Using XPath in Selenium_ All you need to know.pdf

Using XPath in
Selenium: All you
need to know
Copyright © 2023 HeadSpin, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Introduction
Navigating the complex web world as an automation tester aims to ensure the delivery of an
application that is bug-free and seamless and offers exceptional user experiences. One common
challenge on this journey is locating web elements accurately and efficiently to interact with them.
Selenium WebDriver helps identify web elements efficiently with various tools and locators. Today,
several enterprises are leveraging XPath owing to its greater flexibility and compatibility with old
browsers, making it one of its most powerful and versatile locators.

What is XPath in Selenium?
XPath, or XML Path Language, is a language for navigating an XML document and
selecting nodes. In the context of Selenium WebDriver, XPath is used as a locator to
find web elements on a page. It is a powerful tool that can navigate the webpage's
HTML structure, making it extremely useful when other simple locators like ID or
class fail to find the elements reliably.

There are primarily two types of
XPath used in Selenium:
• Absolute XPath
• Relative XPath
Types of XPath in
Selenium

It's a direct path from the root element to the desired element. It starts from the root
node and ends with the desired node, providing a complete path. However, it's brittle
and can break with small changes in the web page's structure.
Here's a Selenium XPath example for how you might use an absolute XPath in your
Selenium code. Suppose you have the following HTML structure:
<html>
<body>
<div>
<p>Hello, world!</p>
</div>
</body>
</html>
Absolute XPath(1/2)

To find the <p> tag using an absolute XPath, you would start at the root <html> tag and
provide the full path to the <p> tag:
In this case, the XPath "/html/body/div/p" represents the absolute path from the root
<html> tag to the desired <p> tag.
In several scenarios, however, absolute XPath is not recommended unless necessary
because it's brittle, and any change in the HTML structure may cause your test to fail.
WebElement paragraph = driver.findElement(By.xpath("/html/body/div/p"));
Absolute XPath(2/2)

Relative XPath(1/2)
It starts from any node and ends with the node you
want to select. It's more flexible and preferred in
most cases, as it's not affected by changes in other
parts of the HTML structure. A relative XPath allows
you to locate elements starting from any location
within the HTML document, not just the root. The
relative XPath expression usually starts with //.
Here's an example of using relative XPath in
Selenium with Python:
```python
from selenium import webdriver
# Create a new instance of the Firefox driver
driver = webdriver.Firefox()
# Navigate to a website
driver.get("https://example.com")
# Find an element using relative XPath
element = driver.find_element_by_xpath("//div[@id='myDiv']/p[2]")
# Perform actions on the element
element.click()
# Close the browser
driver.quit(

In the example mentioned in the previous slide , we first import the necessary modules from the Selenium library. Then,
we create a new instance of the Firefox driver and navigate to a website (in this case, "https://example.com").
Next, we find an element using a relative XPath expression. The XPath used in this example selects the second `<p>`
element inside a `<div>` element with the id "myDiv". You can modify the XPath expression to suit your specific needs.
After finding the element, you can perform various actions on it, such as clicking it, entering text, or retrieving its
attributes.
Finally, we close the browser using the `quit()` method to clean up and release the resources used by the driver.
Using relative XPaths is generally recommended over absolute XPaths because they are more resilient to page
structure changes.
Relative XPath(2/2)

Types of XPath locators
This locator allows you to identify an element by its id
attribute.
XPath locator by ID
This locator can identify elements based on their
class attribute.
XPath locator by class name
XPath locator by tag name
This locator can identify elements by their HTML
tag name.
This locator identifies elements by their name
attribute.
XPath locator by name
XPath locator by text
This locator identifies elements based on their
inner text.
XPath locator using contains
This locator can identify elements based on a
substring of one of their attribute values.
XPath locator using starts-with
This locator identifies elements whose attribute
values start with a particular string.
Path locator using ends-with
This locator can identify elements whose
attribute values end with a particular string.

What is chained XPath in
Selenium?
Chained XPath in Selenium is a concept where multiple XPaths are used in conjunction to
locate an element that might not be uniquely identifiable by a single XPath expression. In other
words, instead of writing one absolute XPath, we can separate it into multiple relative XPaths.
This approach can be specifically useful when dealing with complex or dynamic web structures
where elements are not easily accessible through single, unique identifiers. Chaining XPaths
can provide more precision and robustness in element location strategy, thus making the
automation scripts more stable.

What are XPath Axes?
Following Ancestor Child Parent
XPath Axes are used for finding dynamic elements when normal XPath element search methods like
name, ID, class name, etc., aren't possible. XPath Axes navigate through elements in the XML
structure of a webpage. They allow you to locate elements based on their relationship with other
elements, like parent, sibling, child, ancestor, or descendant. Here are few XPath methods:

How HeadSpin helps
streamline Selenium
utilization
HeadSpin offers a robust AI-driven testing Platform
with easy integration with multiple automation
frameworks to improve testing efficiency and ship
faster to the market.
1
Support for Selenium Webdriver
2
Parallel Testing
3
Integration with CI/CD pipelines
4
4
4

Conclusion
XPath is critical in Selenium testing, offering a robust method for locating elements within
the web page's DOM. Understanding and utilizing XPath's capabilities can greatly improve
the effectiveness and efficiency of your Selenium tests. Moreover, with platforms like
HeadSpin, you can enhance your testing capabilities further, leveraging its unique features
aligned with Selenium standards.
Reference Link: https://www.headspin.io/blog/using-xpath-in-selenium-effectively

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