org.openqa.selenium.InvalidElementStateException: invalid element state: SyntaxError

Question

Here is my code

driver.findElements(By.cssSelector(".main-menu a:contains(\"Access Menu\")")).size()

is throwing exception

org.openqa.selenium.InvalidElementStateException: invalid element state: SyntaxError: DOM Exception 12

Same css value is working in jquery i.e. $(".main-menu a:contains(\"Access Menu\")").size()

:contains() is not a CSS selector. That DOM exception is being thrown by querySelectorAll() which I suspect is what WebDriver is using, bypassing jQuery altogether. — BoltClock
– BoltClock, Commented Apr 30, 2013 at 8:16

e1che · Accepted Answer · 2013-04-30 08:37:38Z

1

Is it possible to have your html of your <a> ?

Because the DOM Exception 12 is generally a trouble with your html syntax. Maybe the jQuery don't care about but the WebDriver throws an exception.

Edit (after BoltClock intervention):

There is another solution instead of using the CssSelector, the xpath !

"//*[@class='.main-menu']/a[contains(text(),'Access Menu')]"

Tell me what's up.

edited Apr 30, 2013 at 8:37

answered Apr 30, 2013 at 7:54

e1che

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2 Comments

BoltClock Over a year ago

No, it's a problem with the selector syntax.

Yi Zeng Over a year ago

Shouldn't the first part be //*[@class='main-menu'] instead of //*[@class='.main-menu']? Also, using //*[contains(@class, 'main-menu')] would be better, as we don't have the DOM, we can't promise main-menu is the only class.

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