Simulating Basic Touch Actions Over Android Devices (Legacy)

Applies to TestComplete 15.48, last modified on March 01, 2023
The information below concerns legacy mobile tests that work with mobile devices connected to the local computer. For new mobile tests, we recommend using the newer cloud-compatible approach.

The basic gestures supported by Android devices include (but not limited by) the following touch actions: Touch, Long press, Swipe, Drag, Double touch, Pinch open and Pinch close. (See Android Developer Guide: Gestures.)

This topic explains how to simulate actions over the Android device screen.

Basic Concepts

To access your mobile devices (real or virtual) from tests, you use the Device object. For the object, TestComplete provides a number of methods you can use to simulate various actions over your device:

  • Touch actions - Every object in Android applications can be touched (or “clicked”). You can perform a touch action at specific screen coordinates by calling the Touch method.

  • Long press actions - Long press actions enable the data selection mode. TestComplete provides a TouchAndHold method you can use to long press at specific screen coordinates.

  • Double-touch actions - To perform double-touch actions at specific screen coordinates in Android applications, use the DoubleTouch method.

  • Swipe actions - Swipe actions are used to scroll through the content or navigate between screens, windows and views. To perform a swipe action, you can call the Swipe method.

  • Drag actions - Drag actions are used to move items within containers. To perform a drag action, you can use the Drag method.

  • Other touch actions - The Pinch close and Pinch open actions, as well as any other types of touch actions, can be recorded and simulated as gestures. For detailed information on recording gestures, see Recording Gestures (Multi-Touch Events) (Legacy).

  • Actions over physical buttons - To simulate pressing device buttons (Home, Back, and others), see Simulating Physical Button Events (Legacy).

Simulating Touch Actions in Keyword Tests

To simulate a touch at specific screen coordinates from keyword tests, use the Device Touch operation:

Simulating a touch at the specific point of the device screen

To simulate long press, swipe and drag actions in keyword tests, call the appropriate methods of the Device object by using the Call Object Method, Run Code Snippet or Run Script Routine operations.

Note: These operations are asynchronous. This means that TestComplete does not pause the test when they are executed. For more information, see Possible Issues.

Simulating Touch Actions in Scripts

To touch at specific screen coordinates from scripts, use the Device.Touch method.

JavaScript, JScript
Python
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JavaScript, JScript

Mobile.Device().Touch(25, 70);

Python

Mobile.Device().Touch(25, 70)

VBScript

Call Mobile.Device.Touch(25, 70)

DelphiScript

Mobile.Device.Touch(25, 70);

C++Script, C#Script

Mobile["Device"]["Touch"](25, 70);

To perform a long press at specific screen coordinates for the specified period of time, use the Device.TouchAndHold method.

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JavaScript, JScript

Mobile.Device().TouchAndHold(250, 270, 2500);

Python

Mobile.Device().TouchAndHold(250, 270, 2500)

VBScript

Call Mobile.Device.TouchAndHold(250, 270, 2500)

DelphiScript

Mobile.Device.TouchAndHold(250, 270, 2500);

C++Script, C#Script

Mobile["Device"]["TouchAndHold"](250, 270, 2500);

To perform a double touch at specific screen coordinates from scripts, use the Device.DoubleTouch method.

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JavaScript, JScript

Mobile.Device().DoubleTouch(55, 55);

Python

Mobile.Device().DoubleTouch(55, 55)

VBScript

Call Mobile.Device.DoubleTouch(55, 55)

DelphiScript

Mobile.Device.DoubleTouch(55, 55);

C++Script, C#Script

Mobile["Device"]["DoubleTouch"](55, 55);

Use the Device.Swipe scripting method to simulate swipe actions from your scripts.

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JavaScript, JScript

Mobile.Device().Swipe(650, 100, 600, 500, 10, 50);

Python

Mobile.Device().Swipe(650, 100, 600, 500, 10, 50)

VBScript

Call Mobile.Device.Swipe(650, 100, 600, 500, 10, 50)

DelphiScript

Mobile.Device.Swipe(650, 100, 600, 500, 10, 50);

C++Script, C#Script

Mobile["Device"]["Swipe"](650, 100, 600, 500, 10, 50);

Use the Device.Drag scripting method to simulate dragging in your scripts.

JavaScript, JScript
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JavaScript, JScript

Mobile.Device().Drag(50, 70, 300, 150, 500);

Python

Mobile.Device().Drag(50, 70, 300, 150, 500)

VBScript

Call Mobile.Device.Drag(50, 70, 300, 150, 500)

DelphiScript

Mobile.Device.Drag(50, 70, 300, 150, 500);

C++Script, C#Script

Mobile["Device"]["Drag"](50, 70, 300, 150, 500);

Note: These methods are asynchronous. This means that TestComplete does not pause the test when they are executed. For more information, see Possible Issues.

Simulating Custom Actions

In your tests, you may need to simulate arbitrary actions that cannot be performed with any of the methods and operations described above. For example, you may need to "draw" a custom shape on the device’s screen with a fingertip.

You can simulate custom actions using the following TestComplete scripting methods:

Using these methods, you can create custom actions or simulate standard actions, such as Drag, Touch, Long Press and others.

Below are some script examples that demonstrate how to use these methods to simulate Android actions. If you want to simulate these actions from keyword tests, use the Run Code Snippet operation or create several Call Object Method operations that invoke the needed methods one after another.

  • Example 1

    To simulate a custom drag action, call the Device.TouchPress and Device.TouchRelease methods one after another. Emulate the Press event at the current position of the item to be dragged, and then call the Release event at the destination coordinates.

    JavaScript, JScript
    Python
    VBScript
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    JavaScript, JScript

    Mobile.Device().TouchPress(50, 70);
    Mobile.Device().TouchRelease(300, 150);

    Python

    Mobile.Device().TouchPress(50, 70)
    Mobile.Device().TouchRelease(300, 150)

    VBScript

    Call Mobile.Device.TouchPress(50, 70)
    Call Mobile.Device.TouchRelease(300, 150)

    DelphiScript

    Mobile.Device.TouchPress(50, 70);
    Mobile.Device.TouchRelease(300, 150);

    C++Script, C#Script

    Mobile["Device"]["TouchPress"](50, 70);
    Mobile["Device"]["TouchRelease"](300, 150);

    Note that the X and Y parameters of the TouchPress and TouchRelease methods are dissimilar.

  • Example 2

    To simulate custom long press actions, call the Device.TouchPress, Delay and Device.TouchRelease scripting methods one after another.

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    JavaScript, JScript

    Mobile.Device().TouchPress(250, 270);
    Delay(200);
    Mobile.Device().TouchRelease(250, 270);

    Python

    Mobile.Device().TouchPress(250, 270)
    Delay(200)
    Mobile.Device().TouchRelease(250, 270)

    VBScript

    Call Mobile.Device.TouchPress(250, 270)
    Call Delay(200)
    Call Mobile.Device.TouchRelease(250, 270)

    DelphiScript

    Mobile.Device.TouchPress(250, 270);
    Delay(200);
    Mobile.Device.TouchRelease(250, 270);

    C++Script, C#Script

    Mobile["Device"]["TouchPress"](250, 270);
    Delay(200);
    Mobile["Device"]["TouchRelease"](250, 270);

    Note that the TouchPress() and TouchRelease() methods should have the same values of the X and Y parameters.

  • Example 3

    To simulate custom shape actions, call Device.TouchPress, several Device.Move methods and then Device.TouchRelease.

    JavaScript, JScript
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    VBScript
    DelphiScript
    C++Script, C#Script
    Copy Code

    JavaScript, JScript

    Mobile.Device().TouchPress(250, 270);
    Mobile.Device().Move(270, 270);
    Mobile.Device().Move(290, 290);
    Mobile.Device().Move(240, 240);
    Mobile.Device().TouchRelease(240, 240);

    Python

    Mobile.Device().TouchPress(250, 270)
    Mobile.Device().Move(270, 270)
    Mobile.Device().Move(290, 290)
    Mobile.Device().Move(240, 240)
    Mobile.Device().TouchRelease(240, 240)

    VBScript

    Call Mobile.Device.TouchPress(250, 270)
    Call Mobile.Device.Move(270, 270)
    Call Mobile.Device.Move(290, 290)
    Call Mobile.Device.Move(240, 240)
    Call Mobile.Device.TouchRelease(240, 240)

    DelphiScript

    Mobile.Device.TouchPress(250, 270);
    Mobile.Device.Move(270, 270);
    Mobile.Device.Move(290, 290);
    Mobile.Device.Move(240, 240);
    Mobile.Device.TouchRelease(240, 240);

    C++Script, C#Script

    Mobile["Device"]["TouchPress"](250, 270);
    Mobile["Device"]["Move"](270, 270);
    Mobile["Device"]["Move"](290, 290);
    Mobile["Device"]["Move"](240, 240);
    Mobile["Device"]["TouchRelease"](240, 240);

See Also

Simulating User Actions Over Android Devices (Legacy)
Simulating Text Input on Android Devices (Legacy)
Simulating Basic Touch Actions Over Android Open Applications (Legacy)
Simulating Basic User Actions in Image-Based Tests
Simulating Physical Button Events (Legacy)

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