Changing xpaths

Question

I got an id that keeps changing each time my page refreshes i tried using

start-with@id
contains@id

//*[@id="mat-input-2"] the 2 after the input changes each time i refresh the page I've tried everyting

everytime when I try someting new i get errors like this.

SyntaxError: Failed to execute 'evaluate' on 'Document': The string '//*[starts-with(@id="mat-input-")]' is not a valid XPath expression

I have googled everywhere tried everyting i don't know what else to do so my last resort is trying this forum

Thank you for your help have a nice day

Answer 1

This error message...

SyntaxError: Failed to execute 'evaluate' on 'Document': The string '//*[starts-with(@id="mat-input-")]' is not a valid XPath expression

...implies that the xpath which you have used was not a valid XPath expression.

Seems you were almost there. You just need to replace the = character with , character to make it a valid xpath expression you can use either of the following Locator Strategies:

• Using xpath and starts-with():

  //*[starts-with(@id, "mat-input-")]
  

• Using xpath and contains():

  //*[contains(@id, "mat-input-")]
  

• Using cssSelector and starts-with:

  [id^='mat-input-']
  

• Using cssSelector and contains:

  [id*='mat-input-']
  

---

References

You can find a couple of relevant detailed discussions in:

• SyntaxError: Failed to execute 'evaluate' on 'Document': The string '//img[contains('1236548597')]' is not a valid XPath expression
• selenium - Failed to execute 'evaluate' on 'Document': The string is not a valid XPath expression
• Python Selenium SyntaxError: Failed to execute 'evaluate' on 'Document': The string '//div contains(@class, 'product-card__subtitle')

Answer 2

You used it incorrectly. It should be

'//*[starts-with(@id, "mat-input-")]'

Note comma instead of equal sign

P.S. Same for contains