Couldn't click on menu link

Question

I'm trying to open a menu in a list of menus' and then click on a link in the menu. the menu list structure is like there are two links side by side. one link goes to the main section that gives the summary and the other one opens the menu. I can click on the link that goes to the main section but couldn't click on the link that opens the menu though the XPath I've used can uniquely identify the menu link. The HTML is :

<li _ngcontent-c9="" class="list-group-item d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center">
  <i _ngcontent-c9="">...</i>
  <div _ngcontent-c9="" class="center" style="font-family: ITC Avant Garde Gothic Std Book;font-size: 20px;">
    <a _ngcontent-c9="" routerlink="../someText/mainlink" href="#/someText/mainlink">Main Link</a>
    <span _ngcontent-c9="" style="padding-left:40%">
      <a _ngcontent-c9="" class="fa fa-bars" data-target="#basicExample" data-toggle="modal" placement="left">
      </a>
    </span>
  </div>
</li>

I need to get to the link under the span.

There is no text Menu Link. I've added that text so that the structure can be understood. The XPath I've used for the menu link:

.//a[./text()='Main Link']/../span/a

The XPath I've used for the main link is:

.//a[./text()='Main Link']

Also, I've defined that element using the page factory as:

@FindBy(linkText='Main Link')
WebElement mainLink;

Both are working when I try to click on the main link. but I couldn't click on the menu link beside it. I've implemented an explicit wait for 20 seconds. I'm getting TimeOutException.

looks like both of the links are in the same structure only a different text. can you share more code? and can you share the entire "li" element from DOM? — Adi Ohana, Jun 03 '19 at 12:06
Instead of the handcrafted HTML please update the question with the text based actual HTML. — undetected Selenium, Jun 03 '19 at 12:47
The element is an [Angular](https://angular.io/) element and you need to induce _WebDriverWait_ — undetected Selenium, Jun 03 '19 at 14:43
applied wait with the conditions `elementToBeClickable` and `visibilityOf`, but no luck. — learningQA, Jun 03 '19 at 15:49

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 03 '19 at 14:19

0

You can use any of the below xpaths.

Option 1:

 //a[.='Main Link']/following-sibling::span/a

Option 2:

//a[@data-target='#basicExample']

answered Jun 03 '19 at 14:19

supputuri

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didn't work bro. Still getting TimeOutException. – learningQA Jun 03 '19 at 16:13
Are you able to click on `Main Link`? can you check if you are able to access the `Main Link` with `//a[.='Main Link']` – supputuri Jun 03 '19 at 16:17
yes, I can. just did it. – learningQA Jun 03 '19 at 16:27
the second XPath is not unique. it matches 10 elements. – learningQA Jun 03 '19 at 16:28
what do you mean by `second xpath`? And Are you able to click on ` //a[.='Main Link']/following-sibling::span`? – supputuri Jun 03 '19 at 16:58
This Xpath worked. //a[./text()='Main Link']/../../../span/a – learningQA Jun 04 '19 at 01:43
That means the `span` is under `li` but not sibling to `a` as you shown in the sample html in your op. Glad that you are able to make it. – supputuri Jun 04 '19 at 01:46
Yeah. I don't know. Yesterday the old XPath got matched when tried in DevTools not today. So formed a new XPath and it worked. Could you reason why the change in structure happened? – learningQA Jun 04 '19 at 03:44
Let us [continue this discussion in chat](https://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/194439/discussion-between-supputuri-and-learningqa). – supputuri Jun 04 '19 at 13:09

Couldn't click on menu link

1 Answers1