Simulate User Actions

Applies to TestComplete 15.10, last modified on December 15, 2021

In TestComplete, you can use optical character recognition to find a screen area by the text it shows and simulate user actions on that area (for example, click it).

In keyword tests

Use the OCR Action operation to locate the screen area that contains specific text and then simulate user actions over that area or over nearby areas:

Simulate OCR-based user actions in keyword tests

  1. Add the operation to your test.

  2. Select the onscreen object on which you want to simulate user actions. TestComplete will recognize all the text in that object.

    The selected object must exist in your system and must be visible on screen.

    Note: To specify an object in a mobile application, you can select it in the Mobile Screen window. Both the application under test, and the mobile device where the application is running must be prepared for testing in order for TestComplete to be able to access them.
    To get the entire screen of your mobile device, you can use the Mobile.Device.Desktop property.

  3. Select the needed text fragment. If there are several fragments that contain text, specify the one you need:

    Using OCR in TestComplete keyword tests: Selecting a text fragment

  4. To simulate a user action over the screen area that contains the fragment, select the appropriate method:

    Using OCR in TestComplete keyword tests: Selecting a method to simulate

  5. Specify method parameters, if needed.

  6. To simulate a mouse click (or a touch) over the area next to the text fragment, select the ClickNextTo (or TouchNextTo) method. To simulate keyboard input in the area next to the text fragment, select the SendKeys method. Specify the target area location:

    Using OCR in TestComplete keyword tests: Simulating a click over a nearby area

In scripts

  1. Use the OCR.Recognize method to recognize the text the object or screen area contains.

  2. Use the Block or BlockByText property to get the area that contains a specific text fragment.

  3. To simulate user actions over the screen area that contains the text fragment, call the appropriate method. For example:

    JavaScript, JScript
    Python
    VBScript
    DelphiScript
    C#Script

    JavaScript, JScript

    OCR.Recognize(Aliases.myApp.wndForm).BlockByText("*clock*", spLargest).Click();

    Python

    OCR.Recognize(Aliases.myApp.wndForm).BlockByText("*clock*", spLargest).Click()

    VBScript

    Call OCR.Recognize(Aliases.myApp.wndForm).BlockByText("*clock*", spLargest).Click

    DelphiScript

    OCR.Recognize(Aliases.myApp.wndForm).BlockByText('*clock*', spLargest).Click;

    C#Script

    OCR.Recognize(Aliases["myApp"]["wndForm"])["BlockByText"]("*clock*", spLargest)["Click"]();

  4. To simulate a click (or a touch) over the screen area next to the area that contains the text fragment, call the ClickNextTo (or TouchNextTo) method and specify the target area location. For example:

    JavaScript, JScript
    Python
    VBScript
    DelphiScript
    C#Script

    JavaScript, JScript

    OCR.Recognize(Aliases.myApp.wndForm).BlockByText("*clock*", spLargest).ClickNextTo(toRight, 15);

    Python

    OCR.Recognize(Aliases.myApp.wndForm).BlockByText("*clock*", spLargest).ClickNextTo(toRight, 15)

    VBScript

    Call OCR.Recognize(Aliases.myApp.wndForm).BlockByText("*clock*", spLargest).ClickNextTo(toRight, 15)

    DelphiScript

    OCR.Recognize(Aliases.myApp.wndForm).BlockByText('*clock*', spLargest).ClickNextTo(toRight, 15);

    C#Script

    OCR.Recognize(Aliases["myApp"]["wndForm"])["BlockByText"]("*clock*", spLargest)["ClickNextTo"](toRight, 15);

    To simulate keyboard input in the screen area next to the text fragment, call the SendKeys method and specify the keys to be pressed and the target area location. For example:

    JavaScript, JScript
    Python
    VBScript
    DelphiScript
    C#Script

    JavaScript, JScript

    OCR.Recognize(Aliases.myApp.wndForm).BlockByText("*item*", spLargest).SendKeys("test", toRight, 15);

    Python

    OCR.Recognize(Aliases.myApp.wndForm).BlockByText("*item*", spLargest).SendKeys("test", toRight, 15)

    VBScript

    Call OCR.Recognize(Aliases.myApp.wndForm).BlockByText("*item*", spLargest).SendKeys("test", toRight, 15)

    DelphiScript

    OCR.Recognize(Aliases.myApp.wndForm).BlockByText('*item*', spLargest).SendKeys('test', toRight, 15);

    C#Script

    OCR.Recognize(Aliases["myApp"]["wndForm"])["BlockByText"]("*item*", spLargest)["SendKeys"]("test", toRight, 15);

Supported user actions

On on-screen areas that TestComplete recognizes by their text contents, you can simulate the following user actions:

In Desktop and Web Applications

  • Clicks and double-clicks:

    By default, these methods simulate clicks at the center of the specified screen area. To simulate clicks at a specific point of the area, call the methods with appropriate parameters.

    ClickNextTo

    This method simulates a click at the point located at the specified distance to the left, to the right, at the top or at the bottom of the recognized text block.

  • Hover mouse:

    Hover

  • Drag:

In Mobile Applications

  • Touches and long touches:

    Touch

    LongTouch
    Note: On Android devices, the HoldDuration parameter of the method is not supported and will be ignored.

    By default, these methods simulate touches at the center of the specified area. To simulate clicks at a specific point of the area, call the methods with the appropriate parameters.

    TouchNextTo

    This method simulates a touch at the point located at the specified distance to the left, to the right, at the top or at the bottom of the recognized text block.

  • Drag:

    Drag

In All Applications

  • Keyboard Input:

    SendKeys

    This method simulates keyboard input in the screen area located at the specified distance to the left, to the right, at the top or at the bottom of the recognized text block.

See Also

Optical Character Recognition
About Optical Character Recognition
Mobile Screen Window
Selecting an Object on the Mobile Screen (Android Testing)
Select an Object on the Mobile Screen (iOS Testing)

Highlight search results