A Test automation tool identifies the controls using
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The X,Y position of the control on the UI
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An algorithm that is not exposed to the user
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The identification properties from the GUI map
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The relative position of the control with respect to the parent window
Test automation tools identify controls using identification properties stored in a GUI map or object repository, which maps logical names to physical control properties like name, ID, class, or XPath. This abstraction layer separates test scripts from UI property changes, improving maintainability. X-Y coordinates are unreliable because UI elements can move, hidden algorithms would not be useful to testers, and relative positioning is less robust than property-based identification.
Test automation tools like QTP/UFT identify and recognize UI controls primarily by their identification properties (captured in the tool's Object Repository / GUI map) — attributes such as object class, name, text, or other stable properties that uniquely fingerprint a control regardless of its screen position. Relying on X,Y coordinates would break as soon as the layout shifted (window resize, resolution change, added elements), and relying on relative position to a parent window is similarly fragile. An 'algorithm not exposed to the user' vaguely gestures at some black-box mechanism but doesn't reflect how these tools actually document their object-recognition approach. Property-based identification via the GUI map is the standard, documented mechanism.