Selenium

1. Selenium provides multiple locators to find elements:

   1. By.id("elementId")

   2. By.name("nameAttr")

   3. By.className("className")

   4. By.tagName("tagName")

   5. By.linkText("FullLinkText")

   6. By.partialLinkText("PartialText")

   7. By.cssSelector("cssExpr")

   8. By.xpath("xpathExpr")

2. Difference between linkText and partialLinkText in Selenium →

3. linkText

   • Matches the entire visible text of a link (<a> tag).

   • Must match exactly — case-sensitive.

   •     //<a href="https://example.com">Click Here to Login</a>
         driver.findElement(By.linkText("Click Here to Login")).click();
     

4. partialLinkText

   • Matches part of the visible text of a link.

   • Useful when the full text changes dynamically or is too long.

   •     //<a href="https://example.com">Click Here to Login</a>
         driver.findElement(By.partialLinkText("Click Here")).click();
     

5. What is XPath?

   • XPath (XML Path Language) is a syntax used to navigate and locate elements in an XML or HTML document.

   • In Selenium, we use XPath to find elements in the DOM when other locators like id or name are not reliable.

Types of XPath

1. Absolute XPath

   • Starts from the root node (html) and follows the entire path.

   • Uses / to move down step-by-step.

   • ❌ Breaks easily if page structure changes.

   • Example:

       /html/body/div[1]/form/input[1]
     

2. Relative XPath ✅ (Recommended)

   • Starts from any node, not necessarily the root.

   • Uses // to search anywhere in the document.

   • Example:

       //input[@id='username']
     

How to Write XPath

XPath syntax:

    tagname[@attribute='value']

• tagname → HTML tag (e.g., input, button, a).

• @attribute → HTML attribute (e.g., id, name, class).

• 'value' → Value of the attribute.

Five important XPath axes →

1. ancestor:: — Move Up Through All Parents

The ancestor:: axis selects all parent, grandparent, and higher-level elements of the current node.

HTML Example:

    <div class="item">
        <span class="name">Laptop</span>
        <span class="price">$999</span>
    </div>

XPath:

    //span[@class='price']/ancestor::div[@class='item']

2. parent:: — Select Only the Immediate Parent

The parent:: axis moves one level up from the current node.

HTML Example:

    <form id="searchForm">
        <input type="text" id="searchBox" placeholder="Search...">
    </form>

XPath:

    //input[@id='searchBox']/parent::form

3. child:: — Get Direct Children

The child:: axis selects only direct children of the current node.

HTML Example:

    <ul id="menu">
        <li>Home</li>
        <li>About</li>
    </ul>

XPath:

    //ul[@id='menu']/child::li

5. preceding-sibling:: — Move to Siblings Before the Current Node

The preceding-sibling:: axis selects elements at the same level that appear before the current node.

HTML Example:

    htmlCopyEdit<p>Intro paragraph</p>
    <h2>Section B</h2>

XPath:

    //h2[text()='Section B']/preceding-sibling::p

6. Most Useful XPath Functions in Selenium

   ---

   1. text()

   • Purpose: Matches elements based on their visible text.

   • Example:

    //button[text()='Login']

Finds <button> with exact text Login.

---

2. contains()

• Purpose: Matches elements whose attribute or text contains a substring.

• Example (Attribute):

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

Matches <input> if its id contains "user".

• Example (Text):

    //a[contains(text(),'Forgot')]

Matches <a> if visible text contains "Forgot".

---

3. starts-with()

• Purpose: Matches elements whose attribute starts with a given string.

• Example:

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

Matches <input> if name starts with "email".

---

4. normalize-space()

• Purpose: Removes extra spaces from text before matching.

• Example:

    //button[normalize-space(text())='Sign In']

Matches <button> even if there are leading/trailing spaces.

---

5. last()

• Purpose: Selects the last element in a set.

• Example:

    (//input[@type='text'])[last()]

Selects the last <input> with type='text'.

---

6. position()

• Purpose: Selects elements based on their position in a list.

• Example:

    (//input[@type='text'])[1]

Selects the first <input> with type='text'.

---

7. not()

• Purpose: Matches elements that do not have a given condition.

• Example:

    xpathCopyEdit//input[not(@type='submit')]

Matches <input> elements except those with type='submit'.

---

8. and / or

• Purpose: Combine multiple conditions.

• Example:

    //input[@type='text' and @name='username']

Matches <input> that has both type='text' and name='username'.

---

Diagram: XPath Functions in Action

    bashCopyEditHTML:
    <div>
        <input id="user1" type="text" name="username">
        <input id="user2" type="text" name="email_user">
        <input id="submitBtn" type="submit" value="Login">
    </div>

    Examples:
    1. //input[contains(@id,'user')]         → Matches user1 & user2
    2. //input[starts-with(@name,'email')]   → Matches user2
    3. //input[not(@type='submit')]          → Matches user1 & user2
    4. (//input[@type='text'])[last()]       → Matches user2

7. Why We Need Waits in Selenium

   We need waits in Selenium because web elements don’t always load instantly — they may take some time to appear, become clickable, or be ready for interaction due to:

   • Network delays

   • JavaScript rendering time

   • Animations / transitions

   • AJAX requests (dynamic content loading)

If Selenium tries to interact with an element before it’s ready, you’ll get errors like:

• NoSuchElementException (element not found yet)

• ElementNotInteractableException (found but not clickable)