Spy tool finds web DOM multiple times?

[Ethan]

Hi!

If I start Chrome and navigate to https://www.ranorex.com/blog/ and then in the Spy tool enter this RxPath: "/dom[@caption~'^(?i:software automation)' and @path~'(?i:/blog)']" Spy finds the DOM 4 times:

Spy.png

When I hightlight in Spy 2 of the references highlights the Chrome browser, but 2 highlights my Slack-application. I have also seen the same behaviour for Visual Studio Code (Spy seems to think the DOM is present there).

What is going in? Why does it find 2 different references to Chrome and references that highligts non relevant applications. This kills performance, if a RxPath containing "//" it can take 40-80 seconds for Spy to find the element. If close Slack/VSC it is faster, but why does Spy "find" the same DOM multiple times? Has anyone seen this?

Using Ranorex 9.0.

Best regards,

[odklizec]

Hi,

It’s caused by shadow DOMs. Check this post for a solution...
domain-name-problem-t13656.html#p53592

[Ethan]

Hi again,

I had to turn of 'Enable JS-based RanorXpath evaluation' after Ranorex 9.0 installation due to other reasons (it failed to resolve the ChildIndex-property in my code when the option was activated).

I tried checking for visability, but that doesn't help. They are all visible:

Spy2.png

The only way I see at the moment is to go by @processname... it seems to do the trick.

Spy3.png

Although it will be some work for me to actually implement this in a nice way into my large existing codebase/repo.

Regards,

[Support Team]

Hi Ethan,

I believe you are experiencing a known Chrome/Electron application issue that has been resolved in Ranorex 8.3.3 and will be part of Ranorex 9.0.1 (soon to be released). To confirm if this is the issue you are experiencing, look at each dom element and see if the browser attribute is showing other applications like in the screenshot below.

1.png

If you are experiencing this bug, you can use one of the below options:

• Use Ranorex 8.3.3
• Wait until Ranorex 9.0.1
• Whitelist Chrome

I hope this helps!

Regards,
Ned

[Ethan]

Correct, Browser says for example:

Spy4.png

The best I can do is to include @Visible='True', that filters out those not from Chrome, but that still gives me 2 DOMs for Chrome?

Spy5.png

Best regards,

[Support Team]

Hi Ethan,

Whitelisting Chrome should resolve this issue, were you able to try this? Alternatively, you can use Ranorex 8.3.3 or wait for Ranorex 9.0.1 to be released (which contain the bugfix for this issue).

Regards,
Ned

[Ethan]

Yes, thanks for that tip. Note that I use a setup of C#/SpecFlow/NUnit/Ranorex API with a element repo created from Spy (that is, I'm not using Ranorex Studio).

I basically added:

Configuration.Current.Plugins.Win32.WhitelistedProcesses = new string[] { "chrome" };

I have not measured anything yet, but I feel this change increased performance when I run tests on my local machine (Windows 10), where I have alot of windows/applictions opened and the same DOM appeared many times in Spy.

When I deployed the code to a Windows Server 2012 (where the actual testjob run) it failed to find Chrome/DOM when the whitelist was applied, but I haven't had time to investigate this. It is not as crucial there either, since Chrome is the only opend application on that desktop so performance is better there. It's on my local machine everything that can increase performance/reduce element finding times is crucial.

Thanks.

[Support Team]

Since you are using code only, try the below. This will help determine if the whitelisting feature is working on your machine. From my local testing, before whitelisting, there are three Chrome doms when only one is opened (others are from Slack and Skype). After whitelisting, it is reporting one (the correct one).

Code: Select all

IList<WebDocument> chromeDoms;

//Print total Chrome doms (before whitelisting)
chromeDoms = Host.Local.Find<WebDocument>("/dom[@browsername='Chrome']");
Report.Info("Total Doms (before whitelisting): " + chromeDoms.Count);

//Add to Whitelist
Ranorex.Core.Configuration.Current.Plugins.Win32.WhitelistedProcesses = new string[]{"chrome"};

//Print total Chrome doms (after whitelisting)
chromeDoms = Host.Local.Find<WebDocument>("/dom[@browsername='Chrome']");
Report.Info("Total Doms (after whitelisting): " + chromeDoms.Count);

Hope this helps!

Cheers,
Ned

[Ethan]

Yes, works fine and speeds up test exection on my development machine! Thanx....