Step Actions

This topic provides an overview of the available step actions.

You can add the most commonly used steps directly to the Insert Step menu that is available when you right-click a connection in the Robot view in Design Studio. See General Editing for details.

Standard

This category contains the most commonly used step actions.

Action

Description

Assign Variable

Assigns a value to a variable.

Call Desktop Automation Robot

Creates a step to call a Desktop Automation robot from a Web Automation robot.

Create Page

Creates a new page.

Desktop Automation

Deprecated. See "Call Desktop Automation Robot."

Open Variable

Opens a variable attribute - or a variable of simple type - in the view.

Load Page

Loads a web page from a URL.

Return Value

Returns a value from the robot.

Store in Database

Stores a value in a database.

Test Value

Causes execution beyond the step to stop or continue depending on a boolean value.

Assign/Transform Variable

This category contains the most commonly used step actions.

Action

Description

Assign Variable

Assigns a value to a variable.

Convert Variables

Converts the values of one or more variables by running them through data converters and storing the results in the same or other variables.

Transform XML

Transforms XML using XSLT.

Browser Session

This category contains step actions for saving and restoring entire browser sessions, as well as for extracting and manipulating cookies and HTML 5 web storage.

Action

Description

Save Session

Saves a session in a variable for later restoration by another robot run.

Restore Session

Restores a session in a variable previously saved by another robot run.

Extract Cookie

Extracts the value of a cookie matching patterns for name, domain, and path.

Create Cookie

Creates a cookie with the specified domain, path, name, and (optionally) value.

Remove Cookie

Removes one or more cookies matching patterns for name, domain, path, and value.

Extract Web Storage

Extracts data from the local and/or session storage. The data is stored in a variable in JSON format.

Load Web Storage

Loads data into the local and/or session storage. The data must be specified in JSON format.

Clear Web Storage

Clears data in the local and/or session storage.

Browser Windows

This category contains step actions for opening, selecting and closing browser windows.

Action

Description

New Window

Creates a new window.

Set Current Window

Selects another window as the current window, such as the window that subsequent steps will work on.

Close Window

Closes a window.

Call Web Service

This category contains step actions for calling REST and SOAP web services.

Action

Description

Call REST Web Service

Calls a REST web service and loads the result into the current window or stores it in a variable.

Call SOAP Web Service

Submits a SOAP XML request to a web service and returns a SOAP XML response.

Click/Move Mouse

This category contains step actions that mimic clicking or moving the mouse to and from elements in the browser view.

Action

Description

Click

Emulates a mouse click on the found tag.

Move Mouse To

Emulates a mouse move to the found tag.

Move Mouse From

Emulates a mouse move away from the found tag.

Scroll

Emulates scrolling a document or tag.

Scroll To

Emulates scrolling the found tag into view.

Database

This category contains step actions that can store, retrieve, query or delete items in databases.

Action

Description

Store in Database

Stores a value in a database.

Find in Database

Finds a value in a database.

Calculate Key

Calculates the key used to store the value of the selected variable.

Delete from Database

Deletes an value in a database.

Query Database

Submits an SQL query to a database, and loops through the results.

Execute SQL

Executes an SQL statement on a database.

Enter Data in Form

This category contains step actions for entering data in web forms.

Action

Description

Enter Text

Enters a text into a text field in a form.

Enter Password

Enters a password into a password field in a form.

Press Key

Emulates pressing a key in a form.

Select Option

Selects an option in a drop-down box or a list box in a form.

Select Multiple Options

Selects multiple options in a list box in a form. Note: This action can only be used for list boxes, not drop-down boxes.

Set Checkbox

Selects or clears a check box in a form.

Set Range Value

Sets a numeric value that must be no less than a minimum given value, and no more than a maximum given value.

Select Radio Button

Selects a radio button in a form.

Select File

Selects a file to upload in a file field of a form.

Extract

This category contains step actions for extracting data. Data may be extracted in text or HTML form from a web site, or from other formats such as PDF, CSV, Excel and Flash. It is also possible to extract images or specific data about the HTML or XML source such as attribute values or link URLs.

Action

Description

Extract

Extracts some text, runs it through a list of data converters, and stores the result in a variable.

Extract Binary Content Extracts binary content from the Browser View.

Extract Cell

Extracts content from an Excel page, runs it through a list of data converters, and stores the result into a variable.

Extract Column in Data Row Extracts data from a cell in the current range to a variable.
Extract from E-mail Extracts information from a saved email.

Extract Form Parameter

Extracts a form parameter from a form URL in the found tag.

Extract Flash Content

Extracts content from a Flash object.

Extract from PDF

Extracts text from a PDF document contained in a variable.

Extract Image

Extracts an image and stores it in a variable or a file. It can optionally store the content type and file name of the image in other variables.

Extract JSON Extracts the part of a JSON value found by the JSON finder as a JSON value into a variable.
Extract Path Extracts the absolute path of the element found by the finder.
Extract Property Name

Extracts the property name of a JSON value found by the JSON finder into a variable.

Extract Screenshot

Extracts an image from the current page and saves it in a variable.

Extract Selected Option

Extracts the text or value of the selected option, runs it through a list of data converters, and stores the result in a variable.

Extract Source Stores the previewed data in a variable.

Extract Tag Attribute

Extracts a tag attribute from the found tag, runs it through a list of data converters, and stores it in a variable.

Extract Target

Extracts data from a URL target and stores it in a variable or a file. It can optionally store the content type and file name of the loaded data in other variables.

Extract URL

Extracts a URL from the found tag and stores it in a variable.

File System

This category contains step actions for accessing the file system. You may read, write and modify files and directories, loop over files in a directory, or test for the existence of a given file.

Action

Description

Load File

Loads data from a file, either into the browser window or to a variable.

For Each File

Loops through the files in a directory.

Write File

Writes a new file or appends to an existing file.

Test File Existence

Causes execution beyond the step to stop or continue depending on whether a specific file exists.

Get File Info

Fetches metadata about a file in the file system.

Copy File

Copies a file on the local file system where the robot is executed. The action generates an error if the destination file exists.

Delete File

Deletes the specified file or directory.

Make Directory

Creates a new directory.

Rename File

Renames a file or directory on the local file system where the robot is executed. The action generates an error if the destination (New Name) exists.

Loop

This category contains step actions for looping. You may loop through HTML structures, windows, comma-separated values, form values, Excel ranges, or crawl entire domains. For looping through HTML structures, you have two options: For Each Tag and For Each Tag Path. The For Each Tag step action is the simpler of the two; it is used to loop through the immediate children of the found tag, while the For Each Tag path can loop through similar tags at any depth within the found tag. To loop through a number of pages connected by Next links or the like, you must use the Repeat and Next step actions.

Note If the selected element does not contain any sub-elements to loop through, all For Each steps throw an error. For example, the For Each Tag Path step throws an error if the found tag does not contain any tags to loop through.

However, when using the For Each File step to loop through files in a directory, if no files are present in the directory, this is not regarded as an error, and no error is thrown.

Action

Description

For Each Tag

Loops through tags contained immediately inside the found tag.

For Each Tag Path

Loops through tags contained at any level inside the found tag.

For Each URL

Loops through the URLs contained in the found tag.

For Each Option

Loops through the options in a drop-down box or list box in a form, selecting one option in each iteration.

For Each Radio Button

Loops through a group of radio buttons, selecting one of the radio buttons in each iteration. The found tag must be one of the radio buttons in the group.

Loop Field Values

Loops through the specified values, entering one value in the text field in each iteration.

Repeat

Creates a repeat loop together with the Next action.

Next

Requests another iteration in a repeat loop created using the Repeat action.

Loop in Excel

Loops over the rows, columns, cells in the found range or over all the sheets in the Excel page.

For Each Data Row Loops through data rows in a CSV file.
For Each Property Loops through all properties of a JSON object.
For Each Item Loops through a group of tags.
For Each File Loops through the files in a directory.

For Each Browser Window

Iterates through the browser windows, setting each in turn as the current window.

For Each Text Part

Splits a text at a specified delimiter and loops through the parts.

Get Iteration

Gets the current iteration of an enclosing loop step.

Load Page

This category contains step actions for loading pages from a given URL or creating a new page based on already extracted content. If required, you can also specify the page load request at the basic HTTP level.

Action

Description

Load Page

Loads a web page from a URL.

Create Page

Creates a new page.

Raw HTTP

Performs a Raw HTTP request of the selected method.

Open Variable Opens a variable attribute - or a variable of simple type - in the view.
View as Excel Opens downloaded Excel content in an Excel view.
View as JSON Opens downloaded JSON content in a JSON view.
View as XML Opens downloaded XML content in an XML view.
View as CSV Opens downloaded CSV content in a CSV view.
Extract Source Stores the previewed data in a variable.
Make Snapshot

This category contains step actions for saving offline snapshots of web pages. To save an offline HTML copy of a page and its resources, use Make Snapshot. To save multiple interlinked HTML pages, use Rewrite Page and Rewrite Style Sheet.

Action

Description

Make Snapshot

Creates a snapshot of the current window, including its frames and resources.

Rewrite Page

Extracts the HTML content of the current window and additionally rewrites and outputs the links to style sheets, images and other pages.

Rewrite Style Sheet

Acts as a helper for Rewrite Page. It task is to rewrite links to other style sheets or images in a given style sheet.

Modify Page

This category contains step actions for modifying the current web page, such as by removing, replacing or inserting content.

Action

Description

Insert Tag

Inserts a new tag.

Replace Tag

Replaces the found tag with a new tag.

Remove Tags

Removes tags from found tags. The Remove rules are executed in the order listed below. Any tags matching one or more of the Except rules are not removed. Defining no Remove rules defaults to removing all tags.

Remove Tag Range

Removes a range of tags.

Hide Tag

Hides the found tag.

Unhide Tag

Unhides the found tag.

Divide Text

Divides the text in the found tag into pieces.

Remove Table Rows

Removes from the input <table>-tag all rows (<tr>-tags) that do not have a specified number of columns (<td>- and <th>-tags).

Transpose Table

Transposes (flips) the input <table>-tag by mirroring its <td>-tags along the top-left to bottom-right diagonal.

Normalize Table

Normalizes a table by inserting extra cells to eliminate rowspan and colspan. The content from the original cell is copied to the new cells.

Output

This category contains step actions for returning values to the API that called this robot, sending e-mail and writing to files or logs.

Action

Description

Return Value

Returns a value from the robot.

Send Email

Sends an email. Note that the email is not sent during execution in Design mode in Design Studio.

Write File

Writes a new file or appends to an existing file.

Write Log

Writes a message to the log. This is useful when debugging a robot.

Test

This category contains conditional actions for testing, such as stopping the execution down the current branch if some condition is satisfied. This condition may depend on the contents of the found tag, a variable, or the existence of a given window.

Action

Description

Test Tag

Causes execution down the current branch to stop or continue, depending on the contents of the found tag.

Test URL

Causes execution down the current branch to stop or continue, depending on the URL contained in the found tag.

Test Value

Causes execution beyond the step to stop or continue, depending on a boolean value.

Test Variables

Causes execution beyond the step to stop or continue, depending on one or more variable values.

Test Row

Tests the number of columns in a table row.

Test Window

Causes execution beyond the step to stop or continue, depending on whether a specific window exists.

Test Page Type

Causes execution beyond the step to stop or continue, depending on the type of the page.

Test Cell Type

Tests the cell type, such as Blank or Number of the found range and causes execution beyond the step to stop or continue depending on whether all cells in the range are of the given type.

Test JSON Type Tests the type of a JSON value.
Excel

This category contains actions that are specially designed for Excel pages.

Action

Description

Extract Cell

Extracts content from an Excel page, runs it through a list of data converters, and stores the result into a variable.

Extract Sheet Name

Extracts the name of a sheet in a spreadsheet document and stores it in a variable.

Extract Hyperlink

Extracts a hyperlink from a cell in a spreadsheet.

Loop in Excel

Loops through different elements of a spreadsheet.

Extract As HTML

Extracts a part of a spreadsheet document as an HTML table and stores it in a variable.

Set Content of Cell

Inserts the specified content to a spreadsheet cell.

Set Value of Cell

Sets the value of a cell.

Set Content of Column

Sets the content of a column in a spreadsheet from a variable of complex type.

Set Content of Row

Sets the content of a row in a spreadsheet from a variable of complex type.

Set Format of Cells

Sets the format of one or more cells in a spreadsheet.

Set Sheet Name

Sets the sheet name.

Set Hyperlink on Cell

Inserts a hyperlink to a cell.

Set Column Width

Sets the width of a column in a spreadsheet.

Set Row Height

Sets the height of a row in points.

Set Information Property

Sets the value of an information property in a spreadsheet.

Insert Sheet

Inserts a new sheet in a spreadsheet.

Insert Rows

Inserts one or more rows in a spreadsheet.

Insert Columns

Inserts one or more columns in a spreadsheet.

Remove Sheet

Removes the selected sheet from a spreadsheet.

Remove Rows

Removes the selected rows from a spreadsheet.

Remove Columns

Removes the selected columns from a spreadsheet.

Test Cell Type

Tests the type of one or more cells.

Set Named Range

Marks the found range as a named range, so that it can be used as a reference when finding ranges in subsequent steps.

Set Evaluation Mode

Changes the auto evaluation option for an Excel value of an Excel variable, allowing to enter any unsupported function into a cell, not causing an error.

JSON
This category contains step actions for managing JSON values.
Action Description
Extract JSON Extracts the part of a JSON value found by the JSON finder as a JSON value into a variable.
Extract Property Name

Extracts the property name of a JSON value found by the JSON finder into a variable.

For Each Property Loops through all properties of a JSON object.
For Each Item Loops through a group of tags.
Set JSON Replaces the entire found part of a JSON value with a new JSON value.
Set Property Name Replaces the property name of the found JSON object with a new name.
Insert JSON Inserts a new property into a JSON object or a new item into a JSON array.
Remove JSON Removes the found JSON from a JSON value.
Test JSON Type Tests the type of a JSON value.
Set Named JSON Marks the found JSON as a named JSON.
XML
This category contains step actions related to XML.
Action Description
Extract Extracts text and stores it in a variable
Extract Tag Attribute

Extracts a tag attribute from the found tag, runs it through a list of data converters, and stores the result in a variable.

For Each Tag Loops through a group of tags.
For Each Tag Path Loops through all tags of a given type in the subtree of the found tag.
Set Tag Replaces the entire found tag with new content.
Set Content Sets the specified content on a tag.
Set Text Replaces the content of the found tag with a text.
Set Tag Name Replaces the name of the found tag with a new name and optionally copies the attributes of the found tag to the new tag.
Set Attribute Inserts or updates an attribute on the found tag with a specified name and value.
Insert Content Inserts the specified content into a document relative to the found tag.
Remove Tag Removes the found tag from its parent node.
Remove Content Removes all the content of a tag.
Remove Attribute Removes an attribute from a tag in XML.
Test Tag Makes a test to determine whether execution should be allowed to continue down the current branch.
Set Named Tag Marks the found tag as a named tag, so that it can be used as a reference when finding tags in subsequent steps.
Other

This category contains various other step actions.

Action

Description

Set Named Tag

Marks the found tag as a named tag, so it can be used as a reference when finding tags in subsequent steps.

Set Named Range

Marks the found range as a named range, so that it can be used as a reference when finding ranges in subsequent steps.

Set Named JSON Marks the found JSON as a named JSON.

Clear Named Tags/Ranges

Unmarks a selected named tag or range, or all named tags/ranges, so they are no longer be named in the subsequent steps.

Do Nothing

Does nothing.

Wait

Waits for a specified period of time.

Resume Browser

Resumes the browser and lets it run after either specified wait criteria are met or the browser becomes idle (whichever comes first).

Stop

Causes the execution of the robot to stop without errors.

Generate Error

Generates an error.

Execute Command Line

Executes a command line or shell script. Ensure a RoboServer has sufficient privileges for this operation

Change Proxy

Changes the proxy server.

Execute JavaScript

Executes JavaScript.

Lookup Password

Retrieves a user password from the Password store.