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Insert User Input into Webpage help

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Posted on by clsmooth12

Hi Team,

We run monthly reports that pulls data from a proprietary website. I'm trying to get P.A. Desktop to insert user input (from Display input dialog) into this website. In this case, the date.

The dialog box pops up as expected and correctly, and I'm able to type in the date as needed. ex.: 31/12/9999

When I use "Populate text field on web page" I get the following message:

I've also tried " Populate text filed in window", I get the following:

When selecting the UI element I'm extremely careful and very confident I'm selecting the field box for the date. All I can think of is that this field box for the date is actually java in the background, and not html? But not sure if that would make a difference.

Any help is always appreciated!

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MichaelAnnis 5,727 Moderator on at

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If you can't edit the selector so it captures every time, what if you use "Send Keys" to tab to that field and enter the date?

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clsmooth12 15 on at

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Hmm... when using "Send keys", I get a slightly different error...

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Agnius Bartninkas Most Valuable Professional on at

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If this is a web page, you do need to use web page actions. Populate text field on web page is the one you need. But the selector really doesn't look like a valid input field. a <td> element is a table cell and not an input field. Can you please share what the element looks like when inspected via the browser developer tools?
Also, are you sure the date field can actually be populated? Perhaps it requires that you click on the calendar icon and use the date picker?
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Nived_Nambiar 18,138 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hi @clsmooth12

One thing to know, are you sure that you have tested the selector whether it is highlighting correct UI Element or not using test selector feature ?

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clsmooth12 15 on at

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Hi @Agnius
Thanks for the update! This is as close, and the best I could get to, to select the date field.

And yes, one can manually type a date into that text field. Clicking on the calendar icon is another option a user has, but unfortunately can't use it in the flow, as dates like the 10th of each month can land on a different spot in the calendar each month 😕

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Agnius Bartninkas Most Valuable Professional on at

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This will not work, obviously, as it includes more than just the input field. You may need to click on it first to activate it or something.
I would suggest right-clicking the field in your browser and inspecting it via the browser's developer tools. Then modify your selector manually to include whatever child element is needed for the table cell to get into the actual text field.
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clsmooth12 15 on at

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I found the issue!
When I want to run the report from the site, the date and format fields pop up in their own window. Although P.A. Desktop sees this window and its fields on screen when wanting to select a new UI object, it doesn't seem to "see" it when the flow runs - neither as a web window or an App window.
I'm not sure why exactly, all I can think of is that it's part of the vendour's secret sauce.

My workaround was that at least this pop up had it's own URL, so I took this link and added a step to open it in its own tab - and presto! P.A. Desktop can "see" the fields when they're on-their-own, so to speak. It's auto-filling dates and downloading in the format I need.

Hope this helps someone else down the road!

Thanks,
clsmooth12

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Agnius Bartninkas Most Valuable Professional on at

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When there's a pop-up, you would need to attach to it and create a separate browser instance in PAD. You can do that via the Launch new {browser} action by making it attach to an existing instance, instead of launching a new one.
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