Cast UITestControl to AutomationElement

Question

Using the below code (for example) I can cast AutomationElement to UITestControl

AutomationElement e = AutomationElement.FromHandle(Window.WindowHandle);
UITestControl u = UITestControlFactory.FromNativeElement(e, "UIA");

But how can I do it other way round i.e. How to cast a UITestControl to AutomationElement?

Answer 1

I just came across this myself. You should be able to simply use the following:

AutomationElement ae = u.NativeElement as AutomationElement;

But be careful to reference the correct assembly in your project - I had issues when referencing UIAutomationClient and had to reference UiaComWrapper instead.

Answer 2

AutomationElement ae = u.NativeElement as AutomationElement;

It's works only with WPF control. For Win32 control, NativeElement returns IAccessible com object.