Using XPath to Locate Dynamic Elements in Puppeteer 22.x

Other Questions Puppeteer
1

I’m trying to figure out how to use XPath in Puppeteer 22.x to click a button with changing class names. The button I want to click has the text ‘Next’ but its class is randomly generated each time the page loads. Here’s what the HTML looks like:

<div class="random-class" role="button" tabindex="0">Next</div>

I can’t use the role="button" attribute because there are many elements with that role on the page. I’ve tried a couple of XPath selectors but they’re not working:

await page.waitForSelector("xpath/div[@role='button' and text()='Next']");
await page.waitForSelector("//div[@role='button' and text()='Next']");

Can someone help me figure out the correct XPath selector to use in Puppeteer 22.x for this situation? I’m not sure if I’m using the right syntax or if there’s a better way to target this element.

2

I’ve faced similar challenges with dynamic elements in Puppeteer. From my experience, the most reliable approach for your situation would be to use a combination of attributes and text content in your XPath selector. Try this:

await page.waitForXPath("//div[@role='button'][contains(text(), 'Next')]");
const [nextButton] = await page.$x("//div[@role='button'][contains(text(), 'Next')]");
if (nextButton) {
    await nextButton.click();
} else {
    console.log('Next button not found');
}

This selector targets a div with the role ‘button’ that contains the text ‘Next’. The contains() function is more forgiving than an exact text match. Remember to use $x() for XPath in Puppeteer, not waitForSelector(). Also, always check if the element was found before attempting to click it. This approach has been quite robust for me in dealing with dynamically generated classes.

3

I’ve encountered this issue before, and I can offer a solution that’s worked well for me. Instead of using XPath, consider utilizing Puppeteer’s built-in page.evaluate() method. This approach allows you to leverage JavaScript within the page context, which can be more flexible for dynamic elements.

Here’s an example of how you could implement this:

const nextButton = await page.evaluate(() => {
    const buttons = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('div[role="button"]'));
    return buttons.find(button => button.textContent.trim() === 'Next');
});

if (nextButton) {
    await nextButton.click();
} else {
    console.log('Next button not found');
}

This method searches for all div elements with the role ‘button’, then finds the one with the exact text ‘Next’. It’s more reliable than XPath for dynamic class names and doesn’t require waiting for a specific selector.

4

hey there! i’ve got a trick that might help. try using this xpath:

//div[contains(., ‘Next’) and @role=‘button’]

it looks for the div with ‘Next’ inside and the right role. works great for me when classes keep changing. good luck!