How to Scroll Down to an Element in Selenium WebDriver with Appium

Let's say that you're automating a test scenario for a mobile application, and you need to interact with an element that is not initially visible on the screen. You need a way to scroll down until the element becomes visible, allowing you to perform actions on it.

To tackle this problem, you can create a reusable method that scrolls down to a specified element. This method will use the TouchAction class in Appium to simulate a touch-based scroll gesture until the element becomes visible. 

Here's a sample method in Java:

public void scrollDownToElement(WebElement element) {
    Dimension size = driver.manage().window().getSize();
    int startX = size.width / 2;
    int startY = (int) (size.height * 0.8);
    int endY = (int) (size.height * 0.2);

    while (!element.isDisplayed()) {
        TouchAction<?> action = new TouchAction<>((PerformsTouchActions) driver);
        action.press(PointOption.point(startX, startY))
                .waitAction(WaitOptions.waitOptions(Duration.ofMillis(500)))
                .moveTo(PointOption.point(startX, endY))
                .release()
                .perform();
    }
}

Let's break down how this method works:

1. We obtain the screen dimensions to calculate the starting and ending points for the scroll gesture. So we set startX to the middle of the screen, startY to 80% down from the top, and endY to 20% down from the top.
2. We enter a while loop that continues until the specified element becomes visible.
3. Inside the loop, we create a TouchAction instance and perform the following steps:
• press: We press at the starting point.
• waitAction: We introduce a small delay (500 milliseconds) to allow the element to become visible.
• moveTo: We move the touch to the ending point.
• release: We release the touch action.
4. The scroll action is performed repeatedly until the element is displayed, indicating that it is now in view.

The scrollDownToElement method presented here provides a reusable solution for ensuring that your target element is within view, allowing you to automate interactions seamlessly. Happy testing!

Android Architectural Pattern - Databinding or 2 way Databinding.

' We don't use resource Id's for these. They are designed using a different architectural pattern called data binding and in some cases 2 way data binding.'

This is what my friendly app lead told me when I told him I'd like to have 'resource IDs' for some of the elements in the UI. He further said to look 'automated testing using Android dataBinding' and for any hook onto the databindingImpl classes. Very useful hints :).. thanks G

Android DataBinding

Android DataBinding is a library that allows you to bind UI components in your app's layout files directly to data sources (e.g., ViewModel).

It simplifies the process of updating UI elements when data changes and can improve code readability

Steps to identify and interact with elements

Assuming you are using appium/java. Also you have setup necesssary env setup such as mobile capabilties and driver initialisation , server startup, here is how the element capturing happens.

Since DataBinding allows you to bind UI elements directly to data sources, it is a bit different from the traditional method of locating elements using resource IDs or XPath

• In Android DataBinding layouts, UI elements are bound to data sources using expressions like @{viewModel.text}.

• To locate and interact with these elements in your automated tests, you can use the driver.findElementByAndroidUIAutomator method.

• You construct a UiSelector expression that matches the text or other attributes bound to the element. 

• In this case, I am looking for a TextView with the text matching viewModel.text.

  import io.appium.java_client.android.AndroidElement;
  
  // Locate TextView using DataBinding expression
  AndroidElement textView = driver.findElementByAndroidUIAutomator(
      "new UiSelector().textMatches(\".*" + viewModel.text + ".*\")"
  );
  

  
  

• Once I have identified the element using DataBinding expression, I can perform various interactions such as clicking, sending text, or verifying properties. 

  // Click a button
  button.click();
  

  
  

Hybrid approach to Automation

What does hybrid approach to test automation mean?

It's a strategic approach that aims to support better maintainability and reduce flakiness in end-to-end (E2E) test automation. This approach involves using a combination of API tests and UI tests.

In scenarios where certain prerequisites must be met before attempting the actual test, we can use endpoint calls/API tests to achieve these prerequisites. Then, we can use webdriver tests for UI-level functional validations/assertions.

By using this approach, we can redice the flakiness that may come from  webdriver tests due to delays, object changes, and other issues. This approach is particularly useful for sections of the test case that are outside the main test case.

Let me explain with an example:

In here we are doing a mandatry field validation check; Our featue file is as below;

Scenario: Mandatory fields validation
Given I am a registered user
And I go to the accounts page
And I leave the basic salary field blank
When I try to move to the next page
Then a validation error message is displayed for the basic salary field

My step definition will be like this; 

public class MandatoryFieldsValidationStepDefinitions {

    @Given("I am a registered user")
    public void iAmARegisteredUser() {
        // Code to implement the Creat user step using RestAssured API
        
    }

    @And("I go to the accounts page")
    public void iGoToTheAccountsPage() {
        // Code to implement the "And" step using Appium
        // Navigate to the accounts page using Appium
    }

    @And("I leave the basic salary field blank")
    public void iLeaveTheBasicSalaryFieldBlank() {
        // Code to implement the "And" step using Appium
        // Find the basic salary field element and clear its value
    }

    @When("I try to move to the next page")
    public void iTryToMoveToTheNextPage() {
        // Code to implement the "When" step using Appium
        // Find the "Next" button element and click it
    }

    @Then("a validation error message is displayed for the basic salary field")
    public void aValidationErrorMessageIsDisplayedForTheBasicSalaryField() {
        // Code to implement the "Then" step using Appium
        // Find the error message element for the basic salary field and verify it is displayed
    }
}

So how do we support this in our test framework? Since the CucumberRunner takes care of executing the features by mapping them with the correct step definition, all we have to do is ensure that our design is correct and that relevant API testing and webdriver libraries are included in the project.

A sample automation framework structure for a Maven project is shown below;