Selenium WebDriver

Advanced XPath & Axes

Master advanced XPath techniques including attribute-based methods, XPath axes like child and descendant, and complex DOM navigation strategies.

Complete XPath Methods Overview

10 XPath Location Techniques

Text-Based Methods (1-7)

1. Single attribute
2. AND Operator
3. OR Operator
4. text() method
5. starts-with() with text()
6. contains() with text()
7. normalize-space() with text()

Attribute-Based Methods (8-10)

8. starts-with() with attribute
9. contains() with attribute
10. normalize-space() with attribute

Attribute-Based XPath Methods

8. starts-with() with Attribute

Use Case

When attribute value is dynamic at the end, but starting value is constant

Syntax

//tagname[starts-with(@attribute, 'value')]

Examples:

// Dynamic ID with constant prefix

//input[starts-with(@id, 'u_0_h')]

// Dynamic name attribute

//input[starts-with(@name, 'reg_email__')]

// ID starting with 'first'

//input[starts-with(@id,'first')]

💡 Real-world Scenario

Facebook generates dynamic IDs like "u_0_h_abc123", "u_0_h_def456". Using starts-with(@id, 'u_0_h') captures all variations.

9. contains() with Attribute

Use Case

When some part of attribute value is constant and remaining is dynamic

Syntax

//tagname[contains(@attribute, 'value')]

Examples:

// ID containing specific pattern

//input[contains(@id, 'u_0_h')]

// Name containing 'email__'

//input[contains(@name,'email__')]

// ID containing 'first'

//input[contains(@id,'first')]

🔍 Comparison

starts-with: "abc123def" matches starts-with(@attr, 'abc')

contains: "abc123def" matches contains(@attr, '123')

10. normalize-space() with Attribute

Use Case

When attribute values have extra spaces that need to be normalized

Syntax

//tagname[normalize-space(@attribute)='value']

⚠️ Note

Less commonly used with attributes compared to text(), but useful for handling inconsistent attribute formatting.

XPath Axes Navigation

1. child Keyword

Purpose

Navigate to direct child elements of a parent element

Syntax Variations

//tagname[@attribute='value']/child::tagname

//tagname[@attribute='value']/child::tagname[@attribute='value']

//tagname[@attribute='value']/child::tagname[position()=1]

Examples:

// Basic child navigation

//div[@class='b11']/child::input

// First child element

//div[@class='b11']/child::input[position()=1]

// Complex nested navigation

//div[contains(@id,'u_0_7')]/child::div[position()=1]/child::input

🏗️ DOM Structure Example

class="uiStickyPlaceholderInput"

class="_1pc_"

2. descendant Keyword

Purpose

Search all child tags, grandchild tags, and great-grandchild tags (entire subtree)

Syntax Variations

//tagname[@attribute='value']/descendant::tagname

//tagname[@attribute='value']/descendant::tagname[@attribute='value']

//tagname[@attribute='value']/descendant::tagname[position()=1]

Examples:

// Find any input descendant

//div[contains(@id, 'u_0_7')]/descendant::input

// Complex form navigation

//span[@class='b1']/descendant::input[@name='firstname'][position()=1]

// Google search button

//div[@class='FPdoLc lJ9FBc']/descendant::input[@name='btnK']

// Amazon price element

//span[@data-csa-c-item-id='amzn1.asin.B0DGHYDZR9']/descendant::span[@class='a-price-whole']

🔍 child vs descendant

child::

Only direct children (one level down)

descendant::

All levels down (children, grandchildren, etc.)

Combined Axes Example

Complex Navigation

Combining descendant and child axes for precise element targeting

// Navigate to nested elements using combined axes
//div[@id='22d485af-325e-4680-a97f-289359347ee4']
/descendant::h2
/child::span

💡 Best Practices

• Use child:: when you know the exact parent-child relationship
• Use descendant:: when the element could be at any level below
• Combine with position() for specific element selection
• Use contains() and starts-with() with dynamic attributes

Day 21 Knowledge Check

Question 1 of 5

What is the difference between starts-with() with text() and starts-with() with attribute?

Complete XPath Methods Overview

10 XPath Location Techniques

Text-Based Methods (1-7)

1. Single attribute
2. AND Operator
3. OR Operator
4. text() method
5. starts-with() with text()
6. contains() with text()
7. normalize-space() with text()

Attribute-Based Methods (8-10)

8. starts-with() with attribute
9. contains() with attribute
10. normalize-space() with attribute

Attribute-Based XPath Methods

8. starts-with() with Attribute

Use Case

When attribute value is dynamic at the end, but starting value is constant

Syntax

//tagname[starts-with(@attribute, 'value')]

Examples:

// Dynamic ID with constant prefix

//input[starts-with(@id, 'u_0_h')]

// Dynamic name attribute

//input[starts-with(@name, 'reg_email__')]

// ID starting with 'first'

//input[starts-with(@id,'first')]

💡 Real-world Scenario

Facebook generates dynamic IDs like "u_0_h_abc123", "u_0_h_def456". Using starts-with(@id, 'u_0_h') captures all variations.

9. contains() with Attribute

Use Case

When some part of attribute value is constant and remaining is dynamic

Syntax

//tagname[contains(@attribute, 'value')]

Examples:

// ID containing specific pattern

//input[contains(@id, 'u_0_h')]

// Name containing 'email__'

//input[contains(@name,'email__')]

// ID containing 'first'

//input[contains(@id,'first')]

🔍 Comparison

starts-with: "abc123def" matches starts-with(@attr, 'abc')

contains: "abc123def" matches contains(@attr, '123')

10. normalize-space() with Attribute

Use Case

When attribute values have extra spaces that need to be normalized

Syntax

//tagname[normalize-space(@attribute)='value']

⚠️ Note

Less commonly used with attributes compared to text(), but useful for handling inconsistent attribute formatting.

XPath Axes Navigation

1. child Keyword

Purpose

Navigate to direct child elements of a parent element

Syntax Variations

//tagname[@attribute='value']/child::tagname

//tagname[@attribute='value']/child::tagname[@attribute='value']

//tagname[@attribute='value']/child::tagname[position()=1]

Examples:

// Basic child navigation

//div[@class='b11']/child::input

// First child element

//div[@class='b11']/child::input[position()=1]

// Complex nested navigation

//div[contains(@id,'u_0_7')]/child::div[position()=1]/child::input

🏗️ DOM Structure Example

class="uiStickyPlaceholderInput"

class="_1pc_"

2. descendant Keyword

Purpose

Search all child tags, grandchild tags, and great-grandchild tags (entire subtree)

Syntax Variations

//tagname[@attribute='value']/descendant::tagname

//tagname[@attribute='value']/descendant::tagname[@attribute='value']

//tagname[@attribute='value']/descendant::tagname[position()=1]

Examples:

// Find any input descendant

//div[contains(@id, 'u_0_7')]/descendant::input

// Complex form navigation

//span[@class='b1']/descendant::input[@name='firstname'][position()=1]

// Google search button

//div[@class='FPdoLc lJ9FBc']/descendant::input[@name='btnK']

// Amazon price element

//span[@data-csa-c-item-id='amzn1.asin.B0DGHYDZR9']/descendant::span[@class='a-price-whole']

🔍 child vs descendant

child::

Only direct children (one level down)

descendant::

All levels down (children, grandchildren, etc.)

Combined Axes Example

Complex Navigation

Combining descendant and child axes for precise element targeting

// Navigate to nested elements using combined axes
//div[@id='22d485af-325e-4680-a97f-289359347ee4']
/descendant::h2
/child::span

💡 Best Practices

• Use child:: when you know the exact parent-child relationship
• Use descendant:: when the element could be at any level below
• Combine with position() for specific element selection
• Use contains() and starts-with() with dynamic attributes

Complete XPath Methods Overview

10 XPath Location Techniques

Text-Based Methods (1-7)

Attribute-Based Methods (8-10)

Attribute-Based XPath Methods

8. starts-with() with Attribute

Use Case

Syntax

Examples:

💡 Real-world Scenario

9. contains() with Attribute

Use Case

Syntax

Examples:

🔍 Comparison

10. normalize-space() with Attribute

Use Case

Syntax

⚠️ Note

XPath Axes Navigation

1. child Keyword

Purpose

Syntax Variations

Examples:

🏗️ DOM Structure Example

2. descendant Keyword

Purpose

Syntax Variations

Examples:

🔍 child vs descendant

child::

descendant::

Combined Axes Example

Complex Navigation

💡 Best Practices

Day 21 Knowledge Check

What is the difference between starts-with() with text() and starts-with() with attribute?

SDET Mastery

Complete XPath Methods Overview

10 XPath Location Techniques

Text-Based Methods (1-7)

Attribute-Based Methods (8-10)

Attribute-Based XPath Methods

8. starts-with() with Attribute

Use Case

Syntax

Examples:

💡 Real-world Scenario

9. contains() with Attribute

Use Case

Syntax

Examples:

🔍 Comparison

10. normalize-space() with Attribute

Use Case

Syntax

⚠️ Note

XPath Axes Navigation

1. child Keyword

Purpose

Syntax Variations

Examples:

🏗️ DOM Structure Example

2. descendant Keyword

Purpose

Syntax Variations

Examples:

🔍 child vs descendant

child::

descendant::

Combined Axes Example

Complex Navigation

💡 Best Practices

Day 21 Knowledge Check

What is the difference between starts-with() with text() and starts-with() with attribute?

SDET Mastery