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Object Identification (Mobile)

Owned by ravi.chandran (Unlicensed)
Feb 10, 2021
1 min read

Object identification is an integral part for automating test cases for any application. Qualitia offers state of the art module to spy objects from the mobile applications for automating test cases. You can install Mobile Object Spy on any machine within the environment easily and start utilizing it for the desired Qualitia projects. 

For more information, refer to the Mobile Object Spy section. 

Once you launch a simulator/emulator or real device and installed the desired application, you can start adding objects from it for the automation testing. All the objects you add from here are immediately added to Qualitia object repository which you can use while creating automation tasks/test cases for mobile applications.

In Mobile applications, there are two types of objects:

  • Web: The objects which are solely created for web applications. They are present in web context of the hybrid applications and web applications.
  • Mobile: The objects which are solely created for mobile applications. They are present in native and native context of the hybrid applications.


Follow the simple procedures mentioned below to add objects into the repository based on the type of application

In this section:


  • Once you have launched any application, you can interact with live screen by performing tap, swipe, and tap and hold actions by using mouse. 
  • You can launch other applications from the device screen itself.
  • If you are launching the application which was already running on the device, the application is launched at its current stage. Qualitia does not reset the application when launching it.

  • By default, Mobile Object Spy prefers the locator type as per the following sequence:

    • UiAutomator
    • ID
    • Accessibility ID
    • Class
    • XPath
  • If you switch to another application under test, Qualitia adds a new parent page automatically and all the objects are stored under the respective parent page. 

Limitations of Mobile Object Spy:

  • Drag and Drop action is not supported
  • SmartLocator does not support Mobile Objects
  • For UiAutomator, the locator type does not support values related to complex Element Hierarchy
  • Cannot capture web objects through iOS Simulator
  • Does not highlight web objects that are inside a frame
  • Adding web objects from the page source for web applications and web context of hybrid applications is not supported.

Adding a Native Application Object

This type of applications are developed to run independently on a smartphone with or without internet connectivity. You can add objects from the native applications using mobile object spy.

To add an object for a native application:

  1. Launch Mobile Object Spy and install or launch the application under test.
  2. Click the play () icon to enable the object spy mode.
  3. Hover over the object you want to add and Object spy will highlight the object.
  4. Click the highlighted object to add it in the repository.
    Object appears in the right pane of the Object Repository section. 
  5. The following object properties are automatically added for the mobile object, which you can change:
    1. Name
    2. Object Class
    3. Locator Value
    4. Locator Type
  6. Click the pause () button to exit from the object spy mode or click the button to end the session.

Adding a Hybrid Application Object

A hybrid application (hybrid app) is one that combines elements of both native and Web applications. Hybrid applications run inside a native container and leverage the device's browser engine (but not the browser) to render the web elements like HTML and so forth. Qualitia allows you to add objects from the hybrid application into the object repository for mobile application testing.

Qualitia supports Hybrid application with debug enabled/Developer mode build only.

To add an object for a hybrid application:

  1. Launch Mobile Object Spy and install or launch the application under test.
  2. Click the play () icon to enable the object spy mode.
  3. By default, the native view of the application appears.
  4. To add objects from the native context:
    1. Hover over the object you want to add and Object spy will highlight the object.
    2. Click the highlighted object to add it in the repository.
    3. The following object properties are automatically added for the mobile object, which you can change:
      1. Name
      2. Object Class
      3. Locator Value
      4. Locator Type
  5. To add objects from web context:
    1. Click the Webview panel in the left pane and select the required Webview from the list.
      Only the objects falling under the selected web view appear in the live view.
    2. Hover over the object you want to add and Object spy will highlight the object.
    3. Click the highlighted object to add it in the repository. 
      The object appears in the right pane of the Object Repository section. 
    4. The following object properties are automatically added for the web object, which you can change:
      1. Name
      2. Object Class
  6. Click the pause () button to exit from the object spy mode or click the button to end the session. 

For Web Objects, the SmartLocator is automatically enabled due to which locator value and locator type are automatically selected. If you want to change the values, you need to edit object in QAS, where you need to disable the Smart Locator option.

Adding a Mobile Web Application Object

You can add objects from applications which are accessed over a network connection and run in a web browser.

Note: Qualitia recommends to keep the size of the browser as 100%. If you Zoom In or Zoom Out the browser, the UI may distort, which makes it difficult to identify the objects.

To add an object for a mobile web application:

  1. Launch Mobile Object Spy and select the device which you want to use while spying objects. 
  2. Enter the web application URL and click Launch.
    If the platform is Android,  then it is launched in Google Chrome browser. If the platform is iOS, then it is launched in the Safari browser.
  3. Click the play () icon to enable the object spy mode.
  4. To add objects from specific web context:
    1. Click the Webview panel in the left pane and select the required Webview from the list.
      Only the objects falling under the selected webview appear in the live view.
    2. Hover over the object you want to add, Object spy highlights the object.
    3. Click the highlighted object to add it in the repository. 
      The object appears in the right pane in the Object Repository section. 
    4. The following object properties are automatically added for the web object, which you can change:
      1. Name
      2. Object Class
  5. Click the pause () button to exit from the object spy mode or click the button to end the session.

For Web Objects, the SmartLocator is automatically enabled due to which locator value and locator type are automatically selected. If you want to change the values, you need to edit object in QAS, where you need to disable the SmartLocator option.

Adding an Object from a Page Source for a Native Application

Some objects are not visible on screen but they are required for automating the test cases for Mobile applications. Qualitia gives you the provision to add objects from the native context from the page source. 

To add an object from a page source for a native application:

  1. Launch Mobile Object Spy and install or launch the application under test.
  2. From the right pane, click Page Source.
    A new section appears displaying the page source.
  3. Hover over the object in the page source which you want to add, and click  icon.
    The object appears in the right pane of the Object Repository section. 
  4. The following object properties are automatically added for a mobile object, which you can change:
    1. Name
    2. Object Class
    3. Locator Value
    4. Locator Type
  5. To end the session, click the button.