Locators and Object Identification in Katalon Studio

Locator Strategies for detecting a mobile object

Before version 7.6, Katalon Studio only supports the Attributes Selection Method that allows selecting an object’s properties to generate its selector. The generated selector can be XPATH selector or in some cases, Android UiSelector. From 7.6, Katalon Studio fully supports selector strategies supported by Appium except for Android Data Matcher, including:

1. Accessibility ID: it is the accessibility-id attribute of an object for XCUITest, and the content-desc attribute of an object for Android .

   
   
   

2. Class name: for IOS it is the full name of the XCUI element and starts with XCUIElementType; for Android it is the full name of the UIAutomator2 class (e.g.: android.widget.TextView)

   
   
   

3. ID: native element identifier: resource-id for android; name for iOS.

   
   
   

4. Name

   
   
   

5. XPath (not recommended due to performance issues)

   
   
   

6. Image: Locate an object by matching its image with a Base64 file

   Prerequisites:

   • Set up Image-based Testing for Mobile
   • An active Katalon Studio Enterprise license

   The element's image:
   
   

   The Base64-encoded string:

   
   
   

7. Android UiAutomator

   
   
   

8. Android View Tag

   
   
   

9. iOS Predicate String

   You can learn more about locating an object by iOS Predicate String in the Appium document: Locate an object by iOS Predicate String.

   
   
   

10. iOS Class Chain

    You can learn more about locating an object by iOS Class Chain in the Appium document: Locate an object by iOS Class Chain.

    
    
    

11. Custom

    You can learn more about locating elements by custom strategy in the Appium document: Using Element Plugins.

    
    
    

In Script View

1. Accessibility ID

   import static com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.ObjectRepository.findTestObject
   import com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.MobileTestObject
   import com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.MobileTestObject.MobileLocatorStrategy
   
   MobileTestObject mobileObject = findTestObject("Object Repository/New Mobile Object")
   mobileObject.setMobileLocatorStrategy(MobileLocatorStrategy.ACCESSIBILITY)
   mobileObject.setMobileLocator("ImageView")
2. Class name

   import static com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.ObjectRepository.findTestObject
   import com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.MobileTestObject
   import com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.MobileTestObject.MobileLocatorStrategy
   
   MobileTestObject mobileObject = findTestObject("Object Repository/New Mobile Object")
   mobileObject.setMobileLocatorStrategy(MobileLocatorStrategy.CLASS_NAME)
   mobileObject.setMobileLocator("General")
3. ID

   import static com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.ObjectRepository.findTestObject
   import com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.MobileTestObject
   import com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.MobileTestObject.MobileLocatorStrategy
   
   MobileTestObject mobileObject = findTestObject("Object Repository/New Mobile Object")
   mobileObject.setMobileLocatorStrategy(MobileLocatorStrategy.ID)
   mobileObject.setMobileLocator("General")
4. Name

   import static com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.ObjectRepository.findTestObject
   import com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.MobileTestObject
   import com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.MobileTestObject.MobileLocatorStrategy
   
   MobileTestObject mobileObject = findTestObject("Object Repository/New Mobile Object")
   mobileObject.setMobileLocatorStrategy(MobileLocatorStrategy.NAME)
   mobileObject.setMobileLocator("General")
5. XPath

   import static com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.ObjectRepository.findTestObject
   import com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.MobileTestObject
   import com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.MobileTestObject.MobileLocatorStrategy
   
   MobileTestObject mobileObject = findTestObject("Object Repository/New Mobile Object")
   mobileObject.setMobileLocatorStrategy(MobileLocatorStrategy.XPATH)
   mobileObject.setMobileLocator("//XCUIElementTypeApplication/XCUIElementTypeWindow[1]/XCUIElementTypeOther[1]/XCUIElementTypeOther[1]/XCUIElementTypeOther[1]/XCUIElementTypeOther[1]/XCUIElementTypeOther[1]/XCUIElementTypeOther[1]/XCUIElementTypeOther[1]/XCUIElementTypeTable[1]/XCUIElementTypeCell[2]/XCUIElementTypeStaticText[1]")
6. Image

   import static com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.ObjectRepository.findTestObject
   import org.apache.commons.io.FileUtils
   import com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.MobileTestObject
   import com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.MobileTestObject.MobileLocatorStrategy
   
   MobileTestObject mobileObject = findTestObject("Object Repository/New Mobile Object")
   mobileObject.setMobileLocatorStrategy(MobileLocatorStrategy.IMAGE)
   byte[] fileContent = FileUtils.readFileToByteArray(new File(imageFilePath))
   mobileObject.setMobileLocator(Base64.getEncoder().encodeToString(fileContent))
7. Andoid UIAutomator

   import static com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.ObjectRepository.findTestObject
   import com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.MobileTestObject
   import com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.MobileTestObject.MobileLocatorStrategy
   
   MobileTestObject mobileObject = findTestObject("Object Repository/New Mobile Object")
   mobileObject.setMobileLocatorStrategy(MobileLocatorStrategy.ANDROID_UI_AUTOMATOR)
   mobileObject.setMobileLocator('new UiSelector().className("android.widget.TextView").text("General").resourceId("android:id/title").packageName("com.android.settings").enabled(true).clickable(false).longClickable(false).checkable(false).checked(false).focusable(false).focused(false).scrollable(false).selected(false).index(0)')
8. Android View Tag

   import static com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.ObjectRepository.findTestObject
   import com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.MobileTestObject
   import com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.MobileTestObject.MobileLocatorStrategy
   
   MobileTestObject mobileObject = findTestObject("Object Repository/New Mobile Object")
   mobileObject.setMobileLocatorStrategy(MobileLocatorStrategy.ANDROID_VIEWTAG)
   mobileObject.setMobileLocator("MY VIEW TAG")
9. iOS Predicate String

   import static com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.ObjectRepository.findTestObject
   import com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.MobileTestObject
   import com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.MobileTestObject.MobileLocatorStrategy
   
   MobileTestObject mobileObject = findTestObject("Object Repository/New Mobile Object")
   mobileObject.setMobileLocatorStrategy(MobileLocatorStrategy.IOS_PREDICATE_STRING)
   mobileObject.setMobileLocator("type == 'XCUIElementTypeStaticText' AND enabled == 1 AND label == 'General' AND name == 'General' AND name == 'General'")
10. iOS Class Chain

    import static com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.ObjectRepository.findTestObject
    import com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.MobileTestObject
    import com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.MobileTestObject.MobileLocatorStrategy
    
    MobileTestObject mobileObject = findTestObject("Object Repository/New Mobile Object")
    mobileObject.setMobileLocatorStrategy(MobileLocatorStrategy.IOS_CLASS_CHAIN)
    mobileObject.setMobileLocator("**/XCUIElementTypeStaticText[`enabled == 1 AND label == 'General' AND name == 'General' AND value == 'General'`]")
11. Custom

    import static com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.ObjectRepository.findTestObject
    import com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.MobileTestObject
    import com.kms.katalon.core.testobject.MobileTestObject.MobileLocatorStrategy
    
    MobileTestObject mobileObject = findTestObject("Object Repository/New Mobile Object")
    mobileObject.setMobileLocatorStrategy(MobileLocatorStrategy.CUSTOM)
    mobileObject.setMobileLocator("foo")

Mobile Test Object View

In versions before 7.6, a Mobile object's view is the same as a Web object's view, which is not intuitive and misleading for users to design a Mobile test object. From 7.6 onwards, Katalon Studio launches a new UI of Mobile Test Object's view that reflects our latest enhancements for better designing Mobile objects.

Mobile Object Spy

In previous versions, you can capture and rename captured objects but cannot change a Mobile object’s locator nor verify and highlight them. From version 7.6, you can capture, edit, verify and highlight a captured object to optimize its locator.

The Object Properties section now allows:

• Editing locator and locator strategy of an object.
• Verifying and highlighting the object with the newly updated locator.

Mobile Recorder

In previous versions, in Mobile Recorder you can stimulate Mobile actions but cannot add built-in actions like in Web Recorder. From version 7.6, Katalon Studio supports adding built-in and custom actions when recording.

The new UI is similar to the Mobile Recorder.

Recorded Actions:

Captured Objects:

Known Limitation

Katalon Studio currently doesn’t support Android Data Matcher since Appium Java Client 7.1.0 doesn’t support Android Data Matcher.

See also:

• Create and Manage Mobile Test Objects
• Parameterize Mobile Test Object