Element not recognized on page until a manual click on the page occurs

Question

I am searching for an element on a webpage by using its xpath. The xpath is correct and can find the element ONLY if I manually perform a click anywhere on the page first. If I do not do this before the statement runs it will not find the element.

I have tried many different attempts to allow focus on the page:

selenium.selectWindow(null);
selenium.fireEvent(xpath, "focus");
selenium.click(element on page);
selenium.mouseDown();
selenium.mouseUp();

After performing these functions the statement will still not find the element, but if I manually maximize the page and click anywhere on the page, then run the statement, the element is found. Can anyone help me out with this?

The statement I am using to find the element is:

selenium.isElementPresent("//div[@class='sample_class']");

Thanks!

Answer 1

Instead of using XPath, try using the CSS selector for that item.

Use selenium.isElementPresent("css=div.sample_class"); as your selector. Saucelabs have explained it quite well at http://saucelabs.com/blog/index.php/2009/10/selenium-tip-of-the-week-start-improving-your-locators/

Answer 2

moved