ContentControl is not visible when application starts via UI Automation test, but its visible when application starts by user

Question

We are using the prism and WPF to build application. Recently we started using UI Automation (UIA) to test our app. But some strange behavior occurred when we run UIA test. Here

Answer 1

My guess is that the ContentControl's automation peer should update its children with AutomationPeer.ResetChildrenCache() after the view has been changed.

AutomationPeer.InvalidatePeer() should have the same effect (in addition to other side effects) and it is supposed to be called automatically in response to the LayoutUpdated event. You might want to check that the LayoutUpdated event is raised when the view changes.

Answer 2

I'm sorry that I've missed some detail, that was the key to the answer. I think that it was not important thing. Anyway.

We used NavBar from DevExpress controls library for WPF. What turns out, is when NavBar is present, dynamically created views are not appears on the UI Automation tree. When remove it from the window, there was an ability to see all dynamically loaded views. What does the NavBar - still mistic for me.

Here bright example to see what happened, if NavBar is present or absent on the Window (DevExpress is required).

MainWindow.xaml:

<Window xmlns:dxn="http://schemas.devexpress.com/winfx/2008/xaml/navbar"
        x:Class="Test.MainWindow"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525"
        >
    <Grid Name="ContentGrid">
        <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
            <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
            <ColumnDefinition/>
        </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>

        <Grid.RowDefinitions>
            <RowDefinition></RowDefinition>
            <RowDefinition></RowDefinition>
        </Grid.RowDefinitions>
        <!--Comment NavBar to see dynamic control in UI Automation tree-->
        <dxn:NavBarControl Name="asdasd">
            <dxn:NavBarControl.Groups>
                <dxn:NavBarGroup Header="asdasdasdasd" />
            </dxn:NavBarControl.Groups>
        </dxn:NavBarControl>
        <TextBox Grid.Column="1" Name="Statictb" Text="static is visible in ui automation tree" />
        <Button Grid.Row="1" Content="Create controls" Height="25"  Click="Button_Click"/>
    </Grid>
</Window>

MainWindow.xaml.cs

public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
    public MainWindow()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
    }

    private void Button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        TextBox tb = new TextBox();
        Grid.SetRow(tb, 1);
        Grid.SetColumn(tb, 1);
        tb.Text = "dynamic is not visible, if NavBar here...";
        ContentGrid.Children.Add(tb);
    }
}

Edit

According to the DevExpress answer on their support site:

After a peer is created, listening of automation events may cause performance issues. We have decided to clear invocation lists of automation events to resolve it. In your specific situation, you need to disabling clearing. To do it, please set the static DevExpress.Xpf.Core.ClearAutomationEventsHelper.IsEnabled property to False in the Window constructor.

This solve the problem.

Answer 3

stukselbax, try to find a sequence of keystrokes (TABs, and an ENTER most likely) to click the button that enables you to see the items. it is pretty easy to send keystrokes and i can add more in here about that if that works for you. you can always establish a tab order in your application that makes the most sense for users.

------ Update on 6/20/12 --------

Have you tried double clicking a shortcut to your app on the desktop using PInvoke to see if you can see the controls when it is opened that way? Here is a link to an example here on stackoverflow:

Directing mouse events [DllImport("user32.dll")] click, double click

Another idea: some of the controls on the app I am currently automating don't show up in the tree until a mouse click occurs on them. To accomplish this without using any hardcoded coordinates, I find something in the tree which is just (above/below/etc) the place where I need to click to get the control to appear. I then get the mouse coordinates for that item and put the mouse at a small offset from there and click. Then I can find my controls in the tree. If the app is resized, moved around, etc. this will still work since the small offset is still valid.