My Journey with Selenium
As a newcomer to Selenium, I am eager to learn and explore its capabilities in order to potentially take on testing projects at my company. After conducting research, I discovered that one of the main challenges for web testers using Selenium is efficiently finding locators for web elements. To address this issue and streamline my process, I have developed a simple program that iteratively tests different locator options such as xpath and className.
The Dilemma
While I now have a reliable method for testing various locators, the manual process of obtaining these locators is time-consuming and inefficient. Currently, I rely on Chrome's developer tools to inspect web elements and then manually input the relevant information into my code:
Webdriver driver = new Webdriver; driver.findelement(By.id("id was pasted here"));
However, navigating through HTML code and deciphering JavaScript, CSS, XML, and HTML is challenging for me as I am not well-versed in web design. I possess only basic knowledge in these languages and struggle to locate elements on a complex website.
Desired Solution
I envision a tool where I can simply click "inspect element" and immediately access a list of possible locators for the selected web element. While the "copy Xpath" feature in developer tools helps, autogenerated xpath expressions do not always provide the most efficient solution. I came across a related question on Stack Overflow, but the solutions suggested did not meet my specific needs.
Selenium 2 : finding web element locators programatically
Seeking Guidance
I am unsure where to begin in creating a tool that simplifies the process of identifying web element locators. The idea of programming mouse functionality and parsing HTML seems daunting and possibly unnecessary. I seek advice on how to develop a tool that can quickly display all possible locators for a web element, making it easier for me and others facing similar challenges.