1. Using Robots in Oracle Integration 3
  2. Build a Robot
  3. View HTML and XPaths
  4. View an Element's XPath

View an Element's XPath

The recorder identifies the XML Path Language, or XPath, of the element that a robot takes action on. You can view an element's XPath at any time from within a robot action and from your internet browser.

Reasons to View an Element's XPath

You typically need to view an element's XPath for the following situations:

  • The recorder is unable to target the exact element that you require.

    Get the XPath value yourself, and manually paste the value into the recorder.

  • A robot has suddenly started failing, and you need to determine whether the HTML for the page has changed.

Options for Viewing an Element's XPath

View an XPath from a Browser

  1. In a Google Chrome browser, right-click any element on a web page, and select Inspect.

    The developer tools appear.

  2. Ensure that the Elements tab is selected.

    This tab shows you the Document Object Model (DOM) of the web page. The DOM represents the web page as nodes and objects. The DOM also allows the recorder and other tools to interact with the page. Review the DOM to determine how a UI element is coded.

  3. On the Elements tab of the developer tools, right-click any node or object, point to Copy, and select Copy XPath.

    To see the XPath, paste the value into any text editor.

View an XPath from the Robot Canvas

  1. Open a robot.

    1. In the navigation pane, select Projects.

    2. Select the project name.

    3. In the left toolbar, select Robot Robot.

    4. In the Robots box, select the robot to open.

      The canvas appears.

  2. Along the toolbar, select Targets Targets.

  3. Select any target.

  4. Select Edit Edit icon.

    The Target panel appears.

  5. View the XPath value in the Locator field.

View an XPath within a Robot Action

  1. Open a robot.

    1. In the navigation pane, select Projects.

    2. Select the project name.

    3. In the left toolbar, select Robot Robot.

    4. In the Robots box, select the robot to open.

      The canvas appears.

  2. Double-click any action.

    The panel for the robot action appears.

  3. Select within the Locator field, and select Show target selector Show target selector.

    The Target selector field appears below the Locator field. This field shows the XPath value for the target, prefaced by xpath:.

Paste an XPath into a Locator Field

  1. Complete any of the previous steps to view an XPath value, and copy the value.
  2. Paste the value into a Locator field in a robot action.
  3. Preface the value with xpath:

    For example, for the following XPath: //*[@id="buttonName"]

    Enter the following value: xpath://*[@id="buttonName"]