(Selenium - Python) Finding one of two elements in webDriver

Question

In my app, I can expect one of two elements (a or b) to appear. I currently have: el1 = driver.find_element_by_id("a")

But, I'd like to do something like: el1 = driver.find_element_by_id("a" or "b")

Is that possible in selenium? I'm doing this in Python, if that helps.

function-hack · Accepted Answer · 2021-07-20 14:32:39Z

1

Simple and straightforward solution:

try:
    # Look for first element
    el1 = driver.find_element_by_id('a')
except selenium.common.exceptions.NoSuchElementException:
    # Look for the second if the first does not exist
    el1 = driver.find_element_by_id('b')

answered Jul 20, 2021 at 14:32

function-hack

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cruisepandey · Accepted Answer · 2021-07-20 14:27:51Z

1

you can use xpath in that case :

el1 = driver.find_element_by_xpath("//*[@id= 'a' or @id = 'b']")

I am assuming that two tags in HTML has two different ids, you can write or condition in xpath like above.

Update :

Heads up to anyone implementing this with an android app, the syntax is:

el1 = driver.find_element_by_xpath("/hierarchy/a" or "/hierarchy/b")

edited Jul 20, 2021 at 14:27

answered Jul 20, 2021 at 14:00

cruisepandey

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5 Comments

Dummie1138 Over a year ago

I'm testing an android app so the xpath looks more like "/hierarchy/a". Will try to do what you suggested with my xpath.

Dummie1138 Over a year ago

It worked. Heads up to anyone implementing this with an android app, the syntax is: el1 = driver.find_element_by_xpath("/hierarchy/a" or "/hierarchy/b")

cruisepandey Over a year ago

I have updated for android as well. Meanwhile, Was it helpful ?if yes, can you accept this answer so that it will be available in green color for future readers. In case if you would like to accept this answer, please feel free click on check mark which is right aside with voting buttons. I'd appreciate your time and response on this.

Dummie1138 Over a year ago

I spoke too soon, el1 = driver.find_element_by_xpath("/hierarchy/a" or "/hierarchy/b") only worked when the provided element is a. Also, would something like this work for id instead of xpath? Or is selenium picky?

cruisepandey Over a year ago

no it won't work for id, id does not have support for AND or OR, you may be able to do it with css selector.

IoaTzimas · Accepted Answer · 2021-07-20 14:11:20Z

0

In pure Python you can do this:

el1 = driver.find_element_by_id("a") if driver.find_element_by_id("a") else driver.find_element_by_id("b") if driver.find_element_by_id("b") else None

edited Jul 20, 2021 at 14:11

answered Jul 20, 2021 at 14:05

IoaTzimas

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1 Comment

cruisepandey Over a year ago

if a or b is not available in DOM, OP is gonna get NoSuchElement exception

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