How to search node by exact text match using Xpath in webdriver

Question

I need a little help regarding searching an exact text using xpath in webDriver.

Suppose i have the html as follows..

<html><body>
  <table>
    <tr>
      <td><button>abcd</button></td>
      <td><button>abc</button></td>
    </tr>
  </table>
</body></html>

Now i want to click button "abc"

I used xpath as //button[contains(text(),'abc')] but it is always performing on button "abcd" as it also contain the text "abc". In this regards I need a predicate or some other procedure which can search exact text instead of containing text.

I also tried with //button[matches(text(),'abc')], //button[matches($string,'abc')], //button[Text='abc')], //button[.='abc')] and many more but none of these worked out to identify "abc" button.

I do not know if there is any problem regarding my xpath version as I'm not aware of the version. But I'm using java 1.6 JDK.

Though my exact scenario is not the example shown but similar logic needs to be applied.

Hence any help or suggestion would be highly appreciated.

I don't get it...what's wrong with an **equals** search? ...`//button[text()='abc']`....? — Arran, Nov 01 '13 at 09:26
@Arrana looks like the wrong was `//button[Text='abc']` but the right one is `//button[Text()='abc']` (as you wrote) — olyv, Nov 01 '13 at 11:16
Yes its absolutely right....it would be something like an Equal search...//button[text()='abc'] this xpath works properly...thanks a lot. — souvik, Jun 08 '16 at 13:41

score 56 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 01 '13 at 08:01

I would use next xpath //button[text()='abc']. You have mentioned text() function but I'm not sure syntax was correct. Also you tried to use contains() -- it searches partial text and WebDriver gets first element found. I your case it is <button>abcd</button> button

score 17 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 14 '18 at 08:14

17

To find the element 'abcd' you can simply use:

//button[contains(text(),'abcd')]

To find 'abc' use the normalize-space() function which will clean up your text for comparison purposes.

//button[normalize-space(text())='abc']

answered Jul 14 '18 at 08:14

Priyanka Chaturvedi

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3
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3

normalize-space example worked for me on Selenium IDE for chrome – Tarmac Apr 29 '20 at 19:01

score 13 · Answer 3 · edited Aug 19 '19 at 07:13

13

For exact search:

button[text()='abc']

For pattern matching search:

button[starts-with(.,'abc')]

edited Aug 19 '19 at 07:13

Andronicus

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answered Aug 19 '19 at 06:47

asadahm

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`button[starts-with(.,'abc')]` is not working. – a Learner Mar 16 '23 at 14:16

score 11 · Answer 4 · edited Jun 19 '18 at 13:34

11

//button[.="abc"]

The dot before the equality operator will do the text comparison. Another example is /PROJECT[.="MyProject"] from the xPath Java tutorial.

edited Jun 19 '18 at 13:34

Davis Herring

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answered Apr 12 '18 at 07:02

nanosoft

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score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 01 '13 at 05:20

0

Try with ends-with instead of contains. If the buttons dont have unique attributes, you can add the parent hierarchy as well. Like //table/tr/td[1].

answered Nov 01 '13 at 05:20

Akbar

1,513
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thanx for ur comment, tell me one thing, the html contains leading and trailing space for the text. like " abcd " and " abc ".if I use [contains(text(),'abc')] xpath then its performing on "abcd" button. but if i'm using [starts-with(text(),' abc') or [ends-with(text(),'abc '), its showing unable to find locator.the space i mentioned in xpath leading or trailing to the string is correct??And secondly the "td" number is not fixed in my case. the button may contain in any td in the table. infact in some other tr tag also as the button generation is dynamic. Hence I can't go by hierarchy. – souvik Nov 01 '13 at 05:39
Cannot tell without accessing the application but you can do it the round about way by getting text attribute value and do a string comparison using the language functions. – Akbar Nov 01 '13 at 05:44
Element.getattribute("text") – Akbar Nov 01 '13 at 05:47
thanx for the suggestion. It would be better if i had a predicate to match for an exact text. though it was a bit hectic anyway i made the library using string checking by Element.getText() method and now its working fine... – souvik Nov 01 '13 at 10:04
1

@souvik The `normalize-space()` function will clean up your text for comparison purposes. Try `//button[normalize-space(text())='abc']` – Ross Patterson Nov 01 '13 at 10:33
It is commom to accept or upvote if your problem is resolved. – Akbar Nov 01 '13 at 12:55

score 0 · Answer 6 · edited Oct 22 '20 at 13:07

0

Using something like below worked perfectly fine for me.

//button[(contains(.,'abc')) and not(contains(.,'abcd'))]

edited Oct 22 '20 at 13:07

Koushik Roy

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answered Oct 21 '20 at 13:38

Anshu

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score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Jan 27 '23 at 10:44

0

For exact search: .//button[./text()='abc']

Note: make you there is no space is available into

answered Jan 27 '23 at 10:44

Nikunj

1

1

As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please [edit] to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers [in the help center](/help/how-to-answer). – Community Jan 29 '23 at 08:23

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Mar 16 '23 at 19:09

0

//td//text() will select both buttons

(//td//text())[1] will select <button>abcd</button>

(//td//text())[2] will select <button>abc</button>

answered Mar 16 '23 at 19:09

a Learner

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How to search node by exact text match using Xpath in webdriver

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