python 3.x - WebDriverException: Message: TypeError: rect is undefined

Question

I am trying to automate the download of data from a website with a python script using selenium but I get the following error:

"WebDriverException: Message: TypeError: rect is undefined".

Code trial:

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.common import action_chains

driver = webdriver.Firefox()
url="https://www.hlnug.de/?id=9231&view=messwerte&detail=download&station=609"
driver.get(url)

Now I define the check-box I want to click and I try to click on it:

temp=driver.find_element_by_xpath('//input[@value="TEMP"]')
action = action_chains.ActionChains(driver)

action.move_to_element(temp)
action.click()
action.perform()

I already searched 2 hours on the net without any success. Any idea is therefore welcome!

Thanks a lot in advance!

Answer 1

This error message...

WebDriverException: Message: TypeError: rect is undefined

...implies that the desired WebElement might not have client rects defined when you tried to interact with it.

As per TypeError: rect is undefined, when using Selenium Actions and element is not displayed. the main issue is though the desired element with which you are trying to interact [i.e. invoke click()] is present within the HTML DOM but is not visible i.e. not displayed.

Reason

The most probhable reasons and solutions are as follows :

• Moving ahead as you are trying to click the element, the desired element may not be interactable at that point of time as some JavaScript / Ajax call may be still active.
• Element is out of the Viewport

Solution

• Induce WebDriverWait for the element to be clickable as follows :

  temp = wait.until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.XPATH, "//input[@value="TEMP"]")))
  action = action_chains.ActionChains(driver)
  action.move_to_element(temp)
  action.click()
  action.perform()
  

• Use execute_script() method to scroll the element in to view as follows :

  temp = driver.find_element_by_xpath("//input[@value="TEMP"]")
  driver.execute_script("arguments[0].scrollIntoView();", temp);
  action = action_chains.ActionChains(driver)
  action.move_to_element(temp)
  action.click()
  action.perform()