How to get data from a tab in an already open browser without interrupting user

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Posted on by the_observer

Hi all,

i am new to web automation desktop and i am thrilled because it is so easy to use for a non coder like me.

My question -which i do not know if it can be accomplished- is this:

Is it possible to get data from a tab of an already open web browser but without interrupt the user which is doing something else or is in another tab of the browser?

If this is not possible then what is the next best thing i could do having in mind that the user must not be interrupted?

Although i searched much in the web (because i am not lazy, or so i think) i was not able to find an answer in my question.

Any heads-up would be much appreciated.

Thank you for your time reading this.

Regards,

Nik.

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Power Automate Desktop

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Rhiassuring 8,692 Moderator on at

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Hi there,

You should consider Power Automate Desktop as a user - so imagine that another user comes over to see what the employee is doing, and wants to see what's in their tab - there isn't really a way to NOT interrupt them. An option could be to notify the user "Hey, I need to look at the tab, let me know when you go for a coffee and I'll do it then", so the bot can wait until they won't interrupt the user.

Please take a look at this page:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-automate/desktop-flows/run-pad-flow#:~:text=To%20trigger%20desktop%20flows%20through,used%20to%20automate%20desktop%20processes.

Basically, an unattended flow - that requires no human interaction - will generally need it's own machine to run on. Just like a person. An attended flow (for example, if a customer service rep was on a call and wanted to tell a bot to go grab customer records from 6 systems) is where the user clicks the button to tell it to "go" - but it will still either be in another machine (via RDP) so the employee can continue work, or, it will be on their machine and they will know to "hands off" while the bot is doing its work.

In order to answer your real question here, which is then "well, what can we do?" - I'd need to know more about your scenario. Why is this tab open for the user? What is the user actively doing? Why is the bot running on their machine?

Cheers,

Rhia

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VJR 7,635 on at

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Hi @the_observer ,

A lot depends on what the Desktop Flow wants to do.

If the Flow uses interactions like Sendkeys, Activate window, emulate typing, etc then it will interrupt the user and also the flow will not work well.

If there is an API for the webpage then it won't interrupt the user but not all of them have APIs.

You can add UI elements and interact with them using the existing web actions and check whether they are interrupting the user.

I agree with Rhia that automations should have a dedicated machine without any interruptions.

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the_observer 15 on at

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Thank you for your enlightening answers.
Let me give a bit of more information on what i want to accomplish although it seems that my scenario -from your answers- seems not possible.
"I'd need to know more about your scenario. Why is this tab open for the user?"
The reason the web page is already open is because access to the page is given after the user provides sensitive data like user name and password in order to access the web page and preferably these data should not be known by the "machine".
"What is the user actively doing?"
The user most possibly is surfing the web in another tab, or using another program e.g. word, excel e.t.c.
"Why is the bot running on their machine?"
Well, Power Automate should go to a web page and perform simple read of some data from that page in a 5 minute interval for example and depending on what it reads, will alert or not the user, so the user will not have to do this task visually all the time. Unfortunately there is no APY for this page.

Thank you for your time reading this and your willingness to help me.
Regards,
Nik.

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