WPF controls have delays in getting fully loaded

[Jay]

Hi, 

I am finding my WPF elements using `Find.AllByExpression`, and I am retrieving the WPF elements with no issues.

But when I try to interact with them, I am having some issues. Some examples here: 

1. The buttons (found/retrieved as FrameworkElement and cast as Button) are enabled and visible but not clickable. I did try using Telerik's `EnsureClickable()`, but it didn't make a difference. This was only fixed by a hard-coded delay. 

2. The textbox (found/retrieved as FrameworkElement and cast as TextBox) is visible and I can enter text in it, but it seems that I can enter text even before the XAML triggers/handlers are loaded. This results in XAML triggers not responding to the textbox enter events. 

 

So it seems that WPF controls need some time to be fully loaded, ready for automation actions. 

And I can't find a way to check or wait until the controls are fully loaded. 

Is this a known issue?

How can I fix or work around this?

 

Thank you.

Kind regards,

Jay

[Elena]

Hi Jay,

It sounds like you're encountering issues with WPF controls not being fully ready for automation actions. This can indeed be a common challenge when working with WPF applications especially when these are more complex and with plenty of elements. This is a known case with WPF automation where controls may not be fully loaded or ready for interaction immediately after they become visible. This can cause difficulties with automation actions like clicking buttons or entering text in textboxes.

Here are a couple of possible solutions: 

1. Ensure Controls are Fully Loaded: One approach is to ensure that the controls are fully loaded and ready for interaction. You can use a combination of waits and checks to verify the state of the controls before performing actions. For example, you can use Wait.ForExists or Wait.ForVisible methods to wait until the controls are fully loaded.
   Check this artcle for further details on WPF test synchronization. 
2. Custom Waits: You can create custom wait methods to check for specific conditions that indicate the controls are fully loaded. For example, you can wait for certain properties or events to be triggered before proceeding with the automation actions. 
   For example: If there is any sort of loader element on the WPF screen you can wait for it to disappear. Or if there is any order of loading the elements wait until the last one is loaded and visible. 
3. Custom Waits: Use a wait condition for the isLoaded property of the element.
   

   Assert.AreEqual(true, MyTextBoxTextbox.IsLoaded, string.Format("Verify MyTextBoxTextbox.IsLoaded \'Equal\' \'True\' failed.  Actual value \'{0}\'", MyTextBoxTextbox.IsLoaded));

   where MyTextBoxTextbox is an element defined earlier in the code. 
4. Hard-Coded Delays: As a last resort, you can use hard-coded delays to give the controls enough time to load. However, this may not be an ideal solution for each case as it can slow down the overall time needed for the tests execution. 

I hope that this information is of further help for you. 

Regards,
Elena
Progress Telerik