How can i write my own xpath from the html code

Question

I have followig HTML code and want X path for the text "Analytics & Research"

<div id="LLCompositePageContainer" class="column-wrapper">
    <div id="compositePageTitleDiv">
        <h1 class="page-header">Analytics &amp; Research</h1>   
 </div>

I am getting following xpath using chrome, but that didnt work.

//*[@id="compositePageTitleDiv"]

this is my code

WebElement header = driver.findElement(By.xpath("//div[@id='LLCompositePageContainer']/div[@id='compositePageTitleDiv']/h1[@class='page-header']"));        

String header2 = header.getText();

System.out.println(header2);

and following error I am getting

Exception in thread "main" org.openqa.selenium.NoSuchElementException: Unable to find element with xpath == //div[@id='LLCompositePageContainer']/div[@id='compositePageTitleDiv']/h1[@class='page-header'] (WARNING: The server did not provide any stacktrace information) Command duration or timeout: 10.34 seconds For documentation on this error, please visit: http://seleniumhq.org/exceptions/no_such_element.html

check this out : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/24212548/how-to-get-the-absolute-xpath-for-an-element-within-firebug — Vishal_Kotecha, Jul 21 '16 at 14:36
unfortunately i can not user Firefox or firebug due to the IT policy, thanks — Amol1981, Jul 21 '16 at 14:44
Please define "didn't work", provide your relevant code, and the error message / behavior you're getting. — OCary, Jul 21 '16 at 15:40
Yeah, what do you mean "didn't work"? perhaps this element is nested inside an iframe, so your code needs to switch to it. — Breaks Software, Jul 21 '16 at 16:08

Vishal_Kotecha · Answer 1 · 2016-07-21T14:50:13.217

0

This is how it can be used :

WebElement element= driver.findElement(By.xpath("//*[@id='compositePageTitleDiv']"));

Or in case it is nested, can be accessed like this as well

WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.xpath("//html/body/div[3]/div[3]/"));

this is just a rough syntax.

edited Jul 21 '16 at 14:50

answered Jul 21 '16 at 14:46

Vishal_Kotecha

481
5
19

Thanks, i know the syntax, but the x path that either i am getting from chrome or the one which i tried to create based on my research didnt worked. – Amol1981 Jul 21 '16 at 14:48
this is similar : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2596264/trying-to-create-xpath-from-this-html-snippet?rq=1 – Vishal_Kotecha Jul 22 '16 at 05:17

Saurabh Gaur · Answer 2 · 2016-07-23T09:23:19.233

0

No need to use Xpath here if you could simply locate the element using By.id(). Asuming are using Java, you should try as below :-

WebElement el = drive.findElement(By.id("compositePageTitleDiv"));
String text = el.getText();

Edited :- If element not found, may it is timing issues you need to implement WebDriverWait to wait for element until visible on the page as below :-

WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(webDriver, implicitWait);
WebElement el = wait.until(ExpectedConditions.visibilityOfElementLocated(By.id("compositePageTitleDiv")));
String text = el.getText();

Note :- if your element is inside any frame, you need to switch that frame before finding element as :- driver.switchTo().frame("your frame name or id");

Hope it helps..:)

edited Jul 23 '16 at 09:23

answered Jul 21 '16 at 16:35

Saurabh Gaur

23,507
10
54
73

unable to find element by id, getting below error Exception in thread "main" org.openqa.selenium.NoSuchElementException: Unable to find element with id == compositePageTitleDiv (WARNING: The server did not provide any stacktrace information) Command duration or timeout: 10.40 seconds – Amol1981 Jul 22 '16 at 04:16
@Amol1981 you need to implement `WebDriverWait` then, see updated answer.. – Saurabh Gaur Jul 22 '16 at 04:41

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 22 '16 at 05:34

Please try to use the below xpath:

driver.findElement(By.xpath(".//div[@id='compositePageTitleDiv']/h1")).getText();

If the element is inside the iframe. Then use the below code:

// Switching to the frame
driver.switchTo().frame(<name>);

// Storing the value of the Analytics & Research
String text = driver.findElement(By.xpath(".//div[@id='compositePageTitleDiv']/h1")).getText();

// Switching back to original window
driver.switchTo().defaultContent();

Hope this helps.

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 19 '19 at 06:02

0

You can also use

//div[@id='LLCompositePageContainer']/div[@id='compositePageTitleDiv']/
h1[contains(text(),'Analytics')]

This is the best way to reach to the specific web element, using contains minimize the chances of error.

answered Jul 19 '19 at 06:02

Zohair

268
2
7

score -1 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 21 '16 at 14:38

-1

The correct xpath is

//div[@id='LLCompositePageContainer']
  /div[@id='compositePageTitleDiv']
  /h1[@class='page-header']

But you could have find your answer easily with some researchs on google...

answered Jul 21 '16 at 14:38

Erwan

51
7

Thanks, i see how you have created the x path, i used the same but that didnt worked, do you know any tutorial using which i can learn to write x path? – Amol1981 Jul 21 '16 at 14:43

How can i write my own xpath from the html code

5 Answers5