it is
giving message unable to find element using
class=>"LiteTreeNode", :index=>1.

Also is there a way for me to check if
div(:class=>"NavigationLink", :index=>4) returns the "Logout" text or
something else. Just to confirm that whatever I am clicking is the
right one.

Thanks once again for all your help.

- Nisha