Ranorex Spy

General

As a stand alone tool the Ranorex Spy provides all the functionality needed to explore and analyze applications or websites - including their controls and GUI elements. After starting Ranorex Spy the element browser contains all currently running applications on the Windows desktop.

: Ranorex Spy - applications and their UI elements

Each of the listed applications contains their own UI subelements like buttons or check boxes. By selecting one of the elements Ranorex Spy provides all available information about the selected item on the info tabs ‘Overview’, ‘Detail’ and ‘Screenshot’. Depending on the type of the selected element, Ranorex Spy provides role specific attributes like a ‘Text’ property for a text box or a ‘Checked’ property for check box element. All the information represented by Ranorex Spy is also available during test automation. Each element within the element browser is identified through a unique RanoreXPath which is shown in the text box.

How to track elements with Ranorex Spy

Ranorex Spy provides two ways to track GUI elements from an application.

Track the elements using the 'Track' button or
use the instant tracking short cut <CTRL>+<LWin>

Click the 'Track' button to start tracking a GUI element. Move your mouse pointer over a specific control (button, text box) so that the currently identified object is highlighted. By clicking the control the tracking mode will be stopped and all information of the selected GUI element will be shown within Ranorex Spy.

: Click 'Track' button to start element tracking.

Each element within the Ranorex Spy tree is identified through the RanoreXPath ex-pression shown in text box.

: Ranorex Spy shows tracked information from button ‘Add’

In some cases it might be necessary to track GUI elements which are currently behind the Ranroex Spy window. Simply uncheck the 'Always On Top' checkbox causing Ranorex Spy to minimize during the tracking process.

: 'Always On Top' checkbox within Ranorex Spy

How to track menu items - instant tracking mode

When tracking menu or popup items you have to use the ‘Instant Tracking’ method by using a short cut to select a GUI element. Simply move your mouse pointer over a menu item and press the <CTRL> + <LWin> key combination to instantly track the GUI element. ‘Instant Tracking’ is not only available for popup items. This tracking mode can also be used for all other GUI elements.

: Instant tracking of menu items

RanoreXPath Edit Mode

To support the editing of RanoreXPath expressions, the editor textbox provides an auto completion feature this helps to avoid syntax errors and to speed writing. By pressing the key combination <CTRL>+<SPACE> at any time, the RanoreXPath editor suggests a list of suitable keywords, attributes or syntax codes.

: RanoreXPath auto completion

The RanoreXPath editor mode is indicated by the yellow highlighted text box. In edit mode, RanoreXPath is used as a query to filter UI elements as follows:

: Use of RanoreXPath as a filter to search for buttons

The result is presented directly within the Ranorex Spy tree. All matching items are highlighted in yellow. In addition the result can easily be added to a repository by selecting the menu item 'Add Matching Children to Repository'.

: Add matching items to the repository

To stop the edit mode click the red cancel button which is located in the RanoreXPath edit box.

: Stop RanoreXPath edit mode

How to work with Ranorex Snapshot files

With the Ranorex Snapshot feature, one can not only store graphic but also GUI structure information in an XML file (*.rxsnap).

: Saving form with title 'Local Disk (C:)' as snapshot file

: Ranorex Snapshot file for calculator application

Use the context menu item 'Save as snapshot' within Ranorex Spy to store the current element, dialog or application as a single Ranorex snapshot file.

There are many ways to use Ranorex snapshot files:

Debugging during test automation
Analyzing of applications offline
Developing complex GUI validation

Snap shots from popup windows, dropdown combo boxes or dropdown menus

For example you can create a snapshot from the menu popup of the calculator application using the shortcut key <SCROLL> in combination with the instant tracking feature of Ranorex Spy:

Open Ranorex Spy and activate 'Highlight Elements'.
Start Calculator application and open the 'Edit' menu.
Track the parent menu container window of the menu items. Track the popup frame by mousing over the edge of the window and pressing <CTRL>+<LWin>.
Press the <SCROLL> shortcut to cache the current element including their underlying items for Ranorex Spy.
Finally save the current view as snap shot.

: Track menu container window using hot tracking (<CTRL>+<LWin>)

: Snapshot of calculator's menu items

Capture Screenshot Files for Image Based Search

Use the context menu item 'Capture Screenshot' to create an image file (format PNG format) which can be used to search for images in test automation code.

: Capture a screenshot from a UI element to save as PNG file

Specify the image region using the toolbar button 'Select Image Region' and click the 'Save' button to save the selected region as a PNG file.

Toolbar short cuts
	Browse local host	Shows currently running host applications.
	Refresh	Updates the current state of applications.
	Load from snapshot	Loads an existing Ranorex snapshot file.
	Save as snapshot	Saves all GUI elements from the tree view to a Ranorex snapshot file.
	Highlight Elements	When switched on highlights selected GUI elements on the users desktop.
Context menu
	Add to Repository	Adds the current element to a Ranorex Repository.
	Set Element as Root	Sets the currently selected element as Root element.
	Refresh	Updates all attributes of the specified GUI element.
	Save as snapshot	Saves the current GUI element including their children to a Ranorex snapshot file.