Populate text without selecting UI element

(0) Share

Report

Posted on by bradt30h

134

Hi All,

I used send key i.e. {tab} to move around in my website, is it possible to populate the field I shifted without selecting its UI element?

The reason for me not using the UI element is because the website html table is difficult to iterate.

Thanks for reading!

Categories:

Power Automate Desktop

I have the same question (0)

All responses (3)

Answers (0)

Sort by

John_Mavridis Microsoft Employee on at

Like
a
(1)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

Hi there,
In order to use web automation actions, it is necessary to select the proper web UI elements and work with their respective CSS selectors. This ensures that the elements can be interacted with in the background, without needing to focus any browser window or send any actual mouse click or key.

In the scenario you describe, if you want to completely avoid using UI elements, you could continue using the 'Send keys' action to navigate around the website and populate any text field you need.

Please, keep in mind that even if the HTML code of the page is challenging to handle, you can always edit the selectors of your UI elements to make them more dynamic and adjust them as needed.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
bradt30h 134 on at

Like
a
(0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

Thanks for your reply, John!
Send keys don't work with %Variable%. Hence this is not a viable option for me either.

Is there any guide available on making UI elements more dynamic?
The difficulty I face is to populate HTML table based on the column header, then go to the next row until it ends.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
Community Power Pla... Microsoft Employee on at

Like
a
(0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

'Send keys' do work with variables.
If it's not working, be sure you're focusing window before sending keys and the field is properly selected with tab or edit mode (sometimes you have to use tab to get to the field and then send F2, for example, to edit it).

Was this reply helpful? Yes No