Accessing objects on an application run via Citrix
I am using Visual Studio with Test Complete. To access the application, I need to use Citrix to run an application on a remote machine. I am running test complete from my desktop. When I run the application and spy with object spy it seems like the whole application is just one "transparent window" with no objects inside that I can see.
I am wondering, maybe using Citrix is kind of like watching something on TV where you don't actually have access to the objects on the screen as it is basically just an image. Is this true? Can you not really use test complete on a Citrix screen (unless perhaps you know exact coordinates)? Perhaps when you use the application via citrix, it takes the coordinates of your mouse / keyboard actions, reports it to the remote machine and the machine figures the objects?
You've basically hit it right. TestComplete's object recognition technology uses the local machine on which it runs and the operating system to get to the objects of tested applications. Because a Citrix served application is not actually running on the same machine, the object recognition fails... the only thing you can "see" is the wrapper that Citrix puts around the application. In order to do automated testing against an application, the tool and the application need to be on the same "box".
