Getting Combo Box Items in Desktop Windows Applications

Note: To learn how to simulate user actions over combo box controls in web applications, see Working With Combo Box Controls in Web Applications.

While testing combo box controls, you can use specific properties and methods of the corresponding program object to perform certain actions and obtain data stored in controls. You can call these methods and properties from your keyword tests, as well as from scripts. This topic describes how to work with the needed properties and methods from your scripts. However, when testing a control from your keyword test, you can use the same methods and properties calling them from keyword test operations. For more information, see Keyword Tests Basic Operations.

When testing an application that uses combo box controls, you may need to obtain combo box items to process them. The Win32ComboBox object that corresponds to the tested combo box control provides a set of properties and methods that allow you to work with the combo box's individual items. Depending on which item you want to obtain, you can get combo box items in the following ways:

• You can obtain any item specified by its index via the wItem property. The following code snippet demonstrates how to get an item's text:
  JavaScript, JScript

  Python

  VBScript

  DelphiScript

  C++Script, C#Script

  Copy Code

  JavaScript, JScript

  function Main()
  {
  var p, w, ComboBox
  
    // Run Notepad
    WshShell.Run("notepad.exe", SW_SHOWNORMAL);
  
    // Obtain a combo box object
    p = Sys.Process("NOTEPAD");
    Sys.Keys("~of");
    w = Sys.Process("NOTEPAD").Window("#32770", "Font", 1);
    ComboBox = w.Window("ComboBox", "", 5);
    
    // Copy the second item's text to the clipboard
    Sys.Clipboard = ComboBox.wItem(1);
    Log.Message("The second item:" + Sys.Clipboard);
  }
  

  Python

  def Main():
  
    # Run Notepad
    WshShell.Run("notepad.exe", SW_SHOWNORMAL)
  
    # Obtain a combo box object 
    p = Sys.Process("NOTEPAD")
    Sys.Keys("~of")
    w = Sys.Process("NOTEPAD").Window("#32770", "Font", 1)
    ComboBox = w.Window("ComboBox", "", 5)
    
    # Copy the second item's text to the clipboard
    Sys.Clipboard = ComboBox.wItem[1]
    Log.Message("The second item:" + Sys.Clipboard)

  VBScript

  Sub Main
  Dim p, w, ComboBox
  
    ' Run Notepad
    Call WshShell.Run("notepad.exe", SW_SHOWNORMAL)
    
    ' Obtain a combo box object
    Set p = Sys.Process("NOTEPAD")
    Sys.Keys "~of"
    Set w = Sys.Process("NOTEPAD").Window("#32770", "Font", 1)
    Set ComboBox = w.Window("ComboBox", "", 5)
    
    ' Copy the second item's text to the clipboard
    Sys.Clipboard = ComboBox.wItem(1)
    Log.Message("The second item:" & Sys.Clipboard)
  End Sub
  

  DelphiScript

  procedure Main();
  var
  p, w, ComboBox: OleVariant;
  begin
    // Run Notepad
    WshShell.Run('notepad.exe', SW_SHOWNORMAL);
    
    // Obtain a combo box object
    p := Sys.Process('NOTEPAD');
    Sys.Keys('~of');
    w := Sys.Process('NOTEPAD').Window('#32770', 'Font', 1);
    ComboBox := w.Window('ComboBox', '', 5);
    
    // Copy the second item's text to the clipboard
    Sys.Clipboard := ComboBox.wItem(1);
    Log.Message('The second item:' + Sys.Clipboard);
  end;

  C++Script, C#Script

  function Main()
  {
  var p, w, ComboBox
  
    // Run Notepad
    WshShell["Run"]("notepad.exe", SW_SHOWNORMAL);
    
    // Obtain a combo box object
    p = Sys["Process"]("NOTEPAD");
    Sys.Keys("~of");
    w = Sys["Process"]("NOTEPAD").Window("#32770", "Font", 1);
    ComboBox = w["Window"]("ComboBox", "", 5);
    
    // Copy the second item's text to the clipboard
    Sys["Clipboard"] = ComboBox["wItem"](1);
    Log["Message"]("The second item:" + Sys["Clipboard"]);
  }

  Note:

  Enumeration of combo box items is zero-based, that is, the index of the first item is 0.

• When you need to get the currently selected item, you can determine its index via the wSelectedItem property and then obtain the item's text via the wItem property. Or you can use the wText property that returns the text of the currently selected item. Here is an example:
  JavaScript, JScript

  Python

  VBScript

  DelphiScript

  C++Script, C#Script

  Copy Code

  JavaScript, JScript

  function Main()
  {
  var p, w, ComboBox, ItemIndex,SelItem;
  
    // Run Notepad
    WshShell.Run("notepad.exe", SW_SHOWNORMAL);
  
    // Obtain a combo box object
    p = Sys.Process("NOTEPAD");
    Sys.Keys("~of");
    w = Sys.Process("NOTEPAD").Window("#32770", "Font", 1);
    ComboBox = w.Window("ComboBox", "", 5);
    
    // Select an item
    ComboBox.Keys("[Down][Down]");
    
    // Obtain the selected item by its index
    ItemIndex = ComboBox.wSelectedItem;
    SelItem = ComboBox.wItem(ItemIndex);
    Log.Message(SelItem);
      
    // Obtain the selected item's text via the wText property
    Sys.Clipboard = ComboBox.wText;
    Log.Message(Sys.Clipboard);
  }
  

  Python

  def Main():
  
    # Run Notepad
    WshShell.Run("notepad.exe", SW_SHOWNORMAL) 
  
    # Obtain a combo box object 
    p = Sys.Process("NOTEPAD")
    Sys.Keys("~of")
    w = Sys.Process("NOTEPAD").Window("#32770", "Font", 1)
    ComboBox = w.Window("ComboBox", "", 5)
    
    # Select an item
    ComboBox.Keys("[Down][Down]")
    
    # Obtain the selected item by its index
    ItemIndex = ComboBox.wSelectedItem
    SelItem = ComboBox.wItem[ItemIndex]
    Log.Message(SelItem)
      
    # Obtain the selected item's text via the wText property
    Sys.Clipboard = ComboBox.wText
    Log.Message(Sys.Clipboard)

  VBScript

  Sub Main
  Dim p, w, ComboBox, ItemIndex,SelItem
  
    ' Run Notepad
    Call WshShell.Run("notepad.exe", SW_SHOWNORMAL)
    
    ' Obtain a combo box object
    Set p = Sys.Process("NOTEPAD")
    Sys.Keys "~of"
    Set w = Sys.Process("NOTEPAD").Window("#32770", "Font", 1)
    Set ComboBox = w.Window("ComboBox", "", 5)
    
    ' Select an item
    ComboBox.Keys "[Down][Down]"
    
    ' Obtain the selected item by its index
    ItemIndex = ComboBox.wSelectedItem
    SelItem = ComboBox.wItem(ItemIndex)
    Log.Message(SelItem)
      
    ' Obtain the selected item's text via the wText property
    Sys.Clipboard = ComboBox.wText
    Log.Message(Sys.Clipboard)
  End Sub
  

  DelphiScript

  procedure Main();
  var
  p, w, ComboBox, ItemIndex,SelItem: OleVariant;
  begin
    // Run Notepad
    WshShell.Run('notepad.exe', SW_SHOWNORMAL);
    
    // Obtain a combo box object
    p := Sys.Process('NOTEPAD');
    Sys.Keys('~of');
    w := Sys.Process('NOTEPAD').Window('#32770', 'Font', 1);
    ComboBox := w.Window('ComboBox', '', 5);
    
    // Select an item
    ComboBox.Keys('[Down][Down]');
    
    // Obtain the selected item by its index
    ItemIndex := ComboBox.wSelectedItem;
    SelItem := ComboBox.wItem(ItemIndex);
    Log.Message(SelItem);
      
    // Obtain the selected item's text via the wText property
    Sys.Clipboard := ComboBox.wText;
    Log.Message(Sys.Clipboard);
  end;
  

  C++Script, C#Script

  function Main()
  {
  var p, w, ComboBox, ItemIndex,SelItem;
  
    // Run Notepad
    WshShell["Run"]("notepad.exe", SW_SHOWNORMAL);
    
    // Obtain a combo box object
    p = Sys["Process"]("NOTEPAD");
    Sys.Keys("~of");
    w = Sys["Process"]("NOTEPAD").Window("#32770", "Font", 1);
    ComboBox = w["Window"]("ComboBox", "", 5);
    
    // Select an item
    ComboBox["Keys"]("[Down][Down]");
    
    // Obtain the selected item by its index
    ItemIndex = ComboBox["wSelectedItem"];
    SelItem = ComboBox["wItem"](ItemIndex);
    Log["Message"](SelItem);
      
    // Obtain the selected item's text via the wText property
    Sys["Clipboard"] = ComboBox["wText"];
    Log["Message"](Sys["Clipboard"]);
  }
  
• If you want to get all of the items displayed in the combo box, use the wItemList property. This property returns a string that contains all of the combo box items separated by a delimiter. A delimiter can contain several symbols as well as one symbol. You can get or set them via the wListSeparator property of the Win32ComboBox object. Thus, after determining the delimiter, you can extract individual items from the obtained string, as shown in the example below:
  JavaScript, JScript

  Python

  VBScript

  DelphiScript

  C++Script, C#Script

  Copy Code

  JavaScript, JScript

  function Main()
  {
  var p, w, i, ComboBox, Item, ItemString, Del;
  
    // Run Notepad
    WshShell.Run("notepad.exe", SW_SHOWNORMAL);
  
    // Obtain a combo box object
    p = Sys.Process("NOTEPAD");
    Sys.Keys("~of");
    w = Sys.Process("NOTEPAD").Window("#32770", "Font", 1);
    ComboBox = w.Window("ComboBox", "", 5);
    
    // Obtain the list of items and the current delimiter
    ItemString = ComboBox.wItemList;
    Del = ComboBox.wListSeparator;
    aqString.ListSeparator = Del;
    
    // Extract particular items and post them to the log
    for (i = 0; i < ComboBox.wItemCount; i++){
      Item = aqString.GetListItem(ItemString, i);
      Log.Message(Item);}
  }

  Python

  def Main3():
  
    # Run Notepad
    WshShell.Run("notepad.exe", SW_SHOWNORMAL) 
  
    # Obtain a combo box object 
    p = Sys.Process("NOTEPAD")
    Sys.Keys("~of")
    w = Sys.Process("NOTEPAD").Window("#32770", "Font", 1)
    ComboBox = w.Window("ComboBox", "", 5)
    
    # Obtain the list of items and the current delimiter
    ItemString = ComboBox.wItemList
    Del = ComboBox.wListSeparator
    aqString.ListSeparator = Del
    
    # Extract particular items and post them to the log 
    for i in range(0, ComboBox.wItemCount-1):
      Item = aqString.GetListItem(ItemString, i)
      Log.Message(Item)

  VBScript

  Sub Main
  Dim p, w, i, ComboBox, Item, ItemString, Del
  
    ' Run Notepad
    Call WshShell.Run("notepad.exe", SW_SHOWNORMAL)
    
    ' Obtain a combo box object
    Set p = Sys.Process("NOTEPAD")
    Sys.Keys "~of"
    Set w = Sys.Process("NOTEPAD").Window("#32770", "Font", 1)
    Set ComboBox = w.Window("ComboBox", "", 5)
    
    ' Obtain the list of items and the current delimiter
    ItemString = ComboBox.wItemList
    Del = ComboBox.wListSeparator
    aqString.ListSeparator = Del
    
    ' Extract particular items and post them to the log
    for i = 0 to ComboBox.wItemCount-1
      Item = aqString.GetListItem(ItemString, i)
      Log.Message(Item)
    next
  End Sub

  DelphiScript

  procedure Main();
  var
  p, w, i, ComboBox, Item, ItemString, Del: OleVariant;
  begin
    // Run Notepad
    WshShell.Run('notepad.exe', SW_SHOWNORMAL);
    
    // Obtain a combo box object
    p := Sys.Process('NOTEPAD');
    Sys.Keys('~of');
    w := Sys.Process('NOTEPAD').Window('#32770', 'Font', 1);
    ComboBox := w.Window('ComboBox', '', 5);
    
    // Obtain the list of items and the current delimiter
    ItemString := ComboBox.wItemList;
    Del := ComboBox.wListSeparator;
    aqString.ListSeparator := Del;
    
    // Extract particular items and post them to the log
    for i := 0 to ComboBox.wItemCount-1 do
    begin
      Item := aqString.GetListItem(ItemString, i);
      Log.Message(Item);
    end
  end;

  C++Script, C#Script

  function Main()
  {
  var p, w, i, ComboBox, Item, ItemString, Del;
  
    // Run Notepad
    WshShell["Run"]("notepad.exe", SW_SHOWNORMAL);
    
    // Obtain a combo box object
    p = Sys["Process"]("NOTEPAD");
    Sys.Keys("~of");
    w = Sys["Process"]("NOTEPAD").Window("#32770", "Font", 1);
    ComboBox = w["Window"]("ComboBox", "", 5);
    
    // Obtain the list of items and the current delimiter
    ItemString = ComboBox["wItemList"];
    Del = ComboBox["wListSeparator"];
    aqString["ListSeparator"] = Del;
    
    // Extract particular items and post them to the log
    for (i=0; i<ComboBox["wItemCount"]; i++)
    {
      Item = aqString["GetListItem"](ItemString, i);
      Log["Message"](Item);
    }
  }

See Also

Working With Combo Box Controls in Desktop Windows Applications
wItem Property (ComboBox Controls)
wText Property (ComboBox Controls)
wItemList Property
wSelectedItem Property (Combo Box Controls)
wListSeparator Property
Working With Combo Box Controls in Web Applications