A manipulation tool (e.g., "the XABLE tool") provides a user interface (UI) automation library that allows a tool user to find existing UI objects and then perform a UI action on such UI objects. In one exemplary application, the manipulation tool can be used by script writers to automatically drive the UI of an application under test. A plurality of selectable search strategies are provided for searching for UI objects. Further, an event handling object is provided for monitoring the firing of UI objects.