It can search elements anywhere on the webpage, means no need to write a long xpath and you can start from the middle of HTML DOM structure. Relative Xpath is always preferred as it is not a complete path from the root element.

How to locate a web element which changes dynamically on refresh or any other operations? XPath axes search different nodes in XML document from current context node. XPath Axes are the methods used to find dynamic elements, which otherwise not possible by normal XPath method having no ID , Classname, and name.

Axes methods are used to find those elements, which dynamically change on refresh or any other operations. There are few axes methods commonly used in Selenium Web driver like child, parent, ancestor, sibling, preceding and self.

Let's have a walkthrough about different methods available for writing XPath. Basic XPath:. XPath expression select nodes or list of nodes on the basis of attributes like Id , name, class name, type and value. Below Xpath directs to opening gmail in the google homepage,.

Some XPath methods working model with syntax. Xpath method. complete value might be btnlogin bit only partial values are used. Contains -The contain feature has an ability to find the element with partial text.

com' ]. Contains -The contain feature has an ability to find the element with the specified hyperlink. Logical operator selection using "OR" : OR expression, two conditions are used, whether 1st condition OR 2nd condition should be true.

It will find the element only if both attributes type and name are getting matched. Logical operator selection using "AND" : AND expression, two conditions are used, whether 1st condition and 2nd condition should be true.

Text Function is a built-in function of selenium webdriver which is used to locate elements based on exact text or set of text must be in string form of a web element. finds all the related parent elements of the current node. Parent axes method will Selects the parent of the current node.

finds the immediate parent of the current node. Parent axes method will Select the immediate parent of the current node.

finds all the related children of the current node. finds the immediate child element of the current node. finds all the element preceding input node. Preceding axes method selects all nodes that come before the current node. finds the element preceding input node with the specified index.

finds all the following element of the input node. Following axes method selects all the following nodes of the current node. finds the element following input node with the specified index. Following axes method selects the following node of the current node in the specified index. finds the immediate ancestor of the current node.

Ancestor axes method selects all ancestors element grandparent, parent of the current node. finds the ancestor of the current node with the specified index. Ancestor axes method selects ancestors element grandparent, parent of the current node in the specified index.

finds the following sibling of the current node input. Following-sibling axes method s elects the following sibling which are at the same level of the current node. finds all the descendants of the current node a.

Descendant method identifies all the descendants to current element which means down under the node. finds the descendant of the current node with the specified index.

finds only one node input which satisfies the constraint. Self method finds only one node as it represents self-element. Conclusion :. XPath is required to find an element on the web page as to do an operation on that particular element which has been categorized as absolute and relative Xpath.

Mostly relative xpath are used to a dynamically changing and static element in the webpage. Again in the relative Xpath expression and axes methods are used based on the complexity of web element location.

Selenium offers various ways to find web elements using attributes such as id, name, className, etc. But sometimes, while working with a dynamic environment, it is impossible to locate a web element using a simple attribute locator. In such unyielding situations, Selenium comes to rescue with CSS or Cascading style sheets Selectors.

What are CSS Selectors? CSS Selectors are one of the locator strategies offered by Selenium to identify the web elements.

The CSS Selectors mainly use the character sequence pattern, which identifies the web elements based on their HTML structure. Locating an element using CSS selector may seem a little difficult than using attributes like id, name, link, etc. Why CSS Selectors? It makes finding a unique static attribute for a dynamic element quite tricky.

Hence directly using locators like id, name, link, partial link, etc. will not be possible. Also, as its more close to the code, it's considered as one of the fastest ways to locate elements on web page.

How to create a CSS Selector? CSS Selector syntax is quite similar to the XPath syntax. It can be represented syntactically as follows,.

node is the tag name of the HTML element, which needs to locate. Different ways to create CSS Selectors? Tag and ID. Tag and class. Tag and attribute. Combining attribute.

Locates the element with parent locator div and child locator textarea. find the 2nd child element of the unordered list ul.

middle characters of the id attribute value "username". By inner text. CSS selectors are one of the most powerful tools offered by Selenium for recognizing elements in a web page. Also combine several different CSS expression, attributes and text to accurately points to the required element.

Handling Action class in Selenium. Introduction :. Actions class is an ability provided by Selenium for handling keyboard and mouse events. In Selenium Webdriver handling these events includes operations such as drag and drop selenium ,clicking on multiple elements with the control key, among others.

However, depending on your web application, you can use the previous Explicit Wait commands based on what you need to test. This command should wait until the new element is identified and return it.

If the condition can find the element, it returns it as a result and will move to the next step in the test. If it cannot, the wait will try again until it times out. The explicit wait should work for both user-specific web pages and sites with hidden elements, so you can test a dynamic web page with Selenium WebDriver.

The Implicit Wait will stay set throughout your script, so if you set your Implicit Wait to 10, it will wait 10 seconds to load elements between each command. Implicit waits are okay for generally slowing down your test execution, something testers may want to do when running tests against a remote device cloud allowing time for a certain amount of latency.

Learn more about testing Implicit and Explicit Waits in our Selenium Testing guide for Python and Java. Blog How to Test a Dynamic How to Test a Dynamic Web Page with Selenium WebDriver.

Alex McPeak. Explicit Wait For when a locator cannot identify a new element, Selenium comes with an integrated Explicit Wait where you can specify an amount of time to wait for a process before automating a command. There are a few different ways to use Explicit Wait to command different actions.

presenceOfElementLocated - This defines an expectation of identifying an element at the DOM level, such as recognizing that the button exists on the page.

visibilityOfElementLocated - This defines an expectation of identifying an element is present at the DOM level and visible so that the button is there and the user could see it.

visibilityOfAllElementsLocated - This checks that all elements are identified and visible, such as a button and an image. elementToBeClickable - This defines an expectation to check for a visible element and click it, such as clicking a button. For now, a practical example of using the Explicit Wait might be: import org.

WebDriver; import org. WebDriverWait; import. ExpectedConditions; driver. until ExpectedConditions. presenceOfElementLocated locator ; wait. elementToBeClickable ID ; searchID.

click ; public void teardown { driver. quit ; } } This command should wait until the new element is identified and return it.

Selects all nodes that appear before the current node in the document, except ancestors, attribute nodes, and namespace nodes. To identify the input field of type text before the LastName field, we need to use the below xpath. Here I used, preceding xpath axes and two colons and then specified the required tag i.

The different ways of finding the elements on a webpage using the Selenium XPath discussed here will be useful when you work in your real-time project.

If you have any queries, please comment below in the comment section. Like this post? Selenium Tutorial TestNG Tutorial Selenium Interview Questions TestNG Interview Questions Manual Testing Tutorial Manual Testing Interview Questions.

Rajkumar SM is a founder of SoftwareTestingMaterial. He has extensive experience in the field of Software Testing. Furthermore, he loves to be with his wife and a cute little kid 'Freedom'. Thanks Rahul. I am glad you found it helpful.

Yeah, we have a plan to write an article on xpath axes. Subscribe our blog for latest updates. Will it will be helpful for finding xpath for any dynamic text or link with the help of following and preceding xpath which are not dynamic in nature?

Your email address will not be published. Table of Contents. Axis Name Description ancestor Shows all the ancestors parent, grandparent, etc.

ancestor-or-self Shows the context current node and all the ancestors. attribute Shows all the atributes of the context current node. child Shows all the children of the context current node. descendant Specifies all descendants children, grandchildren, etc.

of the context current node. descendant-or-self Specifies all descendants children, grandchildren, etc. of the context current node and the current node itself. following Specifies all the nodes that appear after the context current node. following-sibling Specifies all siblings after the context current node.

namespace Specifies all the namespace nodes of the context current node. parent Specifies the parent of the context current node.

preceding Specifies all the nodes that appear before the context current node in the HTML DOM structure. This does not specify ancestor, attribute, and namespace. preceding-sibling Specifies all the sibling nodes that appear before the context current node in the HTML DOM structure. This does not specify descendent, attribute and namespace.

self Specifies the context current node. Like This Post? Subscribe and get free access to subscriber-only guides, templates, and checklists. Yes, I'm In! You are subscribing to email updates.

Unsubscribe anytime. Your data is safe. Post navigation Previous Previous. Next Continue. Similar Posts. Thanks for sharing this great information.

Great Post!!!!!! You saved my times , do include some demos of xpath axes. Using logical operators like and or or in your XPath or CSS selector allows you to match the dynamic element based on multiple attribute values.

For example, you can create an XPath that matches a button with an ID that starts with a specific text and also has a specific class. Using multiple attributes increases the specificity of the locator, ensuring that the dynamic element is uniquely identified. Related: How To Sync Selenium Java BDD Automation.

In some cases, refreshing the page may be a quick workaround for dealing with dynamic elements, especially if they appear after a page reload. Implement a retrying mechanism where Selenium repeatedly tries to locate and interact with the element until a timeout is reached.

This approach is effective when you anticipate element appearance delays. Related Read: Selenium WebDriver Tutorial. Handling dynamic web elements in Selenium is crucial for robust test automation.

By using explicit waits, fluent waits, selectors, iframe handling, refreshing the page, relative element positions, and retrying mechanisms, you can effectively deal with dynamic elements in your automation scripts.

Tailoring your approach to the specific nature of dynamic elements is essential for reliable and stable test automation. Incorporate these strategies into your Selenium projects to ensure robust and reliable automated tests, even when faced with unpredictable dynamic web elements. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

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All rights reserved. Initiative by DCKAP. Terms Of Use Privacy Policy. Hit enter to search or ESC to close. Close Search. Blog Dynamic Web Elements in Selenium Adapting to Change: Best Practices for Dealing with Dynamic Web Elements in Selenium November 9, Challenges with Dynamic Web Elements Handling dynamic elements can be challenging for web testers and automation engineers.

Related Read: How To Integrate Jenkins With Selenium Additionally, handling dynamic elements usually requires the creation of complex locators, often relying on intricate XPath or CSS selectors. until ExpectedConditions. elementToBeClickable By. click ; How to Handle Dynamic Web Elements?

Related: Windows In Selenium WebDriver 1. Explicit Waits Explicit waits are the most common way to handle delayed loading elements. Fluent Waits Fluent waits provide more flexibility, allowing you to customize polling intervals and exceptions.

withTimeout Duration. ofSeconds pollingEvery Duration. ofSeconds 2. ignoring NoSuchElementException. findElement By. CSS Selectors and XPath When dealing with elements that change attributes, you can use CSS selectors and XPath to target elements based on other stable attributes.

Handling Elements Inside Frames When working with elements inside iframes, you must switch to the iframe context first.

Using Relative Element Positions Sometimes, you can predict the position of a dynamic element relative to a nearby stable element. Multiple Attributes If a single attribute is not sufficient to uniquely identify the dynamic element, you can combine multiple attributes to create a more robust locator.

Refresh the Page In some cases, refreshing the page may be a quick workaround for dealing with dynamic elements, especially if they appear after a page reload.

refresh ; 8. Retrying Mechanism Implement a retrying mechanism where Selenium repeatedly tries to locate and interact with the element until a timeout is reached. presenceOfElementLocated By.