TestComplete: object spy should have "XPath" property for web page

[Ravik]

Hi Team,

I am requesting TestComplete: object spy should have "XPath" property for web page. Most of the organization has limited browser access (can't use Firefox or chrome browser in our organization - can't use any third party control for identify the XPath expression for an object) we are using only IE browser and its very dificult to identify the xpath in IE (Complex or relative xpath) even a simple xpath too. I am requesting, In testcomplete OBJECT SPY window should have a "XPATH" property and it should provied the atleast basic and uniuqe XPath expression for web object and that "XPath" we can use in 'FindChildByXPath()' and 'EvaluateXPath()' method.

It would be easy and very benificial for us.

[tristaanogre]

I'm not a SmartBear employee so this is just my opinion....

...but identifying objects via XPath, while supported in TestComplete, should be replaced with using the NameMapping feature for object identification.  This uses other properties for identifying objects and has a better performance than XPath.

[Ravik]

It is nice to have kind of feature. It will help for automating Web based application or if integrate selenium code in TestComplete.

Mostly in selenium we are using XPath and if we will get xpath in object spy, it will great help.

[tristaanogre]

NameMapping supports Web based applications just fine.  No need for XPath.  And, again, as mentioned, it is not the preferred way of object identification in TestComplete.  Identifying by XPath returns, perhaps, the DOM object but that does not always guarentee that you'll be able to interact with it.  TestComplete's object browser and object identification engine work on an entirely different model of object identification.  So, while XPath is useful for certain components, I would recommend, strongly, moving towards NameMapping for the majority of your identification. 

[prashantmohan]

In 14.50, you will have the option of choosing between TC's native object recognition identifier or XPath/CSS Selectors. https://support.smartbear.com/testcomplete/docs/general-info/whats-new.html#web-testing-enhancements

The advantage of using this new notation is that you can create tests that are cross-platform compatible (MAC, Linux, iOS, Android).

Agree with everything Robert says.