Store references to Areas in a Session#elements hash

lib/webrat/core/locators.rb

@@ -54,12 +54,7 @@ module Webrat
     
     def area_by_element(element)
       return nil if element.nil?
-      
-      expected_path = Webrat::XML.xpath_to(element)
-      
-      areas.detect do |possible_area|
-        possible_area.path == expected_path
-      end
+      @session.elements[Webrat::XML.xpath_to(element)]
     end
     
     def find_field_with_id(id, *field_types) #:nodoc:

lib/webrat/core/scope.rb

@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ module Webrat
     def initialize(session, &block) #:nodoc:
       @session = session
       instance_eval(&block) if block_given?
+      
+      areas # preload
     end
     
     # Verifies an input field or textarea exists on the current page, and stores a value for
@@ -307,7 +309,9 @@ module Webrat
     
     def areas #:nodoc:
       Webrat::XML.css_search(dom, Area.css_search).map do |element| 
-        Area.new(@session, element)
+        area = Area.new(@session, element)
+        @session.elements[Webrat::XML.xpath_to(element)] = area
+        area
       end
     end
     

lib/webrat/core/session.rb

@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ module Webrat
     include Logging
     
     attr_reader :current_url
+    attr_reader :elements
     
     def initialize(context = nil) #:nodoc:
       @http_method     = :get