CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javaxmlxpathselenium-webdriver
Blair Nangle
Blair Nangle

Reputation: 1541

Why does Java add backslashes to my XPath?

Whenever I copy an element's XPath and then paste it into my Java IDE (IntelliJ), backslashes are added to the XPath - why is this?

For example, IntelliJ automatically changes

//*[@id="SearchForm:FirstName"]

to

//*[@id=\"SearchForm:FirstName\"]"

Upvotes: 1

Views: 428

Answers (1)

kjhughes
kjhughes

Reputation: 111541

It's not Java per se but your IDE that's doing this for you, because otherwise

  • "//*[@id="SearchForm:FirstName"]"

would be interpreted as

  • "//*[@id=" [junk after end of string resulting in a syntax error]

So it escapes the embedded quotes for you:

  • "//*[@id=\"SearchForm:FirstName\"]"

If you don't like this, you can use single quotes:

  • "//*[@id='SearchForm:FirstName']"

Upvotes: 2

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