Name of xpath not working properly in Selenium and Java

Question

I got this "edit" button that allows me to edit a specific row within a grid

That edit button has this:

<a class="action-menu-item" data-bind="attr: {target: $col.getTarget($action()), href: $action().href}, text: $action().label, click: $col.getActionHandler($action())" data-repeat-index="0" target="_self" href="https://randompageee/backend/company/index/edit/id/967/key/ee96a07876ee1fbef91d5d22dfjrrfkjaf9d40/">Edit</a>

It's XPATH is:

//*[@id="container"]/div/div[3]/table/tbody/tr[2]/td[4]/a

I used this in my code:

WebElement  elementProd = driver.findElement(By.xpath("//*[@id=\"container\"]/div/div[2]/div[1]/div[5]/div/div/button[2]"));
JavascriptExecutor executor  = (JavascriptExecutor)driver;
executor.executeScript("arguments[0].click();",elementProd);

The thing is it sometimes work but sometimes it doesn't.

Is anything wrong with the XPATH? Should i use other instead?

EDIT:

It has this:

<td data-bind="css: getFieldClass($row()), click: getFieldHandler($row()), template: getBody()" class="data-grid-actions-cell">
<!-- ko if: $col.isSingle($row()._rowIndex) --><!-- ko repeat: {foreach: $col.getVisibleActions($row()._rowIndex), item: '$action'} --><a class="action-menu-item" data-bind="attr: {target: $col.getTarget($action()), href: $action().href}, text: $action().label, click: $col.getActionHandler($action())" data-repeat-index="0" target="_self" href="randomdfsd/backend/company/index/edit/id/967/key/ee96a07876ee1fbef91d5d22507d5882e9f03b78dasb24657d3ce9d40/">Edit</a><!-- /ko --><!-- /ko -->

<!-- ko if: $col.isMultiple($row()._rowIndex) --><!-- /ko -->
</td>

It's XPATH is:

//*[@id="container"]/div/div[3]/table/tbody/tr[2]/td[4]

On the other hand i got this:

It contains:

<a class="action-menu-item" data-bind="attr: {target: $col.getTarget($action()), href: $action().href}, text: $action().label, click: $col.getActionHandler($action())" data-repeat-index="0" target="_self" href="https://randomdfsd/backend/company/index/edit/id/967/key/ee9ds1d5d22507d5882e9f03b78fca79514fab24657d3ce9d40/">Edit</a>

It's XPATH is:

//*[@id="container"]/div/div[3]/table/tbody/tr[2]/td[4]/a

This other sister site is meant for questions like these, involving testing. sqa.stackexchange.com — JustBeingHelpful
– JustBeingHelpful, Commented Dec 15, 2022 at 18:49
The answer is likely not having a wait command. Selenium has a bug where it sometimes won't grab the element if a wait is not implemented. Search the other site, and you'll find it. — JustBeingHelpful
– JustBeingHelpful, Commented Dec 15, 2022 at 18:52
Hey @MacGyver thanks for commenting!. Is there any other way to name the XPATH? — JustToKnow
– JustToKnow, Commented Dec 15, 2022 at 18:54
@new_programmer yes, is a good idea to ask developers for adding ids for the elements you will use for your automation — Jaky Ruby
– Jaky Ruby, Commented Dec 15, 2022 at 19:22

JustBeingHelpful · Accepted Answer · 2022-12-16 10:29:58Z

1

The best approach for Selenium Webdriver to identify individual tr's (rows) or td (row/column combination) is to have the developer of the website (that you are testing) either place a unique id in those tags when the table is dynamically generated such as below (see reference #1). Then obtain the row or cell of the table using that id (see reference #2) rather than using XPath. If there are embedded tags under the tr or td, then it's safe to use XPath after that since the starting position of the HTML hierarchy of the element is fixed (see reference #3).

Reference #1:

<table><tr><td id="table1_row1_column1"><a>link</a></td></tr></table>

Reference #2:

WebElement elementTableTd = driver.findElement(By.id("table1_row1_column1"));

Reference #3:

WebElement elementTableA = driver.findElement(By.xpath("//*[@id=\"table1_row1_column1\"]/a"));

answered Dec 16, 2022 at 10:29

JustBeingHelpful

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3 Comments

JustToKnow Over a year ago

Hey Mac, thank you for replying!. What do you mean when you say: "If there are embedded tags under the tr or td". How?

JustBeingHelpful Over a year ago

You're welcome. "embedded" means to make an internal part of. So in my example, I have an "a" (HTML anchor tag/element) inside the "td" (HTML table data tag/element). So first I'm identifying the td WebDriver element using the custom id attribute of the td tag, and then adding the embedded "a" afterwards in reference 3.

JustBeingHelpful Over a year ago

meant to say "integral", not "internal".. merriam-webster.com/dictionary/embed

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