Error on Python Selenium (find_element_by_xpath)

Question

I am trying to write a list of code to automate my daily file downloading process. I am using Python Selenium for this. However, I am having trouble to locate one of the clicks.

HTMI Code as below:

<div class="card dark-blue"> <h3 data-mh="title-research" style="height: 52px;">Rated Range Prices (LT)</h3> <h4 class="disp_date">26-Jan-2021 17:47:58</h4> <div class="divider"></div> <a href="javascript:seemore('F10002');" value="F10002" class="link">See More »</a> </div>

Here is my code:

link = driver.find_element_by_xpath("//a[@href='javascript:seemore('F10002');']")

The error msg:

InvalidSelectorException: invalid selector: Unable to locate an element with the xpath expression //*[@href='javascript:seemore('F10002');'] because of the following error:
SyntaxError: Failed to execute 'evaluate' on 'Document': The string '//*[@href='javascript:seemore('F10002');']' is not a valid XPath expression.
  (Session info: chrome=88.0.4324.104)

Can anyone please enlighten me on this? Many thanks.

Answer 1

To locate the element See More » you can use either of the following Locator Strategies:

• Using css_selector:

  element = driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "div.card.dark-blue a.link[href*='seemore']")
  

• Using xpath:

  element = driver.find_element(By.XPATH, "//div[@class='card dark-blue']//a[@class='link' and starts-with(., 'See More')]")
  

---

Ideally, to locate the clickable element you need to induce WebDriverWait for the visibility_of_element_located() and you can use either of the following Locator Strategies:

• Using CSS_SELECTOR:

  element = WebDriverWait(driver, 20).until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.CSS_SELECTOR, "div.card.dark-blue a.link[href*='seemore']")))
  

• Using XPATH:

  element = WebDriverWait(driver, 20).until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.XPATH, "//div[@class='card dark-blue']//a[@class='link' and starts-with(., 'See More')]")))
  

• Note : You have to add the following imports :

  from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait
  from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By
  from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC
  

Answer 2

You're using single quotes pair inside another single quotes pair...

Try

link = driver.find_element_by_xpath('''//a[@href="javascript:seemore('F10002');"]''')