java: String.format with PageFactory

Question

This is My String in non PageFactory framework, declared at the class level.

private final String fruits= "//a/h4[text()='%s']";

Which is used in same class in some method like this:

public void clickFruitHeading(String string) {
        driver.click(By.xpath(String.format(fruits, string)));
        driver.click(By.xpath(String.format(fruits, "Apple")));
    }

But when using PageFactory it is written like this:

@FindBy(xpath = "//a/h4[text()='%s']")
private static WebElement fruits;

How to use String.format here?

Answer 1

There's no way to do it with PageFactory without re-implementing it. Locators to page object elements in @FindBy annotations cannot be updated at runtime. You probably would like to have something like

fruits("Apple").click();

However, the proxy created by PageFactory for fruits field accessor does not take any arguments. It just does something like:

driver.findElement(By.xpath("//a/h4[text()='%s']");

The closest thing that you can do is to refrain from using @FindBy for this particular element on a Web page, define a method:

private WebElement fruits(String fruit) {
  By.xpath(String.format("//a/h4[text()='%s']", fruit));
}

and then call it:

fruits("Apple").click();

Answer 2

The PageFactory code isn't working because fruits isn't a WebElement to be found on the page as is, which is what that scheme is used for. Instead, it is a string substitution template and should be kept as just a "private final String".