CODEWITHSUNDEEP
iosxcode7ui-testingxcode-ui-testing
ajc6432
ajc6432

Reputation: 188

Accessing nested UIElements in Xcode 7 UI Testing

I am having trouble locating XCUIElements on a screen for the app I am testing. I realize you can access a button for example via something like:

app.buttons[].elementBoundByIndex(0)

But the problem is sometimes, the component is not found. Like in a case where I have a Button in a cell in a UITableView. I try to make an XCUIElementQuery to find the button, and it is not there. I try to look for tables or tableviews or collection views and even though they are in the view controller, they are not found in UI Testing. The count of the returned array will be zero.

I attempted originally to record the test, but clicking the element I am trying to access did not work. Xcode detected it as an "Other Element" and when trying to tap during, playback the application does not advance.

Is there a high level way to access a component like a UIView high in the UI hierarchy to cascade down?

Upvotes: 5

Views: 7102

Answers (4)

Ray
Ray

Reputation: 501

Ryan Poolos answer was the best answer for me as it solved my issue with nested UI Elements

We had to solve it by removing a few accessibility identifiers on superviews in the stack. Not ideal but did get it working without changing actual functionality. – Ryan Poolos

So with that in mind, I found the xib file with the element in question, selected the element, selected the tab "Show the Identity Inspector" on the right panel and unchecked the Accessibility checkbox.

right panel

I then did a recording of the element which resulted in:

[[[[[XCUIApplication alloc] init].scrollViews.tables childrenMatchingType:XCUIElementTypeOther] elementBoundByIndex:index] childrenMatchingType:XCUIElementTypeButton].element;

Notice how XCUIElementTypeOther is in the query. This was not the case when the accessibility identifiers were enabled as I would get:

    [[[[[XCUIApplication alloc] init].scrollViews.tables.otherElements containingType:XCUIElementTypeStaticText identifier:@"username"] childrenMatchingType:XCUIElementTypeButton].element tap];

Obviously I wouldnt know the username as it would always change and this was a major problem. But after removing the accessibility identifiers, 

containingType:XCUIElementTypeStaticText identifier:@"username"

changed to 

childrenMatchingType:XCUIElementTypeOther] elementBoundByIndex:index

SUCCESS :)

Upvotes: 0

Delfín
Delfín

Reputation: 109

In my own experience you being able to find an element (an UIView in your case as UIButton inherits from UIview) through its accessibilityIdentifier depends on how you added it to the view.

I assume that in your case you added the button to the cell programatically with addSubView. If that's the case, probably you will not be able to access to it. I've had the same problem and asked the question here but no proper solution at the moment, so my advice is try to avoid adding views with addSubView the moment...

Upvotes: -1

ajc6432
ajc6432

Reputation: 188

I didn't know this at the time, but what I was looking for was basically debugDescription:

Set a breakpoint when you hit the area you're trying to debug. Then

po print(app.debugDescription)

in the debug console. You will see the hierarchy then.

Upvotes: 7

Charles A.
Charles A.

Reputation: 11123

Ideally you should set an accessibilityIdentifier on your button and search for it via that. The accessibilityIdentifier should be unique for elements on the screen. You can set an accessibilityIdentifier in the Identity Inspector in Interface Builder (command-option-3) or in code directly. Once you have one, the query looks like:

app.buttons["SomeAccessibilityIdentifier"]

Upvotes: 5

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