Locator Types for Mobile Objects
The following Locator Types are supported for Mobile Objects:
UiAutomator: This is a powerful framework for Android UI testing. If you are testing an Android app and the element you are trying to locate can be identified using a UiAutomator expression, this should be your preferred choose. For instance, if you're testing a music app and want to interact with the "Play" button, you might use a UiAutomator expression like new UiSelector().description("Play") to identify the button in your test.
ID: Just like with web testing, IDs should be your preferred choice for mobile testing as well, because they are unique within a page. For example, if you're testing a Login form in an app that has input fields for username and password, each with unique IDs, you can use the ID locator to identify these fields in your test.
Accessibility ID: This locator type is used to interact with elements that have an accessibility label. These labels are used by screen readers to help visually impaired users navigate the app. If the element you are trying to locate has an accessibility label, use it. For example, if a "Submit" button has an accessibility label "submit_button", you can use the Accessibility ID locator with "submit_button" to identify the button.
Class: This locator type is used to identify an element based on its class attribute. This should be your preferred choice when the element does not have a unique ID or name. For example, if you are testing an app that displays a list of items, and each item is represented by an element with the class "list-item", you can use the Class locator with "list-item" to identify these elements.
XPath: XPath provides the most flexibility and can select elements in ways that other locators cannot. However, XPath expressions can become complex and difficult to read. Use XPath when other locators are not an option, or when you need to select elements based on their content or their position in the document hierarchy. For instance, if you are testing a chat app and want to select the last message in a conversation, you might use an XPath like //android.widget.TextView[last()] to select the last text view element, which represents the last message.
The best locator often depends on the specific situation. It is also important to consider the maintainability of your tests. If the structure of the app is likely to change, it might be better to use a more flexible locator like XPath or UiAutomator, even if an ID or name is available.