Create XPath Expression Programmatically

Question

Is it possible to automatically generate the most specific XPath expression from the cursor position on a web page? An XPath expression would change using the onMouseMove event.

If possible, how do you implement it? Or is it already implemented in some library Javascriptor Python? I would prefer this in Pythonwith a combination of some web library, but Javascriptwould be nice and acceptable too.

Answer 1

See Get XPath at DZone Snippets for XPath. See How to check if the mouse is over an element in jQuery? here to determine when the mouse cursor is over an element.

Answer 2

( jQuery) XPath jQuery?

click mouseenter, , .

$(document).delegate('*','mouseenter',function(){
    var path = $(this).parents().andSelf();
    var xpath='/';
    for (var i = 0; i < path.length; i++)
    {
        var nd = path[i].nodeName.toLowerCase();
        xpath += '/';
        if (nd != 'html' && nd != 'body')
        {
            xpath += nd;
            if (path[i].id != '')
            {
                xpath += '#' + path[i].id;
            }
            else
            {
                xpath += '['+ ($(path[i-1]).children().index(path[i])+1) +']';
            }
            if (path[i].className != '')
                xpath += '.' + path[i].className;
        }
        else
        {xpath += nd;}                    
    }
    $('#xpath').html(xpath); // show the xpath in an element with id xpath..
    return false;
});

http://jsfiddle.net/gaby/hsv97/25/

---

jQuery.. ( )

function getXpath(event){
    var hierarchy = [],
        current = event.srcElement||event.originalTarget;
    while (current.parentNode){
        hierarchy.unshift(current);
        current = current.parentNode;
    }
    var xPath = hierarchy.map(function(el,i){
            return el.nodeName.toLowerCase() + ((el.id !== '') ? '#'+el.id : '') + ((el.className !== '') ? '.'+el.className.split(' ').join('.') : '');
        }).join('/');
    document.getElementById('xpath').innerHTML = xPath;
    return xPath;
}

if (document.addEventListener){
    document.addEventListener('mouseover', getXpath, false);
} else {
    document.onmouseover = getXpath;
}

http://jsfiddle.net/gaby/hsv97/29/

Answer 3

vanilla javascript (with indexes) http://jsfiddle.net/nycu2/1/

function nodeindex(element, array) {
    var i,
        found = -1,
        element_name = element.nodeName.toLowerCase(),
        matched
       ;

    for (i = 0; i != array.length; ++i) {
        matched = array[i];
        if (matched.nodeName.toLowerCase() === element_name) {
            ++found;


        if (matched === element) {
            return found;
        }
        }
    }

    return -1;
}

function xpath(element, suffix) {
    var parent, child_index, node_name;

    parent = element.parentElement;

    if (parent) {
        node_name = element.nodeName.toLowerCase();
        child_index = nodeindex(element, parent.children) + 1;
        return xpath(parent, '/' + node_name + '[' + child_index + ']' + suffix);
    } else {
        return '//html[1]' + suffix;
    }
}

function xpathstring(event) {
    var
    e = event.srcElement || event.originalTarget,
        path = xpath(e, '');;

    document.querySelector('.xpathresult').value = path;

    highlight();
}