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jeracom's avatar
jeracom
Regular Visitor
13 years ago

Object Spy dosent work realy, since version 8.60 correctly

Hello dear team,


Testcomplete no longer works for us, since version 8.60 correctly.

The “Object Spy” works on Windows XP SP3, mostly with one screen,

if Testcomplete was at the right side of the screen. Under Windows 7 64 bit,

this works only partially with one screen.



Greetings Jens

11 Replies

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  • Julia_K's avatar
    Julia_K
    SmartBear Alumni (Retired)
    13 years ago
    Hello Jens,



    Could you please give us a bit more details on your Object Spy issue?

    What do you mean when you say that the Object Spy does not work and the Object Spy works only partially?

    Could you please specify the applications you are examining with the Object Spy?

    Does the Object Spy fail to highlight the needed controls in the tested application? Do any errors occur when you use the Object Spy?



    Thanks in advance.
  • jbcmt's avatar
    jbcmt
    Occasional Contributor
    13 years ago
    I've had a similar problem with objects I've already mapped not being recognized during recording or playback.  I can have a text box called "txtName" in my mapping, record a new script and TC adds a whole new window and object.  If I right click on txtName and select Highlight, it highlights fine.  On playback, I've had 2 toolbars with different indices (1 and 3) get mixed up.



    Since I haven't been able to narrow down the exact steps to recreated, not much has been done to address the problem at this point.  But I do think it got worse since upgrading to 8.7.


  • Julia_K's avatar
    Julia_K
    SmartBear Alumni (Retired)
    13 years ago
    Hello Jeremy,

    Your mapped controls may be not recognized during the test playback, because some of the properties, for example, the Index property, used for name mapping are dynamic and change from run to run. Is that what is happening with your toolbars?

    You can try resolving this issue by excluding indexes from name mapping and identify your controls by specifying their child objects. To learn how to do this, please see the Specifying Child Objects Required for Mapped Object Identification Help topic.

    Could you also please specify what application you are testing and what name mapping issues you have been facing exactly since upgrading to 8.70?

    Thank you.
  • jbcmt's avatar
    jbcmt
    Occasional Contributor
    13 years ago
    Julia



    That's not the case here.  At one point, I could select 2 different toolbars in Namemapping, each having different index values, and TC would highlight the same toolbar in my app (there's no way the same toolbar could have an index of 1 and 3 at the same time).  Unfortunately, using index values has been the most reliable way to identify objects in my app.  I use required children when possible to increase the reliability, but it's not always available.  I'm working with a custom Eclipse RCP app, which is a challenge due to all the extra composite objects that Eclipse generates.



    Since upgrading to 8.7, Namemapping just doesn't seem as reliable.  I have the problem above.  It also doesn't always existing object that have already been mapped.  When working with a new window or screen, I like to map all the objects so that when I record, it will use meaningful names (txtName instead of Text1).  I have found with 8.7, it just ignores what I have already mapped and creates brand new window and objects.



    Last week, I had an issue where I had two objects with the same name mapped but located on different branches.  TC kept getting them mixed up.  For examples, 

    Window1 | Group1 | txtAddress

    Window1 | Group2 | txtAddress

    Window1 | Group1 | txtAddress is the active window, and my test correctly used it until it hit an error.  The error then reports that it couldn't find Window1 | Group2 | txtAddress, which was never a part of the test.  I had to delete both objects and remap to move on.




  • Julia_K's avatar
    Julia_K
    SmartBear Alumni (Retired)
    13 years ago
    Hello Jeremy,

    Thank you for the details on the name mapping issues.

    To help us investigate the issues more thoroughly, could you please send our Support Team your project and your tested application (or a sample application that demonstrates the problem)?

    Or, could you please create several screenshots that demonstrate the problematic mapped objects in the Name Mapping editor (so that the properties and values used for mapping are visible) and the corresponding objects in the Object Browser (with their properties visible as well)?

    I have found with 8.7, it just ignores what I have already mapped and creates brand new window and objects.


    Could you please specify what properties and values you use when mapping objects manually, and what properties and values are used when TestComplete maps those objects during the recording?

    Thanks in advance.
  • Mark_Küpper's avatar
    Mark_Küpper
    Occasional Contributor
    13 years ago

    Greetings,


    I work for the same Company as Jens and have experienced the same issues regarding object recognition for WPF-Objects on a Windows 7 (SP1) 64bit machine. These Problems started to surface in TC v.8.6+. Objects, that were mapped in previous versions are still fine for test runs but if I try to select objects (weather mapped or not) using the 'select object dialog', only the first parent is highlighted and selected - its child objects remain hidden.


    Curiously the test-recorder doesn't seem to be effected: If a test-sequence is recorded, the resulting keywords are in fact referring to the "missing" objects and not, for example, to coordinates. Unfortunately using the test-recorder is no viable substitute, since our tests are a bit more complex than that.


    I cannot give you the tested app but I can provide you with the TC-project (where to?). Additionally I have attached a screenshot to clarify the problem further. It shows the selection, the test-recorder is making when clicking a menu entry (WPF). If I try to select this manually with the object spy, only the main window is selected.



    Regards




    P.S. I have read other threads in this forum from people with similar problems and I did try the suggested solutions like altering settings in 'project properties > Open Applications > MSAA / WPF' - sadly to no avail.

  • Julia_K's avatar
    Julia_K
    SmartBear Alumni (Retired)
    13 years ago
    Hello Mark,

    Could you please confirm that your issue persists on the latest version of TestComplete, which is 8.70?

    Also, please answer the following questions:

    1. Is your application launched before you launch TestComplete? Does the issue persist if your launch your application after TestComplete is already launched?

    2. How is your application exposed in TestComplete's Object Browser?

    3. Does the issue persist if you first refresh the object hierarchy by clicking the Refresh button on the Object Browser toolbar and then try to select an object in your application with the Object Spy?

    Thanks in advance.
  • Mark_Küpper's avatar
    Mark_Küpper
    Occasional Contributor
    12 years ago

    Hello Julia,



    1. I can confirm, that the problem persists in TC 8.70. We are currently also evaluating TC 9.0 where these issue applies as well - even in a completely new project suite...


    2. The "missing" objects are listed there, which makes sense since the recorder doesn't suffer that issue.


    3. Sadly refreshing the tree does not solve anything. It also makes no difference whether TC is started before or after the application.



    We'd appreciate further investigation, since we could use some of the new features of TC 9, however as long as the object recognition doesn't work properly we have to stick to TC 8.5.



    Regards

  • Julia_K's avatar
    Julia_K
    SmartBear Alumni (Retired)
    12 years ago
    Hello Mark,

    Earlier, you said that the test recording is not affected by the issue:

    Curiously the test-recorder doesn't seem to be effected: If a test-sequence is recorded, the resulting keywords are in fact referring to the "missing" objects and not, for example, to coordinates.


    Do you use TestRecorder to record tests, or do you use TestComplete's recording features?

    Also, you said that the issue occurred on the computer running under the Windows 7 64-bit operating system. Does the issue occur on computers with other configurations, or running under other operating systems?

    Is .NET Framework 4 installed on the computer where the issue occurs? For what .NET Framework version is your tested application compiled?

    Does your tested application contain only managed code, or does it use native code to implement UI elements?

    You said that the "missing" objects are still listed in TestComplete's Object Browser. To help us investigate the issue, please follow the instructions below:

    1. In TestComplete 9, switch to the Object Browser and enable the Advanced View mode. To do this, click the View more members (Advanced view) link in the header of the Properties table.

    2. Launch your tested application.

    3. Select one of the "missing" objects of your tested application in the object hierarchy of the Object Browser.

    4. Please make a screenshot of the Object Browser with the "missing" object selected, its child objects expanded and properties visible and post the screenshot here.

    5. Find the object's Full Name property in the Properties table and, also, please post its value here.

    6. Right-click the object and select "Highlight on screen" from the context menu. Does TestComplete highlight the object correctly?

    7. Select File | Install Extensions from TestComplete's main menu.

    8. In the ensuing Install Extensions dialog, please disable the Open Applications Support plug-in and all dependent plug-ins.

    9. Please repeat steps 3-6 with the disabled plug-ins.

    Thanks in advance.
  • Mark_Küpper's avatar
    Mark_Küpper
    Occasional Contributor
    12 years ago
    Greetings,



    I'm just dropping by to leave a solution, that worked for us, in case anyone else has stumbled across this problem.



    In our case, the troublemakers were the web-extensions. Disabling all Extensions of that kind (everything that begins with 'Web' + Firefox/Chrome support) seems to solve all object recognition issues.

    That doesn't really make sense, since our TestedApp is a NET 4 Application using WPF, Winforms and Delphi objects but still… (we continue to evaluate this solution in TC v.9.1 though)



    However, if anyone can provide an explanation for this phenomenon, I would still love to hear it.



    Regards