CSS :contains selector

Question

Hi &nbsp; Are there any plans on implementing CSS :contains selector? It's one the simplest and my most favorite selector. In many cases I don't have any id, class, value, name etcto work with so I have to use text. For example: &nbsp;a:contains("Log Out"). &nbsp; I can achieve the same thing with XPath text() secector but I would prefer to use CSS as it's usually faster and more elegant. &nbsp; Thank you.

tanyayatskovska · Answer

Hi Andrey, &nbsp; It looks like the W3C Selectors Level 3 specification recommends using the following selector instead of the :contains pseudo-class: [att*=val] Represents an element with the att attribute whose value contains at least one instance of the substring "val". If "val" is the empty string then the selector does not represent anything. &nbsp; It works in TestComplete.

tanyayatskovska · Answer

Hi Andrey, &nbsp; There are special methods in TestComplete that allow searching for the target object based on CSS selectors. Refer to the "Finding Web Objects Using CSS Selectors" article for more information. &nbsp;

azakharov · Answer

Thank you Tanya. It's a great article but it seems that ":contains" CSS pseudo class is not supported currently. Is there any chance it might be included with the next release? Thanks!

azakharov · Answer

Thanks Tanya! This aproach works almost everytime except for situations when there is no reliable attribute and value to work with.For example here's css path to find cell in a table:html body table.frame_table tbody tr td.frame_body div#divDashBody table.dataGrid tbody tr#row.datacell2 tdThe problem is this table is dynamic i.e. what you locate by this css path now might not be the same next minute.The only reliable way to find cell is to use it's text content. In other words what this cell :contains. Currently I use xPath text()='some text' locator for this situations but I like locating elements by CSS locators way more :)

anand9796 · Answer

:contains() selector selects elements containing the specified string.
The string can be contained directly in the element as text, or in a child element.
This is mostly used together with another selector to select the elements containing the text in a group.
&nbsp;
Note:&nbsp;The text is case sensitive.

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CSS :contains selector

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