Handling 'There was an attempt to perform an action at point...' Errors

Applies to TestComplete 15.62, last modified on March 19, 2024

This topic explains how to diagnose and resolve the “There was an attempt to perform an action at point (X, Y) ... ” errors that occur during the test run.

About the Error Message

The test engine posts this message to the test log when the action that you want to perform at a specific point fails because the test engine cannot access that point. The message indicates that something has changed in the application under test and its state differs from the state it was in while the test was being created or recorded.

Diagnosing the Problem

  1. Find the first error message in the test log. Depending on the command being executed, TestComplete may post several error messages to the log. This happens due to certain specifics of the test and script engines functioning (the script engine is used even when you run keyword tests, not scripts). Typically, the first error message corresponds to the problematic command and further errors are caused by this first error. The instructions in this topic assume that the first error message is “There was an attempt to perform an action at point (X, Y)...”.

  2. Activate the Details panel of the generic test log page. The panel may contain additional information on the error: for example, the name of the control to which the target point belongs, the window size, the top left corner and bottom right corner coordinates and the screen coordinates of the target point.

  3. To better understand what test command was executed when the error occurred, double-click the error message in the test log. TestComplete will open your test for editing and automatically highlight the line that was executing when the error occurred.

  4. Explore properties of the desired objects, find the cause of the problem and fix it. See below for details.

Exploring Properties

In order for you to be able to explore the object, the tested application must be running. If the application was terminated after the test is over, run it again and pause the run on the problematic test line. To do this:

  • Set a breakpoint on the line that was executed when the error occurred.

    If you have not opened the test for editing yet: double-click the error message in the test log. TestComplete will open your test for editing and highlight the line that was executed when the error occurred.

    To set the breakpoint, simply click the editor’s gutter next to the line, or press F9. After the breakpoint was set, the line will be highlighted with red.

  • Run your test. The test engine will automatically pause the test execution when it reaches the breakpoint.

For more information on breakpoints and debugging, see Debugging Tests.

Now you can explore the application under test:

  • If you are testing a mobile application, open the Mobile Screen window. To do this, click Show Mobile Screen on the TestComplete Test Engine toolbar.

  • Select Display Object Spy from the Tools toolbar. This will invoke the Object Spy window.

  • Use the Object Spy window to select the desired object on screen or in the Mobile Screen window. To do this, drag the target glyph () to that object. While dragging, TestComplete will highlight objects under the mouse cursor with the red frame. Release the mouse button when the cursor is over the desired window or control and TestComplete highlights this window or control with the red frame. The Object Spy window will display the object’s properties.

    If you need to select a popup object like a hint or a menu item, then you should use another selection mode: click in the Object Spy window and perform the actions needed to display the desired object on screen or in the Mobile Screen window. When the object is visible, hover the mouse over it and press Shift+Ctrl+A to “fix” the object (the shortcut can be changed in TestComplete options). The Object Spy window will display the object’s properties.

  • Click Highlight Object in Object Tree. This will select object in the TestComplete Object Browser panel.

Possible Causes of the Problem

Below are typical causes of the problem and typical ways to eliminate them.

Inappropriate coordinates of the specified point at which you perform an action.

The specified point belongs to a transparent area of the object.

The specified point is overlapped by another control or window.

The object’s identification properties are not valid.

TestComplete and a tested application have different privilege levels.

See Also

Other "Object Not Found" Errors
Name Mapping
Object Browser Naming Notation
About Object Browser

Highlight search results