› Robot building › Robot Steps › Click

Click

The Click step is one of the most commonly used actions (unless you are automating a terminal) in the Robot. With a Click step, your robot can start and close programs, work with programs interfaces, select text, and perform many other actions that a user can perform with a pointing device. The Click step moves a mouse pointer to the necessary location and clicks in one step. For the drag-and-drop operations, use the Press Mouse and Move Mouse steps.

Additionally, it is possible to simulate hardware keyboard and mouse on an automated computer. For more information, see "Install the Desktop Automation Service" in the Kofax RPA Installation Guide.

Properties

Component
Component finder for the Click step.
Button
Select Standard Buttons or Calculated Button of the pointing device.
  • Standard Buttons: Left, Middle, Right.
  • Calculated Button: Select this option to determine a mouse button click when the robot is running. In the expression field, specify a virtual-key code or a space-separated list of input specifications. The result of the expression should be a value between 0 and 2 representing one of the mouse buttons. This functionality is only supported on the Windows operating system. For the list of virtual-key codes, see the Microsoft documentation.

Example

Use "0" for the left mouse button, "1" for the right mouse button, and "2" for the middle mouse button.

Count
Specify how many times to perform the action. For example, for the double-click, specify 2.
Modifier
Select a key modifier:
  • Fixed Key Modifier: Contains three standard key modifiers, such as Shift, Ctrl, Alt.
  • Calculated Key Modifier (for the Desktop Automation Service only): With this option selected, specify a symbolic constant name of the virtual-key code for a modifier.

    In the text box that appears, you can enter the key codes for Shift, Ctrl, and Alt only. For example, the VK_LSHIFT key code stands for the left Shift key, VK_RCONTROL stands for the right Ctrl key, and VK_MENU stands for the Alt key. For a complete list of key codes, see the Microsoft documentation.

Offset
  • None: Does not use any coordinates offset and moves to the center of the selected element. It is equivalent to the following:

    Relative to set to Center with x=0, y=0

  • Use: Specify the offset in pixels using the following options.
    Relative To
    This option specifies the starting point to calculate the offset.
    • Top Left: Top left corner of the window or the selected element with x=0 and y=0.
    • Top: Middle of the top border of the window or the selected element with y=0.
    • Top Right: Top right corner of the window or the selected element with y=0.
    • Left: Middle of the left border of the window or the selected element with x=0.
    • Center: Middle of the window or the selected element.
    • Right: Middle of the right border of the window or the selected element.
    • Bottom Left: Bottom left corner of the window or the selected element with x=0.
    • Bottom: Middle of the bottom border of the window or the selected element.
    • Bottom Right: Bottom right corner of the window or the selected element.
    X
    Specifies a horizontal offset relative to the selected starting point. Positive numbers move the mouse to the right of the starting point. Negative numbers move the mouse to left of the starting point.
    Y
    Specifies a vertical offset relative to the selected starting point. Positive numbers move the mouse down from the starting point. Negative numbers move the mouse upward from the starting point.