Microsoft UI Automation
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Microsoft UI Automation (UIA) is a managed code application programming interface exposing user interface controls for test automation and assistive technology such as screen readers.[1] It is part of the .NET Framework starting with version 3.0.
UI Automation is intended to be the successor to Microsoft Active Accessibility (MSAA).
UI Automation aims to mask differences in framework properties that underlie various pieces of a user interface and maps them to a common UI Automation property. Microsoft suggests that UIA clients (applications such as screen readers and testing frameworks) are most easily programmed using Microsoft Visual C# or Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, while UIA providers (UI implementations or application controls such as checkboxes) can be written in managed code or in C/C++. Although MSAA and UIA are not fully compatible, UIA providers still expose more basic information to MSAA clients through a UIA to MSAA mapping layer.[2] UI Automation also allows test scripts to interact with the UI.
[edit] UI Automation interoperability
Microsoft's implementation of UI Automation is available only on Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003, since Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) is only available for these platforms.[3] WPF support is not currently on the Mono roadmap[4], however the Olive project which is a set of add-on libraries for the Mono core aiming for .NET 3.0 support includes a subset of WPF (PresentationFramework and WindowsBase). [5]
On November 7, 2007, Microsoft and Novell Inc., after completion of a year of their interoperability agreement, announced that they would be extending their agreement to include accessibility. [6] Specifically, it was announced that Novell would develop an open source adapter allowing the UI Automation framework to work with existing Linux accessibility projects such as the Linux Accessibility Toolkit (ATK), which ships with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu Linux. This would eventually make UI Automation cross-platform.
Microsoft has also released documentation on UI Automation under the Open Specification Promise. [7]
[edit] References
- ^ Darryl K. Taft, Microsoft Promotes Cross-Platform Accessibility Tech, EWeek (2005-11-28), accessed 2007-02-07; Microsoft, "Microsoft's New Accessibility Model To Be Offered as Cross-Platform Solution for Industry", accessed 2007-02-06.
- ^ Microsoft, UI Automation and Microsoft Active Accessibility, accessed 2007-02-07.
- ^ Microsoft, UI Automation Overview, accessed 2007-02-07.
- ^ Miguel de Icaza and Philippe Cohen, "Mono, Mainsoft and Cross-Platform Enterprise Development", Enterprise Open Source Magazine (2007-01-14), accessed 2007-02-07.
- ^ The Olive project
- ^ Microsoft and Novell Celebrate Year of Interoperability, Expand Collaboration Agreement
- ^ UI Automation Open Specification Promise
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