`StaleElementReferenceException` emanating from `Shutterbug.shootElement`

[roboaks]

We are using shutterbug v1.2 to take full page screen shots of a scrollable div (using the feature we collaborated on a few months back).

Here is the full stack trace:

EXCEPTION_:org.openqa.selenium.StaleElementReferenceException: stale element reference: element is not attached to the page document
(Session info: chrome=87.0.4280.88)
For documentation on this error, please visit: https://www.seleniumhq.org/exceptions/stale_element_reference.html
Build info: version: 'unknown', revision: 'unknown', time: 'unknown'
System info: host: 'GitHub', ip: '172.31.36.180', os.name: 'Windows Server 2016', os.arch: 'amd64', os.version: '10.0', java.version: '1.8.0_191'
Driver info: org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver
Capabilities {acceptInsecureCerts: false, browserName: chrome, browserVersion: 87.0.4280.88, chrome: {chromedriverVersion: 86.0.4240.22 (398b0743353ff..., userDataDir: C:\Users\ITSUser\AppData\Lo...}, goog:chromeOptions: {debuggerAddress: localhost:51006}, javascriptEnabled: true, networkConnectionEnabled: false, pageLoadStrategy: normal, platform: WINDOWS, platformName: WINDOWS, proxy: Proxy(), setWindowRect: true, strictFileInteractability: false, timeouts: {implicit: 0, pageLoad: 300000, script: 30000}, unhandledPromptBehavior: dismiss and notify, webauthn:virtualAuthenticators: true}
Session ID: 7a9d209c3eba5b47e04ee2ea727c221c
at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance0(Native Method) [rt.jar:1.8.0_191]
at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(Unknown Source) [rt.jar:1.8.0_191]
at sun.reflect.DelegatingConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(Unknown Source) [rt.jar:1.8.0_191]
at java.lang.reflect.Constructor.newInstance(Unknown Source) [rt.jar:1.8.0_191]
at org.openqa.selenium.remote.http.W3CHttpResponseCodec.createException(W3CHttpResponseCodec.java:187) [SeleniumFixture-all.jar]
at org.openqa.selenium.remote.http.W3CHttpResponseCodec.decode(W3CHttpResponseCodec.java:122) [SeleniumFixture-all.jar]
at org.openqa.selenium.remote.http.W3CHttpResponseCodec.decode(W3CHttpResponseCodec.java:49) [SeleniumFixture-all.jar]
at org.openqa.selenium.remote.HttpCommandExecutor.execute(HttpCommandExecutor.java:158) [SeleniumFixture-all.jar]
at org.openqa.selenium.remote.service.DriverCommandExecutor.execute(DriverCommandExecutor.java:83) [SeleniumFixture-all.jar]
at org.openqa.selenium.remote.RemoteWebDriver.execute(RemoteWebDriver.java:552) [SeleniumFixture-all.jar]
at org.openqa.selenium.remote.RemoteWebDriver.executeScript(RemoteWebDriver.java:489) [SeleniumFixture-all.jar]
at com.assertthat.selenium_shutterbug.utils.web.Browser.executeJsScript(Browser.java:668) [SeleniumFixture-all.jar]
at com.assertthat.selenium_shutterbug.utils.web.Browser.getElementCurrentScrollX(Browser.java:599) [SeleniumFixture-all.jar]
at com.assertthat.selenium_shutterbug.utils.web.Browser.takeFullElementScreenshotScroll(Browser.java:360) [SeleniumFixture-all.jar]
at com.assertthat.selenium_shutterbug.core.Shutterbug.shootElement(Shutterbug.java:246) [SeleniumFixture-all.jar]
at com.its.itap.fixtures.selenium.helpers.Screenshot._saveScreenshot(Screenshot.java:510) [SeleniumFixture-all.jar]
at com.its.itap.fixtures.selenium.helpers.Screenshot.saveScreenshot(Screenshot.java:657) [SeleniumFixture-all.jar]
at com.its.itap.fixtures.selenium.SeleniumFixture.saveScreenshot(SeleniumFixture.java:2322) [SeleniumFixture-all.jar]
at sun.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor8.invoke(Unknown Source) [n/a]
at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source) [rt.jar:1.8.0_191]
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Unknown Source) [rt.jar:1.8.0_191]
at fitnesse.slim.fixtureInteraction.DefaultInteraction.methodInvoke(DefaultInteraction.java:81) [fitnesse-standalone.jar]
at fitnesse.slim.MethodExecutor.callMethod(MethodExecutor.java:57) [fitnesse-standalone.jar]
at fitnesse.slim.MethodExecutor.invokeMethod(MethodExecutor.java:38) [fitnesse-standalone.jar]
at fitnesse.slim.MethodExecutor.findAndInvoke(MethodExecutor.java:72) [fitnesse-standalone.jar]
at fitnesse.slim.LibraryMethodExecutor.execute(LibraryMethodExecutor.java:18) [fitnesse-standalone.jar]
at fitnesse.slim.StatementExecutor.getMethodExecutionResult(StatementExecutor.java:126) [fitnesse-standalone.jar]
at fitnesse.slim.StatementExecutor.call(StatementExecutor.java:104) [fitnesse-standalone.jar]
at fitnesse.slim.instructions.CallInstruction.executeInternal(CallInstruction.java:35) [fitnesse-standalone.jar]
at fitnesse.slim.instructions.Instruction.execute(Instruction.java:29) [fitnesse-standalone.jar]
at fitnesse.slim.ListExecutor$Executive.executeStatement(ListExecutor.java:49) [fitnesse-standalone.jar]
at fitnesse.slim.ListExecutor$Executive.executeStatements(ListExecutor.java:43) [fitnesse-standalone.jar]
at fitnesse.slim.ListExecutor.execute(ListExecutor.java:83) [fitnesse-standalone.jar]
at fitnesse.slim.SlimServer.executeInstructions(SlimServer.java:87) [fitnesse-standalone.jar]
at fitnesse.slim.SlimServer.processOneSetOfInstructions(SlimServer.java:80) [fitnesse-standalone.jar]
at fitnesse.slim.SlimServer.tryProcessInstructions(SlimServer.java:58) [fitnesse-standalone.jar]
at fitnesse.slim.SlimServer.serve(SlimServer.java:43) [fitnesse-standalone.jar]
at fitnesse.slim.SlimService.handle(SlimService.java:186) [fitnesse-standalone.jar]
at fitnesse.slim.SlimService.acceptOne(SlimService.java:194) [fitnesse-standalone.jar]
at fitnesse.slim.SlimService.accept(SlimService.java:156) [fitnesse-standalone.jar]
at fitnesse.slim.SlimService.startWithFactory(SlimService.java:77) [fitnesse-standalone.jar]
at fitnesse.slim.SlimService.main(SlimService.java:57) [fitnesse-standalone.jar]

[glibas]

Hi @roboaks ,

Have you got a reproducible example?

[roboaks]

Unfortunately, no. The issue only seems to occur in one development environment so far--though it appears consistently. In my experience, because StaleElementReferenceExceptions can be timing related, it's not super unusual for them to manifest in an environment-specific and/or intermittent manner.

Can you tell which element is becoming stale and is it possible to add a retry loop (e.g. see this post)?

[glibas]

Try 1.3-SNAPSHOT version and use Shutterbug.shootElement(WebDriver driver, By element, CaptureElement capture) method passing By locator which will dynamically find the element, hopefully fixing StaleElementReferenceException

[roboaks]

Could not resolve: com.assertthat:selenium-shutterbug:1.3-SNAPSHOT

I am using the jcenter repository and the following Gradle statement: implementation ('com.assertthat:selenium-shutterbug:1.3-SNAPSHOT'). This is the exact same configuration that successfully resolves for v1.2.

[glibas]

You need to add snapshots repo url to make it resolve. Something like below

	repositories {
		jcenter()
		maven { url 'https://oss.sonatype.org/content/repositories/snapshots' }
	}

[roboaks]

That worked. I have updated our Selenium fixture accordingly and am waiting for feedback from the developer.

Glib, thank you so much for the quick response.

[roboaks]

According to the developer that seems to have fixed the problem! Thanks so much for the quick turnaround.

Will you be posting a new release to jcenter?

[glibas]

Hi Rob,
I'm going to release the change today/tomorrow

[glibas]

Released under v1.3. Will be available after a little while