Add support to specify the type of node which is selected

[JonathanStoye]

So I ran into an issue when I was working with cypress. I wanted to .click() a button which had the exact same wording as the headline right above. getByTextalways took the headline instead of the button so I had to use .get('button:contains("[...]")') to be able to get the button.

So I thought to be able to always use getByText it would be nice to be able to specify the type of node I want to get as part of the options maybe something like getByText(container, 'text', { node: 'button' }).

Of course I would volunteer to do it if it was discussed and approved.

[sompylasar]

This is a valid suggestion, and it leans towards a relevance ordering of found nodes.

Imagine the button you're looking for contains a div, and your headline, too. You'll have two div matches with identical text, which one should the test prefer?

I use a composition of visual distance, absolute zindex, and area in my getVisuallyBelow query (not in the lib yet), but this may sound more complicated than anyone would like to implement.

[gnapse]

Most of there get* and query* helpers accept what the library calls a TextMatch, which can be a string, a regex or a function. If you use the function form, you should be able to solve this:

getByText(container, (content, element) => {
  return element.tagName.toLowerCase() === 'button' && content === 'Login'
})

However, I do agree that this seems a bit too complex. There could be a way to pass a selector to limit the elements where to search for the text/label/whatever.

Perhaps an additional optional option argument? (name to be discussed, but the idea remains)

getByText(container, 'Login', { within: 'button[type="submit"]' });

It could be argued that this does not necessarily violates the guiding principles of this library, because the users do look for a button to click, not just any element in the page that says "Login".

[kentcdodds]

There's actually already an option called selector which allows you to scope your search to certain elements. So I think you should be able to do:

getByText(container, 'Login', {selector: 'button'})

That should work. Let us know!

[gnapse]

Oh, ok, good to know. But getByText does not show it in its documentation in the README. Actually getByLabelText is the only one documenting that option. If indeed all the get* and query* helpers support it, then the README should be updated.

[kentcdodds]

Yes, I agree, we should update docs. @JonathanStoye, since you would have benefitted from this knowledge directly, would you like to be the one to contribute docs for it?

[JonathanStoye]

Shame one me for not doing enough research. And of course I will transform this issue to update the docs then. 😊