How to touch the screen when the mobile app isn't recognized

[lstauffer]

I am testing a mobile app, where I fill out a form, and submit the information. Once submitted, a screen shows the results based on the values submitted on the form. In these results, you can select one of the results to get a screen that gives more details of that item selected.

Here's the strange part. When running the recorded test, sometimes the screen showing the results exists, and sometimes it doesn't. When it doesn't exist, the whole mobile app doesn't seem to exist.

I wrote some code to check if each item in the xpath exists, so I could understand where the problem is. The very first item I checked was the actual mobile app itself, and it did not exist. Another time, it does exist.

For this particular screen that is giving me troubles, I would just like to touch an area of the phone itself, so I can drill down to the next screen for the details.

1 - is it possible to touch somewhere on the screen to get to the next screen?
2 - any idea what is causing the app to no longer be recognized?
3 - is there some kind of background process that could be taking some time, causing Ranorex not to recognize the app?
4 - has anyone seen this issue?

Thanks!

[krstcs]

Make sure the XPath for the app matches every version of the app. If, for example, you are using the @title attribute to identify the app, it might change during the run meaning that it is no longer found. Always try to use static attributes when identifying elements, unless you are specifically looking for an attribute that changes, such as when you are using a variable in the XPath.