Selectors

Last modified: June 18, 2025

Introduction

For the Find Widget Child Node action or as part of a script for Execute JavaScript Integer, Execute JavaScript String and Execute JavaScript WebElement actions, you will have to use selectors to get a node or WebElement. ATS supports both, JQuery and CSS3 selectors. In addition to that, ATS includes its own selectors. The following summary will give you a short overview of the most commonly used selectors in ATS.

ATS Selectors

You can use the custom ATS selectors like CSS3 selectors in your custom actions.

PatternNameMeaning
:clickableClickable pseudo-classSelects a user interface element whose CSS visibility property is set to visible.
:containsExact(text)ContainsExact pseudo-classSelects an element whose inner HTML is exactly equal to the given text (not case sensitive)
:containsExactCase(text)ContainsExactCase pseudo-classSelects an element whose inner HTML is exactly equal to the given text (case sensitive)
:containsRegex(regex)ContainsRegex pseudo-classSelects an element whose inner HTML matches the given regex.
:containsText(text)ContainsText pseudo-classSelects an element whose inner text value is equal to the given text. Can only be used on text, CDATA and element nodes
:val(text)Value pseudo-classSelects an input, select or textarea whose value is equal to the given text

CSS Selectors

You can use any CSS Selector defined in CSS3 and supported by your browser. The following table shows some of the commonly used CSS3 selectors in ATS.

PatternNameMeaning
.myClassClass SelectorSelects every element with class myClass
#myIDID SelectorSelects every element with ID myID
E[foo="bar"]Attribute SelectorSelects every element E whose "foo" attribute value is equal to "bar"
:nth-child(n)Nth-child pseudo-classSelects the n-th child of its parent
:first-childFirst-Child pseudo-classSelects the first child of its parent
:last-childLast-Child pseudo-classSelects the last child of its parent
:checkedChecked pseudo-classSelects a user interface element which is checked
E > FChild CombinatorSelects an F element child of an E element

For more information, visit the official W3C CSS3 selectors reference.

JQuery Selectors

JQuery uses CSS3 selectors and extends the collection of selectors with its own ones. You can use those in your ATS actions.

If you use JQuery selectors in the Find Widget Child Node action, you mustn't use the jQuery(...) or $(...) function. Only use simple selectors, without quotation.

In the Execute JavaScript actions, you will have to use the jQuery(...) or $(...) function to select a WebElement or node.

The following table shows some of the additional JQuery selectors you can use in ATS.

PatternNameMeaning
:animatedAnimated SelectorSelects all elements that are in the progress of an animation at the time the selector is run
:checkboxCheckbox SelectorSelects all elements of type checkbox.
:inputInput SelectorSelects all input, textarea, select and button elements.
:has(selector)Has SelectorSelects elements which contain at least one element that matches the specified selector.
:parentParent SelectorSelect all elements that have at least one child node (either an element or text).
:textText SelectorSelects all input elements of type text.

For more information, visit the official JQuery selectors reference.