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Selenium WebDriver

The document provides an overview of Selenium WebDriver locators, which are commands used to identify and interact with web elements. It details 10 types of locators including ID, Name, Class Name, Tag Name, Link Text, Partial Link Text, CSS Selector, XPath, JavaScript-based DOM locators, and Custom Attributes, along with examples for each. Best practices for using these locators are also highlighted, emphasizing the preference for ID and the avoidance of absolute XPath.

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3 views8 pages

Selenium WebDriver

The document provides an overview of Selenium WebDriver locators, which are commands used to identify and interact with web elements. It details 10 types of locators including ID, Name, Class Name, Tag Name, Link Text, Partial Link Text, CSS Selector, XPath, JavaScript-based DOM locators, and Custom Attributes, along with examples for each. Best practices for using these locators are also highlighted, emphasizing the preference for ID and the avoidance of absolute XPath.

Uploaded by

airakeshmi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Selenium WebDriver: Locators Overview

Locators in Selenium are commands that help identify and interact


with web elements (like buttons, input fields, links, etc.).

WebDriver provides the By class to locate elements using different


strategies.

🔟 10 Types of Selenium Locators

1. ID Locator

 Most preferred when id is unique on the page.

 ✅ Fastest and most reliable.

Python

 driver.find_element(By.ID, "username")

2. Name Locator

 Works if the name attribute is present and unique.

Python

 driver.find_element(By.NAME, "email")

3. Class Name Locator

 Selects element(s) with a specific CSS class.

 ⚠️Avoid if multiple elements share the same class.

python

CopyEdit

driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "btn-primary")

4. Tag Name Locator

 Selects elements by their HTML tag (e.g., input, div, a, etc.).

 Often used for lists or headers.

python
CopyEdit

driver.find_element(By.TAG_NAME, "h1")

5. Link Text Locator

 Locates <a> links using the exact visible text.

Python

 driver.find_element(By.LINK_TEXT, "Sign In")

6. Partial Link Text Locator

 Locates links using partial visible text.

 Useful if link text is long or dynamic.

python

CopyEdit

driver.find_element(By.PARTIAL_LINK_TEXT, "Sign")

7. CSS Selector

 Powerful and flexible.

 Uses CSS syntax to locate elements.

 Faster than XPath.

Examples:

Python

 # ID

driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "#login")

# Class

driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, ".btn")

# Attribute

driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "input[name='username']")
# Tag + class

driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "button.submit-btn")

8. XPath

 Most powerful and flexible locator.

 Can go both forward and backward in DOM.

 Slower than CSS but allows complex queries.

Absolute XPath (not recommended):

Python

 driver.find_element(By.XPATH, "/html/body/div[1]/form/input")

Relative XPath (recommended):

Python

 driver.find_element(By.XPATH, "//input[@id='username']")

Other Examples:

python

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# Using text()

driver.find_element(By.XPATH, "//button[text()='Login']")

# Contains

driver.find_element(By.XPATH, "//a[contains(text(),'Sign')]")

# And condition

driver.find_element(By.XPATH, "//input[@type='text' and


@name='email']")

9. DOM Locators (JavaScript-based, rarely used)

 You can execute JavaScript to find elements:


Python

 driver.execute_script("return document.getElementById('email')")

10. Custom Attributes / ARIA / Data-Attributes

 Sometimes developers use data-* or aria-* attributes.

Python

 driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "[data-test='submit-btn']")
 driver.find_element(By.XPATH, "//*[@aria-label='Close']").

📌 Summary Table

Locator When to
Method Example
Type Use

Best, if
ID By.ID "username"
unique

If no unique
Name By.NAME "email"
ID

Class If class is
By.CLASS_NAME "btn-primary"
Name unique

Tag For
By.TAG_NAME "input"
Name lists/tables

Exact match
Link Text By.LINK_TEXT "Login"
for links

Partial By.PARTIAL_LINK_T Partial link


"Log"
Link Text EXT match

CSS Fast &


By.CSS_SELECTOR "input[name='email']"
Selector flexible

Powerful,
XPath By.XPATH "//input[@id='username']" use when
others fail

Rare,
"document.getElementById('e
JS/DOM execute_script() advanced
mail')"
usage

Custom CSS/XPath with "[data-id='123']" / "//*[@data- For


Locator When to
Method Example
Type Use

custom/test-
Attribute
data-* id='123']" friendly
s
locators

✅ Best Practices

 Prefer ID > Name > CSS Selector > XPath (in that order).

 Avoid Absolute XPath.

 Don’t rely on class names that change often (e.g., dynamic React
classes).

 Use custom data-test or data- attributes* if available.

To practice identifying HTML attributes like tag names, classes, IDs,


names, etc., here’s a complete sample HTML page with a variety of
elements for testing Selenium locators.

You can:

 Inspect this in Chrome (Right Click > Inspect)

 Use Selenium to locate elements using various strategies

🧩 Sample HTML Page for Locator Practice

html

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<head>

<title>Locator Practice Page</title>

</head>

<body>

<h1 id="main-title">Welcome to Selenium


Practice</h1>
<div class="container">

<form id="login-form" name="loginForm">

<label for="username">Username:</label>

<input type="text" id="username" name="user"


placeholder="Enter username" />

<label for="password">Password:</label>

<input type="password" id="password"


name="pass" />

<button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary" data-


test="submit-btn">Login</button>

</form>

<a href="/forgot" id="forgot-link">Forgot


Password?</a>

<a href="/signup" class="link">Create Account</a>

<div class="message" aria-label="welcome-message">

<p class="text">Welcome, Guest!</p>

</div>

<ul id="user-list">

<li class="user">Alice</li>

<li class="user">Bob</li>

<li class="user">Charlie</li>

</ul>

</div>
<footer class="footer" data-role="site-footer">

<p>Contact: support@example.com</p>

</footer>

</body>

</html>

🧪 Elements You Can Locate

Element What You Can Use

<h1 id="main-title"> By.ID, By.TAG_NAME, By.XPATH, CSS

<form
By.NAME, By.TAG_NAME, By.ID
name="loginForm">

<input
By.ID, By.NAME, By.CSS_SELECTOR
id="username">

<button class="btn"> By.CLASS_NAME, By.CSS_SELECTOR

By.ID, By.LINK_TEXT,
<a id="forgot-link">
By.PARTIAL_LINK_TEXT

By.CLASS_NAME, By.CSS_SELECTOR,
<li class="user">
By.XPATH

<div aria-label="..."> By.XPATH, By.CSS_SELECTOR

data-test="submit- Custom attribute via XPath or CSS


btn" selector

🎯 Locator Example Using This HTML

python

CopyEdit

# By ID

driver.find_element(By.ID, "username")

# By Name

driver.find_element(By.NAME, "user")
# By Class Name

driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "btn")

# By Tag Name

driver.find_elements(By.TAG_NAME, "li")

# By Link Text

driver.find_element(By.LINK_TEXT, "Forgot Password?")

# By Partial Link Text

driver.find_element(By.PARTIAL_LINK_TEXT, "Forgot")

# By CSS Selector

driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "input[name='user']")

# By XPath

driver.find_element(By.XPATH, "//button[@data-test='submit-btn']")

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