XPath in Selenium

What is XPath?

XPath is a query language for selecting nodes from an XML document. In Selenium, we can use XPath to locate a WebElement in the DOM (Document Object Model) to interact and perform any operation on the page.

XPath Syntax

Basic components of a WebElement:

• HTML Tag
• Attributes

XPath Syntax to identify a WebElement in the DOM:

//tagname[@attribute=’Value‘]

Writing effective XPath

While identifying a WebElement using XPath, we have to ensure that it’s unique and reliable enough to increase the test script stability. This can be achieved using a combination of tagname and attribute.

The below practices can help to write an effective XPath:

• Always use relative XPath, it starts with (//).
• Look for unique id or name attribute.
• Look for class name or combination of class names.
• Look for Sibling, Ancestors, or Parents to identify it uniquely.
• Avoid using text comparison to locate since any change in the text will break the XPath.
• Avoid using any dynamic attribute to locate the XPath.
• Avoid using absolute XPath (/).