crosslocator

Define a UI selector once. Resolve it on every platform.

Cross-platform test automation means maintaining the same element for Android, iOS, iPadOS, Windows and the web. Most teams end up either duplicating selectors or scattering if platform == ... branches through their page objects.

crosslocator lets you declare a selector once, per platform, and resolves the right one at runtime — from pure Python (Appium), Robot Framework, or any other framework. It only routes selector strings; it never wraps your driver.

from crosslocator import Locator

ADD_PATIENT = Locator(
    android="accessibility_id=add_patient",
    ios="add_patient",
    windows='//Button[@Name="Add"]',
    default="id=add",
)

ADD_PATIENT.for_platform("ios")   # -> "add_patient"

Installation

pip install crosslocator

Zero runtime dependencies.

Why

• One source of truth per element — no duplicated selectors, no platform if/else.
• Framework-agnostic — Appium in plain Python, Robot Framework, or anything else.
• Sensible fallbacks — iPad inherits from iOS, and a shared default covers the rest.
• Typed and dependency-free.

Quick start (Python)

from crosslocator import Locator, set_current_platform

ADD_PATIENT = Locator(
    android="accessibility_id=add_patient",
    ios="add_patient",
    windows='//Button[@Name="Add"]',
)

set_current_platform("android")   # usually done once, at session start
ADD_PATIENT.resolve()             # -> "accessibility_id=add_patient"

Robot Framework

*** Settings ***
Library     crosslocator.robot.CrossLocator
Variables   locators.py        # ADD_PATIENT defined as a Locator here

*** Test Cases ***
Open Add Patient
    Set Current Platform    android
    ${selector}=    Resolve Locator    ${ADD_PATIENT}
    # -> pass ${selector} to AppiumLibrary / Browser as usual

How the platform is resolved

resolve() determines the current platform in this order:

1. an explicit set_current_platform(...)
2. the CROSSLOCATOR_PLATFORM environment variable
3. a registered provider — typically an Appium session (see below)

Automatic platform detection (Appium)

Let crosslocator read the platform straight from a live Appium session, so you never call set_current_platform by hand.

Python (Appium-Python-Client):

from crosslocator import use_appium

use_appium(driver)      # your Appium webdriver
LOGIN_BUTTON.resolve()  # platform detected from the session capabilities

Robot Framework (AppiumLibrary):

Open Application    ${REMOTE_URL}    platformName=Android    ...
Use Appium Session
${selector}=    Resolve Locator    ${LOGIN_BUTTON}

iPad is detected from the session device name and resolves to iPad selectors (falling back to iOS when none are defined).

Fallback rules

• ipad → falls back to ios when no iPad-specific selector is set
• any platform → falls back to default
• nothing found → LocatorNotFound

Examples

Runnable examples (no device needed) live in the examples/ folder — a login screen resolved across Android, iOS, iPadOS and Windows, plus a Robot Framework suite.

Roadmap

• v0.1: the core Locator type, platform resolution, Robot Framework keywords.
• v0.2 (current): automatic platform detection from a live Appium session.
• Next: Playwright/Browser helpers, and declarative loading of whole screens from YAML/dict.

Issues and contributions are welcome.

License

MIT © 2026 Julien Becheny