In this blog, we would discuss a locator strategy that would enable us to efficiently write common test script for multiple OS (in case of mobile app) or browsers (in case of web app)

Mobile app testing:

appium.java_client annotations namely @AndroidFindBy and @iOSXCUITFindBy as locator strategy enables us to use single variable for both Android and iOS.

Best practice is to use a single locator that works in both Android and iOS.

Example:

@AndroidFindBy(xpath = "//android.widget.TextView[@text='xxxx']")

@iOSXCUITFindBy(xpath = "//XCUIElementTypeStaticText[@name='xxxx'][@label='xxxx']")

private MobileElement screenTitle;

However, sometimes we need to use multiple locators to cover various device models and OS version. In this case use @HowToUseLocators annotation from appium.java_client to define multiple locators for same mobile element.

Example:

@HowToUseLocators(androidAutomation = LocatorGroupStrategy.ALL_POSSIBLE,

iOSXCUITAutomation = LocatorGroupStrategy.ALL_POSSIBLE)

@AndroidFindBy(xpath = "//android.widget.TextView[@text='xxxx']")

@AndroidFindBy(accessibility = "xxxx")

@iOSXCUITFindBy(xpath = "//XCUIElementTypeStaticText[@name='xxxx']")

@iOSXCUITFindBy(accessibility = "xxxx")

private MobileElement appName;

Web app testing

In Web app, sometimes the UI layout is slightly different in different browsers (like Chrome vs Firefox). In such cases it is a good idea to have multiple locators as part of the same Web Element to cover multiple browsers. Use Selenium’s native @FindAll annotation in combination with @FindBy annotation in this case.

Example:

@FindAll({

@FindBy(xpath = "//input[@id='twotabsearchtextbox']"),

@FindBy(xpath = "//input[@id='nav-bb-search']")

})

private WebElement searchField;