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$

The $ command is a short and handy way in order to fetch a single element on the page.

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As opposed to the $ attached to the browser object this command queries an element based on a root element.

You can also pass in an object as selector where the object contains a property element-6066-11e4-a52e-4f735466cecf with the value of a reference to an element. The command will then transform the reference to an extended WebdriverIO element.

Note: chaining $ and $$ commands only make sense when you use multiple selector strategies. You will otherwise make unnecessary requests that slow down the test (e.g. $('body').$('div') will trigger two request whereas $('body div') does literally the same with just one request)

You can chain $ or $$ together without wrapping individual commands into await in order to walk down the DOM tree, e.g.:

const imageSrc = await $$('div')[1].nextElement().$$('img')[2].getAttribute('src')

WebdriverIO seamlessly traverses shadow roots when using the $ or $$ commands, regardless of the nesting level or shadow root mode, for example:

await browser.url('https://ionicframework.com/docs/usage/v8/datetime/basic/demo.html?ionic:mode=md')
await browser.$('button[aria-label="Sunday, August 4"]').click()
await browser.$('.aux-input').getValue()
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For more information on how to select specific elements, check out the Selectors guide.

Usage
$(selector).$(selector)
Parameters
NameTypeDetails
selectorString, Function, Matcherselector, JS Function, or Matcher object to fetch a certain element
Examples
example.html
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singleElements.js
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singleElements.js
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singleElements.js
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$.js
it('should use Androids DataMatcher or ViewMatcher selector', async () => {
const menuItem = await $({
"name": "hasEntry",
"args": ["title", "ViewTitle"],
"class": "androidx.test.espresso.matcher.ViewMatchers"
});
await menuItem.click();

const menuItem = await $({
"name": "hasEntry",
"args": ["title", "ViewTitle"]
});
await menuItem.click();
});

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