UI elements obscured from UIAutomation by UserControl - wpf

Question

I have an automation client that uses the AutomationElement.FromPoint method to get the AutomationElement under the cursor:
AutomationElement element = AutomationElement.FromPoint(point);
Typically this works great, but I keep running into a problem with certain WPF applications. The problem occurs when there is a UserControl on the same UI level as another important UI element.
For example:
<Window x:Class="wpfTestApp.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525" xmlns:c="clr-namespace:wpfTestApp">
<Window.Resources>
<c:NameList x:Key="NameListData"/>
</Window.Resources>
<Grid>
<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource NameListData}}"
Height="300" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="10,10,0,0" Name="listBox1"
VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="153" >
</ListBox>
<UserControl Name="exampleUserControl">
<TextBlock Visibility="Hidden">Loading...</TextBlock>
</UserControl>
</Grid>
</Window>
When I attempt to point to any of the listbox items (or even the listbox itself), all I get is the "exampleUserControl".
I know that there are other methods for obtaining AutomationElements that don't depend on location, but in this case that is my only option, since we are trying to get the element under the cursor. The problem is, in this case, the important element (i.e. the listbox items) are covered up by this unimportant item ("exampleUserControl" containing "Loading..." text).
Is there any alternative to the FromPoint method, or some way that I can get it to ignore such elements?

Answer 1

There are several methods can find/search the Element.
You can find these interfaces on the MSDN http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms606809
For instance:
AutomationElement.FindFirst - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.automation.automationelement.findfirst
AutomationElement.FindAll - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.automation.automationelement.findall
// Sample: Find the first Element and the classname = ""SciCalc"
AutomationElement calcRoot = AutomationElement.RootElement.FindFirst(TreeScope.Children,
new PropertyCondition(AutomationElement.ClassNameProperty, "SciCalc"));
"AutomationElement.RootElement" is the parent of all the currently opened windows and controls.
For improve the performance you can find the target window first and then scan the controls on the AutomationElement of the Target window.
For instance: You can find and create the target WPF window via "AutomationElement.FindFirst" or "AutomationElement.FromHandle" first and search you listbox on the target window.

Answer 2

The clean solution to your problem is to set Visibility="Hidden" to the UserControl instead of the TextBlock