Pywinauto doesn't see most of controls while connecting to Skype

On pywinauto 0.6.6 this simple code snippet fails in one of 2 scenarious:

	app = Application(backend="uia").start("skype.exe")
	sleep(8)
	
	skp = app.window(title_re='Skype.*')
	sleep(8)
	
	search = skp["Search for people, groups & messages"]
	search.click()

It either fails on line skp = app.window(title_re='Skype.*'):

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\Bravissimo\AppData\Local\conda\conda\envs\py36\lib\site-packages\pywinauto\application.py", line 256, in __resolve_control
    criteria)
  File "C:\Users\Bravissimo\AppData\Local\conda\conda\envs\py36\lib\site-packages\pywinauto\timings.py", line 458, in wait_until_passes
    raise err
pywinauto.timings.TimeoutError

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "skype.py", line 300, in <module>
    status = add_friends(prefix, min_mutuals, invitation_msg)
  File "skype.py", line 130, in add_friends
    search.click()
  File "C:\Users\Bravissimo\AppData\Local\conda\conda\envs\py36\lib\site-packages\pywinauto\application.py", line 362, in __getattribute__
    ctrls = self.__resolve_control(self.criteria)
  File "C:\Users\Bravissimo\AppData\Local\conda\conda\envs\py36\lib\site-packages\pywinauto\application.py", line 259, in __resolve_control
    raise e.original_exception
  File "C:\Users\Bravissimo\AppData\Local\conda\conda\envs\py36\lib\site-packages\pywinauto\timings.py", line 436, in wait_until_passes
    func_val = func(*args, **kwargs)
  File "C:\Users\Bravissimo\AppData\Local\conda\conda\envs\py36\lib\site-packages\pywinauto\application.py", line 201, in __get_ctrl
    dialog = self.backend.generic_wrapper_class(findwindows.find_element(**criteria[0]))
  File "C:\Users\Bravissimo\AppData\Local\conda\conda\envs\py36\lib\site-packages\pywinauto\findwindows.py", line 87, in find_element
    raise ElementNotFoundError(kwargs)
pywinauto.findwindows.ElementNotFoundError: {'title_re': 'Skype.*', 'backend': 'uia', 'process': 9112}

or fails in the moment when code trying to reach search control using line search = skp["Search for people, groups & messages"]

C:\Users\Bravissimo\AppData\Local\conda\conda\envs\py36\lib\site-packages\pywinauto\application.py",` line 256, in __resolve_control criteria)
  File "C:\Users\Bravissimo\AppData\Local\conda\conda\envs\py36\lib\site-packages\pywinauto\timings.py", line 458, in wait_until_passes
    raise err
pywinauto.timings.TimeoutError

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "skype.py", line 300, in <module>
    status = add_friends(prefix, min_mutuals, invitation_msg)
  File "skype.py", line 130, in add_friends
    search.click()
  File "C:\Users\Bravissimo\AppData\Local\conda\conda\envs\py36\lib\site-packages\pywinauto\application.py", line 362, in __getattribute__
    ctrls = self.__resolve_control(self.criteria)
  File "C:\Users\Bravissimo\AppData\Local\conda\conda\envs\py36\lib\site-packages\pywinauto\application.py", line 259, in __resolve_control
    raise e.original_exception
  File "C:\Users\Bravissimo\AppData\Local\conda\conda\envs\py36\lib\site-packages\pywinauto\timings.py", line 436, in wait_until_passes
    func_val = func(*args, **kwargs)
  File "C:\Users\Bravissimo\AppData\Local\conda\conda\envs\py36\lib\site-packages\pywinauto\application.py", line 220, in __get_ctrl
    ctrl = self.backend.generic_wrapper_class(findwindows.find_element(**ctrl_criteria))
  File "C:\Users\Bravissimo\AppData\Local\conda\conda\envs\py36\lib\site-packages\pywinauto\findwindows.py", line 84, in find_element
    elements = find_elements(**kwargs)
  File "C:\Users\Bravissimo\AppData\Local\conda\conda\envs\py36\lib\site-packages\pywinauto\findwindows.py", line 303, in find_elements
    elements = findbestmatch.find_best_control_matches(best_match, wrapped_elems)
  File "C:\Users\Bravissimo\AppData\Local\conda\conda\envs\py36\lib\site-packages\pywinauto\findbestmatch.py", line 533, in find_best_control_matches
    raise MatchError(items = name_control_map.keys(), tofind = search_text)
pywinauto.findbestmatch.MatchError: Could not find 'Search for people, groups & messages' in 'dict_keys(['', 'Pane', 'TitleBar', '0', '1', '2', 'System', 'SystemMenu', 'Menu', 'System0', 'System1', 'System2', 'MenuItem', 'SystemMenuItem', 'Button', 'MinimalizujButton', 'Minimalizuj', 'Button0', 'Button1', 'Button2', 'Maksymalizuj', 'MaksymalizujButton', 'Button3', 'Zamknij', 'ZamknijButton', 'Custom', '3', 'Custom0', 'Custom1', 'Custom2', '4', 'Custom3', '5', 'Custom4', '6', 'Custom5', '7'])

Also in this message you can see that there’re only few controls visible, while most of them aren’t here. 2 weeks ago this code worked, but now it works very rarely and in most cases fails.

Do you have any idea why it’s happening?

[vasily-v-ryabov]

A-ha-ha! The fifth Skype.exe process with pid = 32 eats 100% of one CPU core for this period of time! Come on, Skype team! What are you doing?

[vasily-v-ryabov]

Reported the issue to Skype through standard feedback form with the link to this issue. Let’s wait for a month at least for any reaction.