This gist shows the result of trying to use the element attribute method. The line starting with "=============>" is a raw "puts" of the attribute value.

WebDriver Element Attribute Anomaly

$ rake SPEC=spec/selenium/brand/test_view_atest_spec.rb 
/home/vagrant/.rbenv/versions/1.9.3-p194/bin/ruby -S rspec spec/selenium/brand/test_view_atest_spec.rb
Rack::File headers parameter replaces cache_control after Rack 1.5.
=============> find_element(:xpath, "//div[@id=\"logo-client\"]/img").attribute("src"): http://alpha.decdynamics.com/brands/atest/logo.png
F

Failures:

  1) TestViewAtest test_view_a
     Failure/Error: (@driver.find_element(:xpath, "//div[@id=\"logo-client\"]/img").attribute("src")).should == "../brands/atest/logo.png"
       expected: "../brands/atest/logo.png"
            got: "http://alpha.decdynamics.com/brands/atest/logo.png" (using ==)
     # ./spec/selenium/brand/test_view_atest_spec.rb:31:in `block (2 levels) in <top (required)>'

Finished in 3.65 seconds
1 example, 1 failure

Failed examples:

rspec ./spec/selenium/brand/test_view_atest_spec.rb:20 # TestViewAtest test_view_a

Randomized with seed 56753

rake aborted!
/home/vagrant/.rbenv/versions/1.9.3-p194/bin/ruby -S rspec spec/selenium/brand/test_view_atest_spec.rb failed

Tasks: TOP => default => spec
(See full trace by running task with --trace)

WebDriver Element Attribute Anomaly (test code)

#encoding: UTF-8
require "selenium-webdriver"
include RSpec::Expectations

describe "TestViewAtest" do

  before(:each) do
    @driver = Selenium::WebDriver.for :firefox
    @base_url = "http://alpha.decdynamics.com/"
    @accept_next_alert = true
    @driver.manage.timeouts.implicit_wait = 30
    @verification_errors = []
  end

  after(:each) do
    @driver.quit
    @verification_errors.should == []
  end

  it "test_view_a" do
    DDLLC = "Decision Dynamics LLC"
    COMPANY = "ATEST_company"
    TITLE = "ATEST_title"
    @driver.get(@base_url + "ddaps/quit.asp")
    @driver.get(@base_url + "/atest/")
    (@driver.title).should == COMPANY + " - " + TITLE
    @driver.find_element(:css, "BODY").text.should =~ /^[\s\S]*#{COMPANY}[\s\S]*$/
    element_present?(:xpath, "//div[@id='logo-client']/img").should be_true
# for debugging - show direct result from attribute
src = @driver.find_element(:xpath, "//div[@id=\"logo-client\"]/img").attribute("src")
puts "=============> find_element(:xpath, \"//div[@id=\\\"logo-client\\\"]/img\").attribute(\"src\"): #{src}"
    (@driver.find_element(:xpath, "//div[@id=\"logo-client\"]/img").attribute("src")).should == "../brands/atest/logo.png"
    element_present?(:xpath, "//link[@rel='apple-touch-icon']").should be_true
# for debugging - show direct result from attribute
href = @driver.find_element(:xpath, "//link[@rel='apple-touch-icon']").attribute("href")
puts "=============> find_element(:xpath, \"//link[@rel='apple-touch-icon']\").attribute(\"href\"): #{href}"
    (@driver.find_element(:xpath, "//link[@rel='apple-touch-icon']").attribute("href")).should == "../brands/atest/logo.png"
    @driver.find_element(:xpath, "//input[@name='mode' and @value='Register']").click
    (@driver.title).should == "LOGIN - " + DDLLC
    verify { (@driver.find_element(:xpath, "//form/table/tbody/tr[1]/td[1]").text).should == "Registration Number:" }
    @driver.navigate.back
    (@driver.title).should == COMPANY + " - " + TITLE
    @driver.find_element(:xpath, "//input[@name='mode' and @value='Login']").click
    (@driver.title).should == "LOGIN - " + DDLLC
    verify { (@driver.find_element(:xpath, "//form/table/tbody/tr[1]/td[1]").text).should == "Username:" }
    verify { (@driver.find_element(:xpath, "//form/table/tbody/tr[2]/td[1]").text).should == "Password:" }
    @driver.find_element(:xpath, "//input[@name='Action' and @value='Cancel']").click
    (@driver.title).should == "Sign Off - " + DDLLC
    @driver.get(@base_url + "ddaps/quit.asp")
  end

  def element_present?(how, what)
    @driver.find_element(how, what)
    true
  rescue Selenium::WebDriver::Error::NoSuchElementError
    false
  end

  def verify(&blk)
    yield
  rescue ExpectationNotMetError => ex
    @verification_errors << ex
  end

  def close_alert_and_get_its_text(how, what)
    alert = @driver.switch_to().alert()
    if (@accept_next_alert) then
      alert.accept()
    else
      alert.dismiss()
    end
    alert.text
  ensure
    @accept_next_alert = true
  end
end