XPath Axes — Navigate the DOM Tree

// parent:: — go up ONE level
driver.findElement(By.xpath(
    "//span[@class='error-message']/parent::div"));
// Find the div that contains an error message

driver.findElement(By.xpath(
    "//button[@data-testid='loginBtn']/parent::form"));
// Find the form that contains the login button

// ancestor:: — go up to ANY ancestor (parent, grandparent, etc.)
driver.findElement(By.xpath(
    "//span[@data-testid='product-name-1']/ancestor::div[@data-testid='product-item']"));
// From product name → go up to the product card

// following-sibling:: — find siblings AFTER this element
driver.findElement(By.xpath(
    "//label[text()='Password']/following-sibling::div//input"));
// Find the input that comes after the "Password" label

// preceding-sibling:: — find siblings BEFORE this element
driver.findElement(By.xpath(
    "//input[@id='password']/preceding-sibling::label"));
// Find the label before the password input

// CSS can do following sibling (+) but NOT preceding sibling
// This is a major reason to use XPath

// child:: — direct children only
driver.findElements(By.xpath(
    "//div[@data-testid='product-list']/child::div"));

// descendant:: — children at ANY depth
driver.findElements(By.xpath("//form//descendant::input"));

// following:: — ANY element after this one (not just siblings)
driver.findElement(By.xpath(
    "//h2[text()='Recent Transactions']/following::table"));

// preceding:: — ANY element before this one
driver.findElement(By.xpath("//table/preceding::h2"));

// XPath indexes are 1-based (not 0-based like CSS)

// Get the 2nd product card
driver.findElement(By.xpath(
    "(//div[@data-testid='product-item'])[2]"));

// Get the LAST product card
driver.findElement(By.xpath(
    "(//div[@data-testid='product-item'])[last()]"));

// Get the first 3 table rows
driver.findElements(By.xpath("//table//tr[position()<=3]"));

// Get the last row
driver.findElement(By.xpath("//table//tr[last()]"));

// Banking Portal
// Find the form that contains the Sign In button
driver.findElement(By.xpath(
    "//button[text()='Sign In']/ancestor::form"));

// Find the "View Statement" link on dashboard
driver.findElement(By.xpath("//a[text()='View Statement']"));

// Find Fund Transfer quick action by its label
driver.findElement(By.xpath(
    "//p[text()='Fund Transfer']/ancestor::a"));

// Get a specific column from a transaction row
driver.findElement(By.xpath(
    "//tr[@data-testid='txnRow-0']/td[2]"));

// Shopping Portal
// Find Add to Cart button for a specific product
driver.findElement(By.xpath(
    "//span[contains(text(), 'Phone')]/ancestor::div[@data-testid='product-item']//button[contains(@class, 'add-to-cart')]"));

// Find all in-stock products
driver.findElements(By.xpath(
    "//span[text()='In Stock']/ancestor::div[@data-testid='product-item']"));