What are different XPath functions you have used in your Selenium project?

Answer

XPath Functions Used in Selenium Projects

XPath functions make locators more flexible and dynamic, handling elements with partial or changing attribute values.

1. contains() — Partial attribute match: Matches elements where the attribute contains a given substring.

Java

// Find element where id contains "log"
driver.findElement(By.xpath("//*[contains(@id, 'log')]"));

// Find button where text contains "Sign"
driver.findElement(By.xpath("//button[contains(text(), 'Sign')]"));

// Dynamic class name
driver.findElement(By.xpath("//div[contains(@class, 'nav-item')]"));

2. text() — Match by visible text: Matches elements with exact or partial visible text.

Java

// Exact text match
driver.findElement(By.xpath("//a[text()='Click Here']"));

// With contains for partial text
driver.findElement(By.xpath("//p[contains(text(), 'Welcome')]"));

// Heading with specific text
driver.findElement(By.xpath("//h2[text()='Login']"));

3. starts-with() — Match beginning of attribute: Useful when an attribute starts with a known prefix but ends dynamically.

Java

// ID starts with "user_"
driver.findElement(By.xpath("//*[starts-with(@id, 'user_')]"));

// Name attribute starts with "login"
driver.findElement(By.xpath("//input[starts-with(@name, 'login')]"));

4. OR operator (|) — Multiple conditions: Match elements that satisfy either condition.

Java

// Element with class "btn" OR id "submit"
driver.findElements(By.xpath("//*[@class='btn' or @id='submit']"));

// Multiple possible text values
driver.findElement(By.xpath("//button[text()='Login' or text()='Sign In']"));

5. AND operator — Multiple conditions: Match elements that satisfy all conditions.

Java

// Input with type="text" AND placeholder="Username"
driver.findElement(By.xpath("//input[@type='text' and @placeholder='Username']"));

// Link with specific class AND text
driver.findElement(By.xpath("//a[@class='nav-link' and text()='Home']"));

Combined functions:

Java

// contains + starts-with
driver.findElement(By.xpath("//input[starts-with(@id, 'user') and contains(@class, 'form')]"));

// Text with contains + and
driver.findElement(By.xpath("//div[@class='item' and contains(text(), 'Product')]"));

Quick reference:

Function	Syntax	Use case
`contains()`	`contains(@attr, 'val')`	Partial attribute value
`text()`	`text()='value'`	Exact visible text
`starts-with()`	`starts-with(@attr, 'prefix')`	Dynamic ID/name prefix
`or`	`@a='x' or @b='y'`	Either condition
`and`	`@a='x' and @b='y'`	Both conditions