catch exception when calling an element and try again (page factory)

I'm using a page factory and AjaxElementLocatorFactory in my selenium project. Each component object extends this class:

public abstract class AbstractComponent {

    public AbstractComponent(WebDriver driver){
        AjaxElementLocatorFactory factory = new AjaxElementLocatorFactory(driver, 5);
        PageFactory.initElements(factory, this);
    }
}

In order to make my tests more stable, I want to implement try and catch Each time I call an element in page factory, so if selenium throws an exception of any kind (like StaleElementReferenceException or ElementNotInteractableException), it will try again for a few seconds.

I'm looking to implement something like this (with timeout):

while(true) {
        try {
            this.element.click();
            break;
        }
        catch(Exception e) {
            throw e;
        }
    }

I need a general solution that will work each time I use an element in the page factory. Any suggestions?

You should make your factory return extended AjaxElementLocator where you override protected boolean isElementUsable(WebElement element) which returns true by default.

Unless the condition is not true the locator will be taking new attempts to lookup element. So no extra code in your page class will be required.

The exceptions are caught and re-tried inside AjaxElementLocator. This is basically how it is different from a regular locator.

You can find some details here.

Basically the above should be enough to make your code stable since in order to make your test stable you should understand which conditions define the UI ready for taking the test.

However if you need to add some retry functionality (but note that stale element won't ever get back to a normal state) you need to add some changes to the following structure:

1. Extend DefaultFieldDecorator class. There is protected method proxyForLocator which defines the logic of creating a proxy pbject for your field. In that default implementation there is the line InvocationHandler handler = new LocatingElementHandler(locator); where new LocatingElementHandler(locator); is responsible for handling calls to page field and dispatching it to a real object.
2. Extend LocatingElementHandler so that it calls a super method but try-catch and reties if needed.
3. In overridden method of DefaultFieldDecorator change old handler to your custom one.
4. When you initialize your page use the code like this:

public YourPageClass(SearchContext context) {
    PageFactory.initElements(
            new CustomFieldDecorator(
                    new AjaxElementLocatorFactory(context)
            ), this
    );
}

The approach above would let you to change one place (actually two: Field Decorator and Invocation Handler) but cover all possible exception which can appear when acting with already located element.