python : selenium need parameter text using Xpath

Question

The HTML code is

<div class="_4w5j">
    <strong>
        <span>username</span>
    </strong>
    <span class="_-kj">—</span>
    <span class="_4w5k">
        <i class="img sp_4YfKd3lpYjo sx_5f57b1">
            <u>5 star</u>
        </i>
    </span>
    <span>xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx</span>
</div>

I need the text "username" inside strong/spam It is works for me the code is

x= i.find_elements_by_xpath('//div[@class="_4w5j"]/strong')

for d in x:
    print d.text

It's print the correct result

I need the text of 'x'inside the span[3] 'xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx' the below code also works good.

Question:

I need the text inside the u tag '5 star'. I used the below code but it prints the empty result.

y= i.find_elements_by_xpath('//div[@class="_4w5j"]/descendant::u')
for d in y:
    print d.text

I tried this also

y= i.find_elements_by_xpath('//div[@class="_4w5j"]/span[2]/i/u')
for d in y:
    print d.text

Not working for me. Please help me . Thanks in advance

<a class="uiLinkSubtle" href="/sherryl.cheary/activity/10152833559161998">
<abbr class="timestamp" data-utime="1419713801" title="Saturday, December 27, 2014 at 12:56pm">about a month ago</abbr>
</a>

I need the text inside the title but the below code sh

z= i.find_elements_by_xpath('//a/descendant::abbr/@title')
for dd in z:
    print dd.text

Its shows the error called " web element has no attr title or some thing wrong in xpath"

can u try with xpath: //span class='_4w5k' and then do element.text? — Vivek Singh
– Vivek Singh, Commented Feb 5, 2015 at 7:05
and for second part can you do use xpath: //abbr[@class='timestamp'] and then call get_attribute("title"). I have never worked in python, so please check the signature of get_attribute method. Thanks — Vivek Singh
– Vivek Singh, Commented Feb 5, 2015 at 7:08
the xpath shows Error //span class='_4w5k' is either invalid or does not result in a WebElement — AnandhaKumar Radhakrishnan
– AnandhaKumar Radhakrishnan, Commented Feb 5, 2015 at 7:18
sorry my mistake "//span[@class='_4w5k']". Just forgot to put square brackets. — Vivek Singh
– Vivek Singh, Commented Feb 5, 2015 at 7:19
use css selectors, xpaths are not stable at all. To find <u elem you can use next selector : "._4w5j > i > u" — Andrey Egorov
– Andrey Egorov, Commented Feb 5, 2015 at 7:19

John Hua · Accepted Answer · 2015-02-05 07:51:54Z

0

i.find_elements_by_xpath('//div[@class="_4w5j"]/span//u')[0].text

i.find_elements_by_xpath('//a/abbr')[0].get_attribute('title')

edited Feb 5, 2015 at 7:51

answered Feb 5, 2015 at 7:30

John Hua

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5 Comments

AnandhaKumar Radhakrishnan Over a year ago

For first one it print emptly only sir, For abbr it prints IndexError: list index out of range

AnandhaKumar Radhakrishnan Over a year ago

No problem with text inside abbr but i need text inside the u tag

John Hua Over a year ago

My typos. Try again pls.

John Hua Over a year ago

I was confused by your random class names and now I edit again.

John Hua Over a year ago

Anyway, my main points are 1. use // instead of descendant 2. attribute isn't an element

micgeronimo · Accepted Answer · 2015-02-05 07:58:51Z

0

Why do you stick with xpath?

Consider this

 find_element_by_tag_name('u').text         

 find_element_by_tag_name('abbr').get_attribute('title')

You have to adjust it to search for elements if you have multiple u and abbr tags.

Anyway this will be much more readable for you in future.

In may opinion you should not overuse xpath stuff, especially if you can get what you need with simpler methods like lookup by tag_name or class or css_selector

answered Feb 5, 2015 at 7:58

micgeronimo

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3 Comments

AnandhaKumar Radhakrishnan Over a year ago

Yes I under stand the concept but why the find_element_by_tag_name('u').text show only the empty string new line.

AnandhaKumar Radhakrishnan Over a year ago

only problem with a text inside u tag

AnandhaKumar Radhakrishnan Over a year ago

FYI these all are child path

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