Window - Show

Declaration

<AMWINDOW ACTIVITY="unhide" WINDOWTITLE="text" WINDOWCLASS="text" WINDOWHANDLE="number" CONTAINSOBJECT="YES/NO" OBJECTPROPERTYSETS="Toolkit=text,Type=text,Class=text,FrameworkId=text,Name=text,AutomationId=text,Value=text,Role=text,Description=text,X=number,Y=number,Width=number,Height=number,IndexInParent=text,ParentPath=text,Occurrence=number" ALLOWHIDDEN="YES/NO" WINDOWTITLEVARIABLE="text" WINDOWCLASSVARIABLE="text" WINDOWHANDLEVARIABLE="text" RESULTDATASET="text" />

Related Topics  

Description

Exposes a window that was previously hidden by the Hide window activity. This activity causes the window to become visible on the desktop and at the same time, puts it in front of all other open widows so interactive steps can immediately access it without the use of a Focus step. Window title, class, handle and associated objects may be used to specify the window.

Practical usage

Generally used to make visible a window that has been previously hidden by the Hide window activity or opened in a hidden state by the Run activity with the Initial window state parameter set to Hidden.

Parameters

General

This activity comprises Automate Desktop'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 activity, 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 Required Default Markup Description
By window title Text Yes (Empty) WINDOWTITLE="*Explorer" If enabled, indicates the title of the window to show. If disabled, the window title will be ignored. This parameter supports wildcard characters (that is, * or ?). For example, entering *Notepad* would include any window with the word Notepad in its title.
By window   class Text No (Empty) WINDOWCLASS="Outlook Browser" If enabled, indicates the class of the window to show. If disabled, the window class will be ignored. 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 class and all window classes are process specific. This parameter supports wildcard characters (that is, * or ?). For example, entering *IE* would include any window containing IE its class.
By window handle Number No (Empty) WINDOWHANDLE="555735" If enabled, indicates the handle of the window to show. If disabled, the window handle will be ignored. A window handle is numeric code that uniquely identifies a window. This parameter supports wildcard characters (that is, * or ?).
Accessibility engine Text (options) No Auto
  • ACCESSIBILITYENGINE="auto"
  • ACCESSIBILITYENGINE="ui_automation"
  • ACCESSIBILITYENGINE="active"
  • ACCESSIBILITYENGINE="java"
  • ACCESSIBILITYENGINE="ie"
 The accessibility engine that this activity will use to programmatically gather accurate information about a user interface in order to interact with it. The available options are:
  • Auto - Starting with UI Automation, Automate Desktop detects which accessibility engine to use based on the control's properties.
    NOTE: Some controls may not be compatible with this option and will require one of the other accessibility engine options to be manually selected for best results.
  • UI Automation - UI Automation will be used, which is Microsoft's standard for exposing information about its user interface.
  • Active - Active Accessibility will be used, which uses an older Microsoft engine for exposing information about its user interface.
  • Java - Java Access Bridge will be used, which is a technology that enables certain Java applications and applets to be visible to assistive technologies on Microsoft Windows systems.
  • Internet Explorer - Internet Explorer DOM will be used, which is the Document Object Model used to represent objects in a web page (that is, text, images, headers, links, etc.).

Window contents

If multiple windows with the same title exists, it may be necessary to use Automate Desktop'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 Type Required Default Markup Description
Include hidden windows Yes/No No Yes ALLOWHIDDEN="YES" If selected, hidden (non-visible) windows will be included in the window search. Disabled by default.
Populate variable with window title Text No (Empty) WINDOWTITLEVARIABLE="theTitle" If enabled, specifies the name of an existing variable that should be populated with the title of the window that was shown.
Populate variable with window class Text No (Empty) WINDOWCLASSVARIABLE="theClass" If enabled, specifies the name of an existing variable that should be populated with the class of the window that was shown.
Populate variable with window handle Text No (Empty) WINDOWHANDLEVARIABLE="theHandle" If enabled, specifies the name of an existing variable that should be populated with the handle of the window that was shown.
Create and populate dataset Text No (Empty) RESULTDATASET="DatasetName" If enabled, specifies the name of a dataset to be created and populated with information about the window that was shown. More on the fields that this dataset creates can be found under Datasets below.

Description

Error Causes

On Error

Additional notes

Datasets

A dataset is a multiple column, multiple row container object. This activity creates and populates a dataset containing a specific set of fields in addition to the standard dataset fields. The table below describes these fields (assuming the dataset name assigned was theDataset).

Name Type Return Value
theDataset.Title Text Returns the window title of the window that was shown.
theDataset.Class Text Returns the class of the window that was shown.  
theDataset.Handle Number Returns the handle of the window that was shown.

Example

NOTE:
  • 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 sample task performs various window related activities on a Notepad window. Details are illustrated during task execution.

Copy 
<AMRUN FILE="Notepad" />
<AMSHOWDIALOG MESSAGE="The next step will minimize the Notepad window." />
<AMWINDOW ACTIVITY="minimize" WINDOWTITLE="*notepad*" />
<AMSHOWDIALOG MESSAGE="The next step will maximize the Notepad window." />
<AMWINDOW ACTIVITY="maximize" WINDOWTITLE="*notepad*" />
<AMSHOWDIALOG MESSAGE="The next step will restore the Notepad window to its original size." />
<AMWINDOW ACTIVITY="restore" WINDOWTITLE="*notepad*" />
<AMSHOWDIALOG MESSAGE="The next step will move the Notepad window to the upper left corner of the screen." />
<AMWINDOW ACTIVITY="move" WINDOWTITLE="*notepad*" />
<AMSHOWDIALOG MESSAGE="The last step will close the Notepad window." />
<AMWINDOW ACTIVITY="close" WINDOWTITLE="*notepad*" />