XPath with contains and starts-with in Selenium Python - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ locator

intermediate

Identify the correct XPath using contains()

Which XPath expression correctly selects all <button> elements whose class attribute contains the word 'submit' anywhere in the string?

A //button[starts-with(@class, 'submit')]

B //button[contains(@class, 'submit')]

C //button[@class='submit']

D //button[contains(text(), 'submit')]

💡 Hint

contains() checks if an attribute includes a substring anywhere inside it.

Option B uses contains() on the class attribute, which matches any button with 'submit' inside its class string. Option B only matches if class starts exactly with 'submit'. Option B matches only if class equals 'submit' exactly. Option B checks button text, not class attribute.

❓ locator

intermediate

Choose the XPath using starts-with()

Which XPath expression selects all <input> elements whose id attribute starts with 'user_'?

A //input[contains(@id, 'user_')]

B //input[contains(text(), 'user_')]

C //input[starts-with(@id, 'user_')]

D //input[@id='user_']

💡 Hint

starts-with() matches only if the attribute begins with the given string.

Option C correctly uses starts-with() on the id attribute to select inputs whose id begins with 'user_'. Option C matches anywhere in id, not just start. Option C matches exact id 'user_'. Option C checks text content, not id attribute.

❓ assertion

advanced

Assertion for element presence using XPath with contains()

You want to assert that a <div> with a class containing 'alert' is present on the page. Which assertion code snippet using Selenium WebDriver in Python is correct?

Selenium Python

from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By
from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait
from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC

wait = WebDriverWait(driver, 10)

# Which assertion is correct?

A wait.until(EC.presence_of_element_located((By.XPATH, "//div[contains(@class, 'alert')]"))) # Passes if element found

B wait.until(EC.presence_of_element_located((By.XPATH, "//div[starts-with(@class, 'alert')]"))) # Passes if element found

C wait.until(EC.presence_of_element_located((By.XPATH, "//div[@class='alert']"))) # Passes if element found

D wait.until(EC.presence_of_element_located((By.XPATH, "//div[contains(text(), 'alert')]"))) # Passes if element found

💡 Hint

Use contains() on class attribute to match any class containing 'alert'.

Option A waits until a div with class containing 'alert' is present, which matches the requirement. Option A uses starts-with which is more restrictive. Option A matches exact class 'alert' only. Option A checks text content, not class attribute.

❓ Predict Output

advanced

Output of XPath expression with contains and starts-with

Given the following HTML snippet:

<ul>
  <li id="item1" class="active highlight">First</li>
  <li id="item2" class="inactive highlight">Second</li>
  <li id="item3" class="active lowlight">Third</li>
</ul>

Which XPath expression selects exactly the <li> elements with class starting with 'active'?

A //li[starts-with(@class, 'active')]

B //li[contains(@class, 'active')]

C //li[@class='active']

D //li[contains(text(), 'active')]

💡 Hint

starts-with() matches only if class attribute begins with the string.

Option A selects li elements whose class attribute starts exactly with 'active' (matches item1 and item3). Option A selects li elements whose class contains 'active' anywhere (also item1 and item3). However, item3's class is 'active lowlight' which starts with 'active', so both A and B select same elements. But since question asks for 'starting with', A is the precise answer. Option A matches exact class 'active' only (no match). Option A checks text content, not class.

🔧 Debug

expert

Debugging XPath with contains() in Selenium test

A Selenium test uses this XPath to find a button:

//button[contains(@class, 'btn-primary')]

But it fails to find the button even though the button's class attribute is 'btn btn-primary large'.
What is the most likely reason the XPath does not find the button?

A The XPath syntax is invalid because contains() requires two arguments but only one is given.

B contains() does not work with multiple classes in class attribute; must use starts-with() instead.

C The class attribute value must be matched exactly; contains() cannot match partial strings.

D The XPath is correct; the failure is due to the button being inside an iframe not switched to.

💡 Hint

Check if the element is inside an iframe or shadow DOM.

Option D is correct because the XPath is valid and should find the button if it is in the current DOM context. If the button is inside an iframe, Selenium must switch to that iframe first. Option D is false; contains() works fine with class attributes containing multiple classes. Option D is false; contains() matches substrings. Option D is false; the XPath syntax is correct with two arguments.