diff --git a/docs/api.md b/docs/api.md
index 99e510cd44..c26610cfaa 100644
--- a/docs/api.md
+++ b/docs/api.md
@@ -3038,22 +3038,24 @@ Selectors can be used to install custom selector engines. See [Working with sele
#### selectors.register(engineFunction[, ...args])
-- `engineFunction` <[function]|[string]> Function which evaluates to a selector engine instance.
+- `engineFunction` <[function]|[string]> Function that evaluates to a selector engine instance.
- `...args` <...[Serializable]> Arguments to pass to `engineFunction`.
- returns: <[Promise]>
-An example of registering selector engine which selects nodes based on tag name:
+An example of registering selector engine that queries elements based on a tag name:
```js
const { selectors, firefox } = require('playwright'); // Or 'chromium' or 'webkit'.
(async () => {
- const createTagSelector = () => ({
+ // Must be a function that evaluates to a selector engine instance.
+ const createTagNameEngine = () => ({
// Selectors will be prefixed with "tag=".
name: 'tag',
- // Creates a selector which matches given target when queried at the root.
+ // Creates a selector that matches given target when queried at the root.
+ // Can return undefined if unable to create one.
create(root, target) {
- return target.tagName;
+ return root.querySelector(target.tagName) === target ? target.tagName : undefined;
},
// Returns the first element matching given selector in the root's subtree.
@@ -3067,7 +3069,8 @@ const { selectors, firefox } = require('playwright'); // Or 'chromium' or 'webk
}
});
- await selectors.register(createTagSelector);
+ // Register the engine.
+ await selectors.register(createTagNameEngine);
const browser = await firefox.launch();
const context = await browser.newContext();
@@ -3755,11 +3758,11 @@ WebKit browser instance does not expose WebKit-specific features.
Selector describes an element in the page. It can be used to obtain `ElementHandle` (see [page.$()](#pageselector) for example) or shortcut element operations to avoid intermediate handle (see [page.click()](#pageclickselector-options) for example).
-Selector has the following format: `engine=body [>> engine=body]*`. Here `engine` is one of the supported selector engines (currently, either `css` or `xpath`), and `body` is a selector body in the format of the particular engine. When multiple `engine=body` clauses are present (separated by `>>`), next one is queried relative to the previous one's result.
+Selector has the following format: `engine=body [>> engine=body]*`. Here `engine` is one of the supported [selector engines](selectors.md) (e.g. `css` or `xpath`), and `body` is a selector body in the format of the particular engine. When multiple `engine=body` clauses are present (separated by `>>`), next one is queried relative to the previous one's result.
For convenience, selectors in the wrong format are heuristically converted to the right format:
- selector starting with `//` is assumed to be `xpath=selector`;
-- selector starting with `"` is assumed to be `zs=selector`;
+- selector starting with `"` is assumed to be `text=selector`;
- otherwise selector is assumed to be `css=selector`.
```js
@@ -3781,7 +3784,7 @@ const handle = await page.$('div');
// converted to 'xpath=//html/body/div'
const handle = await page.$('//html/body/div');
-// converted to 'zs="foo"'
+// converted to 'text="foo"'
const handle = await page.$('"foo"');
// queries 'span' css selector inside the div handle
diff --git a/docs/selectors.md b/docs/selectors.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5692d0b186
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/selectors.md
@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+# Selector engines
+
+Playwright supports multiple selector engines used to query elements in the web page.
+
+Selector can be used to obtain `ElementHandle` (see [page.$()](api.md#pageselector) for example) or shortcut element operations to avoid intermediate handle (see [page.click()](api.md#pageclickselector-options) for example).
+
+## Selector syntax
+
+Selector is a string that consists of one or more clauses separated by `>>` token, e.g. `clause1 >> clause2 >> clause3`. When multiple clauses are present, next one is queried relative to the previous one's result.
+
+Each clause contains a selector engine name and selector body, e.g. `engine=body`. Here `engine` is one of the supported engines (e.g. `css` or a custom one). Selector `body` follows the format of the particular engine, e.g. for `css` engine it should be a [css selector](https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Web/CSS/CSS_Selectors). Body format is assumed to ignore leading and trailing whitespaces, so that extra whitespace can be added for readability. If selector engine needs to include `>>` in the body, it should be escaped inside a string to not be confused with clause separator, e.g. `text="some >> text"`.
+
+For example,
+```
+css=article >> css=.bar > .baz >> css=span[attr=value]
+```
+is equivalent to
+```js
+document
+ .querySelector('article')
+ .querySelector('.bar > .baz')
+ .querySelector('span[attr=value]')
+```
+
+For convenience, selectors in the wrong format are heuristically converted to the right format:
+- selector starting with `//` is assumed to be `xpath=selector`;
+- selector starting with `"` is assumed to be `text=selector`;
+- otherwise selector is assumed to be `css=selector`.
+
+## Examples
+
+```js
+// queries 'div' css selector
+const handle = await page.$('css=div');
+
+// queries '//html/body/div' xpath selector
+const handle = await page.$('xpath=//html/body/div');
+
+// queries '"foo"' zs selector
+const handle = await page.$('zs="foo"');
+
+// queries 'span' css selector inside the result of '//html/body/div' xpath selector
+const handle = await page.$('xpath=//html/body/div >> css=span');
+
+// converted to 'css=div'
+const handle = await page.$('div');
+
+// converted to 'xpath=//html/body/div'
+const handle = await page.$('//html/body/div');
+
+// converted to 'text="foo"'
+const handle = await page.$('"foo"');
+
+// queries 'span' css selector inside the div handle
+const handle = await divHandle.$('css=span');
+```
+
+## Built-in selector engines
+
+### css
+
+CSS engine is equivalent to [`Document.querySelector`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Web/API/Document/querySelector). Example: `css=.article > span:nth-child(2) li`.
+
+> **NOTE** Malformed selector not starting with `//` nor with `#` is automatically transformed to css selector. For example, Playwright converts `page.$('span > button')` to `page.$('css=span > button')`. Selectors starting with `#` are converted to [text](#text). Selectors starting with `//` are converted to [xpath](#xpath).
+
+### xpath
+
+XPath engine is equivalent to [`Document.evaluate`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Web/API/Document/evaluate). Example: `xpath=//html/body`.
+
+> **NOTE** Malformed selector starting with `//` is automatically transformed to xpath selector. For example, Playwright converts `page.$('//html/body')` to `page.$('xpath=//html/body')`.
+
+### text
+
+Text engine finds an element that contains a text node with passed text. Example: `text=Login`.
+- By default, the match is case-insensitive, and ignores leading/trailing whitespace. This means `text= Login` matches ``.
+- Text body can be escaped with double quotes for precise matching, insisting on specific whitespace and case. This means `text="Login "` will only match `` with exactly one space after "Login".
+- Text body can also be a JavaScript-like regex wrapped in `/` symbols. This means `text=/^\\s*Login$/i` will match `` with any number of spaces before "Login" and no spaces after.
+
+> **NOTE** Malformed selector starting with `"` is automatically transformed to text selector. For example, Playwright converts `page.click('"Login"')` to `page.click('text="Login"')`.
+
+### id, data-testid, data-test-id, data-test
+
+Id engines are selecting based on the corresponding atrribute value. For example: `data-test-id=foo` is equivalent to `querySelector('*[data-test-id=foo]')`.
+
+### zs
+
+ZSelector is an experimental engine that tries to make selectors survive future refactorings. Example: `zs=div ~ "Login"`.
+
+TODO: write more.
+
+## Custom selector engines
+
+Playwright supports custom selector engines, registered with [selectors.register(engineFunction[, ...args])](api.md#selectorsregisterenginefunction-args).
+
+Selector engine should have the following properties:
+
+- `name` Selector name used in selector strings.
+- `create` Function to create a relative selector from `root` (root is either a `Document`, `ShadowRoot` or `Element`) to a `target` element.
+- `query` Function to query first element matching `selector` relative to the `root`.
+- `queryAll` Function to query all elements matching `selector` relative to the `root`.
+
+An example of registering selector engine that queries elements based on a tag name:
+```js
+// Must be a function that evaluates to a selector engine instance.
+const createTagNameEngine = () => ({
+ // Selectors will be prefixed with "tag=".
+ name: 'tag',
+
+ // Creates a selector that matches given target when queried at the root.
+ // Can return undefined if unable to create one.
+ create(root, target) {
+ return root.querySelector(target.tagName) === target ? target.tagName : undefined;
+ },
+
+ // Returns the first element matching given selector in the root's subtree.
+ query(root, selector) {
+ return root.querySelector(selector);
+ },
+
+ // Returns all elements matching given selector in the root's subtree.
+ queryAll(root, selector) {
+ return Array.from(root.querySelectorAll(selector));
+ }
+});
+
+// Register the engine.
+await selectors.register(createTagNameEngine);
+
+// Now we can use 'tag=' selectors.
+const button = await page.$('tag=button');
+
+// We can combine it with other selector engines.
+await page.click('tag=div >> text="Click me"');
+
+// We can use it in any methods supporting selectors.
+const buttonCount = await page.$$eval('tag=button', buttons => buttons.length);
+```