Robot Framework Appium Library: Getting ValueError: Element locator with prefix '//*[@class' is not supported with some keywords

1
votes

This is with Robot Framework running with Appium version 1.5.04 on an Android physical device with the device context set to NATIVE_APP

Steps to reproduce: using an xpath relationship where the element we want (a button) is a child of a View where there are multiple Views entities at the same level

The derived xpath: xpath= //[@class='android.widget.Button' and ./parent::[(./preceding-sibling::* | ./following-sibling::*)[contains(@contentDescription,'Sticky')]]]

This xpath is intended to act on a Button that is a child of a View element that contains the name 'Sticky'

What I'm finding is that the following Click Element keyword works fine (both finds and clicks the element)

e.g.: 

Wait Until Keyword Succeeds     5x    3 sec    Click Element   xpath= //*[@class='android.widget.Button' and ./parent::*[(./preceding-sibling::* | ./following-sibling::*)[contains(@contentDescription,'Sticky')]]]

However, any of the conditional keywords, e.g.: (I don't always want to click the element, just see if its there or not there)

Element Should Be Visible   xpath= //*[@class='android.widget.Button' and ./parent::*[(./preceding-sibling::* | ./following-sibling::*)[contains(@contentDescription,'Sticky')]]]

(same xpath used)

Gives an error: ValueError: Element locator with prefix '//*[@class' is not supported

I've tried other element values (e.g. ContentDescription) with the same result. This particular element unfortunately does not have an assigned id.

Is there different xpath syntax that I should be using or a different keyword that would be better suited?

1
androidxpathrobotframework

1 Answers

1
votes

I'm not sure why there is a discrepancy between the two, but I'm guessing the fix is to use : rather than = to separate the prefix from the locator:

Element Should Be Visible   xpath://*[@class='android.widget.Button'...

Both robot and the selenium library use = to help identify a keyword argument (robot) or locator prefix (selenium). That problem can be avoided by using : for the prefix.