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Replacing OCR with Dynamic UI Element

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Posted on by Trevor_T

I have a complex Flow that in one part uses OCR to click on a name in a table. It works as expected but is a bit slow. I have tried to replace the action with a dynamic Click on UI Element but have failed to get the action to work.

I have tried many versions of a UI element with and without the text editor selected but have failed to get it to work.

div[Id="main_content"] > div > div > div > div > table > tbody > tr > td > a[Text~="%Player['Handle']%"]

is typical of the selectors I've tried.

I'd appreciate any suggestions to replace the OCR with a smarter solution.

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Power Automate Desktop

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eetuRobo 4,522 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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What is the ~= operator in the anchor elements Text attribute that check %Player['Handle']%?
div[Id="main_content"] > div > div > div > div > table > tbody > tr > td > a[Text~="%Player['Handle']%"]

I haven't ever used that myself. Is it a typo and should it be just equals or is it something that should work in that selector?

Try the selector first without the variable value so with hard coded value that you know exists in the web page. Example:
div[Id="main_content"] > div > div > div > div > table > tbody > tr > td > a[Text~="1234"]

Then if that works check that the variable value is exactly that. It could be that the Player['Handle'] has some extra spaces or characters that makes it not find the element.

Try to test the selector when the element is visible on your screen and see which element goes to error in that selector. Like so:

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Riyaz_riz11 4,150 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hi,

Issue:div[Id="main_content"] > div > div > div > div > table > tbody > tr > td > a[Text~="%Player['Handle']%"]

%Player['Handle']% does not get expanded inside selectors like this.

The selector syntax requires real selector parameterization, not string interpolation.

Change Selector

This gives you a base selector.

Edit the selector and look for:

webctrl tag='A' innertext='[the text you clicked]' />

or something similar.

Example raw selector:

<webctrl parentid='main_content' tag='A' innertext='John Doe' />

Instead, you click “…” > Edit Parameters in the selector editor.

Steps:

Click “…” on your UI element > Edit Selector

Locate innertext='John Doe'

Click the small fx icon next to innertext, and select your variable:

Player['Handle']

It should now look like:

<webctrl tag='A' innertext='{Player['Handle']}' />

If I have answered your question, please mark it as the preferred solution ✅ . If you like my response, please give it a Thumbs Up 👍. Regards, Riyaz

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Trevor_T 24 on at

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Hi Riyaz,
Thanks for that response.
My flow does not have Power Fx enabled so your solution doesn't quite work for me.
BUT you gave me the solution to my problem!

I set a new variable within my loop as %Player['Handle']% and used this variable in the selector thus not requiring the expansion within the selector.

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Trevor_T 24 on at

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HI eetuRobo,

I tried using Copilot to solve my problem and the ~ within the selector "contains" the variable not just =

In the past, I've always used an * for that expression, just didn't notice the change when copying Copilot's suggestion.

Thanks for your suggestions.

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