Forum Discussion

jpruddick's avatar
jpruddick
Occasional Contributor
6 years ago

Convert FindChild object to NameMapping object

Hi all,   I've been running into a problem in my code in which I need to find any object that fits certain properties- not a specific object, but just the first one that matches the criteria- and...
Name Mapping
  • tristaanogre's avatar
    tristaanogre
    6 years ago

    You can't, not in code.  NameMapping is an object repository configured and created in design time to identifiy components.  Once it's been mapped, the objects then can be refernenced in code using Aliases.

     

    FindChild and find methods are dynamic runtime methods for finding and identifying objects.  You cannot convert that into the NameMapping because the NameMapping is not written to at runtime but only read from.

     

    What I would do is that, once you've found the object, persist it in a variable that is globally available.  However, if the object is destroyed in memory and recreated, anything stored in that variable will no longer be available.  So, you would need to find it again.  If it's such a dynamic object, that will probably be your best bet.

tristaanogre's avatar
tristaanogre
Esteemed Contributor
6 years ago

You can't, not in code.  NameMapping is an object repository configured and created in design time to identifiy components.  Once it's been mapped, the objects then can be refernenced in code using Aliases.

 

FindChild and find methods are dynamic runtime methods for finding and identifying objects.  You cannot convert that into the NameMapping because the NameMapping is not written to at runtime but only read from.

 

What I would do is that, once you've found the object, persist it in a variable that is globally available.  However, if the object is destroyed in memory and recreated, anything stored in that variable will no longer be available.  So, you would need to find it again.  If it's such a dynamic object, that will probably be your best bet.

  • jpruddick's avatar
    jpruddick
    Occasional Contributor
    6 years ago

    Thanks for the response! I'll admit I'm still a bit confused, though. As far as I know, switching to a NameMapping reference for an object that's already been mapped should only require reading the NameMapping repository, not writing to it. Is this not the case?

     

    Also, when you say "destroyed in memory", does that refer to TestComplete's memory, or the tested application's? The problem I'm currently trying to solve is that TestComplete loses track of the object when it is recreated within the tested application, so if you are referring to the tested application's memory, I'm not sure global variables would solve my problem.

    • tristaanogre's avatar
      tristaanogre
      Esteemed Contributor
      6 years ago

      Correct, if the object has already been mapped you shouldn't even need to use the FindChild method at all.  But you mentioned changing an object found by FindChild into a Mapped object... that's not possible.  But if it's already mapped... then you don't really need FindChild at all... you just need to using something like WaitAlias or WaitChild.

       

      As for detroyed in memory, I mean the memory of the system... the object has a handle in memory that if it's destroyed and recreated, that handle changes.  FindChild actually returns the object handle... and if it is destroyed and recreated, you lose that handle.  Using Aliases/NameMapping always searches for the object so it will always return the latest version.

      • jpruddick's avatar
        jpruddick
        Occasional Contributor
        6 years ago

        I see. Many thanks for the clarification; I hadn't realized that was how FindChild worked!

         

        Unfortunately, it doesn't look like WaitChild or WaitAlias will work for me. The object I need to reference may be one of several pre-mapped objects based on other factors in the test; that's why I was using FindChild, the results of which can change based on its parameter inputs. WaitChild and WaitAlias only have a depth of 1, and must search for specific object names, when I don't actually know in advance which object I'll need to reference.