Android APIs
public final class

UiAutomation

extends Object
java.lang.Object
   ↳ android.app.UiAutomation

Class Overview

Class for interacting with the device's UI by simulation user actions and introspection of the screen content. It relies on the platform accessibility APIs to introspect the screen and to perform some actions on the remote view tree. It also allows injecting of arbitrary raw input events simulating user interaction with keyboards and touch devices. One can think of a UiAutomation as a special type of AccessibilityService which does not provide hooks for the service life cycle and exposes other APIs that are useful for UI test automation.

The APIs exposed by this class are low-level to maximize flexibility when developing UI test automation tools and libraries. Generally, a UiAutomation client should be using a higher-level library or implement high-level functions. For example, performing a tap on the screen requires construction and injecting of a touch down and up events which have to be delivered to the system by a call to injectInputEvent(InputEvent, boolean).

The APIs exposed by this class operate across applications enabling a client to write tests that cover use cases spanning over multiple applications. For example, going to the settings application to change a setting and then interacting with another application whose behavior depends on that setting.

Summary

Nested Classes
interface UiAutomation.AccessibilityEventFilter Listener for filtering accessibility events. 
interface UiAutomation.OnAccessibilityEventListener Listener for observing the AccessibilityEvent stream. 
Constants
int ROTATION_FREEZE_0 Rotation constant: Freeze rotation to 0 degrees (natural orientation)
int ROTATION_FREEZE_180 Rotation constant: Freeze rotation to 180 degrees .
int ROTATION_FREEZE_270 Rotation constant: Freeze rotation to 270 degrees .
int ROTATION_FREEZE_90 Rotation constant: Freeze rotation to 90 degrees .
int ROTATION_FREEZE_CURRENT Rotation constant: Freeze rotation to its current state.
int ROTATION_UNFREEZE Rotation constant: Unfreeze rotation (rotating the device changes its rotation state).
Public Methods
void clearWindowAnimationFrameStats()
Clears the window animation rendering statistics.
boolean clearWindowContentFrameStats(int windowId)
Clears the frame statistics for the content of a given window.
AccessibilityEvent executeAndWaitForEvent(Runnable command, UiAutomation.AccessibilityEventFilter filter, long timeoutMillis)
Executes a command and waits for a specific accessibility event up to a given wait timeout.
ParcelFileDescriptor executeShellCommand(String command)
Executes a shell command.
AccessibilityNodeInfo findFocus(int focus)
Find the view that has the specified focus type.
AccessibilityNodeInfo getRootInActiveWindow()
Gets the root AccessibilityNodeInfo in the active window.
final AccessibilityServiceInfo getServiceInfo()
Gets the an AccessibilityServiceInfo describing this UiAutomation.
WindowAnimationFrameStats getWindowAnimationFrameStats()
Gets the window animation frame statistics.
WindowContentFrameStats getWindowContentFrameStats(int windowId)
Gets the frame statistics for a given window.
List<AccessibilityWindowInfo> getWindows()
Gets the windows on the screen.
boolean injectInputEvent(InputEvent event, boolean sync)
A method for injecting an arbitrary input event.
final boolean performGlobalAction(int action)
Performs a global action.
void setOnAccessibilityEventListener(UiAutomation.OnAccessibilityEventListener listener)
Sets a callback for observing the stream of AccessibilityEvents.
boolean setRotation(int rotation)
Sets the device rotation.
void setRunAsMonkey(boolean enable)
Sets whether this UiAutomation to run in a "monkey" mode.
final void setServiceInfo(AccessibilityServiceInfo info)
Sets the AccessibilityServiceInfo that describes how this UiAutomation will be handled by the platform accessibility layer.
Bitmap takeScreenshot()
Takes a screenshot.
void waitForIdle(long idleTimeoutMillis, long globalTimeoutMillis)
Waits for the accessibility event stream to become idle, which is not to have received an accessibility event within idleTimeoutMillis.
[Expand]
Inherited Methods
From class java.lang.Object

Constants

public static final int ROTATION_FREEZE_0

Added in API level 18

Rotation constant: Freeze rotation to 0 degrees (natural orientation)

Constant Value: 0 (0x00000000)

public static final int ROTATION_FREEZE_180

Added in API level 18

Rotation constant: Freeze rotation to 180 degrees .

Constant Value: 2 (0x00000002)

public static final int ROTATION_FREEZE_270

Added in API level 18

Rotation constant: Freeze rotation to 270 degrees .

Constant Value: 3 (0x00000003)

public static final int ROTATION_FREEZE_90

Added in API level 18

Rotation constant: Freeze rotation to 90 degrees .

Constant Value: 1 (0x00000001)

public static final int ROTATION_FREEZE_CURRENT

Added in API level 18

Rotation constant: Freeze rotation to its current state.

Constant Value: -1 (0xffffffff)

public static final int ROTATION_UNFREEZE

Added in API level 18

Rotation constant: Unfreeze rotation (rotating the device changes its rotation state).

Constant Value: -2 (0xfffffffe)

Public Methods

public void clearWindowAnimationFrameStats ()

Clears the window animation rendering statistics. These statistics contain information about the most recently rendered window animation frames, i.e. for window transition animations.

public boolean clearWindowContentFrameStats (int windowId)

Clears the frame statistics for the content of a given window. These statistics contain information about the most recently rendered content frames.

Parameters
windowId The window id.
Returns
  • Whether the window is present and its frame statistics were cleared.

public AccessibilityEvent executeAndWaitForEvent (Runnable command, UiAutomation.AccessibilityEventFilter filter, long timeoutMillis)

Added in API level 18

Executes a command and waits for a specific accessibility event up to a given wait timeout. To detect a sequence of events one can implement a filter that keeps track of seen events of the expected sequence and returns true after the last event of that sequence is received.

Note: It is caller's responsibility to recycle the returned event.

Parameters
command The command to execute.
filter Filter that recognizes the expected event.
timeoutMillis The wait timeout in milliseconds.
Throws
TimeoutException If the expected event is not received within the timeout.

public ParcelFileDescriptor executeShellCommand (String command)

Executes a shell command. This method returs a file descriptor that points to the standard output stream. The command execution is similar to running "adb shell " from a host connected to the device.

Note: It is your responsibility to close the retunred file descriptor once you are done reading.

Parameters
command The command to execute.
Returns
  • A file descriptor to the standard output stream.

public AccessibilityNodeInfo findFocus (int focus)

Find the view that has the specified focus type. The search is performed across all windows.

Note: In order to access the windows you have to opt-in to retrieve the interactive windows by setting the FLAG_RETRIEVE_INTERACTIVE_WINDOWS flag. Otherwise, the search will be performed only in the active window.

Parameters
focus The focus to find. One of FOCUS_INPUT or FOCUS_ACCESSIBILITY.
Returns
  • The node info of the focused view or null.

public AccessibilityNodeInfo getRootInActiveWindow ()

Added in API level 18

Gets the root AccessibilityNodeInfo in the active window.

Returns
  • The root info.

public final AccessibilityServiceInfo getServiceInfo ()

Added in API level 18

Gets the an AccessibilityServiceInfo describing this UiAutomation. This method is useful if one wants to change some of the dynamically configurable properties at runtime.

Returns
  • The accessibility service info.

public WindowAnimationFrameStats getWindowAnimationFrameStats ()

Gets the window animation frame statistics. These statistics contain information about the most recently rendered window animation frames, i.e. for window transition animations.

A typical usage requires clearing the window animation frame statistics via clearWindowAnimationFrameStats() followed by an interaction that causes a window transition which uses a window animation and finally getting the window animation frame statistics by calling this method.

 // Start with a clean slate.
 uiAutimation.clearWindowAnimationFrameStats();

 // Do stuff to trigger a window transition.

 // Get the frame statistics.
 WindowAnimationFrameStats stats = uiAutomation.getWindowAnimationFrameStats();
 

Returns
  • The window animation frame statistics.

public WindowContentFrameStats getWindowContentFrameStats (int windowId)

Gets the frame statistics for a given window. These statistics contain information about the most recently rendered content frames.

A typical usage requires clearing the window frame statistics via clearWindowContentFrameStats(int) followed by an interaction with the UI and finally getting the window frame statistics via calling this method.

 // Assume we have at least one window.
 final int windowId = getWindows().get(0).getId();

 // Start with a clean slate.
 uiAutimation.clearWindowContentFrameStats(windowId);

 // Do stuff with the UI.

 // Get the frame statistics.
 WindowContentFrameStats stats = uiAutomation.getWindowContentFrameStats(windowId);
 

Parameters
windowId The window id.
Returns
  • The window frame statistics, or null if the window is not present.

public List<AccessibilityWindowInfo> getWindows ()

Gets the windows on the screen. This method returns only the windows that a sighted user can interact with, as opposed to all windows. For example, if there is a modal dialog shown and the user cannot touch anything behind it, then only the modal window will be reported (assuming it is the top one). For convenience the returned windows are ordered in a descending layer order, which is the windows that are higher in the Z-order are reported first.

Note: In order to access the windows you have to opt-in to retrieve the interactive windows by setting the FLAG_RETRIEVE_INTERACTIVE_WINDOWS flag.

Returns
  • The windows if there are windows such, otherwise an empty list.

public boolean injectInputEvent (InputEvent event, boolean sync)

Added in API level 18

A method for injecting an arbitrary input event.

Note: It is caller's responsibility to recycle the event.

Parameters
event The event to inject.
sync Whether to inject the event synchronously.
Returns
  • Whether event injection succeeded.

public final boolean performGlobalAction (int action)

Added in API level 18

Performs a global action. Such an action can be performed at any moment regardless of the current application or user location in that application. For example going back, going home, opening recents, etc.

Parameters
action The action to perform.
Returns
  • Whether the action was successfully performed.

public void setOnAccessibilityEventListener (UiAutomation.OnAccessibilityEventListener listener)

Added in API level 18

Sets a callback for observing the stream of AccessibilityEvents.

Parameters
listener The callback.

public boolean setRotation (int rotation)

Added in API level 18

Sets the device rotation. A client can freeze the rotation in desired state or freeze the rotation to its current state or unfreeze the rotation (rotating the device changes its rotation state).

Parameters
rotation The desired rotation.
Returns
  • Whether the rotation was set successfully.

public void setRunAsMonkey (boolean enable)

Added in API level 18

Sets whether this UiAutomation to run in a "monkey" mode. Applications can query whether they are executed in a "monkey" mode, i.e. run by a test framework, and avoid doing potentially undesirable actions such as calling 911 or posting on public forums etc.

Parameters
enable whether to run in a "monkey" mode or not. Default is not.

public final void setServiceInfo (AccessibilityServiceInfo info)

Added in API level 18

Sets the AccessibilityServiceInfo that describes how this UiAutomation will be handled by the platform accessibility layer.

Parameters
info The info.

public Bitmap takeScreenshot ()

Added in API level 18

Takes a screenshot.

Returns
  • The screenshot bitmap on success, null otherwise.

public void waitForIdle (long idleTimeoutMillis, long globalTimeoutMillis)

Added in API level 18

Waits for the accessibility event stream to become idle, which is not to have received an accessibility event within idleTimeoutMillis. The total time spent to wait for an idle accessibility event stream is bounded by the globalTimeoutMillis.

Parameters
idleTimeoutMillis The timeout in milliseconds between two events to consider the device idle.
globalTimeoutMillis The maximal global timeout in milliseconds in which to wait for an idle state.
Throws
TimeoutException If no idle state was detected within globalTimeoutMillis.