Need help in identifying web elements for which I need to request developers to add unique IDs

Question

I am new to automation and still in learning phase. We are building an automation framework using Selenium with Java for a web app that is being newly developed. We do not have IDs for most elements in this web app right now. I am trying to identify web elements for which having unique ID is important so that I can request the developers to add IDs for these web elements.

I was thinking that it's okay not to have IDs for non-functional web elements like page headings, static content on page, etc. Among functional web elements, I think we need unique IDs for these elements without a doubt: 1. Text Fields, 2. Buttons, 3. Check-boxes, 4. Drop-downs, 5. Hyperlinks, 6. Lists.

However, I am not sure about few web elements like: 1. Hover over elements (e.g. drop down menu appears, tool tip appears, details screen appears), 2. Dynamic Tables (I guess it would be good to have unique IDs for column headings, other cells need not have IDs).

I am trying to find a way that will let us build test scripts with more accuracy and low maintenance, at the same time I do not want to over burden our developers with the task of creating unique IDs for each and every element. Please let me know whether unique IDs should be created for web elements like hover over elements, dynamic tables and any other web element that I have missed mentioning here. Thanks!

Answer 1

Completely agree with Yu. I would like to add few more points:

• When no ID available then you can go for Xpath and Css selectors. More strong solution I will suggest to use:

  1. Use Relative xpath:

Doesn't need to start from the root node. It starts with Double forward slash(//)

2. Use combination of locators:

You can use combination of Name, linkText, className, partialLinkText, css etc to find elements more accurate

3. Avoid Absolute XPath:

Disadvantage is, if any thing goes wrong or some other tag added in between, then this path will no longer works

Answer 2

xpath and CSS identifiers are sometimes harder to maintain, but also add some test functionality. A broken CSS identifier may happen because an element moved when it shouldn't have, after all. If a button moves out of a containing group, the page might still function, but the CSS applied to the button could be different. If your application isn't undergoing current or frequent redesign, these identifiers should be fairly stable.

When I had to have new identifiers (ID or class) on a new element, I used the following rules:

• Identifiers for testing started with qa-
• Never ever ever use the qa- identifiers outside the test scripts.
• If a developer needed to address elements with a qa- identifier, they should replace that tag with something meaningful to the functionality/style they were adding, and let me know of the change. That way I could add/remove/change qa- identifiers without worrying about breaking anything. If they forgot to tell me of the change, tests would break, but it would be a pretty quick fix to identify the problem and adjust the tests.

We weren't doing continuous integration; if you are, you might need to adjust the rules around changing the identifiers to not break the build process.

Answer 3

Unique IDs is the most efficient way to uniquely identify a web element.

But it will take some effort to come up with a naming convention about how to name an element and developers need to stick to this convention.

It is definitely worth a while to assign all interactive web elements with unique IDs, such as buttons, check boxes and input boxes.

In case for an element that has no ID, you can easily locate it via Xpath and Css selector.