How to check for the presence of static text displayed from the network in UI tests in Xcode?

Question

I am using the UI test APIs introduced in Xcode 7 XCTest. On my screen I have a text that is loaded from the network.

The test fails if I simply check it with exists property.

XCTAssert(app.staticTexts["Text from the network"].exists) // fails

It does work though if I first send the tap or any other event to the text like this:

app.staticTexts["Text from the network"].tap()
XCTAssert(app.staticTexts["Text from the network"].exists) // works

It looks like if I just call exists it evaluates it immediately and fails because the text has not been downloaded from the network yet. But I think when I call the tap() method it waits for the text to appear.

Is there a better way to check for the presence of a text that is delivered from the network?

Something like (this code will not work):

XCTAssert(app.staticTexts["Text from the network"].eventuallyExists)

Answer 1

Xcode 7 Beta 4 added native support for asynchronous events. Here's a quick example of how to wait for a UILabel to appear.

XCUIElement *label = self.app.staticTexts[@"Hello, world!"];
NSPredicate *exists = [NSPredicate predicateWithFormat:@"exists == 1"];

[self expectationForPredicate:exists evaluatedWithObject:label handler:nil];
[self waitForExpectationsWithTimeout:5 handler:nil];

First create a query to wait for a label with text "Hello, world!" to appear. The predicate matches when the element exists (element.exists == YES). Then pass the predicate in and evaluate it against the label.

If five seconds pass before the expectation is met then the test will fail. You can also attach a handler block in that gets called when the expectation fails or times out.

If you're looking for more information regarding UI Testing in general, check out UI Testing in Xcode 7.