Help with VLCNETObject (tree) and finding its items

Good day BD_Geoactive,

I'll have a go at this.  Have you inspected the treeview object parent for properties or methods that can be used to interact with it? In many cases I have found the parent object has properties and methods for navigation the child objects don't have.  I'll do some poking around with the info you have shared (nice btw) and see if I find anything.

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.... OK, this is object is exposed through Microsoft UIA, that is apparent.  I found you may have success from the parent object looking for methods related to nodes like, GetFocusedNode() and ExpandAll() / CollapseAll()  There may be similar methods or indexes you can use to navigate and focus objects in the tree.  I have a similar tree view in an app I have written tests for a few years ago.

Hope this helps!

PS... In one case I had to write code to search the treeview object using methods like this with indexes expanding things as I went because the objects didn't exists at all until expanded.  YUCK!  It worked but it was a brittle kludge.

hi scot1967​ 

Unfortunately, my test complete license is not working today and so i couldn't follow up on some of the suggestion you made. 

I'm, pretty sure I have tried using index(es) related methods, but the only I can find is only something like getSelected() or selectedIndex() vice versa. 

I also uses a (string) variable to hold the actual value when it come to try and find the tree item in question in the troublesome tree view. so using indexes may works but probably wont be reliable. 

To-date, as its too much pain trying to get something simple working, I may just use the keyword OCR action key to cover this bit of automation.

I'll get back to some findings once my license is sorted! and the person whom manages it is off for week from today :/ regards, B

In addition to the great suggestions above, here’s one more TestComplete-native approach you might try:

🔍 Brute-force child inspection:

Since VLCNETObject may not expose tree methods, loop through its direct children to inspect properties dynamically:

for i in range(vlcNetTree.ChildCount):
    node = vlcNetTree.Child(i)
    Log.Message(f"{i}: " + node.Name)  # Try .Text, .WText, or .AccessibleName too

This can help you identify which property actually holds your target value like "(12) Well Test 1", and confirm if the node even exists before trying FindChild().

🔍 Refined FindChild():

Once you know the correct property:

target = vlcNetTree.FindChild("AccessibleName", "(12) Well Test 1", 10)
if target.Exists:
    target.Click()

If the nodes don’t exist until expanded, you’ll need to click parents first or simulate arrow keys.

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What rraghvani​ and Hassan_Ballan​ were pointing out about the code is correct, you need a PropertyName, Value pair there.    However I would guess that to be more or an example than actual code possibly. 

That said MSAA ( rraghvani​ ) and UI Automation would be worth checking out.  Tools, Current Project Properties, Open Applications...  You may be able to add  TDBTree* or DBTree*  as an accepted window and open up more things to use with your object.  I would do this in both and experiment with this combination.   

Word of warning, this will affect all matching controls and could change mapping behavior in other parts of your application (voice of experience) so be as specific as you can and do some research. 

[This may also be done in script to limit the scope however.] Not sure about this, I have never done it.

Supported VCL and CLX Controls

https://support.smartbear.com/testcomplete/docs/general-info/supported-technologies/controls/vcl.html

You may have already mentioned and consulted this page but it should have some useful content as well.

As always,  If you find my posts helpful drop me a like! 👍 Be sure to mark or post the solution to help others out and/or to credit the one who helped you. 😎

I let GPT have a go...  This may allow you get a richer version of the tree and run a find method against it instead.  However it's only a little better than flying blind because you can't browse the objects.  This does keep it out of the project scope. I don't know if it will work.  I have bever tried it.  Maybe some clues for a slick way to solve this here?

function getTree() {
  var p = Sys.Process("Intepro");
  var tree = null;

  try {
    tree = p.UIAObject("TDBTree");   // UIA first
    if (!tree.Exists)
      tree = p.VCLNETObject("DBTree"); // fallback
  } catch (ex) {
    tree = p.VCLNETObject("DBTree");
  }

  return tree;
}

var treeObj = getTree();
Log.Message("Found: " + treeObj.FullName);

Plus, on the other matter (unrelated) the python intellesense (once you hit the . key on the keyboard) is pretty rubbish - it just flashes and not giving you options. You can do it blindly though :/