Chapter 5: XPath directions

HWZT chapter 5 (XPath directions):

The {DOM Inspector + XPather} workflow differs from that of Solvent. After opening the first sample page,

  1. Open DOM Inspector (aka DI) with C-S-i or from the Firefox main menu with Tools>DOM Inspector. XPather functionality is available in the user interface of the DI window.
  2. Hit button=Inspect at the upper right of the DI window. This will open pane=Browser in the DI window displaying the contents of the first sample page.
  3. To test the XPath string denoting the heading (text=“Method and Meaning in Canadian Environmental History”) of the first sample page,
    • in textbox=XPath in the DI window, type 
      //h1
    • hit button=Eval next to the text box. This will popup dialog=“XPath Browser” showing the matches for your string. (In this case, there should be only 1 match.)
    • Move dialog=“XPath Browser” so you can see both it and the pane=Browser of the DI window.
    • In table=“Matching Nodes” in dialog=“XPath Browser”, click on the row representing the match. In the pane=Browser of the DI window, you should briefly see a flashing red border around the heading.


Next: Chapter 6: JavaScript Basics & Variables