Get Controls With No Text Contents

Applies to TestComplete 14.60, last modified on April 22, 2021

In your tests, you can use the optical character recognition (OCR) engine to identify tested UI elements by their text contents. However, you may face a situation where you need to simulate user actions on a UI element that does not have any text content by which it can be identified. For example, an empty text box or a memo field on an application form.

In this case, you can identify such UI elements by the text that is next to them. For instance, you can identify a text box by its label:

Identify text box controls by their labels

Click the image to enlarge it.

To do this, you get the text block that is next to the tested UI element, specify the target screen area, and simulate user actions over it.

In keyword tests

  1. Add an OCR Action operation to your test.

  2. Select the onscreen object or screen area that contains the needed UI element. Make sure the selected object or area also includes a text fragment by which you will identify your UI element.

    TestComplete will recognize all the text in the selected control or area.

  3. Select a text fragment:

    Select a text fragment near the target control

    Click the image to enlarge it.

  4. Select the action you want to simulate on your tested UI element:

    • ClickNextTo - To simulate a click (for desktop and web applications).

    • TouchNextTo - To simulate a touch (for mobile applications).

    • SendKeys - To simulate keyboard input.

    Select an action to simulate

    Click the image to enlarge it.

  5. Specify the position of the tested UI element relative to the selected text block:

    Specify a direction

    Click the image to enlarge it.

  6. Specify the distance between the area where you want to simulate user actions and the selected text block’s border:

    Specify the distance

    Click the image to enlarge it.

In script

  1. Get the onscreen object or screen area that contains the needed UI element. Make sure the selected object or area also includes the text fragment by which you will identify your UI element.

  2. Use the OCR.Recognize method to recognize the text within the object or screen area.

  3. Use the Block property or the BlockByText method to get the text fragment by which you want to identify your UI element.

  4. To simulate user actions on your UI element, call the appropriate method and specify the position of your tested UI element relative to the text fragment and the distance between them:

    • ClickNextTo - To simulate a click (for desktop and web applications).

    • TouchNextTo - To simulate a touch (for mobile applications).

    • SendKeys - To simulate keyboard input.

The example below shows how to simulate a click in a text box recognized by its label and then type text in the text box:

JavaScript, JScript
Python
VBScript
DelphiScript
C++Script, C#Script

JavaScript, JScript

function GetControlByNearbyText()
{
  // Recognize the text of the tested application's main window
  var wnd = Sys.Process("myApp").Window("Main");
  var obj = OCR.Recognize(wnd);

  // Find the "Customer Name" label
  var t = obj.BlockByText("Customer Name:");
  // Enter "John Smith" in the text box to the right of the found label
  t.ClickNextTo(toRight, 25);
  t.SendKeys("John Smith", toRight, 25);
  …
}

Python

def GetControlByNearbyText():
  # Recognize the text in the tested application
  wnd = Sys.Process("myApp").Window("Main")
  obj = OCR.Recognize(wnd)

  # Find the "Customer Name" label
  t = obj.BlockByText("Customer Name:")
  # Enter the text to the text box to the right of the found label
  t.ClickNextTo(toRight, 25)
  t.SendKeys("John Smith", toRight, 25)

VBScript

Sub GetControlByNearbyText
  ' Recognize the text of the tested application's main window
  Set wnd = Sys.Process("myApp").Window("Main")
  Set obj = OCR.Recognize(wnd)

  ' Find the "Customer Name" label
  Set t = obj.BlockByText("Customer Name:")
  ' Enter "John Smith" in the text box to the right of the found label
  Call t.ClickNextTo(toRight, 25)
  Call t.SendKeys("John Smith", toRight, 25)
  …
End Sub

DelphiScript

procedure GetControlByNearbyText();
var wnd, obj, t;
begin
  // Recognize the text of the tested application's main window
  wnd := Sys.Process('myApp').Window('Main');
  obj := OCR.Recognize(wnd);

  // Find the 'Customer Name' label
  t := obj.BlockByText('Customer Name:');
  // Enter "John Smith" in the text box to the right of the found label
  t.ClickNextTo(toRight, 25);
  t.SendKeys('John Smith', toRight, 25);
  …
end;

C++Script, C#Script

function GetControlByNearbyText()
{
  // Recognize the text of the tested application's main window
  var wnd = Sys["Process"]("myApp")["Window"]("Main");
  var obj = OCR["Recognize"](wnd);

  // Find the "Customer Name" label
  var t = obj["BlockByText"]("Customer Name:");
  // Enter "John Smith" in the text box to the right of the found label
  t["ClickNextTo"](toRight, 25);
  t["SendKeys"]("John Smith", toRight, 25);
  …
}

The following example demonstrates how to simulate a touch on a text box recognized by its label in a mobile application and then type text in the text box:

JavaScript, JScript
Python
VBScript
DelphiScript
C++Script, C#Script

JavaScript, JScript

function GetControlByNearbyText_Mobile()
  {
  // Recognize the text of the tested application's main window
  var p = Mobile.Device("MyDevice").Process("smartbear.tctests.myapp").RootLayout("").Layout("layoutTop").WebView("webview").Page("*test*.html");
  var obj = OCR.Recognize(p);

  // Find the "Customer Name" label
  var t = obj.BlockByText("Customer Name:");
  // Enter "John Smith" in the text box to the right of the found label
  t.TouchNextTo(toRight, 25);
  t.SendKeys("John Smith", toRight, 25);
  …

}

Python

def GetControlByNearbyText_Mobile():
  # Recognize the text in the tested application
  p = Mobile.Device("MyDevice").Process("smartbear.tctests.myapp").RootLayout("").Layout("layoutTop").WebView("webview").Page("*test*.html")
  obj = OCR.Recognize(p)

  # Find the "Customer Name" label
  t = obj.BlockByText("Customer Name:")
  # Enter the text to the text box to the right of the found label
  t.TouchNextTo(toRight, 25)
  t.SendKeys("John Smith", toRight, 25)

VBScript

Sub GetControlByNearbyText_Mobile()
  ' Recognize the text of the tested application's main window
  Set p = Mobile.Device("MyDevice").Process("smartbear.tctests.myapp").RootLayout("").Layout("layoutTop").WebView("webview").Page("*test*.html")
  Set obj = OCR.Recognize(p)

  ' Find the "Customer Name" label
  Set t = obj.BlockByText("Customer Name:")
  ' Enter "John Smith" in the text box to the right of the found label
  Call t.TouchNextTo(toRight, 25)
  Call t.SendKeys("John Smith", toRight, 25)
  …

End Sub

DelphiScript

procedure GetControlByNearbyText_Mobile();
var p, obj, t;
  begin
  // Recognize the text of the tested application's main window
  p := Mobile.Device('MyDevice').Process('smartbear.tctests.myapp').RootLayout('').Layout('layoutTop').WebView('webview').Page('*test*.html');
  obj := OCR.Recognize(p);

  // Find the "Customer Name" label
  t := obj.BlockByText('Customer Name:');
  // Enter "John Smith" in the text box to the right of the found label
  t.TouchNextTo(toRight, 25);
  t.SendKeys('John Smith', toRight, 25);
  …

end;

C++Script, C#Script

function GetControlByNearbyText_Mobile()
  {
  // Recognize the text of the tested application's main window
  var p = Mobile["Device"]("MyDevice")["Process"]("smartbear.tctests.myapp")["RootLayout"]("")["Layout"]("layoutTop")["WebView"]("webview")["Page"]("*test*.html");
  var obj = OCR["Recognize"](p);

  // Find the "Customer Name" label
  var t = obj["BlockByText"]("Customer Name:");
  // Enter "John Smith" in the text box to the right of the found label
  t["TouchNextTo"](toRight, 25);
  t["SendKeys"]("John Smith", toRight, 25);
  …

}

See Also

Get Text Block by Position
Get Text Blocks by Custom Conditions
Object Identification

Highlight search results