XPath with text() in Selenium Java - Interactive Code Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to locate a button with exact text 'Submit'.

Selenium Java

WebElement button = driver.findElement(By.xpath("//button[text()=[1]]"));

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A'Submit'

B"Submit"

CSubmit

D"'Submit'"

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using double quotes inside double quotes without escaping causes syntax errors.

Not quoting the text value causes XPath to fail.

In XPath, text() must be compared to a string literal enclosed in single quotes inside the double quotes of Java string.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the XPath to find a link (<a>) element containing the text 'Learn More'.

Selenium Java

WebElement link = driver.findElement(By.xpath("//a[contains(text(), [1])]"));

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A'Learn More'

BLearn More

C"'Learn More'"

D"Learn More"

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using unquoted text inside contains() causes XPath errors.

Using double quotes inside double quotes without escaping causes syntax errors.

XPath string literals inside Java strings should be enclosed in single quotes for correct syntax.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the XPath to select a div with text exactly 'Welcome'.

Selenium Java

WebElement div = driver.findElement(By.xpath("//div[text()=[1]]"));

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A"'Welcome'"

B'Welcome'

CWelcome

D"Welcome"

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using unquoted text causes XPath syntax errors.

Using double quotes inside double quotes without escaping causes Java string errors.

The XPath text() function requires the text to be enclosed in single quotes inside the Java string.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to locate a span element containing text 'Error' and having class 'alert'.

Selenium Java

WebElement alertSpan = driver.findElement(By.xpath("//span[contains(text(), [1]) and contains(@class, [2])]"));

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A'Error'

B"Error"

C'alert'

D"alert"

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using double quotes inside double quotes without escaping causes syntax errors.

Not quoting the attribute or text value causes XPath to fail.

XPath string literals should be enclosed in single quotes inside the Java string. So use single quotes for both text() and @class values.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to find a button with exact text 'Cancel', visible, and with id 'btnCancel'.

Selenium Java

WebElement cancelBtn = driver.findElement(By.xpath("//button[text()=[1] and @id=[2] and not(contains(@style, [3]))]"));

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A'Cancel'

B'btnCancel'

C'display:none'

D"Cancel"

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using double quotes inside double quotes without escaping.

Not quoting string literals properly.

Missing the visibility check causes hidden elements to be selected.

Use single quotes inside XPath string literals for text and attribute values. The style check uses 'display:none' to exclude hidden elements.

Practice

1. What does the XPath expression //button[text()='Submit'] select in a web page?

easy

A. A button element with the exact visible text 'Submit'

B. Any element with the attribute text='Submit'

C. All buttons regardless of their text

D. Any element containing the word 'Submit' anywhere

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the XPath syntax

   The expression //button selects all button elements in the document.

2. Step 2: Apply the text() condition

   The predicate [text()='Submit'] filters those buttons to only those whose visible text exactly matches 'Submit'.

3. Final Answer:

   A button element with the exact visible text 'Submit' -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   XPath with text() = exact text match [OK]

Hint: Use text() for exact visible text match in XPath [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing attribute text with text() function
• Assuming partial text match without contains()
• Selecting wrong element types

2. Which of the following is the correct XPath syntax to select a link (<a>) with visible text exactly 'Home'?

easy

A. //a[text()='Home']

B. //a[contains(text(), 'Home')]

C. //a[text()='home']

D. //a[@text='Home']

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify exact text match syntax

   The correct syntax for exact text match uses text()='Home' inside brackets.

2. Step 2: Check each option

   //a[contains(text(), 'Home')] uses contains(), which is partial match, not exact. //a[text()='home'] has wrong case 'home' (case-sensitive). //a[@text='Home'] incorrectly treats text as attribute.

3. Final Answer:

   //a[text()='Home'] -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Exact text match uses text()='value' [OK]

Hint: Use text()='ExactText' for precise text matching [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using contains() when exact match is needed
• Ignoring case sensitivity in text()
• Treating text as an attribute

3. Given the following HTML snippet:

<div>
  <button>Save</button>
  <button>Cancel</button>
  <button>Save As</button>
</div>

What will the XPath //button[text()='Save'] select?

medium

A. All three buttons

B. Both buttons with texts 'Save' and 'Save As'

C. No buttons because 'Save' is part of 'Save As'

D. The first button with text 'Save' only

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand exact text() matching

   The XPath text()='Save' matches only buttons whose visible text is exactly 'Save'.

2. Step 2: Analyze the buttons' text

   Only the first button has exactly 'Save'. The third button's text is 'Save As', which does not match exactly.

3. Final Answer:

   The first button with text 'Save' only -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   text()='Save' matches exact text only [OK]

Hint: Exact text() matches full text, not partial [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming partial match with text()
• Selecting multiple elements incorrectly
• Ignoring spaces or extra words

4. You wrote this XPath to select a label with text 'Username': //label[text()='username']. It does not find the element. What is the likely problem?

medium

A. Missing contains() function for partial match

B. XPath is case-sensitive; 'username' does not match 'Username'

C. text() cannot be used with label elements

D. XPath syntax requires @text attribute instead of text()

Solution

1. Step 1: Check case sensitivity in XPath text()

   XPath text() matching is case-sensitive, so 'username' does not match 'Username'.

2. Step 2: Verify other options

   text() works with any element, contains() is optional, and @text is invalid attribute syntax.

3. Final Answer:

   XPath is case-sensitive; 'username' does not match 'Username' -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   XPath text() is case-sensitive [OK]

Hint: Match exact case in text() for correct XPath [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Ignoring case sensitivity
• Using attribute syntax instead of text()
• Assuming text() only works on certain tags

5. You want to select a <span> element that contains the exact text 'Error: Invalid input' but the page sometimes adds extra spaces before or after the text. Which XPath expression is best to handle this?

hard

A. //span[text()='Error: Invalid input']

B. //span[contains(text(), 'Error: Invalid input')]

C. //span[normalize-space(text())='Error: Invalid input']

D. //span[@text='Error: Invalid input']

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the problem with extra spaces

   Extra spaces before or after text cause exact text() match to fail.

2. Step 2: Use normalize-space() to trim spaces

   Using normalize-space(text())='Error: Invalid input' trims spaces and matches exact text.

3. Step 3: Evaluate other options

   //span[text()='Error: Invalid input'] fails with spaces, //span[contains(text(), 'Error: Invalid input')] matches partial text (not exact), //span[@text='Error: Invalid input'] is invalid syntax.

4. Final Answer:

   //span[normalize-space(text())='Error: Invalid input'] -> Option C

5. Quick Check:

   normalize-space() trims spaces for exact text match [OK]

Hint: Use normalize-space() to ignore extra spaces in text() [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using text() without trimming spaces
• Using contains() when exact match needed
• Treating text as attribute