Web Browser - Get value
Declaration
<AMWEBBROWSER ACTIVITY="getvalue" DEEPSEARCH="YES/NO" PATH="text" HTMLID="text" HTMLNAME="text" HTMLTAG="text" HTMLCONTENTS="text" USEMATCH="number" SESSION="text" BROWSER="text (options)" URL="text" EXTENSIONS="text" IEMODE="YES/NO" RESULTVARIABLE="text" RESULTDATASET="text" ATTRIBUTE="text"><HTMLATTRIBUTE NAME="text" VALUE="text" /></AMWEBBROWSER>
Description
Gets the value of a given HTML element in an established web browser session and places the results in a variable or dataset.
- The Web Browser action is not backwards compatible with the Web Browser (Legacy) action.
- Automation with the Web Browser action is only compatible with Internet Explorer, Chrome, Edge, and Firefox browsers.
- You must update the specified browser to the latest version and install it on the target system to ensure the Web Browser action functions correctly.
- Unlike other session-based actions where sessions are optional, the Web Browser action requires the use of a session as each created session explicitly links to a specific web browser instance (you can create a session using the Web Browser - Create session or Web Browser - Open activity). A single task can support numerous sessions; however, since Web Browser activities are performed interactively (and not in the background), each session must run concurrently to avoid sending interactions to the wrong browser window.
Practical usage
Used to simulate the process of manually copying the value displayed in a text box or control for the purpose of pasting it onto another program, application, or web browser window.
Parameters
Location
Property | Type | Required | Default | Markup | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Session name | Text | Yes | BrowserSession1 | SESSION="mySession" | The existing session to use with this activity. Numerous sessions can exist within a single task which allows several web browser operations to be performed simultaneously on separate browser windows. |
Select browser | --- | --- | --- | --- | You can use Automate Desktop's Window
Dissection technology to facilitate
the discovery of existing windows and their controls. To select the target browser Automate Desktop's Window Dissection technology window:
To manually select the target browser window:
NOTE: This parameter does not contain markup and is only displayed in visual mode for task construction and configuration purposes. |
Browser | Text(options) | Yes | Chrome |
|
Specifies the
web browser to use with this activity. The following browsers are supported:
NOTE: Firefox does not require a separate extension to be installed with this version of the Web Browser action. |
URL | Text | Yes | (Empty) | URL="www.fortra.com" | The URL to use with this activity (for example, www.fortra.com or https://www.fortra.com). |
Load extension(s) | Text | No | (Empty) | EXTENSIONS="C:\Users\User\Documents\AutoMate 2024 Tasks\settings.crx" | Specifies the path and file name of the Chromium-based browser extension file(s) (.crx) to load. This can be a fully
qualified path and file name, or a single file. Multiple files are specified by clicking the folder icon , and then selecting each desired file, or by manually entering and separating each path and file name with
a pipe character (|) (for example, c:\temp\*.crx|c:\backup\*.crx).
This parameter becomes available when the Browser parameter is set to Chrome or Edge. NOTE:
|
Enable IE mode | Yes/No | No | No | IEMODE="YES" | If selected, enables Internet Explorer (IE) mode which provides legacy support for Internet Explorer-based websites and applications in the Edge browser. This parameter becomes available when the Browser parameter is set to Edge and disabled by default. IMPORTANT: Before using the Enable IE mode parameter with your tasks, review the Using the Edge Browser with IE Mode enabled (Enable IE mode) in Automate Desktop: Known limitations and required updates and configurations section. |
Locate HTML elements | --- | --- | --- | --- | The
following parameters relate to the specification of HTML elements
required to identify the object to use with this activity. To pinpoint an HTML element (in this case, the button to click):
To interact with a web page before selecting the desired element (for example, open a menu to select a menu item):
Additional parameters become available, based on the element and its properties. You can further fine tune your selection by editing these parameters. NOTE:
|
Use deep search (to handle elements under shadow roots) | Yes/No | No | No | DEEPSEARCH="YES" | If selected, searches for and allows the selection of HTML elements under shadow roots on websites with a shadow DOM structure. This parameter is disabled by default. NOTE: Using this functionality may affect performance. |
Path within the document hierarchy | Text | No | (Empty) | PATH="/outer/inner/" | If the desired control is located within a floating frame, you can specify a frame hierarchy in this field. The specifier is a list of slash delimited frame identifiers (for example, "/outer_frame/inner_framer/"). |
Locate by identifier (best method) | Text | No | (Empty) | HTMLID="unique_ID" | If enabled, searches the specified unique ID of the target element. Specifying an element's unique identifier (where supported) is the fastest and most accurate method of locating an HTML element due to the fact that an ID must be unique within the HTML document. This parameter is disabled by default. |
Locate by name (certain elements) | Text | No | (Empty) | HTMLNAME="element_name" | If enabled, specifies the unique name identifying the target object to search. Specifying an element's unique name (where supported) is a fast and accurate method of locating an HTML element as an element name must be unique within the HTML document. This parameter is disabled by default. |
Locate by HTML tag | Text | Yes | (Empty) | HTMLTAG="tagName" | Specifies the start tag (or opening tag) identifying the target object to search. |
Locate by attributes (case-sensitive, all must match) | --- | --- | --- | --- | If enabled, uses attribute name/value pairs as search criteria. Attributes provide additional information about HTML elements. If this option is enabled, the parameters specified below become active. This parameter is disabled by default. |
Attribute name | Text | No | (Empty) | HTMLATTRIBUTE NAME="foo" VALUE="bar" | The name of the attribute to search for. Click Add to enter a new attribute name/value pair. To remove an existing name/value pair, highlight the proper row of data and then click Remove. |
Attribute value | Text | No | (Empty) | HTMLATTRIBUTE NAME="foo" VALUE="bar" | The value of the attribute to search for. Click Add to enter a new attribute name/value pair. To remove an existing name/value pair, highlight the proper row of data and then click Remove. |
Locate by content (not recommended, slow) | Text | No | (Empty) | HTMLCONTENTS="contents" | If
enabled, uses the specified textual and graphical content
between the start and end tags as search criteria.
This parameter is disabled by default. NOTE: This search method is exceedingly
slow. It is recommended to only use this method if all other methods are not applicable. |
Restrict to specific match | Number | No | (Empty) | USEMATCH="44" | If enabled, specifies which occurrence to use if there are multiple matches. For example, if five text boxes match and this parameter is set to "4", the activity is applied to the fourth text box. This parameter is disabled by default. |
Interaction
Property | Type | Required | Default | Markup | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Copy | Text(options) | Yes | Text |
|
The
type of value to copy. The available options are:
|
Place a single match in variable | Text | No | (Empty) | RESULTVARIABLE="myVar" | The name of an existing variable to populate with the individual match. |
Place a number of matches in dataset | Text | No | (Empty) | RESULTDATASET="myDataset" | The name of the dataset in which to populate with all matches. |
Additional notes
Using the Edge Browser with IE Mode enabled (Enable IE mode) in Automate Desktop: Known limitations and required updates and configurations
Known limitations
Required updates and configurations
Example
- Copy and paste the sample AML code below directly into the Task Builder Steps Panel.
- To successfully run the sample code, update parameters containing user credentials, files, file paths, or other information specific to the task to match your environment.
Description
This task creates a variable named "myVar" and then opens a Firefox web browser window set to http://www.google.com. A Get value activity is then performed to retrieve the value of the I'm Feeling Lucky button and then populates the "myVar" variable with results. Finally, a Web Browser - Close step closes the browser window and ends the session.
<AMVARIABLE NAME="myVar" VALUE="" />
<AMWEBBROWSER URL="https://www.google.com" BROWSER="firefox" SESSION="BrowserSession1" />
<AMWEBBROWSER ACTIVITY="getvalue" HTMLNAME="btnI" USEMATCH="2" SESSION="BrowserSession1" RESULTVARIABLE="myVar" ATTRIBUTE=":text" />
<AMSHOWDIALOG>%myVar%</AMSHOWDIALOG>
<AMWEBBROWSER ACTIVITY="close" SESSION="BrowserSession1" />