Window Condition

Description

Monitors for a window to reach a specific condition or state (that is, window open, closed, focused) and evaluates as TRUE when the condition is met. This condition can be set as one of the following workflow elements:

• Trigger element - When positioned in the beginning of a workflow, triggers its execution when the monitored condition (that is, Internet Explorer browser window opens) evaluates to TRUE.

• Wait element - Suspends execution of a running workflow until the monitored condition (that is, Internet Explorer window becomes focused) valuates to TRUE.

• Conditional element - Determines the course of a workflow depending on whether or not a specific condition (that is, Internet Explorer window closes) evaluates to TRUE.

Practical Usage

Useful in a "back office" (or unattended) environment for monitoring the system for application generated error dialogs. These dialog boxes could be automatically handled when they occur and / or a notification message could be sent to the system administrator.

Related Topics  

Parameters

General

This condition comprises Automate's Window Dissection technology to facilitate the discovery of existing windows and their controls. To select the target window:

1. Make certain the window is open and in the foreground (in front of all other open windows).
2. Drag and release the magnifier icon over the window. If the window is supported by this condition, a green border will appear around it.
3. Upon releasing the icon, identified window properties are populated onto the editor. These properties can be enabled / disabled or further modified.

Property	Type	Description
Trigger if/when	Options	Specifies the window state to monitor. The available options are: Window open (default) - The trigger will monitor for the specified window to open. Window closed- The trigger will monitor for the specified window to close. Window focused - The trigger will monitor for the specified window to become focused (or appears in the foreground). Window not focused - The trigger will monitor for the specified window to lose focus.
Triggers once when the window is first open	Yes/No	If enabled, specifies that the action to be performed on the window being monitored will occur only once when that window first opens and ignore other instances. For example, if this trigger is set to wait for Notepad to close, enabling this option tells the trigger to watch for the first instance of Notepad to open and activate only when that first instance closes. If a second instance of Notepad opens and closes before the first instance, that action is ignored.
By window title	Text	If enabled, specifies the title of the window to monitor. The value is not case sensitive. This parameter supports wildcard characters (that is, * and ?). For example, entering *Internet Explorer* would include all windows containing Internet Explorer (enabled by default).
By window class	Text	If enabled, specifies the class of the window to monitor. A window class is a set of attributes that the system uses as a template to create a window. Every window is a member of a window class. All window classes are process specific. The value is not case sensitive. This parameter supports wildcard characters (that is, * and ?). For example, entering *Explore* would include all window classes containing Explore (disabled by default).
By window handle	Text	If enabled, specifies the handle of the window to monitor. A window handle is code that uniquely identifies an open window (disabled by default).
Window is a child window	Yes/No	If enabled, specifies that the window to monitor is a child window. A child window is normally a secondary window on screen that is displayed within the main overall window of the application. A child window is normally a secondary window on screen that is displayed within the main overall window of the application. A child window is a window has the following properties: It has a parent window. It stays always in the parent's client area (cannot be displayed outside) If the parent is moved, the child window is moved in the same way (its position relative to parent's client area doesn't change); it is destroyed when its parent is destroyed. NOTE: This option is available only when the Action parameter is set to Wait for window to be focused or Wait for window to not be focused.

Contents

If multiple windows with the same title exists, it may be necessary to use Automate's Object Editor to specify additional criteria, such as unique objects, controls or properties, in order to distinguish one window from another. To identify additional elements, enable Window must contain the following objects, and then click Add to open the Object Editor dialog. Thereafter, do one of the following:

1. Drag and release the magnifier icon over the desired object or control. The Object properties grid becomes populated with a list of name / value pairs unique to that object. Individual values can be enabled / disabled according to preference.
2. Click Browse to traverse the list of available objects / controls for the selected window. Select the desired object from the Window contents column, and then click OK. The Object properties grid becomes populated with a list of defined properties unique to that object. Individual values can be enabled or disabled according to preference.

Available object properties are described below:

Property	Type	Required	Default	Markup	Description
Toolkit	Text	No	(Empty)	TOOLKIT=UIAutomation TOOLKIT=WindowsAccessibility TOOLKIT=JavaAccessibility	If enabled, specifies that the toolkit (a set of basic building units for graphical user interfaces) will be examined when determining a matching object. If disabled, the toolkit will be ignored. The toolkit that appears is based on the Accessibility engine used: UI Automation - UIAutomation Active - WindowsAccessibility Java - JavaAccessibility Internet Explorer - WindowsAccessibility
Type	Text	No	(Empty)	TYPE=PushButton	If enabled, specifies that the object's type (that is, Button, Checkbox, Trackbar) will be examined when determining a matching object. If disabled, the type will be ignored.
Class	Text	No	(Empty)	CLASS=SysTreeView32	If enabled, specifies that the object's class (that is, XTPToolBar, SysTreeView, MDIClient) will be examined when determining a matching object. If disabled, the class will be ignored.
FrameworkId	Text	No	(Empty)	FRAMEWORKID=WPF	If enabled, specifies that the object's framework ID (the framework technology used to create the object) will be examined when determining a matching object. If disabled, the framework ID will be ignored.
Name	Text	No	(Empty)	NAME=Cancel	If enabled, specifies that the object's name (a unique identifier for an object) will be examined when determining a matching object. If disabled, the name will be ignored.
AutomationId	Text	No	(Empty)	AUTOMATIONID=System	If enabled, specifies that the object's automation ID (a unique identifier for an object) will be examined when determining a matching object. If disabled, the automation ID will be ignored.
Value	Text	No	(Empty)	VALUE=1	If enabled, specifies that the object's value (which usually coincides with the Name property) will be examined when determining a matching object. If disabled, the value will be ignored.
Role	Text	No	(Empty)	ROLE=desktop pane	If enabled, specifies that the object's role type (the control type provided by the Java Accessibility bridge) will be examined when determining a matching object. If disabled, the role type will be ignored.
Description	Text	No	(Empty)	DESCRIPTION=JScrollPane	If enabled, specifies that the object's description (the description given for an object) will be examined when determining a matching object. If disabled, the description will be ignored.
X	Number	No	(Empty)	X=80	If enabled, specifies that the object's X coordinate (a given number of pixels along the horizontal axis of a window starting from the extreme left side) will be examined when determining a matching object. If disabled, the X coordinate will be ignored. NOTE: The X and Y coordinates are relative to the specified window as opposed to the screen.
Y	Number	No	(Empty)	Y=90	If enabled, specifies that the object's Y coordinate (a given number of pixels along the vertical axis of a window starting from the top-most portion) will be examined when determining a matching object. If disabled, the Y coordinates will be ignored. NOTE: The X and Y coordinates are relative to the specified window as opposed to the screen.
Width	Number	No	(Empty)	WIDTH=711	If enabled, specifies that the object's pixel width will be examined when determining a matching object. If disabled, the pixel width will be ignored.
Height	Number	No	(Empty)	HEIGHT=42	If enabled, specifies that the object's pixel height will be examined when determining a matching object. If disabled, the pixel height will be ignored.
IndexInParent	Text	No	(Empty)	INDEXINPARENT=1	If enabled, specifies that the object's index in parent number (the numeric identifier of a child object located within a parent object) will be examined when determining a matching object. If disabled, the index in parent number will be ignored.
ParentPath	Text	No	(Empty)	PARENTPATH=50032|50033	If enabled, specifies that the object's parent path (the sequence of control type identifiers that lead to the object) will be examined when determining a matching object. If disabled, the parent path will be ignored.
Occurrence	Number	No	(Empty)	OCCURRENCE=1	If enabled, specifies that the object's occurrence (the numeric identifier of an object, useful when multiple matching objects are found) will be examined when determining a matching object. If disabled, the occurrence will be ignored.

Advanced

 

Property	Description
Delay to wait for before analyzing a window	Use a delay to prevent this condition from checking a window's condition immediately. For example, an Internet Explorer window may appear before its page contents are completely downloaded. The default value is 1,000 milliseconds.

Behavior

The Behavior tab properties dictate how the system should react upon the occurrence of a condition. These properties are significant in determining whether the Automate Condition should act as a trigger object (used to fire off workflow execution), wait object (used to suspend workflow execution), or conditional (decision making) object.

More on Condition Behavior

Additional Notes

AMTrigger

When the Key event is used to trigger workflow execution, it automatically creates an AMTrigger dataset which can be used much like the datasets created by the Database - SQL query activity and Email action. The fields that AMTrigger generates can be used to determine properties of the object that caused the workflow to launch, such as the type of trigger, when the trigger was activated and what system event or condition took place to activate the trigger. Along with a collection of global AMTrigger fields that are created and populated by every instance of AMTrigger, a unique set of AMTrigger fields exclusive to each Automate trigger are created as well.

To view AMTrigger values exclusive to the Window condition, see AMTrigger - Window.

AMCondition

When the Window condition is used in the middle of a workflow as wait or conditional object, it automatically creates an AMCondition dataset. Similar to AMTrigger, the fields that AMCondition generates can be used to determine properties of the object that caused the condition to activate. Along with a collection of global AMCondition fields that are created and populated by every instance of AMCondition, a unique set of AMCondition fields exclusive to each Automate condition are created as well.

To view AMCondition values exclusive to the Window condition, see AMCondition - Window.