How to Delete Single Characters from a Textbox Using Selenium

How to Delete Single Characters from a Textbox Using Selenium

3 July 2024 Stephan Petzl Leave a comment QA

When working with Selenium for web automation, you might encounter a scenario where you need to delete specific characters from a textbox. For instance, you may need to delete the last two characters from a string like “ABCD” to get “AB”. This article provides a clear and practical guide to achieve this using Selenium.

Approach 1: Using ASCII Code

If you are using Java, you can delete a character from a textbox by sending the ASCII backspace character. Here’s how you can do it:

element.sendKeys("\\u0008");

This approach is straightforward and relies on using the Unicode representation of the backspace character.

Approach 2: Using Selenium Keys

While the ASCII method is valid, using predefined constants in Selenium can make your code more readable and maintainable. The Selenium library provides a Keys class that includes a constant for the backspace key. Here’s how you can use it:

element.sendKeys(Keys.BACK_SPACE);

This method enhances code readability and aligns with standard practices in Selenium-based automation.

Practical Example

Let’s consider a practical example where we need to delete the last two characters from a textbox:


    WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.id("textboxId"));
    element.sendKeys(Keys.BACK_SPACE);
    element.sendKeys(Keys.BACK_SPACE);
    

In this example, we locate the textbox using its ID and then send two backspace keys to delete the last two characters.

Conclusion

Both approaches are effective for deleting characters from a textbox using Selenium. The choice between them depends on your preference for code readability and maintainability. Using predefined constants from the Keys class is generally recommended for clarity.

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