UiAutomator2 can find element; Espresso can't.

The problem

With UiAutomator2, I am able to find an element by xpath. Once I switch to using Espresso, however, it gets stuck trying to find the same element.

Environment

• Appium version (or git revision) that exhibits the issue: 1.15.1
• Last Appium version that did not exhibit the issue (if applicable):
• Desktop OS/version used to run Appium: macOS Mojave - 10.14.6
• Node.js version (unless using Appium.app|exe): 12.13.1
• Npm or Yarn package manager: yarn 1.16.0
• Mobile platform/version under test: Android 9
• Real device or emulator/simulator: emulator
• Appium CLI or Appium.app|exe: Appium CLI

Details

When spying on elements via Appium Studio, I can get xpaths just fine. UiAutomator2 can then detect elements using those xpaths, but Espresso can’t. When I use an xpath as a selector such as const environment = await driver.$("//*[@tag='Primary_Button_Login']");, it just hangs there, waiting to find it. It also hangs when I use this selector strategy: driver.$("~Primary_Button_Login"). Espresso can’t seem to see anything.

Here are my capabilities:

capabilities: {
    platformName: "Android",
    platformVersion: "9",
    deviceName: "Android Phone",
    app: "/Users/blane/Documents/Development/appium/[AppNameRedacted].apk",
    appPackage: "com.[AppNameRedacted].mobile.enterprise",
    appActivity: "com.[AppNameRedacted].mobile.MainActivity",
    automationName: "Espresso",
    forceEspressoRebuild: "true",
    newCommandTimeout: 10,
    appWaitDuration: 60000,
    autoGrantPermissions: "true"
  }

Link to Appium logs

Appium log

Source code of test

"use strict"
const wdio = require("webdriverio");
jest.setTimeout(100000);

// Android testing for emulator and device.
const opts = {
  port: 4723,
  capabilities: {
    platformName: "Android",
    platformVersion: "9",
    deviceName: "Android Phone",
    app: "/Users/blane/Documents/Development/appium/[AppNameRedacted].apk",
    appPackage: "com.[AppNameRedacted].mobile.enterprise",
    appActivity: "com.[AppNameRedacted].mobile.MainActivity",
    // automationName: "UiAutomator2",
    automationName: "Espresso",
    forceEspressoRebuild: "true",
    newCommandTimeout: 10,
    appWaitDuration: 60000,
    autoGrantPermissions: "true",
    clearDeviceLogsOnStart: "true"
  }
};

it('should show login screen using Espresso driver', async () => {
  const driver = await wdio.remote(opts);
  await driver.setImplicitTimeout(30000);

  // const environment = await driver.$("//*[@tag='Midway (Local Proxy)']");
  // const environment = await driver.$("//*[@text='Midway (Local Proxy)']");

  // Test flow hangs at next line.
  const environment = await driver.$("~Midway (Local Proxy)");
  await environment.touchAction('tap');

  const logIn = await driver.$("//*[@text='LOG IN']");
  // const logIn = await driver.$("//*[@tag='PrimaryButton_Login']");
  await logIn.touchAction('tap');

  const username = await driver.$("//*[@text='Card User ID']");
  await username.addValue("ASYS12345");

  const password = await driver.$("//*[@text='Password']");
  await password.addValue("Discover01");

  const loginButton = await driver.$("//*[@text='LOG IN']");
  await loginButton.touchAction('tap');
});

[imurchie]

“Should” is a loaded word here. What is actually seen by Espresso is important. Can you get the source, in your test script, right before you are trying to find the element?

[mykola-mokhnach]

Closed as not an issue