Coded UI Automation in Windows Forms Grid Control

28 Apr 202116 minutes to read

The GridControl can be automated with Coded UI testing automation. Using Visual Studio Premium, Visual Studio Ultimate or Visual Studio Enterprise, user can create a coded UI Test Project which will be used to test and automate the UI of the GridControl. The validation can be done at grid level or cell level.

Levels of Microsoft Coded UI Test (CUIT) support,

Level 1 - Record and Detecting the UIElement
Level 2 – Rich text property validation
Level 3 - Code Generation with custom classes
Level 4 - Support of intent aware action

NOTE

All these levels are supported in GridControl.

Getting started

A Coded UI Test Project needs to be created for testing the application. The following steps are used to test the user application with Coded UI test,

Create Coded UI Test Project ,
A Generate Code for Coded UI test dialog box will be opened. Click OK button,
The Coded UI Test Builder will be displayed above the notification bar,
Then run the sample application which needs to be automated.

The GridControl supports Coded UI as the two ways,

In-built support
External plugin

Control assertion

The Coded UI Test performs action on the user interface (UI) controls and verifies that the UIElement properties are displayed with the correct values. The assertion of the UI element can be done by the following steps,

Create the Coded UI Test Project as explained in the Getting Started section.
In the Coded UI Test Builder dialog, select and drag the assertion button to the UI element which needs to be tested,
The GridControl or Cell will be highlighted with a rectangular bounds like below,

Assertion of GridControl

For asserting the GridControl, the whole grid will be highlighted with that rectangular bounds. After assertion, the properties related to GridControl will be displayed in Coded UI Test Builder.

Coded-UI-Automation_img6

Assertion of a Cell

For asserting a particular cell, the cell will be highlighted with that rectangular bounds. After assertion, the properties related to that particular cell will be displayed in Coded UI Test Builder.

Coded-UI-Automation_img7

Assertion of Merged Cells

For asserting the merged cell, the merged range will be treated as a single cell and it will be highlighted with rectangular bounds. After assertion, the properties related to the merged cell will be displayed in Coded UI Test Builder.

Coded-UI-Automation_img8

Record and Playback

The GridControl lets you record the automation and play back those automated actions whenever application needs to be tested.

Recording

The following steps are used to record and playback the application,

Create the Coded UI Test Project as explained in the Getting Started section,
Select the Start Recording button as follows,
Perform the needed actions in the application. Ensure that a notification is displaying for each and every actions performed in the application like below,
Then Click the Generate Code button as follows,
The Coded UI test code will be generated in Coded UI Test Project as follows,
The each and every recorded actions will be generated in Coded UI like below,

Playback

The recorded automation codes can be played back. The following steps are used to playback the automated methods,

Open the Coded UI Test class file.
Run the application which is tested for automation.
Right Click on the CodedUITestMethod1 method.
Select the Run Tests option.

Coded-UI-Automation_img14

In-built support

The GridControl supports automated UI testing with Coded UI technology without any external plugin. In this technique, the grid will be detected as an MSAA object and the automation code will be generated based on MSAA technology element.

System requirements

The following IDEs and .NET frameworks are supported for automating the GridControl.

Visual Studio	Premium, Ultimate, Enterprise editions of VS2010, VS2012, VS2013, VS2015
.Net framework	3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.6

Enabling Coded UI support

The Coded UI support for grid can be enabled using AccessibilityEnabled property.

C#
VB.NET
this.gridControl1.AccessibilityEnabled = true;
Me.gridControl1.AccessibilityEnabled = True

Assertion

The GridControl lets you test the user application by asserting the properties which are displayed in the Coded UI Test Builder. The grid and the cell bounds will be asserted as an MSAA object and the properties will be displayed based on cell types.

For example, TextBox cell will be asserted as WinText MSAA control, CheckBox cell will be asserted as WinCheckBox MSAA control. The GridControl will be detected as WinWindow MSAA control.

The following table provides the information about the cell types and its equivalent MSAA control on asserting,

S.No	Grid Cell Type	MSAA control
1.	TextBox	WinText
2.	ComboBox	WinCombobox
3.	CheckBox	WinCheckBox
4.	PushButton	WinButton
5.	NumericUpDown	WinSpinner

The below example shows the properties that are displayed in the Coded UI test builder,

Coded-UI-Automation_img15

NOTE

The properties will be displayed based on the respective MSAA control properties.

Getting cell values

As GridControl and cell are asserted like MSAA control, a value of a cell will be displayed in the HelpText property.

The below example shows the checkbox is asserted and the checked state of the check box is displayed in HelpText property,

Coded-UI-Automation_img16

Finding a Cell and Getting the Cell Value

To find a cell in the GridControl, SearchProperties property can be used and to get the cell value, GetPropertyValue method can be used. The corresponding cell name has to be given for searching the control.

C#
VB.NET
[TestMethod]
public void GetCellValue()
{
   UITestControl grid = this.UIMap.UICellCustomizationWindow.UIGridControl1Window;
   UITestControl cell = new UITestControl(grid);
   cell.SearchProperties["Name"] = "GridCell_R4_C2";
   if (cell.TryFind())
     {
       MessageBox.Show(cell.GetProperty("HelpText").ToString());
     }
}
<TestMethod()>
Public Sub GetCellValue()
   Dim grid As UITestControl = Me.UIMap.UICellCustomizationWindow.UIGridControl1Window
   Dim cell As New UITestControl(grid)
   cell.SearchProperties("Name") = "GridCell_R4_C2"
   If cell.TryFind() Then
      MessageBox.Show(cell.GetProperty("HelpText").ToString())
   End If
End Sub

The below example shows the getting of a cell value from grid,

Coded-UI-Automation_img17

Highlighting a Cell

To highlight a cell in GridControl, DrawHighlight method of corresponding UITestControl can be used.

C#
VB.NET
[TestMethod]
public void HighlightCell()
{
   UITestControl grid = this.UIMap.UICellCustomizationWindow.UIGridControl1Window;
   UITestControl cell = new UITestControl(grid);
   cell.SearchProperties["Name"] = "GridCell_R4_C3";
   if (cell.TryFind())
     {
     cell.DrawHighlight();
     }
}
<TestMethod()>
Public Sub HighlightCell()
    Dim grid As UITestControl = Me.UIMap.UICellCustomizationWindow.UIGridControl1Window
    Dim cell As UITestControl = New UITestControl(grid)
    cell.SearchProperties("Name") = "GridCell_R4_C3"
    If cell.TryFind Then
       cell.DrawHighlight
    End If
End Sub

The below example shows the highlighting of a cell,

Coded-UI-Automation_img18

Highlighting a Grid

To highlight a GridControl, DrawHighlight method of corresponding UITestControl can be used.

C#
VB.NET
[TestMethod]
public void HighlightGrid()
{
   UITestControl grid = this.UIMap.UICellCustomizationWindow.UIGridControl1Window;
   if (grid.TryFind())
     {
     grid.DrawHighlight();
     }
}
<TestMethod>
Public Sub HighlightGrid()
   Dim grid As UITestControl = Me.UIMap.UICellCustomizationWindow.UIGridControl1Window
   If grid.TryFind() Then
      grid.DrawHighlight()
   End If
End Sub

The below example shows the highlighting of grid,

Coded-UI-Automation_img19

External Plugin

The GridControl also provides Coded UI support via external plugin. In this technique, the grid will be detected as SyncControl technology instead of detecting as MSAA object. The properties will be displayed based on the inner control of the asserted cell or grid.

System Requirements

The following IDEs and .NET frameworks are supported for automating the GridControl.

Visual Studio	Premium, Ultimate, Enterprise editions of VS2010, VS2012, VS2013
.Net framework	3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1

Enabling Coded UI Support

To enable the Coded UI support for grid, the following steps has to be implemented,

Deploying Extensions Assemblies
Preparing Grid sample application

Deploying Extensions Assemblies

This section explains about deploying the external assemblies through batch file or manual deployment.

Using copydrop.bat file
- Navigate to copydrop.bat file in UI test folder.
- Run the batch file to place the Extension and Provider assemblies in the appropriate directories. These assemblies are needed as reference for the Visual Studio IDE.
Manual deployment

The following Extensions assemblies can be located in the UI test folder and these should be deployed in the below mentioned directory manually,
- Syncfusion.VisualStudio.TestTools.UITest.GridCommunication.dll
- Syncfusion.VisualStudio.TestTools.UITest.GridExtension.dll

Directory

The above extension assemblies should be deployed to the following locations,

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft shared\VSTT\<Visual Studio Version>\UITestExtensionPackages
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio <Visual Studio Version>\Common7\IDE\PublicAssemblies

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio <Visual Studio Version>\Common7\IDE\PrivateAssemblies

For example, these assemblies can be deployed for Visual Studio 2013 in the following locations,

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft shared\VSTT\12.0\UITestExtensionPackages

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\Common7\IDE\PublicAssemblies

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\Common7\IDE\PrivateAssemblies

Modifying the sample application for communication

The grid application host runs with .NET Remoting channel hosted internally to communicate with test plugin through an interface. Data is then channeled across the Visual Studio Test Framework to identify the Cells and GridControl. The following steps helps the users to prepare the grid sample application to support Coded UI plugin.

Add the Syncfusion.VisualStudio.TestTools.UITest.GridCommunication.dll which contains implementation to easily change an existing application to the test application that the plugin would require.
Let the parent container inherit GridControlTestApplication class as shown below,

C#
VB.NET
public class Form1 : GridControlTestApplication
{
}
Public Class Form1
    Inherits GridControlTestApplication
End Class

Assertion

The GridControl can be detected as Table control type and Cell can be detected as Cell control type with custom rich properties.

The following table provides the details about the list of properties that will be displayed for GridControl and Cell,

Asserting a GridControl

S.No	Property name	Description
1.	RowCount	Indicates the number of rows in the GridControl
2.	ColCount	Indicates the number of columns in the GridControl
3.	CurrentCell	Indicates the current cell in the GridControl
4.	SelectedRanges	Indicates the range of selected cells in the GridControl

The following example shows the property that displayed in the Coded UI test builder,

Coded-UI-Automation_img20

Asserting a cell

S.No	Property name	Description
1.	CellValue	Indicates a value of a cell.
2.	Text	Indicates a text of a cell.
3.	Description	Indicates the description of a cell. This used for checkbox cell which needs to be displayed with text.
4.	Format	Indicates the number format of the cell.
5.	CellWidth	Indicates the width of a cell.
6.	CellHeight	Indicates the height of a cell.
7.	FormattedText	Indicates the formatted text of a cell.
8.	CellType	Indicates the type of a cell.
9.	FormulaTag	Indicates the formula information if it is formula cell.
10.	Checked	Indicates the checked state information if it is checkbox cell.
11.	AutoCompleteInEditMode	Indicates the autocomplete behavior of a cell if it is combobox cell.
12.	DropDownStyle	Indicates the dropdown style behavior of a cell if it is combobox cell.

Finding a Cell and Getting the Cell Value

To find a cell in the GridControl, SearchProperties property can be used and to get a cell value, the GetPropertyValue method can be used. The corresponding control type, RowIndex and columnIndex has to be given for searching the control.

C#
VB.NET
[TestMethod]
public void GetGridCell()
{
  var cellGrid = this.UIMap.UICellCustomizationWindow.UIGridControl1Window.UIGridControl1Table;
  UITestControl cellGridCell = new UITestControl(cellGrid);
  cellGridCell.SearchProperties["ControlType"] = "Cell";
  cellGridCell.SearchProperties["RowIndex"] = "4";
  cellGridCell.SearchProperties["ColumnIndex"] = "2";
  if (cellGridCell.TryFind())
    {
       MessageBox.Show(cellGridCell.GetProperty("CellValue").ToString());
    }
}
<TestMethod>
Public Sub GetGridCell()
  Dim cellGrid = Me.UIMap.UICellCustomizationWindow.UIGridControl1Window.UIGridControl1Table
  Dim cellGridCell As New UITestControl(cellGrid)
  cellGridCell.SearchProperties("ControlType") = "Cell"
  cellGridCell.SearchProperties("RowIndex") = "4"
  cellGridCell.SearchProperties("ColumnIndex") = "2"
  If cellGridCell.TryFind() Then
       MessageBox.Show(cellGridCell.GetProperty("CellValue").ToString())
  End If
End Sub

The below example shows the getting of a cell value from grid,

Coded-UI-Automation_img21

Highlighting a Cell

To highlight a cell in GridControl, the GridControl has to be searched with the needed searching properties and DrawHighlight method of corresponding UITestControl can be used.

C#
VB.NET
[TestMethod]
public void HighlightCell()
{
  var cellGrid = this.UIMap.UICellCustomizationWindow.UIGridControl1Window.UIGridControl1Table;
  UITestControl cellGridCell = new UITestControl(cellGrid);
  cellGridCell.SearchProperties["ControlType"] = "Cell";
  cellGridCell.SearchProperties["RowIndex"] = "4";
  cellGridCell.SearchProperties["ColumnIndex"] = "2";
  if (cellGridCell.TryFind())
    {
       cellGridCell.DrawHighlight();
    }
}
<TestMethod>
Public Sub HighlightCell()
  Dim cellGrid = Me.UIMap.UICellCustomizationWindow.UIGridControl1Window.UIGridControl1Table
  Dim cellGridCell As New UITestControl(cellGrid)
  cellGridCell.SearchProperties("ControlType") = "Cell"
  cellGridCell.SearchProperties("RowIndex") = "4"
  cellGridCell.SearchProperties("ColumnIndex") = "2"
  If cellGridCell.TryFind() Then
       cellGridCell.DrawHighlight()
  End If
End Sub

The below example shows the highlighting of a cell,

Coded-UI-Automation_img22

Highlighting a Grid

To highlight a GridControl, the GridControl has to be searched with the needed searching properties and DrawHighlight method of corresponding UITestControl can be used.

C#
VB.NET
[TestMethod]
public void HighlightGrid()
{
     UITestControl cellGrid =  this.UIMap.UICellCustomizationWindow.UIGridControl1Window.UIGridControl1Table.UIGridControlTable;
     cellGrid.SearchProperties["ControlType"] = "Table";
     cellGrid.SearchProperties["RowIndex"] = "-1";
     cellGrid.SearchProperties["ColumnIndex"] = "-1";
     if (cellGrid.TryFind())
       {
         cellGrid.DrawHighlight();
       }
}
<TestMethod>
Public Sub HighlightGrid()
     Dim cellGrid As UITestControl = Me.UIMap.UICellCustomizationWindow.UIGridControl1Window.UIGridControl1Table.UIGridControlTable
     cellGrid.SearchProperties("ControlType") = "Table"
     cellGrid.SearchProperties("RowIndex") = "-1"
     cellGrid.SearchProperties("ColumnIndex") = "-1"
     If cellGrid.TryFind() Then
         cellGrid.DrawHighlight()
     End If
End Sub

The below example shows the highlighting of grid,

Coded-UI-Automation_img23