Handle Pre-Selected Checkboxes

How it works

Unchecking uses the same click() as checking, because a click toggles. What changes is the starting point: a box that loads ticked, like firstSelect5 on the Checkboxes page, which has the checked attribute in its HTML.

That attribute is the box's default, not its live state. After you untick the box, isSelected() and getAttribute("checked") follow the live state (false and null), but getDomAttribute("checked") still returns "true", because the HTML was not changed. Always read the live state when you assert.

About the assignment

The pre-selected row starts with its first box ticked. You confirm that starting state, untick the box, and confirm the new state, the same check a test makes when it turns off a default option.

What you will do

1. 1Find the pre-selected checkbox by the id given in the task.
2. 2Print its isSelected() result after the label Initially selected:.
3. 3Click it once to untick it.
4. 4Print isSelected() again after the label After deselect:.

Common mistakes

• Clicking twice

  A second click ticks the box again, so the after line shows the same value as the before line. One click per change.

• Asserting on the HTML attribute

  getDomAttribute("checked") keeps returning "true" after you untick the box. It describes the page as loaded, not as it is now.

• Assuming a default never changes

  Which boxes load ticked is decided by the application, not the test. Read the state first, as this task does, instead of hard-coding it.

In a real test suite

Related lessons

• Handle Checkboxes - Click and VerifyTick an empty box and verify it.
• Get Attribute Value with getAttribute()Why getAttribute() and getDomAttribute() can disagree.
• isSelected() - Check Selection StateCompare a ticked and an unticked box with isSelected().

To try one of these calls on any page without a task, open the Online Selenium Java Compiler.

Starter code

The editor above opens with this code. Fill in the TODO lines, then run and submit it.

import org.openqa.selenium.*;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();
        driver.get("https://testkru.com/Elements/Checkboxes");
        
        // TODO: Find pre-selected checkbox firstSelect5
        // TODO: Print its initial state
        // TODO: Click to deselect
        // TODO: Print state after deselecting
        
        driver.quit();
    }
}