Trying to use Python and Selenium to click on a drop-down menu on facebook ad library-CodePudding

I'm trying to use Selenium and Python to automate searching for ads on the Facebook/Meta Ad Library.

I've tried two possible ways, being the first this code bellow, which I had no luck.

# open up the dropdown
dropdown = driver.find_element_by_css_selector("#content > div > div > div > div._7lcc._7pjc > div > div.i0ppjblf.a5ffu93u.st4mjv7a.iyko1ghw.jfj1vgtg.m83rvdb6.bap0kgut.cti9fvx6.oa8xhnpz.i74zigrp.m98nodcc.chc425dg.e38l7byz.o05r0c4z > div > div > div > div.tds9wb2m.my9zkn4v.pyd2nkot.adkrixjq > div.yukb02kx.duy2mlcu.har4n1i8.cnb3w5di.fo5tpktj.jeth2qeq.j8wh3hf1.e3ydwaff > div > div.a53abz89.rgsc13q7.dfy4e4am.rwb8dzxj.diwav8v6.yukb02kx.apktr6ye.cngk1q1b.iajz466s > div.a53abz89.rgsc13q7.dfy4e4am.diwav8v6.yukb02kx.apktr6ye.tlhxvphw.shyhzvm4 > div > div.rvuf3ahq.nbxbiaw5 > div > div")
dropdown.click()

# select element
item = dropdown.find_element_by_xpath('//*[@id="facebook"]/body/div[5]/div[2]/div[2]/div/div/div/div/div/div/div[2]/div[1]/div/div/div')
item.click()

That was the outcome:

selenium.common.exceptions.NoSuchElementException: Message: no such element: Unable to locate element: {"method":"css selector","selector":"#content > div > div > div > div._7lcc._7pjc > div > div.i0ppjblf.a5ffu93u.st4mjv7a.iyko1ghw.jfj1vgtg.m83rvdb6.bap0kgut.cti9fvx6.oa8xhnpz.i74zigrp.m98nodcc.chc425dg.e38l7byz.o05r0c4z > div > div > div > div.tds9wb2m.my9zkn4v.pyd2nkot.adkrixjq > div.yukb02kx.duy2mlcu.har4n1i8.cnb3w5di.fo5tpktj.jeth2qeq.j8wh3hf1.e3ydwaff > div > div.a53abz89.rgsc13q7.dfy4e4am.rwb8dzxj.diwav8v6.yukb02kx.apktr6ye.cngk1q1b.iajz466s > div.a53abz89.rgsc13q7.dfy4e4am.diwav8v6.yukb02kx.apktr6ye.tlhxvphw.shyhzvm4 > div > div.rvuf3ahq.nbxbiaw5 > div > div"}

I then tried to use this other code, which partially works. The Ad category button is clicked, but the drop-down option is not. I want to select All ads on the drop-down menu.

The last line of this code fills the search bar. That part was working if I was to click the All ads myself, but is not working anymore, and I don't know why.

# Ad button
WebDriverWait(driver, 20).until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.XPATH, '//*[@id="content"]/div/div/div/div[3]/div/div[2]/div/div/div/div[1]/div[2]/div/div[2]/div[2]/div/div[1]/div/div'))).click()
WebDriverWait(driver, 20).until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.XPATH,'//*[@id="facebook"]/body/div[5]/div[2]/div[2]/div/div/div/div/div/div/div[2]/div[1]/div/div/div'))).click()

# Search bar
WebDriverWait(driver, 20).until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.XPATH, '//*[@id="content"]/div/div/div/div[3]/div/div[2]/div/div/div/div[1]/div[2]/div/div[2]/div[3]/div/div/div[1]/div/input'))).send_keys("Type search")

This is my whole code, for now:

from selenium import webdriver 
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.options import Options
from webdriver_manager.chrome import ChromeDriverManager
from selenium.webdriver.common.keys import Keys
from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By
from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC

options = Options()
options.add_argument("--incognito")

driver = webdriver.Chrome(ChromeDriverManager().install(), options=options)

# Web page request
driver.get('https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?active_status=all&ad_type=political_and_issue_ads&country=BR&media_type=all')
driver.maximize_window()

# Ad button
WebDriverWait(driver, 20).until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.XPATH, '//*[@id="content"]/div/div/div/div[3]/div/div[2]/div/div/div/div[1]/div[2]/div/div[2]/div[2]/div/div[1]/div/div'))).click()
WebDriverWait(driver, 20).until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.XPATH,'//*[@id="facebook"]/body/div[5]/div[2]/div[2]/div/div/div/div/div/div/div[2]/div[1]/div/div/div'))).click()

# Search bar
WebDriverWait(driver, 20).until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.XPATH, '//*[@id="content"]/div/div/div/div[3]/div/div[2]/div/div/div/div[1]/div[2]/div/div[2]/div[3]/div/div/div[1]/div/input'))).send_keys("Type search")

CodePudding user response：

Go for Relative xpath instead of Absolute xpath. The locators does not highlight any element in the DOM.

It is necessary to find unique locators for Automation.

Refer these links - Link 1 ,Link 2

driver.get("https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?active_status=all&ad_type=political_and_issue_ads&country=BR&media_type=all")

wait = WebDriverWait(driver,30)

# Click on Ad category
adbtn = wait.until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.XPATH,"//div[text()='Ad category']")))
adbtn.click()

# Click on All ads
alladds = wait.until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.XPATH,"//span[text()='All ads']")))
alladds.click()

# Search for Chrome
search = wait.until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.XPATH,"//input[@placeholder='Search by keyword or advertiser']")))
search.send_keys("Chrome")

# Select option from Suggestions.
chromeoption = wait.until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.XPATH,"//button//div[text()='Google Chrome']")))
chromeoption.click()