UI Automation Support

The Ultimate UI for WPF suite of controls fully support Microsoft® UI Automation. The UI Automation framework allows for assistive technology products, such as screen readers, to access the UI elements of applications and provide this information to end users with disabilities.

Another key use of UI Automation is automated testing; the framework allows test scripts to access and interact with the UI elements.

For more information about UI Automation, see this Microsoft website.

The Ultimate UI for WPF UI controls support UI Automation in the following ways:

Each of the controls has peer classes that derive from the AutomationPeer class.

The following code shows the xamRadialGauge™ control’s GaugeAutomationPeer.

In Visual Basic:

Public Class GaugeAutomationPeer
    Inherits FrameworkElementAutomationPeer

In C#:

public class GaugeAutomationPeer : FrameworkElementAutomationPeer

Each of the control’s peer classes override the Core methods and implement appropriate UI automated patterns. For more information on Control Patterns, see this Microsoft website.
Each of the Ultimate UI for WPF UI controls overrides the OnCreateAutomationPeer method. The following example demonstrates the xamRadialGauge control.

In Visual Basic:

Protected Overrides Function OnCreateAutomationPeer() As AutomationPeer
    Return New GaugeAutomationPeer(Me)
End Function

In C#:

protected override AutomationPeer OnCreateAutomationPeer()
{
   return new GaugeAutomationPeer(this);
}

The automation clients raise automation events that notify their changing states or properties. For more information on UI Automation Events, see this Microsoft website. The following code demonstrates the event handler for the event that is raised when the Value of xamRadialGauge’s Needle is changed.

In the peer class

In Visual Basic:

Public Sub New(needle As RadialGaugeNeedle)
    MyBase.New(needle)
    Me.Needle = needle
    Me.Needle.ValueChanged += New EventHandler(Of ValueChangedEventArgs)(AddressOf Needle_ValueChanged)
End Sub
Private Sub Needle_ValueChanged(sender As Object, e As ValueChangedEventArgs)
    Me.RaiseValueChangedEvent(e.NewValue)
End Sub
Private Sub RaiseValueChangedEvent(newValue As Double)
    If ListenerExists(AutomationEvents.PropertyChanged) Then
        Me.RaisePropertyChangedEvent(RangeValuePatternIdentifiers.ValueProperty, 0.0, newValue)
    End If
End Sub

In C#:

public RadialGaugeNeedleAutomationPeer(RadialGaugeNeedle needle)
:
    base(needle)
{
    this.Needle = needle;
    this.Needle.ValueChanged +=
        new EventHandler<ValueChangedEventArgs>(Needle_ValueChanged);
}
private void Needle_ValueChanged(object sender, ValueChangedEventArgs e)
{
    this.RaiseValueChangedEvent(e.NewValue);
}
private void RaiseValueChangedEvent(double newValue)
{
    if (ListenerExists(AutomationEvents.PropertyChanged))
    {
        this.RaisePropertyChangedEvent
          (RangeValuePatternIdentifiers.ValueProperty, 0.0, newValue);
    }
}

In the Client Application

In Visual Basic:

' Create a new instance for EventHandler for the PropertyChanged event
Dim valueEvent As New AutomationPropertyChangedEventHandler(AddressOf SampleEventHandler)
' Add EventHandler for PropertyChanged event for the Value property
Automation.AddAutomationPropertyChangedEventHandler(needleElement, TreeScope.Subtree, valueEvent, RangeValuePattern.ValueProperty)
' The EventHandler
Private Sub SampleEventHandler(sender As Object, e As AutomationPropertyChangedEventArgs)
    If e.[Property] = RangeValuePattern.ValueProperty Then
        MessageBox.Show([String].Format("New value = {0}", e.NewValue))
    End If
End Sub

In C#:

// Create a new instance for EventHandler for the PropertyChanged event
AutomationPropertyChangedEventHandler valueEvent =
    new AutomationPropertyChangedEventHandler(SampleEventHandler);
// Add EventHandler for PropertyChanged event for the Value property
Automation.AddAutomationPropertyChangedEventHandler
    (needleElement, TreeScope.Subtree, valueEvent, RangeValuePattern.ValueProperty);
// The EventHandler
private void SampleEventHandler(object sender, AutomationPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.Property == RangeValuePattern.ValueProperty)
    {
        MessageBox.Show(String.Format("New value = {0}", e.NewValue));
    }
}

Applications such as UISpy (for more information, see this website) and custom automation clients can access Infragistics components in WPF applications.

Click on the following API links to see each control’s automation peer classes.

Example

The following example demonstrates how automation clients can access Ultimate UI for WPF components using custom automation clients.

The following is a simple WPF application with a xamRadialGauge.

In XAML:

<UserControl x:Class="UIAutomationSample.MainPage"
             xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
             xmlns:ig="http://schemas.infragistics.com/xaml">
    <Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot">
        <ig:XamRadialGauge>
            <ig:XamRadialGauge.Scales>
                <ig:RadialGaugeScale StartValue="0"
                                     EndValue="100"
                                     Interval="10"
                                     StartAngle="135"
                                     EndAngle="405">
                    <ig:RadialGaugeScale.LabelGroups>
                        <ig:RadialGaugeLabelGroup />
                    </ig:RadialGaugeScale.LabelGroups>
                    <ig:RadialGaugeScale.Needles>
                        <ig:RadialGaugeNeedle Value="50" AutomationProperties.AutomationId="RadialNeedle" />
                    </ig:RadialGaugeScale.Needles>
                </ig:RadialGaugeScale>
            </ig:XamRadialGauge.Scales>
        </ig:XamRadialGauge>
    </Grid>
</UserControl>

WPF Automation Client:

In XAML:

<Window x:Class="WpfAutomationClient.Window"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        Title="Automation Clien Window"
        Height="300"
        Width="300">
    <StackPanel>
        <TextBlock Text="Automation ID:" FontWeight="Bold" />
        <TextBox x:Name="txtAutomationId" Text="RadialNeedle" />
        <Button x:Name="btnAutomate" Click="btnAutomate_Click"
                Content="Connect" Margin="0,15,0,0" />
        <TextBlock Text="Status:" FontWeight="Bold"
                   Margin="0,15,0,0" />
        <TextBlock x:Name="lblStatus" Text="Disconnected" />
    </StackPanel>
</Window>

Implementation of the event handler, which searches the sample WPF application for Radial Gauge Needle instances with the specified AutomationId. When it finds one, it sets its value to 20.

In Visual Basic:

Private Sub btnAutomate_Click(sender As Object, e As RoutedEventArgs)
    Dim process__1 As Process = Process.GetProcessesByName("iexplore").FirstOrDefault()
    If process__1 Is Nothing Then
        lblStatus.Text = "Interned Explorer is not running."
        Return
    End If
    Dim browserInstance As AutomationElement = AutomationElement.FromHandle(process__1.MainWindowHandle)
    Dim automationId As [String] = txtAutomationId.Text.Trim()
    Dim treeWalker As New TreeWalker(New PropertyCondition(AutomationElement.AutomationIdProperty, automationId))
    Dim needleElement As AutomationElement = treeWalker.GetFirstChild(browserInstance)
    If needleElement Is Nothing Then
        lblStatus.Text = "Can't find a Radial Gauge Needle."
        Return
    End If
    Dim pattern As RangeValuePattern = TryCast(needleElement.GetCurrentPattern(RangeValuePattern.Pattern), RangeValuePattern)
    If pattern Is Nothing Then
        lblStatus.Text = "RangeValuePattern is not implemented."
        Return
    End If
    pattern.SetValue(20)
    lblStatus.Text = "Radial Gauge Needle Changed."
End Sub

In C#:

private void btnAutomate_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    Process process = Process.GetProcessesByName("iexplore").FirstOrDefault();
    if (process == null)
    {
        lblStatus.Text = "Interned Explorer is not running.";
        return;
    }
    AutomationElement browserInstance =
        AutomationElement.FromHandle(process.MainWindowHandle);
    String automationId = txtAutomationId.Text.Trim();
    TreeWalker treeWalker = new TreeWalker(
        new PropertyCondition
         (AutomationElement.AutomationIdProperty, automationId));
    AutomationElement needleElement = treeWalker.GetFirstChild(browserInstance);
    if (needleElement == null)
    {
        lblStatus.Text = "Can't find a Radial Gauge Needle.";
        return;
    }
    RangeValuePattern pattern = needleElement.GetCurrentPattern
        (RangeValuePattern.Pattern) as RangeValuePattern;
    if (pattern == null)
    {
        lblStatus.Text = "RangeValuePattern is not implemented.";
        return;
    }
    pattern.SetValue(20);
    lblStatus.Text = "Radial Gauge Needle Changed.";
}

Example

The following example demonstrates how to use the test automation peer classes via the Infragistics unit test framework, based on WebAii for ASP.Net.

In Visual Basic:

<TestMethod> _
<Description("Validates the existance of a Radial Gauge Needle's RangeValuePattern.")> _
Public Sub Validate_RadialNeedle_RangeValuePattern()
    ' Create a Radial Gauge.
    Dim myRadialGauge As XamRadialGauge = LoadRadialGaugeProperties()
    ' Get the Radial Gauge's Needle.
    Dim needle As RadialGaugeNeedle = myRadialGauge.Scales(0).Needles(0)
    Me.UIThread.[Do](Function()
        Dim peer As RadialGaugeNeedleAutomationPeer = DirectCast(RadialGaugeNeedleAutomationPeer.CreatePeerForElement(needle), RadialGaugeNeedleAutomationPeer)
        Dim rangeValueProvider As IRangeValueProvider = DirectCast(peer.GetPattern(PatternInterface.RangeValue), IRangeValueProvider)
        Assert.IsNotNull(rangeValueProvider)
    End Function)
    Thread.Sleep(1000)
End Sub

In C#:

[TestMethod]
[Description("Validates the existance of a Radial Gauge Needle's RangeValuePattern.")]
public void Validate_RadialNeedle_RangeValuePattern()
{
    // Create a Radial Gauge.
    XamRadialGauge myRadialGauge = LoadRadialGaugeProperties();
    // Get the Radial Gauge's Needle.
    RadialGaugeNeedle needle = myRadialGauge.Scales[0].Needles[0];
    this.UIThread.Do(() =>
    {
        RadialGaugeNeedleAutomationPeer peer =  (RadialGaugeNeedleAutomationPeer)RadialGaugeNeedleAutomationPeer.CreatePeerForElement
(needle);
        IRangeValueProvider rangeValueProvider = (IRangeValueProvider)peer.GetPattern(PatternInterface.RangeValue);
        Assert.IsNotNull(rangeValueProvider);
    });
    Thread.Sleep(1000);
}

WPF | Help Topics

UI Automation Support

Example

Example