Skip to main content

Select Actions

The SelectActions class provides specialized methods for interacting with dropdown menus, select elements, and option lists. It's accessed via the select() method of the DriverActions class.

Basic Select Operations​

DriverActions actions = new DriverActions(driver);

// Select by visible text
actions.select().selectByVisibleText(By.id("countrySelect"), "United States");

// Select by value
actions.select().selectByValue(By.id("countrySelect"), "US");

// Select by index
actions.select().selectByIndex(By.id("countrySelect"), 0); // First option

// Deselect options (for multi-select)
actions.select().deselectByVisibleText(By.id("tagsSelect"), "Urgent");
actions.select().deselectByValue(By.id("tagsSelect"), "urgent");
actions.select().deselectByIndex(By.id("tagsSelect"), 0);
actions.select().deselectAll(By.id("tagsSelect"));

Getting Select Information​

// Get all options
List<WebElement> options = actions.select().getOptions(By.id("countrySelect"));

// Get selected options
List<WebElement> selectedOptions = actions.select().getAllSelectedOptions(By.id("tagsSelect"));

// Get first selected option
WebElement firstSelected = actions.select().getFirstSelectedOption(By.id("countrySelect"));

// Check if multiple selection is allowed
boolean isMultiple = actions.select().isMultiple(By.id("tagsSelect"));

With Custom Timeouts​

// With custom timeout (10 seconds)
actions.select().selectByVisibleText(By.id("countrySelect"), "United States", 10);

// With custom timeout (10 seconds) and polling interval (200ms)
actions.select().selectByValue(By.id("countrySelect"), "US", 10, 200);

Practical Examples​

Dynamic Dropdown Handling​

public void selectFromDynamicDropdown() {
    DriverActions actions = new DriverActions(driver);
    
    // Click dropdown to load options
    actions.elements().clickOnElement(By.id("countryDropdown"));
    
    // Wait for options to load
    actions.elements().waitForNumberOfElementsToBeMoreThan(
        By.cssSelector("#countryDropdown option"), 
        1
    );
    
    // Select country by visible text
    actions.select().selectByVisibleText(By.id("countryDropdown"), "Germany");
    
    // Wait for state dropdown to be enabled (cascading dropdown)
    actions.elements().waitForElementToBeEnabled(By.id("stateDropdown"));
    
    // Now select from the state dropdown
    actions.select().selectByVisibleText(By.id("stateDropdown"), "Bavaria");
}

Multi-Select Lists​

public void handleMultiSelectList() {
    DriverActions actions = new DriverActions(driver);
    
    // Verify this is a multi-select element
    boolean isMultiple = actions.select().isMultiple(By.id("skillsList"));
    
    if (isMultiple) {
        // Select multiple options
        actions.select().selectByVisibleText(By.id("skillsList"), "Java");
        actions.select().selectByVisibleText(By.id("skillsList"), "JavaScript");
        actions.select().selectByVisibleText(By.id("skillsList"), "Python");
        
        // Get all selected options
        List<WebElement> selectedOptions = actions.select().getAllSelectedOptions(By.id("skillsList"));
        System.out.println("Selected " + selectedOptions.size() + " skills");
        
        // Remove one option
        actions.select().deselectByVisibleText(By.id("skillsList"), "Python");
        
        // Verify selection count changed
        selectedOptions = actions.select().getAllSelectedOptions(By.id("skillsList"));
        System.out.println("Now selected " + selectedOptions.size() + " skills");
        
        // Clear all selections
        actions.select().deselectAll(By.id("skillsList"));
    }
}

Custom Dropdowns (Non-Select Elements)​

For custom dropdowns that don't use the standard <select> element:

public void handleCustomDropdown() {
    DriverActions actions = new DriverActions(driver);
    
    // Click to open custom dropdown
    actions.elements().clickOnElement(By.cssSelector(".custom-dropdown-toggle"));
    
    // Wait for dropdown menu to appear
    actions.elements().waitForElementToBeVisible(By.cssSelector(".dropdown-menu"));
    
    // Click on specific option
    actions.elements().clickOnElement(
        By.xpath("//div[@class='dropdown-menu']//div[text()='Option 2']")
    );
    
    // Verify selection was applied
    String selectedValue = actions.elements().getElementText(By.cssSelector(".selected-value"));
    System.out.println("Selected: " + selectedValue);
}