Ancestor retrivals

[Izocel]

Did you test using the latest Detox?

• I have tested this issue on the latest Detox release and it still reproduces.

Did your test fail and you're not sure why?

• I have read the troubleshooting guide and it didn't help me.

What happened?

Since RN updates and detox updates our child retrivals has stopped working.

Spec flake

const parent: TestElement = element(by.id("parent"));
let child: TestElement = element(by.id("child"));

await d_expect(parent).toBeVisible(); // PASS
await d_expect(child).toBeVisible(); // PASS
await d_expect(child).toHaveText("Login Screen"); // PASS

//FIXME: Use ancestor matcher to find the child within the parent (does not work currently)
child = element(by.id("child").withAncestor(by.id("parent")));
await d_expect(child).toBeVisible(); // FAILS

DOM/View flake

    return (
      <Fragment>
        <View testID="parent">
          <Text testID="child">Login Screen</Text>
        </View>
      </Fragment>
    );
  }

What was the expected behaviour?

Hold specs should pass after migration

Help us reproduce this issue!

No response

In what environment did this happen?

Detox version: latest
React Native version: latest
Has Fabric (React Native's new rendering system) enabled: (yes/no) NewArch enabled Hermes enabled
Node version: 22.20
Device model: Samsung-A53
Android version: Android 16 API 39
Test-runner (select one): jest + babel +typescript
Jest: ^29.0.0

Detox logs

Detox logs

 npx detox test --configuration android.debug app.spec.ts
[dotenv@17.2.3] injecting env (5) from .env -- tip: ⚙️  suppress all logs with { quiet: true }
14:45:52.455 detox[39028] B jest --config jest.config.cjs app.spec.ts
14:46:59.413 detox[39840] i app.spec.ts is assigned to AttachedDevice:R5CW10PPKLL
14:47:18.933 detox[39840] i The app seems to be idle
14:47:18.973 detox[39840] i Application specs: Should be able to focus in/out the app, without killing the app
14:47:22.299 detox[39840] i Application specs: Should be able to focus in/out the app, without killing the app [FAIL]
14:47:22.301 detox[39840] i Application specs: Should be able to translate keys
14:47:27.881 detox[39840] i Application specs: Should be able to translate keys [OK]

14:47:28.952 detox[39840] i The app seems to be idle
 FAIL  specs/suites/app/app.spec.ts (88.136 s)
  Application specs
    × Should be able to focus in/out the app, without killing the app (1244 ms)
    √ Should be able to translate keys (60 ms)

  ● Application specs › Should be able to focus in/out the app, without killing the app

    Test Failed: '(view has effective visibility <VISIBLE> and view.getGlobalVisibleRect() covers at least <75> percent of the view's area)' doesn't match the selected view.
    Expected: (view has effective visibility <VISIBLE> and view.getGlobalVisibleRect() covers at least <75> percent of the view's area)
         Got: was null

      24 |
      25 |     //FIXME: Use ancestor matcher to find the child within the parent (does not work currently)
    > 26 |     child = element(by.id("child").withAncestor(by.id("parent"))).atIndex(0);
         |                           ^
      27 |     await d_expect(child).toBeVisible();
      28 |
      29 |     // Set value for email input

      at createErrorWithUserStack (node_modules/detox/src/utils/errorUtils.js:36:27)
      at Client._doSendAction (node_modules/detox/src/client/Client.js:168:32)
      at Client._sendMonitoredAction (node_modules/detox/src/client/Client.js:161:25)
      at Client.sendAction (node_modules/detox/src/client/Client.js:147:14)
      at Client.execute (node_modules/detox/src/client/Client.js:132:25)
      at InvocationManager.execute (node_modules/detox/src/invoke.js:11:39)
      at MatcherAssertionInteraction.execute (node_modules/detox/src/android/interactions/native.js:23:31)
      at NativeExpectElement.toBeVisible (node_modules/detox/src/android/core/NativeExpect.js:25:137)
      at Object.toBeVisible (specs/suites/app/app.spec.ts:26:27)

Test Suites: 1 failed, 1 total
Tests:       1 failed, 1 passed, 2 total
Snapshots:   0 total
Time:        93.367 s
Ran all test suites matching /app.spec.ts/i.
14:47:32.333 detox[39028] E Command failed with exit code = 1:
jest --config jest.config.cjs app.spec.ts

Device logs

Device logs

paste your device.log here!

Test project deps

{
    "@babel/core": "latest",
    "@babel/preset-env": "latest",
    "@babel/preset-typescript": "latest",
    "@react-native/babel-preset": "latest",
    "@react-native/typescript-config": "latest",
    "@types/jest": "latest",
    "@types/node": "latest",
    "babel-jest": "latest",
    "detox": "latest",
    "detox-cli": "latest",
    "dotenv": "latest",
    "jest": "^29.0.0",
    "patch-package": "latest",
    "typescript": "latest"
}

No response

[GeorgiNikolovT212]

I've hit the same issue with all chained matchers.

It is caused by View Flattening and in my case adding collapsable={false} param to the parent view helped me.

    return (
      <Fragment>
        <View testID="parent" collapsable={false}>
          <Text testID="child">Login Screen</Text>
        </View>
      </Fragment>
    );

[Izocel]

@GeorgiNikolovT212 thanks for pointing the cause. :)

So the 'dom-search' engine becomes completly obselete because of the three transformation within new-arch ? 😭

[stale]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs.
If you believe the issue is still relevant, please test on the latest Detox and report back.

Thank you for your contributions!

For more information on bots in this repository, read this discussion.

[pleten]

I also have faced the same issue with all chained matchers on iOS. And unfortunately it is not convenient for me to put collapsable={false} everywhere I need it due to potential issues with performance. Also for some components it is impossible to avoid using this chains. So it would be great if this issue will be reviewed by devs

[TimVee]

If you can't use collapsable={false} due to performance, maybe you can use collapsable={!__DEV__}?

[pleten]

If you can't use collapsable={false} due to performance, maybe you can use collapsable={!__DEV__}?

Yes, I added parametrized app builds that will put this property for test builds. This workaround works. But still it is a bug, ideally automation tool should not require to update functional properties of components to be able to test an application.

I see two resolution of this issue:

1. Dom-search will work with new architecture without changes from user perspective
2. Updated documentation where will be stated, that withAncestor or withDescendant could not work with element without collapsable={false} on the new react native renderer.

In current state it kinda bug, but no one will fix it. Or it is not a bug, but it is not stated anywhere in documentation