What is the difference between absolute and relative xpaths Which is preferred in Selenium automation testing

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What is the difference between absolute and relative xpaths  Which is preferred in Selenium automation testing  I am preparing test scripts using Selenium and Robot framework

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Consider Below Html   lt html gt     lt body gt       lt input type   text  id  username  gt     lt  body gt    lt  html gt    so Absoulte path  html body input and Relative path        id  username    Disadvantage with Absolute xpath is  maintenance is high if there is nay change made in html it may disturb  the entire path and also sometime we need to write long absolute xpaths so relative xpaths are preferred

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An absolute  xpath in HTML DOM starts with  html e g    html body div 5  div 2  div div 2  div 2  h2 1    and a relative xpath finds the closed id to the dom element and generates xpath starting from that element e g          id  answers   h2 1  a 1    You can use firepath  firebug  for generating both types of xpaths  It won t make any difference which xpath you use in selenium  the former may be faster than the later one  but it won t be observable   Absolute xpaths are prone to more regression as slight change in DOM makes them invalid or refer to a wrong element

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Absolute XPath  It is the direct way to find the element  but the disadvantage of the absolute XPath is that if there are any changes made in the path of the element then that XPath gets failed  The key characteristic of XPath is that it begins with the single forward slash     which means you can select the element from the root node  Below is the example of an absolute xpath   html body div 1  section div div 2  div form div 2  input 3   Relative Xpath  Relative Xpath starts from the middle of HTML DOM structure  It starts with double forward slash       It can search elements anywhere on the webpage  means no need to write a long xpath and you can start from the middle of HTML DOM structure  Relative Xpath is always preferred as it is not a complete path from the root element  Below is the example of a relative XPath    input  name    email

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Absolute Xpath  It uses Complete path from the Root Element to the desire element    Relative Xpath  You can simply start by referencing the element you want and go from there    Relative Xpaths are always preferred as they are not the complete paths from the root element     html  body   Because in future  if any webelement is added removed  then the absolute Xpath changes  So Always use Relative Xpaths in your Automation   Below are Some Links which you can Refer for more Information on them     difference-between-absolute-path xpath-tutorial-for-selenium choosing-effective-xpath

[xpath] What is the difference between absolute and relative xpaths? Which is preferred in Selenium automation testing?

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