51.1.7

CustomWebResolver – Combo boxes

Combo boxes mostly consist of text fields or buttons. If the user clicks that component, a list of items is shown. The user can then select an item. To resolve a combo box correctly, you need to map the combo box with the text field and the components for the list and its items.

HTML SELECT nodes will be mapped to combo boxes automatically. The selection of the list item will be recorded as a Selection node.

It is sufficient to use the standard mappings for list items for the selection list. See subsection 51.1.6.

Sample:

HTML code for a combo box:

<div class="combobox-wrapper">
  <div role="combobox" aria-expanded="true" aria-owns="ex1-listbox" aria-haspopup="listbox" id="ex1-combobox">
    <input type="text" aria-autocomplete="list" aria-controls="ex1-listbox" id="ex1-input" aria-activedescendant="">
  </div>
  <ul aria-labelledby="ex1-label" role="listbox" id="ex1-listbox" class="listbox">
    <li class="result" role="option" id="result-item-0">Leek</li>
    <li class="result" role="option" id="result-item-1">Lemon</li>
  </ul>
</div>

A ComboBox consists of a container element showing the current selection and a list of the selectable items. In the example the DIV object contains the list plus the ComboBox itself. Often the list is defined somewhere completely different in the DOM. You can find it by opening the list and checking the developer tool of the browser. Alternatively, you can get the CSS classes of the list object and the list entries by recording a click to a list item and checking the qfs:class entry of the Extra features table of the recorded components.

genericClasses:
- List:ComboBoxList: listbox
- Item:ComboBoxListItem:
    class: result
    ancestor: List:ComboBoxList
- ComboBox: role=combobox

With this ComboBox we have several options for the mapping. When you have contact to the developers of the application it is best to ask them which attributes define a certain component class. If not, you have to decide which attributes best represent a certain class. You should check this with other GUI elements of the same type. Also, you should check similar GUI elements for the same attributes. In this case maybe there is another, hopefully unique, attribute, or you need to make it more specific by adding ancestor:...

In the example above, role=combobox should be precise enough for the ComboBox itself, just as role=listbox or alternatively css: listbox for the list. It probably will not make a big difference which one you choose. If normal lists use the same attribute you can omit the class type, i.e. you would just map List: listbox and Item:ListItem:. This does not affect the functionality the combo box within QF-Test.

However, css: result and role=option, used for the list items, could very well be used with other elements, too. Therefore, we will add ancestor: List:ComboBoxList to be sure.