WinAppDriver not starting properly while using Appium Inspector

[kenzoviski]

Original issue at Appim repo: https://github.com/appium/appium/issues/19880
On Appium repo they told me its a problem with WinAppDriver and this is the reason I'm posting here.

---

After installing Node.js_20.11.1 LTS I managed to start Appium server successfully.
But still, I'm getting an error while executing the Appium Inspector when I click on "Start Sessions".

These are my "Capabilities":

{
  "appium:app": "D:\\Trabalho Freelancer\\FLOWApps\\Applications\\FLOW2BO\\flow2bo.exe",
  "platformName": "windows",
  "appium:automationName": "windows"
}

And I'm starting Appium server with the following command: appium --address 127.0.0.1 --port 4723

And on Appium server I get the following error:

Appium] Attempting to find matching driver for automationName 'windows' and platformName 'windows'
[Appium] The 'windows' driver was installed and matched caps.
[Appium] Will require it at D:\Trabalho Freelancer\FlowAutomation\node_modules\appium-windows-driver
[Appium] Requiring driver at D:\Trabalho Freelancer\FlowAutomation\node_modules\appium-windows-driver\build\index.js
[AppiumDriver@ce67] Appium v2.5.1 creating new WindowsDriver (v2.12.18) session
[AppiumDriver@ce67] Checking BaseDriver versions for Appium and WindowsDriver
[AppiumDriver@ce67] Appium's BaseDriver version is 9.5.2
[AppiumDriver@ce67] WindowsDriver's BaseDriver version is 9.5.2
[WindowsDriver@1b02] Creating session with W3C capabilities: {
[WindowsDriver@1b02]   "alwaysMatch": {
[WindowsDriver@1b02]     "platformName": "windows",
[WindowsDriver@1b02]     "appium:app": "D:\\Trabalho Freelancer\\FLOWApps\\Applications\\FLOW2BO\\flow2bo.exe",
[WindowsDriver@1b02]     "appium:automationName": "windows",
[WindowsDriver@1b02]     "appium:newCommandTimeout": 3600,
[WindowsDriver@1b02]     "appium:connectHardwareKeyboard": true
[WindowsDriver@1b02]   },
[WindowsDriver@1b02]   "firstMatch": [
[WindowsDriver@1b02]     {}
[WindowsDriver@1b02]   ]
[WindowsDriver@1b02] }
[WindowsDriver@1b02] The following provided capabilities were not recognized by this driver:
[WindowsDriver@1b02]   connectHardwareKeyboard
[WindowsDriver@1b02 (b60ea8e7)] Session created with session id: b60ea8e7-b05f-43be-8842-6051c26c16bf
[WindowsDriver@1b02 (b60ea8e7)] Spawning 'C:\Program Files\Windows Application Driver\WinAppDriver.exe' with args: ["4724/wd/hub"]
[WindowsDriver@1b02 (b60ea8e7)] Matched '/status' to command name 'getStatus'
[WindowsDriver@1b02 (b60ea8e7)] Proxying [GET /status] to [GET http://127.0.0.1:4724/wd/hub/status] with no body
[WindowsDriver@1b02 (b60ea8e7)] connect ECONNREFUSED 127.0.0.1:4724
[WindowsDriver@1b02 (b60ea8e7)] Windows Application Driver listening for requests at: http://127.0.0.1:4724/wd/hub
[WindowsDriver@1b02 (b60ea8e7)] Press ENTER to exit.
[WindowsDriver@1b02 (b60ea8e7)] Matched '/status' to command name 'getStatus'
[WindowsDriver@1b02 (b60ea8e7)] Proxying [GET /status] to [GET http://127.0.0.1:4724/wd/hub/status] with no body
[WindowsDriver@1b02 (b60ea8e7)] ==========================================
[WindowsDriver@1b02 (b60ea8e7)] GET /wd/hub/status HTTP/1.1
[WindowsDriver@1b02 (b60ea8e7)] Accept: application/json, */*
[WindowsDriver@1b02 (b60ea8e7)] Accept-Encoding: gzip, compress, deflate, br
[WindowsDriver@1b02 (b60ea8e7)] Connection: keep-alive
[WindowsDriver@1b02 (b60ea8e7)] Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8
[WindowsDriver@1b02 (b60ea8e7)] Host: 127.0.0.1:4724
[WindowsDriver@1b02 (b60ea8e7)] User-Agent: appium
[WindowsDriver@1b02 (b60ea8e7)] Got response with status 500: {"status":13,"value":{"error":"unknown error","message":"An unknown error occurred in the remote end while processing the command."}}
[W3C] Matched W3C error code 'unknown error' to UnknownError

Appium inspector gives the error:
Failed to create session. An unknown server-side error occurred while processing the command. Original error: WinAppDriver server is not listening within 10000ms timeout. Make sure it could be started manually

OpenQA.Selenium.WebDriverException : An unknown server-side error occurred while processing the command. Original error: WinAppDriver server is not listening within 10000ms timeout. Make sure it could be started manually
   at OpenQA.Selenium.Remote.RemoteWebDriver.UnpackAndThrowOnError(Response errorResponse)
   at OpenQA.Selenium.Remote.RemoteWebDriver.Execute(String driverCommandToExecute, Dictionary`2 parameters)
   at OpenQA.Selenium.Appium.AppiumDriver`1.Execute(String driverCommandToExecute, Dictionary`2 parameters)
   at OpenQA.Selenium.Remote.RemoteWebDriver.StartSession(ICapabilities desiredCapabilities)
   at OpenQA.Selenium.Remote.RemoteWebDriver..ctor(ICommandExecutor commandExecutor, ICapabilities desiredCapabilities)
   at OpenQA.Selenium.Appium.AppiumDriver`1..ctor(ICommandExecutor commandExecutor, ICapabilities appiumOptions)
   at OpenQA.Selenium.Appium.AppiumDriver`1..ctor(Uri remoteAddress, ICapabilities appiumOptions, TimeSpan commandTimeout)
   at OpenQA.Selenium.Appium.AppiumDriver`1..ctor(Uri remoteAddress, ICapabilities appiumOptions)
   at OpenQA.Selenium.Appium.Windows.WindowsDriver`1..ctor(Uri remoteAddress, AppiumOptions AppiumOptions)
   at FlowAutomation.Tests.Test1() in D:\Trabalho Freelancer\FlowAutomation\test\specs\test1.cs:line 27
   at System.RuntimeMethodHandle.InvokeMethod(Object target, Void** arguments, Signature sig, Boolean isConstructor)
   at System.Reflection.MethodBaseInvoker.InvokeWithNoArgs(Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr)

How do I fix this, so I can hook my app to Appium Inspector and start identifying the elements on my desktop app (flow2bo)?

[kenzoviski]

Installed previous version of WAD and managed to make it work with Appium.
Unfortunately Appium Inspector isn't able to identify all the elements on my desktop app.

Guess there's not an open-source good tool to automate tests in Windows.

[anunay1]

Always use inspect.exe instead of appium inspector.

[kenzoviski]

Always use inspect.exe instead of appium inspector.

You mean the one on this repo: https://github.com/blackrosezy/gui-inspect-tool
?

[Shakevg]

Always use inspect.exe instead of appium inspector.

You mean the one on this repo: https://github.com/blackrosezy/gui-inspect-tool ?

https://github.com/microsoft/WinAppDriver/blob/master/Docs/FAQ.md#what-is-inspectexe

[anunay1]

No the one that comes with windows SDK.

[kenzoviski]

Always use inspect.exe instead of appium inspector.

You mean the one on this repo: https://github.com/blackrosezy/gui-inspect-tool ?

https://github.com/microsoft/WinAppDriver/blob/master/Docs/FAQ.md#what-is-inspectexe

I'm confused, in order to automate tests in desktop apps using Winappdriver, do I need appium?

What references do I use (openQA.Selenium.Appium)?
I'm starting a test project in the C# on Vs code but I don't wanna use appium, only want nUnit, selenium and winappdriver. Is it possible?

[anunay1]

Yes.

[kenzoviski]

Yes.

OK, so what version of .NET should I use in my project and what are the references/classes for selenium and Windows driver element that I should also use?

[anunay1]

Please check the wiki page.

[anunay1]

https://github.com/microsoft/WinAppDriver/tree/master/Docs

[kenzoviski]

https://github.com/microsoft/WinAppDriver/tree/master/Docs

Thank you so much for the help.
I'm trying to understand how to create Xpaths using "Inspect" from MS. I thought the "Inspect" would give me the attributes of elements and also able to create the Xpath but I'm coming to realize it doesn't have such ability which is a bummer.

Do you advise any "spy tool" that is able to create the xpath or is "Inspect" able to do it and I'm not seeing it?

[anunay1]

Xpath are very slow in identifying the elements and it's a known issue. I have only used name, classname and automation ID.

[kenzoviski]

Xpath are very slow in identifying the elements and it's a known issue. I have only used name, classname and automation ID.

Ok, thanks for the tip. I managed to grab on Inspect the AutimationId or the name of my element.

[kenzoviski]

Xpath are very slow in identifying the elements and it's a known issue. I have only used name, classname and automation ID.

The problem is that the desktop app I'm trying to identify elements with Inspect.exe doesn't have any properties for the elements LOLOL

And all the buttons on the left tree are also "ClassName" = "Button" lololol, without Name, AcessibilityID and AutomationID how in the hell am I suppose to identity this? Inspect doesn't give me Xpath either :x

[anunay1]

If the application is under your control ask the developer to implement properties.

[kenzoviski]

If the application is under your control ask the developer to implement properties.

LOL yes it is under our control but the devs don't care if the elements have properties. It's fine I understand your point of view, because we, testers, need to be able to grab something in order to automate. But unfortunatly devs don't care about testers, at least where I work.

[Shakevg]

Also, one more point is that real available controls can be different with inspector.exe.
You can use Inspector.exe for better visual displaying controls tree, but better save window structure using Session.PageSource, save to XML and create localor base on it (you can use next site to quickly validate your Xpath: xpather.com)