flaui / flauinspect

Inspect tool to inspect UIs from an automation perspective

FlaUInspect

Build

What	Info / Link
Build
FlaUInspect	choco install flauinspect
CI Artefacts	FlauInspect CI

Installation

To install FlaUInspect, either build it yourself, get it from chocolatey (https://community.chocolatey.org/packages/flauinspect) or get the zip from the releases page here on GitHub.

Description

There are various tools around which help inspecting application that should be ui tested or automated. Some of them are:

• VisualUIAVerify
• Inspect
• UISpy
• and probably others Most of them are old and sometimes not very stable and (if open source), a code mess to maintain.

FlaUInspect is supposed to be a modern alternative, based on FlaUI.

On startup, you can choose if you want to use UIA2 or UIA3 (see FAQ why you can't use both at the same time).

Choose Version Dialog

Main Screen

In the Mode menu, you can choose a few different options:

Mode	Description
Hover Mode	Enable this mode to select the item the mouse is over immediately in FlaUInspect when control is pressed
Focus Tracking	Enable this mode that the focused element is always automatically selected in FlaUInspect
Show XPath	Enable this option to show a simple XPath to the current selected element in the StatusBar of FlaUInspect

flauinspect's Issues

AutomationId property displays the name of the item if there is no AutomationId set

I am seeing some odd behavior with FlaUInspect. I have an element I am trying to find, it has a name of "listView" but there is no AutomationId set for it. When I look at this item in FlaUInspect, it says the AutomationId is "listView" and the name property is blank. If I set an AutomationId for the element, the correct AutomationId shows up, but name looks like it is still blank. The element is using x:Name to set the name.

I am not sure if this actually impacts grabbing the element with FlaUI. I specified an AutomationId of "listView" and I got back an element, but it was a different element and I didn't dig into it to see exactly which element was being returned and if that element did in fact have "listView" as it's AutomationId.

Application Unresponsive

The Application often becomes very unresponsive in Focus Tracking mode, or even just expanding the Desktop initial Pane, taking seconds or even minutes to do anything. This happens in both modes UIA2 and UIA3.

I finally gave up and closed it.

Feature request for xpath of an Internet explorer element

I can see the desktop tree structure been generated. Can we have something so that we can extract the DOM tree or the xpath of an element in internet explorer.?

Inspector crash

While working with FlaUInspector we experience a lot of crashes when Hover Mode is enabled. Mainly related to writing code while as CTRL is used a lot.

One of the errors I got looked like this
An event was unable to invoke any of the subscribers (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80040201)
at Interop.UIAutomationClient.CUIAutomation8Class.CompareElements(IUIAutomationElement el1, IUIAutomationElement el2)
at FlaUI.UIA3.UIA3Automation.Compare(AutomationElement element1, AutomationElement element2)
at FlaUI.Core.AutomationElements.AutomationElement.Equals(AutomationElement other)
at FlaUInspect.ViewModels.MainViewModel.<>c__DisplayClass44_0.b__0(ElementViewModel child) in C:\GIT\Repositories\FlaUInspect\src\FlaUInspect\ViewModels\MainViewModel.cs:line 198
at System.Linq.Enumerable.FirstOrDefault[TSource](IEnumerable1 source, Func2 predicate)
at FlaUInspect.ViewModels.MainViewModel.FindElement(ElementViewModel parent, AutomationElement element) in C:\GIT\Repositories\FlaUInspect\src\FlaUInspect\ViewModels\MainViewModel.cs:line 198
at FlaUInspect.ViewModels.MainViewModel.ElementToSelectChanged(AutomationElement obj) in C:\GIT\Repositories\FlaUInspect\src\FlaUInspect\ViewModels\MainViewModel.cs:line 172
at FlaUInspect.Core.HoverMode.DispatcherTimerTick(Object sender, EventArgs e) in C:\GIT\Repositories\FlaUInspect\src\FlaUInspect\Core\HoverMode.cs:line 56
at System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherTimer.FireTick(Object unused)
at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.InternalRealCall(Delegate callback, Object args, Int32 numArgs)
at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.TryCatchWhen(Object source, Delegate callback, Object args, Int32 numArgs, Delegate catchHandler)
at System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherOperation.InvokeImpl()
at System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherOperation.InvokeInSecurityContext(Object state)
at MS.Internal.CulturePreservingExecutionContext.CallbackWrapper(Object obj)
at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.RunInternal(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state, Boolean preserveSyncCtx)
at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state, Boolean preserveSyncCtx)
at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state)
at MS.Internal.CulturePreservingExecutionContext.Run(CulturePreservingExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state)
at System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherOperation.Invoke()
at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.ProcessQueue()
at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.WndProcHook(IntPtr hwnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam, Boolean& handled)
at MS.Win32.HwndWrapper.WndProc(IntPtr hwnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam, Boolean& handled)
at MS.Win32.HwndSubclass.DispatcherCallbackOperation(Object o)
at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.InternalRealCall(Delegate callback, Object args, Int32 numArgs)
at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.TryCatchWhen(Object source, Delegate callback, Object args, Int32 numArgs, Delegate catchHandler)
at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.LegacyInvokeImpl(DispatcherPriority priority, TimeSpan timeout, Delegate method, Object args, Int32 numArgs)
at MS.Win32.HwndSubclass.SubclassWndProc(IntPtr hwnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam)
at MS.Win32.UnsafeNativeMethods.DispatchMessage(MSG& msg)
at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.PushFrameImpl(DispatcherFrame frame)
at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.PushFrame(DispatcherFrame frame)
at System.Windows.Application.RunDispatcher(Object ignore)
at System.Windows.Application.RunInternal(Window window)
at System.Windows.Application.Run(Window window)
at System.Windows.Application.Run()
at FlaUInspect.App.Main()

We also get a crash, if we select an item in the inspector, that is no longer present in the UI, like from a closed dropdown curtain.

My quesiton is, do anyone have an good suggestions or ideas on how to best solve these crashes? Other than remembering to turn off tracking after each use :).
Some crashes are due to a cached element not being there anymore and I was thinking about catching that and send back an empty AutomationElement. Then the UI would be void of property values, indicating to the user (s)he needs to refresh.

Build error

When i run code with visual, it show some error:

Error CS0104 'AutomationElement' is an ambiguous reference between 'System.Windows.Automation.AutomationElement' and 'FlaUI.Core.AutomationElements.AutomationElement' FlaUInspect D:\XXX\FlaUInspect-master\FlaUInspect-master\src\FlaUInspect\ViewModels\ElementViewModel.cs 23

Error CS0104 'ControlType' is an ambiguous reference between 'System.Windows.Automation.ControlType' and 'FlaUI.Core.Definitions.ControlType' FlaUInspect D:\XXX\FlaUInspect-master\FlaUInspect-master\src\FlaUInspect\ViewModels\ElementViewModel.cs 81

I don't know exactly where reference

Feature Request for similar ability as UISpy.exe Query Window

FlaUInspect (UIA2) Wrong detection of TabItems with .net6

After the migration of a winforms application from .net4.8 to .net6 we have many FlaUI tests failing. After analysis, we found out that the TabItems are not identified correctly in .net6. We could also reproduce this behavior with .net8

We were able to reproduce the issue with FlaUInspect with a minimal application (attached).
WinForms.zip

Unable to find component information.

Unable to find component information. May I ask how to read the data on the Table

Instructions Not Clear

Please Update the readme.md to include information that you can get this lovely tool through Chocolatey, I spent literal hours trying to download this and compile on my own only to realise I somehow skipped .NET 4.7.1 and couldn't install it and tried to compile it myself. I Even looked at Cake and so on. It'd be a literal godsend to future users if you could add this little bit of information.

Install Chocolatey here using your Windows Powershell:
https://chocolatey.org/install

Then in cmd or Power shell do:
"choco install flauinspect"

can be run in cmd by just typing:
"flauinspect"

or by going to the chocolatey install folder and locating the .exe there.

FlaUInspect (UIA3) doesn't see some windows

It seems FlaUInspect (in UIA3 mode) may ignore some top-level windows.
Here is the case with RogueKiller Anti-Malware (Free) 15.12.0.0 64 bits when it runs in Windows 11:

Window class name: Qt5152QWindowIcon
Probably it is an issue in the underlying library FlaUI.

Support for TechnologyName property

Is it possible to show the TechnologyName property for the elements?
See a screenshot by DevExpress

For all common controls/elements there should be "MSAA" or "Web" or "UIA".

This is required in order to validate whether third party extensions for UIA (such as from DevExpress) are loaded.

Can't build FlaUInspect

Hi,

Sorry if I'm missing something obvious, but I can't build FlaUInspect.

The errors are:

Severity	Code	Description	Project	File	Line	Suppression State
Error	CS1003	Syntax error, ',' expected	FlaUInspect	E:\projects\Misc\FlaUInspect\src\FlaUInspect\ViewModels\ElementViewModel.cs	77	Active
Error	CS0206	A property or indexer may not be passed as an out or ref parameter	FlaUInspect	E:\projects\Misc\FlaUInspect\src\FlaUInspect\ViewModels\ElementViewModel.cs	77	Active
Error	CS0103	The name 'value' does not exist in the current context	FlaUInspect	E:\projects\Misc\FlaUInspect\src\FlaUInspect\ViewModels\ElementViewModel.cs	77	Active
Error	CS0103	The name 'value' does not exist in the current context	FlaUInspect	E:\projects\Misc\FlaUInspect\src\FlaUInspect\ViewModels\ElementViewModel.cs	77	Active

The offending line of code is:

public ControlType ControlType => AutomationElement.Properties.ControlType.TryGetValue(out ControlType value) ? value : ControlType.Custom;

Specifically, it's about out ControlType value.

I haven't been programming in C# for some time, so I'm not up-to-date with the syntax, and am only superficially familiar with the =>-notation. So again, sorry if I'm missing something obvious.

Can you help?

Thanks, regards, Miel.

Prefer32Bit should be false

The <Prefer32Bit> flag in FlaUIInspect.csproj is left at default (true) in release mode (and curiously set to true in Debug mode).

If the "standard scenario" is to inspect x64 applications when on 64bit Windows, the flag would be better set to false so FlaUIInspect starts as x64.

Since there are some known issues inspecting x64 apps with FlaUIInspect running as x86, and the Choclatey build is using AnyCPU+Prefer32Bit so it's running x86, users will often have to compile themselves to avoid that issue.

Happy to submit a PR for this if this sounds like a good change.

UI elements no longer detectable after navigation

Hi.

We have experienced, that clearly detectable UI elements suddenly are no longer detectable after performing some navigation forth and back. The team have not been able to explain why, but have created a small app that easily reproduces the problem.

To reproduce, start the attached solution. Verify you can track the "Test FlaUI" in the data table.
Click the top "TestFlaUI" button in the data grid then click "Back". Do this twice.
Refresh the Inspector.
Track the "TestFlaUI" button.

Nothing is visible under the Tab page and no amount of refreshing the Inspector will make them visible.
If you only do the navigation once and refresh, then the button is trackable, it only breaks on the 2nd navigation. You can keep on tracking the UI element as long as you only do the navigation once between Inspector refreshes...

Hope you can help me figure out why the Inspector breaks.

Best regards
Thor
FlaUI_DataGridButtons.zip

Feature Request for Refresh Button

Allow Raw-Walking with FlaUInspect

Currently, FlaUInspect supports only viewing control elements. Rewrite it so that it uses the TreeWalker and allow switching the TreeWalker to Raw or Content.

An error occurs when running on a Windows 7

Will this be made available on nuget?

Handle some runtime exceptions which appear during interaction with Telerik WPF based apps

Two exceptions were observed:

1. \src\FlaUInspect\Core\HoverMode.cs, line 43:
   var hoveredElement = _automation.FromPoint(screenPos);

System.IO.FileNotFoundException
  HResult=0x80070002
  Message=The system cannot find the file specified. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070002)

2. \src\FlaUInspect\ViewModels\ElementViewModel.cs, line 298:
   var foreColor = (int)pattern.DocumentRange.GetAttributeValue(TextAttributes.ForegroundColor);

System.InvalidCastException
  HResult=0x80004002
  Message=Specified cast is not valid.
  Source=FlaUInspect
  StackTrace:
   at FlaUInspect.ViewModels.ElementViewModel.LoadDetails() in <FlaUInspect>\src\FlaUInspect\ViewModels\ElementViewModel.cs:line 298