The DeviceReplay object enables us to perform mouse and keyboard operations using code, for instance MouseMove, MouseClick, PressKey, SendString, and DragAndDrop. Though in past years it was not so well documented in HP's materials, now, thanks to the work of some very dedicated people from the QTP (UFT) community, light has been shed upon the workings of this object.
The DeviceReplay object is very important for automation, one reason being that the common Test Object methods that UFT provides, such as Click, do not always perform well. For example, quite often, one can encounter objects that do not respond to an onclick event unless the mouse is actually moved to a location within its bounding rectangle. In such a case, we may revert to the DeviceReplay object to override the Click method and perform the MouseMove operation before sending a MouseClick event.
This recipe describes how to use the DeviceReplay object to override the Click method and perform the MouseMove operation before sending a MouseClick event.
From the File menu, navigate to New | Test, or use the Ctrl + N shortcut, or open an existing function library.
In the function library, write the following code:
Public Function MouseClick_(ByRef obj)
Dim dr
Dim X, Y, W, H
If Not obj.GetROProperty("visible") Then
MouseClick_ = 1
Reporter.ReportEvent micWarning, "MouseClick_", _
"Object is not visible."
Exit Function
End If
With obj
H = .GetROProperty("height")
W = .GetROProperty("width")
X = .GetROProperty("abs_x")
Y = .GetROProperty("abs_y")
End With
If X < 0 Or Y < 0 Then
MouseClick_ = 1
Else
X = X+W2
Y = Y+H2
Set dr = CreateObject("Mercury.DeviceReplay")
dr.MouseMove X, Y
Wait 0, 50
dr.MouseClick X, Y, 0
Set dr = Nothing
MouseClick_ = 0
End If
End FunctionRegister the function to the relevant Test Object classes, as shown in the Registering a method to all classes recipe (RegisterUserFunc) in Chapter 4, Method Overriding. For example, we could register the function to the Click method of the Image class (Web) as follows:
RegisterUserFunc "Image", "Click", "MouseClick_"
This is done so that, every time we invoke a click event for a Web image, it will first move the mouse to trigger the onmouseenter event.
The function is generic as it takes an object as an argument. It first checks if the object is visible, which is obligatory to perform a MouseMove operation. Then it gets its position and dimensions, to check that it is not positioned out of the screen boundaries (this can happen sometimes with the top-left coordinates being less than zero). If these two checks are passed, then it calculates the middle point of the object, instantiates the DeviceReplay object, and moves the mouse to its center. A short delay is added, to ensure that the object reacts to the presence of the mouse within its boundaries, and only then, the MouseClick is performed.