How to read the text from image (captcha) by using Selenium WebDriver with Java

Question

I have registration webpage but in last captcha is displaying..

I am not able to read the text from image. I am going to mention the code and output ..

@Test
public void loginTest() throws InterruptedException {
    System.out.println("Testing");
    driver.get("https://customer.onlinelic.in/ForgotPwd.htm");

    WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.xpath("//*[@id='forgotPassword']/table/tbody/tr[5]/td[3]/img"));
    System.out.println(" get the instance ");

    String elementTest = element.getAttribute("src");
    System.out.println("Element : " + elementTest);
}

Output: Error

Exception in thread "main" org.openqa.selenium.NoSuchElementException: Unable to locate element: {"method":"xpath","selector":"//[@id='forgotPassword']/table/tbody/tr[5]/td[3]/img"} Command duration or timeout: 60.02 seconds For documentation on this error, please visit:http://seleniumhq.org/exceptions/no_such_element.html Build info: version: '2.35.0', revision: '8df0c6b', time: '2013-08-12 15:43:19' System info: os.name: 'Windows 7', os.arch: 'amd64', os.version: '6.1', java.version: '1.6.0_26' Session ID: 5f5b2e1a-56a4-49ad-8fd3-2870747a7768 Driver info: org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxDriver Capabilities [{platform=XP, acceptSslCerts=true, javascriptEnabled=true, browserName=firefox, rotatable=false, locationContextEnabled=true, version=23.0.1, cssSelectorsEnabled=true, databaseEnabled=true, handlesAlerts=true, browserConnectionEnabled=true, nativeEvents=true, webStorageEnabled=true, applicationCacheEnabled=true, takesScreenshot=true}] at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance0(Native Method) at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.java:39) at sun.reflect.DelegatingConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(DelegatingConstructorAccessorImpl.java:27) at java.lang.reflect.Constructor.newInstance(Constructor.java:513) at org.openqa.selenium.remote.ErrorHandler.createThrowable(ErrorHandler.java:191) at org.openqa.selenium.remote.ErrorHandler.throwIfResponseFailed(ErrorHandler.java:145) at org.openqa.selenium.remote.RemoteWebDriver.execute(RemoteWebDriver.java:554) at org.openqa.selenium.remote.RemoteWebDriver.findElement(RemoteWebDriver.java:307) at org.openqa.selenium.remote.RemoteWebDriver.findElementByXPath(RemoteWebDriver.java:404) at org.openqa.selenium.By$ByXPath.findElement(By.java:344) at org.openqa.selenium.remote.RemoteWebDriver.findElement(RemoteWebDriver.java:299) at seleniumtest.CaptchaTest.loginTest(CaptchaTest.java:41) at seleniumtest.CaptchaTest.main(CaptchaTest.java:59) Caused by: org.openqa.selenium.remote.ErrorHandler$UnknownServerException: Unable to locate element: {"method":"xpath","selector":"//[@id='forgotPassword']/table/tbody/tr[5]/td[3]/img"} Build info: version: '2.35.0', revision: '8df0c6b', time: '2013-08-12 15:43:19' System info: os.name: 'Windows 7', os.arch: 'amd64', os.version: '6.1', java.version: '1.6.0_26' Driver info: driver.version: unknown at .FirefoxDriver.prototype.findElementInternal_(file:///C:/Users/lukup/AppData/Local/Temp/anonymous4043037924964932185webdriver-profile/extensions/fxdriver@googlecode.com/components/driver_component.js:8880) at .fxdriver.Timer.prototype.setTimeout/<.notify(file:///C:/Users/lukup/AppData/Local/Temp/anonymous4043037924964932185webdriver-profile/extensions/fxdriver@googlecode.com/components/driver_component.js:396)

Stas S · Answer 1 · 2014-06-08 14:33:24Z

Just to elaborate the previous answers, CAPTCHA as an acronym for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart". So, if "machine" can solve it, it's not really do it's job.

In order to solve it, there is something you can do - to use API of external services such ashttp://www.deathbycaptcha.com. You implementing their API, passing them the CAPTCHA and get in return the text. The average solving time i have observed is around 10-15 seconds.

Example for implementation (taken from here)

import com.DeathByCaptcha.AccessDeniedException;
import com.DeathByCaptcha.Captcha;
import com.DeathByCaptcha.Client;
import com.DeathByCaptcha.SocketClient;
import com.DeathByCaptcha.HttpClient;

/* Put your DeathByCaptcha account username and password here.
   Use HttpClient for HTTP API. */
Client client = (Client)new SocketClient(username, password);
try {
    double balance = client.getBalance();

    /* Put your CAPTCHA file name, or file object, or arbitrary input stream,
       or an array of bytes, and optional solving timeout (in seconds) here: */
    Captcha captcha = client.decode(captchaFileName, timeout);
    if (null != captcha) {
        /* The CAPTCHA was solved; captcha.id property holds its numeric ID,
           and captcha.text holds its text. */
        System.out.println("CAPTCHA " + captcha.id + " solved: " + captcha.text);

        if (/* check if the CAPTCHA was incorrectly solved */) {
            client.report(captcha);
        }
    }
} catch (AccessDeniedException e) {
    /* Access to DBC API denied, check your credentials and/or balance */
}

Robbie Wareham · Answer 2 · 2013-09-21 19:50:54Z

up vote 0 down vote

Two problems.

You have the wrong xpath so you getting a NoSuchElement exception.
Even you had the right xpath, you would not be able to extract the text, as that would defeat the point if CAPTCHA

answered Sep 21 '13 at 19:50

Robbie Wareham
2,213 1 6 23

Pl go thorw the URL and see the captcha customer.onlinelic.in/ForgotPwd.htm – SATENDRA Sep 22 '13 at 11:03

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Mayur Shah · Answer 3 · 2013-09-21 20:33:38Z

up vote 0 down vote

One can not read from CAPTCHA. If you can read from CAPTCHA, there is no point in using CAPTCHA.

answered Sep 21 '13 at 20:33

Mayur Shah
1 3

but from back end, we can go for store the test and compare – SATENDRA Sep 22 '13 at 11:18

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A.J · Answer 4 · 2013-09-23 04:25:55Z

The forgot password form is in an iframe. That is the reason for selenium not finding the element. You need to switch to the iframe holding the form first, and then run your findelement. Your xpath is correct.

Use driver.switchTo().frame(arg0) for switching into the frame. See javadoc here

To get the captcha text, I didn't understand what you meant by 'store the test and compare'. Ideally you shouldn't be able to read the text from the captcha(As others have mentioned). One alternative approach I have seen is, storing the captcha value as alt text in the development and QA environment. So that you can read it and enter in the textbox. When the code goes to production or any outside environment, this alt text can be removed.

Anirudh · Answer 5 · 2013-11-19 07:35:19Z

up vote 0 down vote

The whole purpose of CAPTCHA is to prevent automation from the UI! You may wanna use internal APIs for verifying the action.

answered Nov 19 '13 at 7:35

Anirudh
825 2 10 34

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How to read the text from image (captcha) by using Selenium WebDriver with Java

5 Answers