Question

I’m using WatiN 2.1.0 (C#) with IE 9 on Windows 7 64 bit.

My problem is that calling this function

ie.FileUpload(Find.ByName(someRegExp)).Set(fileName);

is extremely slow.
I mean object is nicely found. This code opens file dialog, but it starts to type file name after really long time, about 3 to 5 minutes, much longer then WatiNs timeouts. After this rest of the test is working as it should.

Is there some cure for this? This big delay is very annoying and when there is more test cases with file uploads it significantly extends test duration.

Answer 1

Ok, this is not a Watin solution per say, but we had the exact same problem; our file browser tests took up a lot of the total test time, and I solved it by kicking out Watin for fileuploads and instead use the (horrific) UIAutomation framework.

Example usage:

    public CustomFileUpload FileUpload
    {
        get
        {
            return new CustomFileUpload(WebBrowser.Current.hWnd, "_Layout");
            //return Document.FileUpload(Find.ByName("file"));
        }
    }

You have to add referefences to “UIAutomationClient” and “UIAutomationTypes” in your test project. And the solution below is not generic so you might have to tweak it to fit your needs.

public class CustomFileUpload
{
    private readonly IntPtr _browserHandle;
    private readonly string _tabHeader;

    public CustomFileUpload(IntPtr browserHandle, string tabHeader)
    {
        _browserHandle = browserHandle;
        _tabHeader = tabHeader;
    }

    public void Set(string filePath)
    {
        Automate(filePath);
    }

    private void Automate(string filePath)
    {
        AutomationElement browser = AutomationElement.FromHandle(_browserHandle);

        AutomationElement tab = FindTab(browser, _tabHeader);


        // IE10 adds the name (or value?) "Browse..." to the upload-button. Need to hack it :)
        AutomationElement uploadButton = tab.FindFirst(TreeScope.Children,
                                                            new AndCondition(
                                                                new PropertyCondition(AutomationElement.ControlTypeProperty, ControlType.Button),
                                                                new PropertyCondition(AutomationElement.NameProperty, "Browse..."))) ??
                                                                tab.FindFirst(TreeScope.Children,
                                                        new AndCondition(
                                                            new PropertyCondition(AutomationElement.ControlTypeProperty, ControlType.Button),
                                                            new PropertyCondition(AutomationElement.NameProperty, "")));

        ClickButton(uploadButton);

        var openFileDialog = WaitUntilOpenFileDialogAvailable();

        var valuePattern = FindFileNameTextBox(openFileDialog).GetCurrentPattern(ValuePattern.Pattern) as ValuePattern;

        if (valuePattern == null)
            throw new InvalidOperationException("Can't set the file path");

        valuePattern.SetValue(filePath);

        SetFocusToSomethingElse(browser);

        var okButton = WaitUntilOkButtonLoaded(openFileDialog);

        ClickButton(okButton);
    }

    private static AutomationElement FindTab(AutomationElement browser, string tabHeader)
    {
        return browser.FindFirst(TreeScope.Descendants,
                                 new AndCondition(
                                     new PropertyCondition(AutomationElement.ControlTypeProperty, ControlType.Pane),
                                     new PropertyCondition(AutomationElement.NameProperty, tabHeader)));
    }

    private static void SetFocusToSomethingElse(AutomationElement elementWhichShouldNotBeSelected)
    {
        do
        {
            foreach (AutomationElement element in AutomationElement.RootElement.FindAll(TreeScope.Children, new PropertyCondition(AutomationElement.IsKeyboardFocusableProperty, true)))
            {
                if (element != elementWhichShouldNotBeSelected)
                {
                    element.SetFocus();
                    return;
                }
            }

        } while (true);
    }

    private static AutomationElement WaitUntilOkButtonLoaded(AutomationElement openFileDialog)
    {
        AutomationElement okButton;

        do
        {
            okButton = openFileDialog.FindFirst(TreeScope.Children,
                                                new AndCondition(
                                                    new PropertyCondition(AutomationElement.IsContentElementProperty, true),
                                                    new PropertyCondition(AutomationElement.IsControlElementProperty, true),
                                                    new PropertyCondition(AutomationElement.NameProperty, "Open"),
                                                    new PropertyCondition(AutomationElement.IsInvokePatternAvailableProperty, true)
                                                    ));

        } while (okButton == null);

        return okButton;
    }

    private static AutomationElement WaitUntilOpenFileDialogAvailable()
    {
        AutomationElement openFileDialog = null;

        do
        {

            AutomationElement openFileDialogContainer = AutomationElement.RootElement.FindFirst(TreeScope.Children, new PropertyCondition(AutomationElement.ClassNameProperty, "Alternate Modal Top Most"));

            if (openFileDialogContainer != null)
                openFileDialog = openFileDialogContainer.FindFirst(TreeScope.Children, Condition.TrueCondition);
        } while (openFileDialog == null);

        return openFileDialog;
    }

    private static void ClickButton(AutomationElement button)
    {            
        var clickPattern = button.GetCurrentPattern(InvokePattern.Pattern) as InvokePattern;

        if (clickPattern == null)
            throw new InvalidOperationException("Can't find the buttons click pattern");

        clickPattern.Invoke();
    }

    private static AutomationElement FindFileNameTextBox(AutomationElement openFileDialog)
    {
        AutomationElement findElementToTypePathInto;

        do
        {
            findElementToTypePathInto = openFileDialog.FindFirst(TreeScope.Descendants, new AndCondition(new PropertyCondition(AutomationElement.NameProperty, "File name:"), new PropertyCondition(AutomationElement.ControlTypeProperty, ControlType.Edit)));
        } while (findElementToTypePathInto == null);

        return findElementToTypePathInto;
    }

}