XPath axes (parent, following-sibling, preceding) in Selenium Java - Test Execution Trace

Test Overview

This test verifies locating web elements using XPath axes: parent, following-sibling, and preceding-sibling. It checks that the correct elements are found and their text matches expected values.

Test Code - JUnit

Selenium Java

import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterEach;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;

public class XPathAxesTest {
    WebDriver driver;

    @BeforeEach
    public void setUp() {
        driver = new ChromeDriver();
        driver.get("https://example.com/xpath-axes-demo");
    }

    @Test
    public void testXPathAxes() {
        // Locate child element
        WebElement child = driver.findElement(By.id("child1"));

        // Use parent axis to get parent element
        WebElement parent = child.findElement(By.xpath("parent::*"));
        assertEquals("parent-div", parent.getAttribute("id"));

        // Use following-sibling axis to get next sibling
        WebElement nextSibling = parent.findElement(By.xpath("following-sibling::*[1]"));
        assertEquals("sibling-div", nextSibling.getAttribute("id"));

        // Use preceding-sibling axis to get previous sibling of nextSibling
        WebElement preceding = nextSibling.findElement(By.xpath("preceding-sibling::*[1]"));
        assertEquals("parent-div", preceding.getAttribute("id"));
    }

    @AfterEach
    public void tearDown() {
        if (driver != null) {
            driver.quit();
        }
    }
}

Execution Trace - 6 Steps

Step	Action	System State	Assertion	Result
1	Test starts and Chrome browser opens	Browser window opens at https://example.com/xpath-axes-demo	-	PASS
2	Find element with id 'child1'	Page loaded with element <div id='child1'>	Element with id 'child1' is found	PASS
3	Find parent element of 'child1' using XPath 'parent::*'	Parent element with id 'parent-div' is located	Parent element's id attribute equals 'parent-div'	PASS
4	Find following sibling of parent element using XPath 'following-sibling::*[1]'	Following sibling element with id 'sibling-div' is located	Following sibling's id attribute equals 'sibling-div'	PASS
5	Find preceding element of following sibling using XPath 'preceding-sibling::*[1]'	Preceding element with id 'parent-div' is located	Preceding element's id attribute equals 'parent-div'	PASS
6	Test ends and browser closes	Browser window closes	-	PASS

Failure Scenario

Failing Condition: Element with the specified XPath axis is not found or attribute does not match expected value

Execution Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

Which XPath axis is used to find the parent element of 'child1'?

A parent::*

B following-sibling::*

C preceding::*

D child::*

Key Result

Using XPath axes like parent, following-sibling, and preceding-sibling helps navigate complex page structures efficiently. Always verify the XPath expressions against the actual DOM to avoid locating errors.