How to use a regular expression to identify xpath of element with autogenerating id

Question

I need to access this element:

<input id ="combo-1105-inputWrap">

The 4 digits in the xpath are autogenerated per browser session. I need to find that particular xpath and key in the data.

I have tried to use a regular expression in my xpath but I am not able to make this work.

//*[contains(id,'combo-1[0-9]{3}') and ends-with(id,'-inputWrap')]

How can I reliably access this element?

stackoverflow.com/questions/405060/… gives more detail on using regular expressions in Xpath. — Kate Paulk, Commented Nov 7, 2017 at 12:35
Problem with the "//input[contains(@id,'combo-')]" is that it matchs with all the UI elements present on the page contains the id combo-. But I need to identify only the particular Input box with the combination of "combo-1105-inputWrap" — chandrasekhar gandrakota, Commented Nov 8, 2017 at 7:01
Can you add some more html so we can make it unique using parent elements — NarendraR, Commented Nov 8, 2017 at 9:08
provide some more HTML. then you can use xpath axes or selenium 4 relative operators. — a Learner, Commented Dec 26, 2021 at 17:39

Kate Paulk · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-07 12:34:09Z

4

You can use some wild cards in cssSelecter to locate the same. Try below css Selector :

input[id^='combo-'][id$='-inputWrap']

For further clarification see this :-

input[id^='id_prefix_']

input[id$='_id_suffix']

input[id*='id_pattern']

You can find more information here.

Kate Paulk

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answered Nov 7, 2017 at 10:48

NarendraR

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1

I found this one more helpful in understanding the Regular Expressions
– chandrasekhar gandrakota
Commented Jun 8, 2018 at 8:55

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