Edit Desktop Automation Robot

When working on a Desktop Automation robot, the following panes are present in the editor. You can undock and move any of the editor's windows to make editing more convenient. Also, see Get Started.

  • Editor: Contains a workflow of steps as well as variables, expressions, and tree mode settings. Buttons on the toolbar below the menu help you navigate the steps of the workflow. You can go forward in the workflow using the Start Execution, Step Into, Step Over, and Step Out buttons; you can also pause or reset the execution of the robot. Use the following key combinations to select several steps:
    • Shift+click: selects a range of steps

    • Ctrl+click: adds/removes selection of steps

    • Ctrl+Shift+click: adds a range selection

    Button

    Description

    Open project

    Opens a project.

    Save All

    Saves changes in the workflow.

    Undo previous change. Undo

    Reverts the last change.

    Repeats the reverted change Redo

    Repeats the reverted action.

    Copy button Copy

    Copies a selected element or elements of the workflow to the clipboard. For example, several steps or a finder.

    Cut button Cut

    Cuts selected steps.

    Paste button Paste

    Pastes the content of the clipboard into the workflow at the selected element. For example, a flow point or a finder.

    Delete button Delete

    Deletes selected steps.

    Leave Robot

    Stops and leaves the Desktop Automation robot without executing it to the end or returning a result.

    Start execution of the device automation workflow Start Execution

    Starts executing the workflow from the current flow point.

    Pause execution workflow Pause

    Pauses automation workflow execution.

    Step Into execution workflow Step Into

    Executes to the next flow point. In case the next flow point is inside a collapsed step, this step will be expanded. This is essentially related to single stepping case.

    Step over one step Step Over

    Executes the step immediately following current flow point. If there is no such a step, it executes to the next flow point.

    Step out of the execution workflow Step Out

    Executes to the flow point immediately following the step containing the current flow point. When the workflow is executed until the end, clicking this button steps out of the Desktop Automation robot.

    Go to next iteration in the loop Go to Next Iteration

    Enabled when the current flow point is inside a Loop step. Press the button to execute until the same flow point is reached again. The loop can be executed more than once if the flow point is skipped in some iterations. If there are no more iterations, the execution stops at the flow point outside the Loop step.

    Reset the current execution workflow Reset

    Resets the execution of the Desktop Automation robot.

    Button

    Description

    Shows location of the flow point. Go To Current Flow Point

    Brings to view the current flow point location.

    Collapse all steps button Collapse

    Collapses all steps and other elements in the editor pane.

    Expand all steps button Expand

    Expands all steps and other elements in the editor pane.

    Collapse all but selection button Collapse all but selection

    Collapses all steps and other elements except the selected ones.

    Newly inserted steps are not executed unless you click Step Into or Step Over on the toolbar.

    Zoom in the workflow view

    For your convenience, you can zoom in and out in the workflow view the same way you zoom in a web browser.

    • To zoom in use: Ctrl+plus sign (+) or Ctrl + mouse wheel scroll up

    • To zoom out use: Ctrl+minus sign (-) or Ctrl + mouse wheel scroll down

  • Left Side:

    Contains attributes of the Desktop Automation robot.



    • Input: Lists inputs that a Desktop Automation robot takes.

    • Devices: Use this element to provide a reference to one or several required devices. For more information, see the Reference to Automation Device section.

    • Output: Lists outputs that a Desktop Automation robot delivers to the Web Automation robot.

    • Exceptions: Lists unhandled exceptions that may be thrown when a Web Automation robot is calling.

    • Tree Modes: Use this element to configure the application tree type for different applications to deliver. For more information, see the Tree Modes section.

    • Variables: Use this element to configure the Desktop Automation robot variables. For more information, see the Variables section.

  • Recorder View: Shows tabs with open application windows and a tree with available elements. You can select elements in the interface or select images and insert steps by right-clicking the selected element or image. The bottom part of the Recorder view shows the coordinates of the mouse relative to the top left corner of the application window as well as the live streaming status of the device state.

    When you select an element in the view, along with the window coordinates, it shows the coordinates relative to the top left corner of the selected element as well as the path to the element in the bottom bar.

    All tag paths in the Recorder View are interactive. Left-click a tag in the path to make the node a selected tag, right-click a tag to open the context menu for the node.

    Tags are marked with colored boxes in accordance with their current state:

    • A green box around a tag: currently selected tag.

    • An orange box around a tag: secondary tag.

    • A blue box around a tag: ternary tag.

    To switch between elements of different levels, use Select Outermost Tag, Select Tag One Level In, Select Tag One Level Out, Select Innermost Tag, Select Previous Sibling Node, Select Next Sibling Node buttons.

    Note Sometimes it is not possible to select cell elements in tables in the application view. You can select cell elements in the application tree and add step actions from the tree view.
    Application-level actions

    Application-level actions are actions applied to the entire application and available by right-clicking the application tab in the Recorder View. The list of application-level actions and steps includes the following:

    You can zoom in and out in the Recorder View either by selecting a zoom level in the toolbar or the same way you zoom in a web browser.

    • To zoom in use: Ctrl + mouse wheel scroll up

    • To zoom out use: Ctrl + mouse wheel scroll down

    Button

    Description


    Streaming is active button in the Recorder view


    Streaming is paused button in the Recorder view

    Pauses or resumes live streaming of the device state. Click to pause or resume streaming in the Recorder view.

    When streaming is active, the following is shown under the Recorder view: .

    When streaming is paused, the following is shown under the Recorder view: .

    Create finder for selection button Create finder for selection

    Replaces the selected in the editor pane finder with a finder that matches the selection in the Recorder View.

    Show next location found button Show next location found

    Shows the next element that matches the finder. The button's tooltip also provides the number of matched elements.

    Select Next Node Matching Click button Select Next Node Matching Click

    Moves selection to the next node that matches the selection in the Recorder View.

    Toggle between simple and nine-grid image finder button Toggle between Simple and Nine Grid Image Finder

    Changes image selection from simple to nine-grid and back.

    Select zoom level in Automation Device View Select zoom level

    Zooms in and out in the Recorder View.

    Select parent node Select Tag One Level Out

    Changes selection to the node, which is parent to the selected one.

    Select first child node Select Tag One Level In

    Selects the first child node of the selected one.

    Select Outermost Tag

    Changes selection to the top node in the application tree.

    Select Innermost Tag

    Selects the last child node of the selected one.

    Select previous sibling node Select Previous Sibling Node

    Selects the previous node located on the same level in the application tree.

    Select next sibling node Select Next Sibling Node

    Selects the next node located on the same level in the application tree.

    Copy Sub Tree As XML

    Copies the subtree element selected in the tree view.


    Auto Execute button in Recorder view

    Immediately executes and streams newly added action steps. When enabled, the circle on the button is red.

    Prior to adding a step or a number of steps, click this button. If a step opens a new application or a dialog, a respective tab appears in the stream view and becomes the active tab. To stop automatic execution, click this button again.

  • Desktop Automation State view: Shows state of the workflow execution, such as variable values. When Kofax RPA detects that a binary variable contains an image, the image is displayed in the view. Kofax RPA detects GIF, JPEG, BMP, TIFF, and PNG images. The image tooltip shows the MIME type of the image and its size (width and height).

  • Output Log: Contains workflow execution messages.
  • Comment: Shows comments for steps in the automation workflow.

    To write or change a comment, click a step or a Group step and add/change your notes in the Comment window. You can use the Undo and Redo buttons here. The comment is automatically saved when you click outside the window.

    A step that contains a comment is marked with a comment sign.

Editor Procedures

Put focus on errors in workflow
When a step is inserted from a flow point in the Desktop Automation robot, and that step contains an error or multiple errors, the location of the first error is indicated in the expanded step. If the robot execution is stopped due to errors in a step, that step is also expanded to show the location of the first error. If any steps were inserted in the workflow using the "Surround with" type of steps, those steps are expanded, too, for convenience.