Appium Page Elements are Null - Can't get page object factory work with C#?

[siggerzz]

The problem

I've managed to get my Selenium tests running successfully on my webapp, however I'm having problems getting Appium to work on my hybrid mobile app. Currently my page elements are null.

Environment

• Appium Version - 3.0.0.2
  NUnit Version -3.6.1
  NUnit Test Adapter Version - 3.70
  Selenium Version - 3.30
  Selenium Support Version - 3.3.0

• Last Appium version that did not exhibit the issue (if applicable): N/A

• Desktop OS/version used to run Appium: Not Sure, Saucelabs VM

• Mobile platform/version under test: Android 4.4

• Real device or emulator/simulator: Emulator

• Appium CLI or Appium.app|exe: N/A

Details

I'm trying to use Page Object Factory when writing my Appium tests, I've managed to get my Selenium tests working, however when trying to implement POM for Appium, the driver instance gets passed to my page, however the elements are still null? I did have a look at the examples, as well as forums, however I can't quite figure out where I'm going wrong, and a lot of the appium/POM stuff I've seen, is mostly Java related. I'm able to set my page elements by doing driver.findelements in my page factory, so it leads me to believe that it's an issue with the way I'm initialising my page object.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Code To Reproduce Issue

BaseTests class. GetDriver method is in the setup of all my tests:

[TestFixture("Android Emulator","portrait","Android","4.4")]
class BKGoBaseTests : DynamicObject
{
    public string _deviceName;
    public string _deviceOrientation;
    public string _platformName;
    public string _platformVersion;

    public AppiumDriver<AppiumWebElement> GetDriver()
    {
        DesiredCapabilities caps = new DesiredCapabilities();
        caps.SetCapability("username", "####");
        caps.SetCapability("accessKey", "#####");
        //Appium Capabilities
        caps.SetCapability("appiumVersion", "1.5.3");
        caps.SetCapability("deviceName", _deviceName);
        caps.SetCapability("deviceOrientation", _deviceOrientation);
        caps.SetCapability("browserName", "");
        caps.SetCapability("platformName", _platformName);
        caps.SetCapability("platformVersion", _platformVersion);
        caps.SetCapability("app", "sauce-storage:basekit.apk");



        AndroidDriver<AppiumWebElement> _driver = new AndroidDriver<AppiumWebElement>(
        new Uri("http://ondemand.saucelabs.com:80/wd/hub"),
            caps, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(600));

        return _driver;
    }

Test Class:

[Parallelizable]
class BKGoLoginTests : BKGoBaseTests 
{
    public AppiumDriver<AppiumWebElement> _driver;
    private LoginPageFactory _loginPageFactory;

    public BKGoLoginTests(string deviceName, string deviceOrientation, string platformName, string platformVersion)
    {
        _deviceName = deviceName;
        _deviceOrientation = deviceOrientation;
        _platformName = platformName;
        _platformVersion = platformVersion;
    }


    [SetUp]
    public void LoginSetup()
    {
        _driver = GetDriver();
        _loginPageFactory = new LoginPageFactory(_driver);
    }

    [Test]
    public void BKGoLoginTest()
    {
        _loginPageFactory.LoginAs("ben@bkgoautomation.com", "bentest");
        Assert.AreEqual("Editor", _driver.Title);
    }
}

Page Factory:

 class LoginPageFactory : BasePageFactory
    {
        public LoginPage _loginPage;
        public DashboardPage _dashboardPage;
        public AppiumDriver<AppiumWebElement> _driver;
        public LoginPageFactory(AppiumDriver<AppiumWebElement> driver)
        {
            _driver = driver;
            _loginPage = new LoginPage(_driver);
        }

        public void LoginAs(string email, string password)
        {
            //wait = new WebDriverWait(_driver, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(25));
            var LoginEmail = _loginPage.EmailTxt;
            var LoginPassword = _loginPage.PasswordTxt;
            var LoginBtn = _loginPage.SignInBtn;
            TouchAction ta = new TouchAction(_driver);


            LoginEmail.SendKeys(email);
            LoginPassword.SendKeys(password);



            LoginPassword.SendKeys(password);
            ta.Tap(LoginBtn).Perform();


            ta.Tap(editSiteBtn).Perform();
        }
    }
}
 

Page - Fairly certain the issue is with this class

public LoginPage(AppiumDriver<AppiumWebElement> driver)
    {
        AppiumPageObjectMemberDecorator decorator = new AppiumPageObjectMemberDecorator(new TimeOutDuration(System.TimeSpan.FromSeconds(15)));
        PageFactory.InitElements(driver, this, decorator);
    }

    [FindsByAndroidUIAutomator(AndroidUIAutomator = "new UiSelector().resourceId(\"android:id/username\")")]
    public AppiumWebElement EmailTxt { get; set; }

    [FindsByAndroidUIAutomator(AndroidUIAutomator = "//android.widget.EditText[contains(@resource-id,'password')]")]
    public AppiumWebElement PasswordTxt { get; set; }

EDIT: Came across this issue, which is what I think I'm experiencing.

If i set my Elements to AppiumWebElement I get:

However If I set my elements to IMobileElement, I get:
Object reference not set to an instance of an object

Result Message: System.IO.FileNotFoundException : Could not load file or assembly 'file:///C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 11.0\Common7\IDE\WebDriver.Support.dll' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.
`

[siggerzz]

Managed to fix this issue by Installing Appium before WebDriver/WebDriver support

[lanzelot1989]

@siggerzz
I am facing the same issue, how is it possible that the reinstall of the packages fixed the problem for you?

If I start the test cases with nunit3-console.exe and not with VS, the whole thing works for me.
So the main problem seems to be from where the tests are executed.

[saulius453]

@siggerzz
I am also facing the same issue and installing Appium before WebDriver/WebDriver support did not solve my problem. Did you install Appium from NuGet?
I am using latest Selenium and Appium packages from NuGet. When I install Appium, Visual Studio automatically installs WebDriver/WebDriver support packages.

I have managed to get it work by reinstalling NUnit to version 2.6.4, Appium to 3.0.0.2 version and using Selenium WebDriver/WebDriver support packages versions 3.0.1. Moreover in VS Extensions and Updates tab only NUnit 2 Test Adapter should be installed.
I conclude that this issue is caused by NUnit 3

[siggerzz]

@sauliusss123 Yeah I did install Appium via Nuget. I ended up installing the latest version of Appium. As you mentioned, Appium has Selenium/Selenium Support as part of it's dependencies, so let the Appium Nuget package deal with those.

Also, this isn't an NUnit 3/Nunit 3 Test Adapter issue, as I'm using those without any problems.

As my App is a hybrid I think I fixed this issue by changing my element types from AppiumWebElement to IWebElement.

I also didn't have to use AppiumPageObjectMemberDecorator when initializing my element. Changing it to this fixed the issue:

PageFactory.InitElements(driver,this);

Let me know if you have any issues!

[sunilpatro1985]

I have done the same way as you suggested, just installed appium.webdriver package from nuget,

There are 2 issues with this -

1. The selenium.support/webdriver that comes with appium.webdriver is older version (3.0.1) where as latest selenium webdriver is 3.11

2. I am getting error while running the code
   System.IO.FileNotFoundException : Could not load file or assembly 'System.Security.Permissions, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=cc7b13ffcd2ddd51'. The system cannot find the file specified.
   Error redirecting to the code line -
   driver = new AndroidDriver(new Uri("http://127.0.0.1:4723/wd/hub"), cap, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(600));

If I am adding selenium.webdriver latest packages separately, it's throwing error on
PageFactory.InitElements(driver, this);
PageFactory can not find in this current context

any guidance would be appreciated.

[siggerzz]

The dependency versions used by Appium are the only ones that are supported. Otherwise you'll run into problems.

If you select the 'Include Pre-Release' option within NuGet, you'll be able to download Appium v.4.0.0.1-beta, which includes new versions of Selenium (3.8.0) I believe.

See if that fixes your issue :)

[sunilpatro1985]

I have updated appium.webdriver to prerelease 4.0.0.1 beta,
Throwing error on the line -

PageFactory.InitElements(driver, this); as 
Error : The name 'PageFactory' does not exist in the current context (CS0103)

Not sure which package PageFactory is present, but it should be under OpenQA.Selenium.Support.PageObjects;

Any thoughts on this...