Change Silverlight Find Strategy

The default behavior of Test Studio Dev is to time out after a certain interval if the element is not found.

I would like to avoid the Timeout Exception and perform a different set of steps depending on whether the element is found.

Solution

This is possible with a coded solution. Change the SilverlightApp or any FrameworkElement VisualFind.Strategy value to WhenNotVisibleReturnNull.

The example below is against this Silverlight demo site. After navigating there, click DataGrid in the left-hand menu. Then add a coded step:

C#

    SilverlightApp app = ActiveBrowser.SilverlightApps()[0];
    FindStrategy originalStrategy = app.Find.Strategy;
    
    try
    {
        app.Find.Strategy = FindStrategy.WhenNotVisibleReturnNull;
        string gridName = "dataGrid";
        DataGrid grid = app.Find.ByName<DataGrid>(gridName);
        
        if (grid != null)
        {
            grid.Wait.ForVisible();
            //Perform actions on the DataGrid
        }
        else   
        {
            //You can throw an exception, or perform alternative steps
            throw new ArgumentException(string.Format("Unable to find the DataGrid named '{0}'!", gridName));
        }
    }
    finally
    {
        app.Find.Strategy = originalStrategy;
    }

VB

    Dim app As SilverlightApp = ActiveBrowser.SilverlightApps()(0)
    Dim originalStrategy As FindStrategy = app.Find.Strategy
    
    Try
        app.Find.Strategy = FindStrategy.WhenNotVisibleReturnNull
        Dim gridName As String = "dataGrid"
        Dim grid As DataGrid = app.Find.ByName(Of DataGrid)(gridName)
    
        If grid IsNot Nothing Then
        
            grid.Wait.ForVisible()
        Else
        
            Throw New ArgumentException(String.Format("Unable to find the DataGrid named '{0}'!", gridName))
        End If
    Finally
        app.Find.Strategy = originalStrategy
    End Try

Note: As is, the IF portion is executed. You can disable step two (treeview item 'DataGrid' select action) to see the ELSE portion execute.