Getting individual ElementFinders from an ElementArrayFinder in a Page Object - protractor

Question

In a separate Page Object file (not in the actual file with tests) I'm trying to do something like:
this.item0 = element.all(by.repeater('menu items')).get(0);
This won't work because the code is executed before the tests are run. I haven't found another way of doing this except to call get() in the test file (which I don't want to do). Is there a way to do this in the Page Object file?

Answer 1

This behavior often confuses people who are trying to write page objects.
Your locator will not be executed until you call a function on the elementFinder or the elementArrayFinder (see https://github.com/angular/protractor/blob/master/docs/api.md).
I usually use this pattern:
// Page object
MyView = function() {
// This will not find elements until you call count(), get(), first(), etc.
this.itemList = element.all(by.repeater('menu items'));
};
module.exports = new MyView();
// Test
// Require the page object at the top of the test file.
var myView = require('./my-view.js');
// Use the page object in the test.
it('should get first element', function() {
myView.itemList.get(0).then(function(webElement) {
})
});

Answer 2

The following is from source code for ElementArrayFinder.get
/**
* Get an element within the ElementArrayFinder by index. The index starts at 0.
* This does not actually retrieve the underlying element.
*
ElementArrayFinder.prototype.get = function...
So Apparently you should be able to call it from within the page object even before the elements are loaded.

Answer 3

yay, i'm not the only one using page objects ;)
i did the following:
var MyPage = function () {
this.item0 = element.all(by.repeater('menu items')).get(0);
}
in my tests:
describe('MyPage:', function () {
var myPage = new MyPage();
// after this line navigate your browser to your page
// then you can call myPage.item0, myPage.whatEver
}