Robot framework- xpath - how to use translate() function

Question

Robot framework- xpath - how to use translate() function Consider tc1.robot file as below:

...
*** Test Cases ***
LoginTest
    ...
    sleep   5
    click element       xpath://input[matches(@placeholder,'username','i')]

How to use translate() function to do case insensitive search in the above line? i.e. it should match 'username' text in any combination case - mostly username, Username, USERNAME etc.

I suppose the framework relies on the xpath of the browser you are using. If so you can not use matches. And your question is about translate(). What do you want to translate into what? — Siebe Jongebloed
– Siebe Jongebloed, Commented Jul 14 at 9:26
@SiebeJongebloed - most likely OP wants to do case insensitive search and the library underneath is selenium's python bindings. Last time i checked, no browsers supported xpath 2.0 so translate() is typically used to do case conversion. — rasjani
– rasjani, Commented Jul 15 at 9:52

Michael Kay · Accepted Answer · 2025-07-14 09:28:02Z

1

In XPath 1.0 you can do case-insensitive equality matching using

//input[translate(., 'ABCDE...XYZ', 'abcde...xyz') = 'username']

That only handles the English alphabet, obviously.

answered Jul 14 at 9:28

Michael Kay

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Dimitre Novatchev · Accepted Answer · 2025-07-15 04:06:31Z

1

In Xpath 1.0 use:

//input[translate(@placeholder, 
                  'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 
                  'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz') 
         = 'username']

In Xpath version >= 2.0 use:

//input[lower-case(@placeholder) = 'username']

answered Jul 15 at 4:06

Dimitre Novatchev

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2 Comments

Narendra Bhagwat Jul 15 at 12:03

This is what I was trying to understand - got it. this code line worked fine as it is. Thanks - This is useful.

Dimitre Novatchev Jul 15 at 15:35

Glad it helped, Narendra. Maybe accept this answer? :)

Siebe Jongebloed · Accepted Answer · 2025-07-14 09:32:35Z

0

You could use this xpath:


//input[contains('|username|Username|USERNAME|',concat('|',@placeholder,'|'))]

answered Jul 14 at 9:32

Siebe Jongebloed

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