methods to locate elements are okay

helper.rb

require 'watir-webdriver'

def search_field browser
  browser.text_field(:name => "q")
end


browser = Watir::Browser.new :firefox

begin
  browser.goto "http://google.com"
  #element = browser.text_field(:name => "q")
  
  p search_field(browser).value # element is now located
  browser.refresh # refreshing the page obsoletes the element
  
  begin
    p search_field(browser).value
  rescue Selenium::WebDriver::Error::ObsoleteElementError
    # doesn't get raised
  end
  
  # relocating the element works
  #element = browser.text_field(:name => "q")
  p search_field(browser).value
ensure
  browser.close
end