Get element attribute value – Virtuoso

The Search/getElementAttributeValue extension locates an element on the current web page using XPath, CSS selector, ID, or a selector object, then returns the requested attribute or DOM property value from the matched element.

This is useful when a journey needs to capture values such as class, title, href, value, or another element attribute for validation, reporting, or downstream test logic.

Parameters:

element required, a selector string or JSON string/object containing a selectors array. A string starting with / is treated as XPath; other strings are treated as CSS selectors. Selector objects support XPATH, CSS_SELECTOR, and ID types;
attribute required, a string containing the attribute or DOM property name to read from the located element.

Note: The extension first attempts to parse element as JSON. If parsing fails, it treats the value as a direct selector string. It waits for the element by retrying up to 1000 times with a 50 ms interval before failing.

NLP usage

Use the extension in a journey by calling Search/getElementAttributeValue with the execute command. Pass each value to the matching extension input using as element and as attribute.

Note: The user-provided configuration for this article is Run asynchronously: No. The source code still uses Promise-based waiting internally, so confirm this setting in your Virtuoso instance if the journey needs to wait for delayed elements.

execute "Search/getElementAttributeValue" using "//a[text()='Try it Yourself »']" as element using "class" as attribute returning $classValue

execute "Search/getElementAttributeValue" using "//a[text()='Log in to track progress']" as element using "title" as attribute returning $titleValue

You can also pass the selector and attribute from variables when the target element or attribute name changes during the journey.

execute "Search/getElementAttributeValue" using "$elementSelector" as element using "$attributeName" as attribute returning $attributeValue

store value "//a[text()='Try it Yourself »']" in $elementSelector
store value "class" in $attributeName
execute "Search/getElementAttributeValue" using "$elementSelector" as element using "$attributeName" as attribute returning $attributeValue

Example output when the requested attribute exists:

w3-btn w3-margin-bottom

This extension does not require any external resource.

The extension should be configured as:

Run asynchronously: No
Scope: Global

Limitation: This extension only works against elements available in the current page DOM and supports only XPath, CSS selector, and ID selector types. It returns the first matching element only, does not search inside inaccessible iframes or closed shadow DOM, and may return undefined or null when the requested attribute/property does not exist. Although this article is configured with Run asynchronously: No as requested, the source uses async, await, and Promise-based retry logic internally, so timing behavior should be validated in the target journey.

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View source

Last updated: 25/05/2026

Resources:

This extension does not require any external resource.

// Note this extension is not a product feature of Virtuoso and is not officially supported
// Extensions use javascript which may or may not be compatible with systems under test (SUTs)
// We welcome you to use this extension or adapt it for your needs

if (!element) throw new Error('No element was supplied');

function getElementByXpath(path) {
  const result = document.evaluate(path, document, null, XPathResult.ORDERED_NODE_SNAPSHOT_TYPE, null);
  return result.snapshotLength > 0 ? result.snapshotItem(0) : null;
}

function findElement(element) {
  try {
    element = JSON.parse(element);
  } catch (e) { }
  const selectors = (typeof element === 'string') ? [{ type: element.startsWith('/') ? 'XPATH' : 'CSS_SELECTOR', value: element }] : element.selectors;
  for (let i in selectors) {
    const selector = selectors[i];
    if (!selector.type) continue;
    let el = null;
    switch (selector.type) {
      case 'XPATH':
        el = getElementByXpath(selector.value);
        break;
      case 'CSS_SELECTOR':
        el = document.querySelector(selector.value);
        break;
      case 'ID':
        el = document.getElementById(selector.value);
        break;
      default:
        throw new Error(`Unsupported selector type: ${selector.type}`);
    }
    if (el) return el;
  }
  return null;
}

async function sleep(ms) {
  return new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
}

const MAX_RETRIES = 1000;
const SLEEP_INTERVAL = 50; // ms

async function waitForElement(element) {
  let retries = 0;
  while (retries < MAX_RETRIES) {
    const el = findElement(element);
    if (el) return el;
    retries++;
    await sleep(SLEEP_INTERVAL);
  }
  return null;
}

async function getElementAttributeValue(element, attribute) {
  const el = await waitForElement(element);
  if (!el) throw new Error('Element was not found');

  const attr = el[attribute] || el.getAttribute(attribute);
  return attr;
}

return getElementAttributeValue(element, attribute);

NLP usage

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