class: ElementHandle

ElementHandle represents an in-page DOM element. ElementHandles can be created with the page.$ method.

  1. const { chromium } = require('playwright');  // Or 'firefox' or 'webkit'.
  3. (async () => {
  4.   const browser = await chromium.launch();
  5.   const page = await browser.newPage();
  6.   await page.goto('https://example.com');
  7.   const hrefElement = await page.$('a');
  8.   await hrefElement.click();
  9.   // ...
  10. })();

ElementHandle prevents DOM element from garbage collection unless the handle is disposed. ElementHandles are auto-disposed when their origin frame gets navigated.

ElementHandle instances can be used as an argument in page.$eval() and page.evaluate() methods.

elementHandle.$(selector)

The method finds an element matching the specified selector in the ElementHandle‘s subtree. See Working with selectors for more details. If no elements match the selector, the return value resolves to null.

elementHandle.$$(selector)

The method finds all elements matching the specified selector in the ElementHandles subtree. See Working with selectors for more details. If no elements match the selector, the return value resolves to [].

elementHandle.$eval(selector, pageFunction[, arg])

The method finds an element matching the specified selector in the ElementHandles subtree and passes it as a first argument to pageFunction. See Working with selectors for more details. If no elements match the selector, the method throws an error.

If pageFunction returns a Promise, then frame.$eval would wait for the promise to resolve and return its value.

Examples:

  1. const tweetHandle = await page.$('.tweet');
  2. expect(await tweetHandle.$eval('.like', node => node.innerText)).toBe('100');
  3. expect(await tweetHandle.$eval('.retweets', node => node.innerText)).toBe('10');

elementHandle.$$eval(selector, pageFunction[, arg])

The method finds all elements matching the specified selector in the ElementHandle‘s subtree and passes an array of matched elements as a first argument to pageFunction. See Working with selectors for more details.

If pageFunction returns a Promise, then frame.$$eval would wait for the promise to resolve and return its value.

Examples:

  1. <div class="feed">
  2.   <div class="tweet">Hello!</div>
  3.   <div class="tweet">Hi!</div>
  4. </div>
  1. const feedHandle = await page.$('.feed');
  2. expect(await feedHandle.$$eval('.tweet', nodes => nodes.map(n => n.innerText))).toEqual(['Hello!', 'Hi!']);

elementHandle.boundingBox()

  • returns: <Promise<?Object>>
    • x <number> the x coordinate of the element in pixels.
    • y <number> the y coordinate of the element in pixels.
    • width <number> the width of the element in pixels.
    • height <number> the height of the element in pixels.

This method returns the bounding box of the element (relative to the main frame), or null if the element is not visible.

elementHandle.check([options])

  • options <Object>
    • force <boolean> Whether to bypass the actionability checks. Defaults to false.
    • noWaitAfter <boolean> Actions that initiate navigations are waiting for these navigations to happen and for pages to start loading. You can opt out of waiting via setting this flag. You would only need this option in the exceptional cases such as navigating to inaccessible pages. Defaults to false.
    • timeout <number> Maximum time in milliseconds, defaults to 30 seconds, pass 0 to disable timeout. The default value can be changed by using the browserContext.setDefaultTimeout(timeout) or page.setDefaultTimeout(timeout) methods.
  • returns: <Promise> Promise which resolves when the element is successfully checked. Promise gets rejected if the operation fails.

If element is not already checked, it scrolls it into view if needed, and then uses elementHandle.click to click in the center of the element.

elementHandle.click([options])

  • options <Object>
    • button <”left”|”right”|”middle”> Defaults to left.
    • clickCount <number> defaults to 1. See UIEvent.detail.
    • delay <number> Time to wait between mousedown and mouseup in milliseconds. Defaults to 0.
    • position <Object> A point to click relative to the top-left corner of element padding box. If not specified, clicks to some visible point of the element.
    • modifiers <Array<”Alt”|”Control”|”Meta”|”Shift”>> Modifier keys to press. Ensures that only these modifiers are pressed during the click, and then restores current modifiers back. If not specified, currently pressed modifiers are used.
    • force <boolean> Whether to bypass the actionability checks. Defaults to false.
    • noWaitAfter <boolean> Actions that initiate navigations are waiting for these navigations to happen and for pages to start loading. You can opt out of waiting via setting this flag. You would only need this option in the exceptional cases such as navigating to inaccessible pages. Defaults to false.
    • timeout <number> Maximum time in milliseconds, defaults to 30 seconds, pass 0 to disable timeout. The default value can be changed by using the browserContext.setDefaultTimeout(timeout) or page.setDefaultTimeout(timeout) methods.
  • returns: <Promise> Promise which resolves when the element is successfully clicked. Promise gets rejected if the element is detached from DOM.

This method scrolls element into view if needed, and then uses page.mouse to click in the center of the element. If the element is detached from DOM, the method throws an error.

elementHandle.contentFrame()

  • returns: <Promise<?Frame>> Resolves to the content frame for element handles referencing iframe nodes, or null otherwise

elementHandle.dblclick([options])

  • options <Object>
    • button <”left”|”right”|”middle”> Defaults to left.
    • delay <number> Time to wait between mousedown and mouseup in milliseconds. Defaults to 0.
    • position <Object> A point to double click relative to the top-left corner of element padding box. If not specified, double clicks to some visible point of the element.
    • modifiers <Array<”Alt”|”Control”|”Meta”|”Shift”>> Modifier keys to press. Ensures that only these modifiers are pressed during the double click, and then restores current modifiers back. If not specified, currently pressed modifiers are used.
    • force <boolean> Whether to bypass the actionability checks. Defaults to false.
    • noWaitAfter <boolean> Actions that initiate navigations are waiting for these navigations to happen and for pages to start loading. You can opt out of waiting via setting this flag. You would only need this option in the exceptional cases such as navigating to inaccessible pages. Defaults to false.
    • timeout <number> Maximum time in milliseconds, defaults to 30 seconds, pass 0 to disable timeout. The default value can be changed by using the browserContext.setDefaultTimeout(timeout) or page.setDefaultTimeout(timeout) methods.
  • returns: <Promise> Promise which resolves when the element is successfully double clicked. Promise gets rejected if the element is detached from DOM.

This method scrolls element into view if needed, and then uses page.mouse to click in the center of the element. If the element is detached from DOM, the method throws an error.

Bear in mind that if the first click of the dblclick() triggers a navigation event, there will be an exception.

NOTE elementHandle.dblclick() dispatches two click events and a single dblclick event.

elementHandle.dispatchEvent(type[, eventInit])

  • type <string> DOM event type: "click", "dragstart", etc.
  • eventInit <Object> event-specific initialization properties.
  • returns: <Promise>

The snippet below dispatches the click event on the element. Regardless of the visibility state of the elment, click is dispatched. This is equivalend to calling element.click().

  1. await elementHandle.dispatchEvent('click');

Under the hood, it creates an instance of an event based on the given type, initializes it with eventInit properties and dispatches it on the element. Events are composed, cancelable and bubble by default.

Since eventInit is event-specific, please refer to the events documentation for the lists of initial properties:

You can also specify JSHandle as the property value if you want live objects to be passed into the event:

  1. // Note you can only create DataTransfer in Chromium and Firefox
  2. const dataTransfer = await page.evaluateHandle(() => new DataTransfer());
  3. await elementHandle.dispatchEvent('dragstart', { dataTransfer });

elementHandle.fill(value[, options])

  • value <string> Value to set for the <input>, <textarea> or [contenteditable] element.
  • options <Object>
    • noWaitAfter <boolean> Actions that initiate navigations are waiting for these navigations to happen and for pages to start loading. You can opt out of waiting via setting this flag. You would only need this option in the exceptional cases such as navigating to inaccessible pages. Defaults to false.
    • timeout <number> Maximum time in milliseconds, defaults to 30 seconds, pass 0 to disable timeout. The default value can be changed by using the browserContext.setDefaultTimeout(timeout) or page.setDefaultTimeout(timeout) methods.
  • returns: <Promise>

This method waits for actionability checks, focuses the element, fills it and triggers an input event after filling. If the element is not an <input>, <textarea> or [contenteditable] element, this method throws an error. Note that you can pass an empty string to clear the input field.

elementHandle.focus()

Calls focus on the element.

elementHandle.getAttribute(name)

  • name <string> Attribute name to get the value for.
  • returns: <Promise>

Returns element attribute value.

elementHandle.hover([options])

  • options <Object>
    • position <Object> A point to hover relative to the top-left corner of element padding box. If not specified, hovers over some visible point of the element.
    • modifiers <Array<”Alt”|”Control”|”Meta”|”Shift”>> Modifier keys to press. Ensures that only these modifiers are pressed during the hover, and then restores current modifiers back. If not specified, currently pressed modifiers are used.
    • force <boolean> Whether to bypass the actionability checks. Defaults to false.
    • timeout <number> Maximum time in milliseconds, defaults to 30 seconds, pass 0 to disable timeout. The default value can be changed by using the browserContext.setDefaultTimeout(timeout) or page.setDefaultTimeout(timeout) methods.
  • returns: <Promise> Promise which resolves when the element is successfully hovered.

This method scrolls element into view if needed, and then uses page.mouse to hover over the center of the element. If the element is detached from DOM, the method throws an error.

elementHandle.innerHTML()

elementHandle.innerText()

elementHandle.ownerFrame()

  • returns: <Promise<?Frame>> Returns the frame containing the given element.

elementHandle.press(key[, options])

  • key <string> Name of the key to press or a character to generate, such as ArrowLeft or a.
  • options <Object>
    • delay <number> Time to wait between keydown and keyup in milliseconds. Defaults to 0.
    • noWaitAfter <boolean> Actions that initiate navigations are waiting for these navigations to happen and for pages to start loading. You can opt out of waiting via setting this flag. You would only need this option in the exceptional cases such as navigating to inaccessible pages. Defaults to false.
    • timeout <number> Maximum time in milliseconds, defaults to 30 seconds, pass 0 to disable timeout. The default value can be changed by using the browserContext.setDefaultTimeout(timeout) or page.setDefaultTimeout(timeout) methods.
  • returns: <Promise>

Focuses the element, and then uses keyboard.down and keyboard.up.

key can specify the intended keyboardEvent.key value or a single character to generate the text for. A superset of the key values can be found here. Examples of the keys are:

F1 - F12, Digit0- Digit9, KeyA- KeyZ, Backquote, Minus, Equal, Backslash, Backspace, Tab, Delete, Escape, ArrowDown, End, Enter, Home, Insert, PageDown, PageUp, ArrayRight, ArrowUp, etc.

Following modification shortcuts are also suported: Shift, Control, Alt, Meta, ShiftLeft.

Holding down Shift will type the text that corresponds to the key in the upper case.

If key is a single character, it is case-sensitive, so the values a and A will generate different respective texts.

Shortcuts such as key: "Control+o" or key: "Control+Shift+T" are supported as well. When speficied with the modifier, modifier is pressed and being held while the subsequent key is being pressed.

elementHandle.screenshot([options])

  • options <Object> Screenshot options.
    • path <string> The file path to save the image to. The screenshot type will be inferred from file extension. If path is a relative path, then it is resolved relative to current working directory. If no path is provided, the image won’t be saved to the disk.
    • type <”png”|”jpeg”> Specify screenshot type, defaults to png.
    • quality <number> The quality of the image, between 0-100. Not applicable to png images.
    • omitBackground <boolean> Hides default white background and allows capturing screenshots with transparency. Not applicable to jpeg images. Defaults to false.
    • timeout <number> Maximum time in milliseconds, defaults to 30 seconds, pass 0 to disable timeout. The default value can be changed by using the browserContext.setDefaultTimeout(timeout) or page.setDefaultTimeout(timeout) methods.
  • returns: <Promise<Buffer>> Promise which resolves to buffer with the captured screenshot.

This method waits for the actionability checks, then scrolls element into view before taking a screenshot. If the element is detached from DOM, the method throws an error.

elementHandle.scrollIntoViewIfNeeded([options])

This method waits for actionability checks, then tries to scroll element into view, unless it is completely visible as defined by IntersectionObserver‘s ratio.

Throws when elementHandle does not point to an element connected to a Document or a ShadowRoot.

elementHandle.selectOption(values[, options])

  • values |Object|Array<ElementHandle>|Array<Object>> Options to select. If the <select> has the multiple attribute, all matching options are selected, otherwise only the first option matching one of the passed options is selected. String values are equivalent to {value:'string'}. Option is considered matching if all specified properties match.
    • value <string> Matches by option.value.
    • label <string> Matches by option.label.
    • index <number> Matches by the index.
  • options <Object>
    • noWaitAfter <boolean> Actions that initiate navigations are waiting for these navigations to happen and for pages to start loading. You can opt out of waiting via setting this flag. You would only need this option in the exceptional cases such as navigating to inaccessible pages. Defaults to false.
    • timeout <number> Maximum time in milliseconds, defaults to 30 seconds, pass 0 to disable timeout. The default value can be changed by using the browserContext.setDefaultTimeout(timeout) or page.setDefaultTimeout(timeout) methods.
  • returns: <Promise<Array<string>>> An array of option values that have been successfully selected.

Triggers a change and input event once all the provided options have been selected. If element is not a <select> element, the method throws an error.

  1. // single selection matching the value
  2. handle.selectOption('blue');
  4. // single selection matching both the value and the label
  5. handle.selectOption({ label: 'Blue' });
  7. // multiple selection
  8. handle.selectOption('red', 'green', 'blue');
  10. // multiple selection for blue, red and second option
  11. handle.selectOption({ value: 'blue' }, { index: 2 }, 'red');

elementHandle.selectText([options])

This method waits for actionability checks, then focuses the element and selects all its text content.

elementHandle.setInputFiles(files[, options])

This method expects elementHandle to point to an input element.

Sets the value of the file input to these file paths or files. If some of the filePaths are relative paths, then they are resolved relative to the current working directory. For empty array, clears the selected files.

elementHandle.textContent()

  • returns: <Promise> Resolves to the node.textContent.

elementHandle.toString()

elementHandle.type(text[, options])

  • text <string> A text to type into a focused element.
  • options <Object>
    • delay <number> Time to wait between key presses in milliseconds. Defaults to 0.
    • noWaitAfter <boolean> Actions that initiate navigations are waiting for these navigations to happen and for pages to start loading. You can opt out of waiting via setting this flag. You would only need this option in the exceptional cases such as navigating to inaccessible pages. Defaults to false.
    • timeout <number> Maximum time in milliseconds, defaults to 30 seconds, pass 0 to disable timeout. The default value can be changed by using the browserContext.setDefaultTimeout(timeout) or page.setDefaultTimeout(timeout) methods.
  • returns: <Promise>

Focuses the element, and then sends a keydown, keypress/input, and keyup event for each character in the text.

To press a special key, like Control or ArrowDown, use elementHandle.press.

  1. await elementHandle.type('Hello'); // Types instantly
  2. await elementHandle.type('World', {delay: 100}); // Types slower, like a user

An example of typing into a text field and then submitting the form:

  1. const elementHandle = await page.$('input');
  2. await elementHandle.type('some text');
  3. await elementHandle.press('Enter');

elementHandle.uncheck([options])

  • options <Object>
    • force <boolean> Whether to bypass the actionability checks. Defaults to false.
    • noWaitAfter <boolean> Actions that initiate navigations are waiting for these navigations to happen and for pages to start loading. You can opt out of waiting via setting this flag. You would only need this option in the exceptional cases such as navigating to inaccessible pages. Defaults to false.
    • timeout <number> Maximum time in milliseconds, defaults to 30 seconds, pass 0 to disable timeout. The default value can be changed by using the browserContext.setDefaultTimeout(timeout) or page.setDefaultTimeout(timeout) methods.
  • returns: <Promise> Promise which resolves when the element is successfully unchecked. Promise gets rejected if the operation fails.

If element is not already unchecked, it scrolls it into view if needed, and then uses elementHandle.click to click in the center of the element.