find_element_by_* commands are deprecated in selenium

Question

When starting the function

def run(driver_path):    
    driver = webdriver.Chrome(executable_path=driver_path)    
    driver.get('https://tproger.ru/quiz/real-programmer/')    
    button = driver.find_element_by_class_name("quiz_button")
    button.click()
run(driver_path)

I'm getting errors like these:

<ipython-input-27-c5a7960e105f>:6: DeprecationWarning: executable_path has been deprecated, please pass in a Service object
  driver = webdriver.Chrome(executable_path=driver_path)
<ipython-input-27-c5a7960e105f>:10: DeprecationWarning: find_element_by_* commands are deprecated. Please use find_element() instead
  button = driver.find_element_by_class_name("quiz_button")

... but I can't understand why.

I'm using webdriver at the latest version for my chrome's version. I don't why I get

`find_element_by_* commands are deprecated` 

... when it's in the documentation that the command exists.

Answer 1

This error message...

DeprecationWarning: find_element_by_* commands are deprecated. Please use find_element() instead

...implies that the find_element_by_* commands are deprecated in the latest Selenium Python libraries.

As @AutomatedTester mentions: This DeprecationWarning was the reflection of the changes made with respect to the decision to simplify the APIs across the languages and this does that.

---

Solution

Instead you have to use find_element(). As an example:

You have to include the following imports

from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By

• Using class_name:

  button = driver.find_element_by_class_name("quiz_button")
  

  Needs be replaced with:

  button = driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "quiz_button")
  

---

In similar lines you also have to change the following:

• Using id:

  element = find_element_by_id("element_id")
  

  Needs be replaced with:

  element = driver.find_element(By.ID, "element_id")
  

• Using name:

  element = find_element_by_name("element_name")
  

  Needs be replaced with:

  element = driver.find_element(By.NAME, "element_name")
  

• Using link_text:

  element = find_element_by_link_text("element_link_text")
  

  Needs be replaced with:

  element = driver.find_element(By.LINK_TEXT, "element_link_text")
  

• Using partial_link_text:

  element = find_element_by_partial_link_text("element_partial_link_text")
  

  Needs be replaced with:

  element = driver.find_element(By.PARTIAL_LINK_TEXT, "element_partial_link_text")
  

• Using tag_name:

  element = find_element_by_tag_name("element_tag_name")
  

  Needs be replaced with:

  element = driver.find_element(By.TAG_NAME, "element_tag_name")
  

• Using css_selector:

  element = find_element_by_css_selector("element_css_selector")
  

  Needs be replaced with:

  element = driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "element_css_selector")
  

• Using xpath:

  element = find_element_by_xpath("element_xpath")
  

  Needs be replaced with:

  element = driver.find_element(By.XPATH, "element_xpath")
  

Note: If you are searching and replacing to implement the above changes, you will need to do the same thing for find_elements_*, i.e. the plural forms of find_element_*.

You may also find this upgrade guide useful as it covers some other unrelated changes you may need to make when upgrading: https://www.selenium.dev/documentation/webdriver/getting_started/upgrade_to_selenium_4/

Answer 2

@DebanjanB mentioned and explained the new structure , also it's better use these lines:

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By
from selenium.webdriver.common.keys import Keys
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.service import Service

s = Service('C:/Users/.../chromedriver.exe')
driver = webdriver.Chrome(service=s)

Answer 3

As others mentioned, you should use find_element() or find_elements() instead of find_element_by_*() or find_elements_by_*().

I wrote the regex pattern to replace the deprecated methods to new one, so try this if you need.

# from - e.g. find_element_by_id("test")

find_element(s?)_by_([a-z]+)\((.*)

# to - e.g. find_element(By.ID, "test")

find_element$1(By.\U$2\E, $3

Note: you need the import line to use the new methods

from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By

Answer 4

Here is an example which will clarify things a bit:

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.service import Service
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By

chrome_driver_path = "C:\Development\chromedriver_win32\chromedriver.exe"
s = Service(chrome_driver_path)
driver = webdriver.Chrome(service=s)

driver.get('https://www.amazon.in/Apple-MacBook-Chip-13-inch-256GB/dp/B08N5VSQNG/')
title = driver.find_element(by=By.ID, value="productTitle")  # by=By.ID, By.TAG_NAME, By.CLASS_NAME, By.NAME
print(title.text)


# driver.close()  # Closes the tab which was opened earlier
driver.quit()  # Quits the entire browser.