CODEWITHSUNDEEP
xmlxpath
user2387766
user2387766

Reputation:

Where is the syntax error in this XPath expression?

I have a XPath selector in my tests like this, which I copied directly from the dev tools in Chrome:

//*[@data-testid='menu-item']//strong[text()='Link for Image']

It works in the browser, but when I try to use this in my tests, I get this error message:

SyntaxError: Document.evaluate: The expression is not a legal expression

I think it's the last half of the selector that's having issues, but I'm not sure what is syntactically wrong...

Upvotes: 1

Views: 1665

Answers (1)

kjhughes
kjhughes

Reputation: 111726

//*[@data-testid='menu-item']//strong[text()='Link for Image'] is a syntactically correct XPath expression.

Be sure to use double quotes as delimiters given that you're using single quotes within the XPath:

"//*[@data-testid='menu-item']//strong[text()='Link for Image']"

So, for example, if you're calling document.evaluate() in JavaScript, it would be

document.evaluate("//*[@data-testid='menu-item']//strong[text()='Link for Image']",
                  document)

Update after OP's comment:

Oh! My mistake, it's not a string in the xpath, it's a string interpolation! That seems to be why...//*[@data-testid='menu-item']//strong[text()=${USER_STRING}]

So, in addition to the previously mentioned single/double quote concern for the entire XPath, you'll want to pay attention to whether ${USER_STRING} itself has quotes, and what type they are. If it has no quotes, then be sure to delimit the variable with them:

//*[@data-testid='menu-item']//strong[text()='${USER_STRING}']

And of course, you'll need to make sure that ${USER_STRING} is actually being evaluated/substituted ahead of the function call expecting a well-formed XPath expression.

Finally, if ${USER_STRING} comes from an unsecured source, be sure to sanitize before evaluating.

Upvotes: 1

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