differences between css and equivalent xpath in selenium 2.0

Question

Still new to selenium and css/xpath locators. I stumbled across a problem where CSS works but the equivalent XPath doesn't, and I'd really like to know why. I'm using Scala in the examples but it's still the normal Java Selenium2 library. I also use the FirefoxDriver

Here's the interesting part of the HTML:

...
<li class="k-item k-filter-item k-state-default k-last" role="menuitem" style="z-index: auto;">
  ...
  <form class="k-filter-menu k-secondary">
    <div>
      <div class="k-filter-help-text">Show items with value that:</div>
      <span class="k-widget k-dropdown k-header" style="" unselectable="on" role="listbox" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false" tabindex="0" aria-owns="" aria-disabled="false" aria-readonly="false" aria-busy="false">
      <span class="k-widget k-datetimepicker k-header" style="">
      <div>
        <button class="k-button" type="submit">Filter</button>
        <button class="k-button" type="reset">Clear</button>
      </div>
    </div>
  </form>
</li>
...

I'm getting the li with

val filter = driver.findElement(By.cssSelector("li.k-filter-item"))

which works for me.

Then, I want to find the button. It's a dynamic menu thingy sliding out and what not, so I need to wait for it to appear:

new WebDriverWait(driver, selectorTimeout).until(
  new ExpectedCondition[Boolean] {
    override def apply(d: WebDriver) = {
      filter.findElement(By.cssSelector("button[type=submit]")).isDisplayed
    }
  })

And that works nicely, too. My question is, why doesn't the xpath equivalent work:

new WebDriverWait(driver, selectorTimeout).until(
  new ExpectedCondition[Boolean] {
    override def apply(d: WebDriver) = {
      filter.findElement(By.xpath("//button[@type='submit']")).isDisplayed
    }
  })

Anybody?

[EDIT]
Selenium version: 2.35.0
FireFox driver: 2.35.0

I will try it with Opera now.

Any error did you get? Can you try //button[contains(@type,'submit')] ? — Arup Rakshit
– Arup Rakshit, Commented Sep 27, 2013 at 12:17
Wow. Have you tried it in any other browser than FF? This should definitely work. While it's obviously better to use CSS selector, I understand your confusion. This baffles me, too. Which Selenium version is this? And which Firefox? In firefox, both CSS selector and XPath support should be native. Huh. — Petr Janeček
– Petr Janeček, Commented Sep 27, 2013 at 12:18
You'll need the . in front of the XPath too I think: .//button[@type='submit']. Also try a more elaborate one: .//descendant::button[@type='submit']. (Not tested these, but it's a guess). — Arran
– Arran, Commented Sep 27, 2013 at 13:29
@Arran: you're right! Please turn your comment into an answer an I shall accept it! — Cpt. Senkfuss
– Cpt. Senkfuss, Commented Sep 27, 2013 at 14:04

Arran · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-27 14:31:30Z

1

You'll need the . in front of the XPath selector anyway, so that it'll search the current element's descendants/children:

.//button[@type='submit']

Sometimes, a more elaborate XPath can also help:

.//descendant::button[@type='submit']

answered Sep 27, 2013 at 14:31

Arran

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