XPath & Xpath Axes

XPath:- Xpath is used to locate a web element based on its XML path. XML stands for Extensible Mark-up Language and is used to store, organize and transport arbitrary data. It stores data in a key-value pair which is very much similar to HTML tags.

XPath Axes: - Plays a major role to handle dynamic web elements.

·         Axis details: -

AXIS Name	Result
ancestor	Selects all ancestors (parent, grandparent, etc.) of the current node
ancestor-or-self	Selects all ancestors (parent, grandparent, etc.) of the current node and the current node itself
attribute	Selects all attributes of the current node
child	Selects all children of the current node
descendant	Selects all descendants (children, grandchildren, etc.) of the current node
descendant-or-self	Selects all descendants (children, grandchildren, etc.) of the current node and the current node itself
following	Selects everything in the document after the closing tag of the current node
following-sibling	Selects all siblings after the current node
namespace	Selects all namespace nodes of the current node
parent	Selects the parent of the current node
preceding	Selects all nodes that appear before the current node in the document, except ancestors, attribute nodes and namespace nodes
preceding-sibling	Selects all siblings before the current node
self	Selects the current node

·         Syntax -

axisname	::	nodetest	[predicate]
an axis	symbol	a node-test	zero or more predicates
Defines the tree-relationship between the selected nodes and the current node	Constant	Identifies a node within an axis	To further drill down the selected node-set

·         Examples of axis usage: -

Example	Result
child::book	Selects all book nodes that are children of the current node
attribute::lang	Selects the lang attribute of the current node
child::*	Selects all element children of the current node
attribute::*	Selects all attributes of the current node
child::text()	Selects all text node children of the current node
child::node()	Selects all children of the current node
descendant::book	Selects all book descendants of the current node
ancestor::book	Selects all book ancestors of the current node
ancestor-or-self::book	Selects all book ancestors of the current node - and the current as well if it is a book node
child::*/child::price	Selects all price grandchildren of the current node

·         Xpath example with Axis: -I have given few examples. Please try to use other axes with your own. If you are facing any issues, please let me know.

AXIS Names	XML	Xpath
ancestor	<root>     <foo>         <bar attr="xxx"></bar>     </foo>     <foo>         <bar attr="val"></bar>     </foo>     <foo>         <bar attr="zzz"></bar>     </foo> </root>	//*[ancestor::foo[bar[@attr="val"]]] or root/foo/bar[ancestor::foo[bar[@attr="val"]]]
ancestor-or-self	<root>     <item key="a">         <item key="b">             <item key="c">                 <item key="d"/>             </item>         </item>         <item key="e">             <item key="f">                 <item key="g"/>             </item>         </item>     </item> </root>	ancestor-or-self::*[parent::item[@key='a']]
attribute	<Employees>     <Employee id="3">         <age>40</age>         <name>Tom</name>         <gender>Male</gender>         <role>Manager</role>     </Employee>     <Employee id="4">         <age>25</age>         <name>Meghna</name>         <gender>Female</gender>         <role>Manager</role>     </Employee> </Employees>	//Employee[@id='4'] or /Employees/Employee[@id='4']
child	child::* selects all element children of the context node child::text() selects all text node children of the context node child::node() selects all the children of the context node, whatever their node type
descendant	<div id="books">   <table>     <tr><td class="title">Lord of the Rings</td><td class="author">JRR Tolkein</td></tr>     <tr><td class="title">The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy</td><td class="author">Douglas Adams</td></tr>   </table> </div>	//id('books')//td[@class='title'] or //id('books')//td[@class='title']