CSS attribute selectors in Selenium Python - Interactive Code Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to select an element with attribute type equal to submit using CSS selector.

Selenium Python

element = driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "input[[1]='submit']")

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

Atype

Bclass

Cid

Dname

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using 'class' or 'id' instead of 'type' in the selector.

Forgetting the quotes around the attribute value.

The CSS attribute selector syntax is [attribute='value']. Here, to select input elements with type='submit', we use [type='submit'].

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to select all elements whose data-test attribute contains the word button.

Selenium Python

elements = driver.find_elements(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "[data-test[1]='button']")

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

A^

B~

C|

D*

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using '*=' which matches substring anywhere, not whole words.

Using '=' which matches exact value only.

The '~=' selector matches elements whose attribute value is a space-separated list of words, one of which is exactly the given word. So [data-test~='button'] matches elements with 'button' as a word in data-test.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the CSS selector to select elements with href attribute starting with https.

Selenium Python

link = driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "a[[1]^='https']")

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

Aclass

Bsrc

Chref

Did

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using 'src' or 'class' instead of 'href'.

Using '=' instead of '^=' operator.

To select elements with href attribute starting with 'https', use the ^= operator with the attribute name 'href'.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to select elements with title attribute ending with .pdf and containing download anywhere in the attribute value.

Selenium Python

elements = driver.find_elements(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "[[1]$='.pdf'][[2]*='download']")

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

Atitle

Bhref

Dclass

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using different attributes for the two selectors.

Mixing up $= and *= operators.

The $= operator matches attribute values ending with the given string. The *= operator matches attribute values containing the given substring. Both apply to the 'title' attribute here.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to create a dictionary comprehension that maps each data-id attribute value to the text of elements whose class attribute contains active.

Selenium Python

result = { [1]: element.text for element in driver.find_elements(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "[class[2]='active']") if element.get_attribute([3]) is not None }

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

Aelement.get_attribute('data-id')

B'class'

C'data-id'

D*=

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using '=' instead of '*=' in the CSS selector.

Using wrong attribute names in get_attribute or selector.

We use element.get_attribute('data-id') as the key. The class attribute selector uses '*=' to find elements whose class contains 'active'. The attribute name for get_attribute is 'data-id'.

Practice

1. What does the CSS selector input[type='text'] select in Selenium?

easy

A. All input elements regardless of type

B. All elements with any attribute containing 'text'

C. All elements with class 'text'

D. All input elements with type attribute exactly equal to 'text'

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the attribute selector syntax

   The selector input[type='text'] targets input tags with an attribute type exactly equal to 'text'.

2. Step 2: Match the selector meaning to options

   All input elements with type attribute exactly equal to 'text' correctly describes this exact match. Other options describe different or incorrect matches.

3. Final Answer:

   All input elements with type attribute exactly equal to 'text' -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Exact attribute match = C [OK]

Hint: Exact match uses [attr='value'] syntax [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing exact match with partial match
• Selecting wrong tag type
• Mixing class selectors with attribute selectors

2. Which of the following is the correct CSS selector to find elements with an attribute data-id that starts with 'user'?

easy

A. [data-id^='user']

B. [data-id*='user']

C. [data-id$='user']

D. [data-id='user']

Solution

1. Step 1: Recall CSS attribute selectors for matching start of value

   The caret symbol ^= means 'starts with' in CSS attribute selectors.

2. Step 2: Match the selector to the question

   [data-id^='user'] uses [data-id^='user'], which selects elements whose data-id attribute starts with 'user'.

3. Final Answer:

   [data-id^='user'] -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Starts with selector = B [OK]

Hint: Use ^= for 'starts with' attribute matching [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using *= instead of ^= for starts with
• Using $= which means ends with
• Using exact match = instead of partial

3. What will the following Selenium Python code print if the page has three <input> elements with name attributes: 'user1', 'user2', and 'admin'?

elements = driver.find_elements(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "input[name*='user']")
print(len(elements))

medium

A. 2

B. 3

C. 1

D. 0

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the CSS selector input[name*='user']

   This selector finds input elements whose name attribute contains the substring 'user'.

2. Step 2: Count matching elements

   Given names 'user1', 'user2', and 'admin', only 'user1' and 'user2' contain 'user'. So, 2 elements match.

3. Final Answer:

   2 -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Substring match count = 2 [OK]

Hint: Use *= to find attributes containing substring [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Counting all inputs instead of filtered ones
• Confusing starts with (^) and contains (*) selectors
• Assuming exact match instead of partial

4. You wrote this Selenium code but it throws an error:

element = driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "button[class^='submit']'")

What is the error and how to fix it?

medium

A. Wrong attribute selector; use *= instead of ^=

B. Extra single quote at the end; remove it to fix

C. Missing tag name before attribute selector

D. CSS selector cannot use ^ for attribute matching

Solution

1. Step 1: Inspect the CSS selector string syntax

   The selector ends with an extra single quote after the closing double quote: "button[class^='submit']'". This causes a syntax error.

2. Step 2: Correct the string by removing the extra quote

   Removing the extra single quote at the end fixes the syntax: "button[class^='submit']".

3. Final Answer:

   Extra single quote at the end; remove it to fix -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Check quotes balance = A [OK]

Hint: Check for balanced quotes in selectors [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Ignoring syntax errors caused by quotes
• Changing correct attribute selectors unnecessarily
• Assuming CSS does not support ^= selector

5. You want to select all <a> tags whose href attribute ends with '.pdf' or '.docx' using a single CSS selector in Selenium. Which selector is correct?

hard

A. a[href*='.pdf' or '.docx']

B. a[href$='.pdf' || href$='.docx']

C. a[href$='.pdf'], a[href$='.docx']

D. a[href$='.pdf'][href$='.docx']

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand CSS selector for multiple attribute matches

   To select elements matching either condition, use a comma to separate selectors: a[href$='.pdf'], a[href$='.docx'].

2. Step 2: Analyze other options for correctness

   a[href$='.pdf' || href$='.docx'] uses invalid syntax with || inside attribute selector. a[href$='.pdf'][href$='.docx'] requires both endings simultaneously, impossible. a[href*='.pdf' or '.docx'] uses invalid syntax with 'or'.

3. Final Answer:

   a[href$='.pdf'], a[href$='.docx'] -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Use comma to combine selectors = D [OK]

Hint: Combine selectors with comma for OR conditions [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using logical operators inside attribute selectors
• Trying to combine multiple attribute endings in one selector without comma
• Assuming multiple attribute selectors mean OR instead of AND