Parent page: GUI Recognition with TestComplete

TestComplete provides a whole set of run-time GUI recognition functionalities, based, however, on the same approach: recognition by property values and/or location of the object in internal hierarchy.

Today’s post is about FindChild method

Let’s start with the example.

  Dim IEProcess, IExplore
  Dim PropNames, PropValues
  Dim Page
  Dim objLink
  'Close browser window

  PropNames = Array("processname", "index")
  PropValues = Array("iexplore", 1)
  Set IEProcess = Sys.FindChild(PropNames, PropValues, 1, True)
  If IEProcess.Exists then
    IEProcess.Close(10000)
  End if 
 
  'Open browser and navigate to the web-site
  Set IExplore = TestedApps.iexplore
  IExplore.Params.SimpleParams.CommandLineParameters = "http://www.google.ca/"
  Call IExplore.Run(1, False, 5000) 

  'Find Web Page Object
  PropNames = Array("objecttype", "url")
  PropValues = Array("page", "http://www.google.ca/")
  Set Page = Sys.Process("iexplore").FindChild(PropNames, PropValues, 1, True)
  If Not Page.Exists then
    Exit Sub
  End if

  'Find Web Link Object
  PropNames = Array("tagName", "namePropStr")
  PropValues = Array("A", "advanced_search*")
  Set objLink = Page.FindChild(PropNames, PropValues, 4, True)

  If Not objLink.Exists then
    Exit Sub
  End if

  'Click on the link
  objLink.Click

Note highlighted lines: this is where object recognition properties are defined. As you see from lines ## 7,8, TestComplete supports not only GUI objects recognition, but recognition of any object in hierarchy, including processes.

The third parameter of FindChild method is depth, which is defined by position of the object in hierarchy.  In our example, the full path string to the link from the root is:

Sys.Process(“iexplore”).Page(“http://www.google.ca/”).Form(“f”).Table(0).Cell(0, 2).Link(0)

Which means, counting from the Sys object, depth of the link is 6. Counting from the Page object, the depth is 4.

Note, that we specify max depth to search within. An object could be found “higher” in the hierarchy; but if it’s “lower” than the depth specified, then search won’t be successful.

If an object has unique identification properties in wide context, middle step may be omitted, as in the example below.

  Dim IEProcess, IExplore
  Dim PropNames, PropValues
  Dim objLink
  'Close browser window

  PropNames = Array("processname", "index")
  PropValues = Array("iexplore", 1)
  Set IEProcess = Sys.FindChild(PropNames, PropValues, 1, True)
  If IEProcess.Exists then
    IEProcess.Close(10000)
  End if 
 

  'Open browser and navigate to the web-site

  Set IExplore = TestedApps.iexplore
  IExplore.Params.SimpleParams.CommandLineParameters = "http://www.google.ca/"
  Call IExplore.Run(1, False, 5000) 

  'Find Web Link Object

  PropNames = Array("tagName", "namePropStr")
  PropValues = Array("A", "advanced_search*")
  Set objLink = Sys.Process("iexplore").FindChild(PropNames, PropValues, 10, True)

  If Not objLink.Exists then
    Exit Sub
  End if

  objLink.Click