Search for an element within a DIV on a web page

Question

Our application is large, and Page.NativeWebObject.Find("id", "myID") is crushingly slow. I need to narrow down the search to a specific DIV within the web page.

I've tried this:

function search()

search()

{

// this will always find the first link

var app, testfile, myPage, myLink;

app = TestedApps.iexplore.Run();

testfile = "file:///" + Project.Path + "search-test.html";

Log.Message(testfile);

myPage = app.ToURL(testfile);

// search for the element ID "muppet" and click it

myLink = myPage.NativeWebObject.Find("id", "muppet");

if (myLink.Exists)

myLink.Click();

else

Log.Warning("No link here");

}

What I want to do is search for a link within a DIV with the ID "second_section" (<div id="second_section">)

How do I do this, in vbscript and in jscript, for IE7 and IE8? I've been looking at the FindChild method, and the Find method, and the documentation doesn't help.

alison_hawke · Answer

This is what I tried next, and it doesn't work:function search_in_a_div(){&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; var app, testfile, myPage, mySection, myLink;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; var PropArray, ValuesArray;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; var ConvertedPropArray, ConvertedValuesArray;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; app = TestedApps.iexplore.Run();&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; testfile = "file:///" + Project.Path + "search-test.html";&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Log.Message(testfile);&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; myPage = app.ToURL(testfile);&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; // search for the link "Click" and click it&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; mySection = myPage.NativeWebObject.Find("id", "second_section");&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; if (mySection.Exists)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; {&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Log.Message("Found second_section");&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; // now search WITHIN this DIV for an element with the id of "muppet"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; PropArray = new Array("div", "id");&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ValuesArray = new Array("muppet", true);&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; // Converts arrays&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ConvertedPropArray = ConvertJScriptArray(PropArray);&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ConvertedValuesArray = ConvertJScriptArray(ValuesArray);&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; myLink = mySection.Find(ConvertedPropArray, ConvertedValuesArray, 5);&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; if (myLink.Exists)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; myLink.Click();&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; else&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Log.Warning("No link here");&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; }&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; else&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Log.Warning("No second_section here");}function ConvertJScriptArray(AArray){&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; // Uses the Dictionary object to convert a JScript array&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; var objDict = Sys.OleObject("Scripting.Dictionary");&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; objDict.RemoveAll();&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; for (var j in AArray)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; objDict.Add(j, AArray);&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; return objDict.Items();}

alexeykolosov · Answer

Hi Alison,The general approach you should use is: 1) obtain the needed DIV element (it might be faster to use the FindChild method here too, depending on the objects hierarchy) 2) use the FindChild method to obtain the link with the specified properties, which is a child of the DIV element.I guess the cause of the problem is the parameters you pass to the FindChild method:PropArray = new Array("div", "id");ValuesArray = new Array("muppet", true);The parameters mean the following: "find an element with the "div" property equal to "muppet" and the "id" property equal to true". This does not look like valid object recognition criteria. You need to use property/value pairs you see in the Object Browser.

alison_hawke · Answer

I replaced the Array statements with this:

PropArray = new Array("ObjectType", "id");

ValuesArray = new Array("Link", "muppet");

According to your explanation, this is now searching for an object type of Link (from the Object browser) that has an id of "muppet".

I get the error "Object required" for the PropArray line. What is wrong with this code?

alexeykolosov · Answer

Hi Alison,Please zip your entire project suite folder along with the log of the failed test execution and send us the archive via our Contact Support form (http://www.automatedqa.com/support/message). Make sure that messages in your log correspond to the latest version of your tests.

alison_hawke · Answer

I have sent in both a VB and&nbsp; a Java version of the project.&nbsp; Please let me know what the fix is for both versions.

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Search for an element within a DIV on a web page

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