Вы находитесь на странице: 1из 205

AUT

TOMA
ATION
N ANY
YWHE
ERE
Th
he Lead
der in Automat
A tion Sof
ftware

US
SER MAN
NUA
AL
Overview
The Intelligent Automation Software.
Automate and schedule business processes / IT tasks the easy way!
Unique Features

Intelligent automation for business and IT tasks.

Unique SMART Automation Technology® automates complex tasks fast!


(No programming required.)

Create automation tasks in minutes – record keyboard and mouse strokes, or


use easy point-and-click wizards.

Easily distribute tasks to multiple computers, using Task to SMART Exe


capability (Premier and Enterprise editions only).

Web recorder / Web data extraction.

Use Automation Anywhere to automate scripts in disparate formats.

Powerful task scheduling and auto-login – run scheduled tasks anytime, even
when computer is locked.

270+ actions including: conditional, loop, prompt, file management, database,


system, Internet. More great features: fast speeds, automatic email
notification, task chaining, hotkey, variables, logging, etc.

Capabilities
Automation Anywhere can reduce a wide array of tasks to a single keystroke:
1. Business processes
2. Web tasks
3. Data transfer
4. Data import/export (from any application, to any application, or from files)
5. Web data extraction
6. Fast data entry and formatting
7. IT and system administration tasks
8. Data backup and file management
9. Integrate disparate scripts, or replace existing scripts
10. Job scheduling
11. Batch data processing
12. Automated software testing, Web testing
13. Automated FTP
Benefits
1. Very easy to use – no programming knowledge is required. Simply record your actions, or just point
and click the action wizards.

Page 1
2. Eliminates human error
3. Increases transaction speed
4. Huge savings in time and costs
5. SMART Automation Technology is highly reliable and accurate.

Page 2
What Can I Do With Automation Anywhere?
Automation Anywhere can automate any repetitive tasks on your computer or the Internet.

Automation Anywhere comes with a number of sample tasks that you can run to become familiar with
what Automation Anywhere can do. To run a sample task, in the Folders list, choose Sample Tasks.
Under Task List, highlight a task, and choose Run. (To view the commands contained in a task, highlight
the task and choose Edit.)

For tutorials and additional sample tasks, visit: http://www.tethyssolutions.com/automation-samples.htm.

Automation Anywhere speeds your workflow by automating many complex tasks – for example:

 Use Automation Anywhere to automate time-consuming business processes: check inventory,


re-order supplies, generate reports, enable fast data entry and formatting, etc.

 Automate Web tasks. For example: logging in to websites, searching, submitting forms, updating
records, managing ERP Web front-ends, etc.

 Automation Anywhere is ideal for automating complex IT tasks: website monitoring, website
testing, repetitive system administration tasks, etc.

 Use Automation Anywhere to automate data transfers, and import or export data between
applications or from files.

 Automate routine backups and file management tasks.

 Automate software testing and routine Web development testing tasks.

 Use Automation Anywhere to automate job scheduling.

 Automation Anywhere is ideal for batch data processing.

 Automate FTP tasks.

 With a Premier or Enterprise license, you can easily share tasks by converting them to standalone
.exe files. For example, businesses and IT managers can generate .exes for common software
configuration and management tasks, such as installing software changes, etc.

Automation Anywhere puts powerful, flexible tools in your hands. Automation Anywhere makes it easy
to automate one-of-a-kind tasks quickly and creatively, using the simple, visual Automation Anywhere
graphical user interface (GUI).

Page 3
Privacy and Security
Powerful privacy and security features protect the integrity and privacy of your data:
1. To ensure privacy, Automation Anywhere stores tasks on your local computer. So passwords
that you enter while recording tasks are stored only on your local computer.
2. Automation Anywhere’s password protection lets you lock tasks so that only you can edit or run
them. (Password protection is available only in the purchased version.)
3. Password-protected tasks are stored with industry-standard strong encryption.
4. Automation Anywhere lets you hide sensitive information and passwords that you type on the
screen, to prevent unauthorized persons from seeing them as you work.
5. Automation Anywhere offers secure auto-login – you can schedule a task to run at a later time,
then lock the computer and go home. At the scheduled time, Automation Anywhere will
automatically log in, run the task, and lock the computer again. Auto-login offers many additional
security options as well. For example:
* If someone tries to use the computer during secure auto-login, Automation Anywhere
automatically locks the computer, ensuring security.
* Turn on stealth-mode auto-login to prevent information from being displayed on the screen
during auto-login.
* Disable the mouse and keyboard so that unauthorized persons cannot access the system during
auto-login.

Page 4
Installing Automation Anywhere
1. How do I install Automation Anywhere?

After downloading the software, double-click Atmn-Anywhere-setup500.exe and follow the


installation wizard.

2. How do I upgrade Automation Anywhere?

Download and install Automation Anywhere.


Files that you created with the following applications will work with the current version of
Automation Anywhere: Automation Anywhere 4.x, 3.x, 2.x; Workspace Macro Pro 5.x and 6.x;
Workspace Macro 4.x. Note: Tasks that use certain advanced features may need to be
re-recorded.

To purchase upgrades to Automation Anywhere, see:


http://www.tethyssolutions.com/upgrade.htm.
3. If, after the 30-day free trial, I decide to purchase Automation Anywhere, do I have to
re-install the software?

No. Some features are locked in the free trial version, but once you enter your registration key
and username, they will be available.

4. How do I uninstall Automation Anywhere?

To uninstall Automation Anywhere, go to Start -> Programs -> Automation Anywhere 5.0 (the
default program folder) and click Uninstall Automation Anywhere. Follow the uninstall wizard.

When you uninstall Automation Anywhere, any tasks you have recorded are not deleted. If you
no longer plan to use Automation Anywhere, you can remove recorded tasks by deleting the
Automation Anywhere installation folder. (The default folder location is: C:\Program
Files\Automation Anywhere x.x – where “x.x” is the version number.)

Page 5
System Requirements
Automation Anywhere is supported on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 2008, Windows 2003
and Windows 2000.

Page 6
Purchasing Automation Anywhere
1. Trial vs. Purchased Version

Several features are locked in the trial version. The following additional features become available
when you register Automation Anywhere:

o Unlimited use of the software.


o Option to password protect tasks so that only you can run and edit them.
o Access to extended template set.
o Convert tasks to .exe (Premier and Enterprise versions).
o Deploy tasks on remote machines (Enterprise Version).
o Access to product support resources.
o Free or discounted upgrades.
o Receive news of new features and upgrades.

2. How to Buy?

To purchase the software, visit the Tethys Solutions home page (www.tethyssolutions.com) and
click Buy Now. When registration is complete, you will receive your registration key and
username by email (usually within 2-3 minutes).
To run the full version of Automation Anywhere, see “How to Register” below.
3. How to Register

After you purchase Automation Anywhere, you will receive an email with your registration key
and username. Start Automation Anywhere, and in the first screen, click Enter Key. Enter your
username and registration key. Features that were locked in the trial version will now be
available.

Page 7
Getting Started

Recording and running simple tasks takes just three steps:

Record Save Run

The detailed steps are:

1. Click Record to begin recording your activity (keystrokes, mouse clicks, or


both).

The Automation Anywhere window “goes away,” and a Stop window appears in the bottom
right corner of your screen.

2. Perform the activities you want to automate.

3. Click Stop to stop recording the task.

4. In the Save Task dialogue, type the name of the directory where you want to save the task, or
accept the default directory (My Tasks).

5. Type a filename for your task and click Save.

If you have a purchased version, you can type a password to protect the task.

6. To create a shortcut to the task on the Windows desktop, select Create Shortcut on Desktop.

7. When you want to repeat the actions you recorded, choose the task in the Task
List in the Automation Anywhere window List, and click Run. (Or double-click the task.)

Automation Anywhere performs the actions you recorded. To abort the operation while it runs,
press the ESC key for 2-3 seconds.

Adding features to a task

You can add the following features to any task. For details, follow the supplied link to the appropriate
section.
1. Properties. You can have Automation Anywhere repeat a task a specified number of times, or
repeat the task for a specified number of hours, minutes, and seconds. You can specify how
quickly or slowly the task should run, and you can have Automation Anywhere send an email to
an address that you specify after it runs the task. You can assign the task to a keystroke and
secure the task by telling Automation Anywhere to require the user to type a password before
the task runs. You can run the task without displaying the actions on the screen during playback,
and you can disable the keyboard and mouse while the task runs. For more information, see
Task Properties.
2. Schedule: You can tell Automation Anywhere to run the task at a specific time. For example,
you can schedule the task to run once a day, once a week, once a month, only on specified days
of the week, etc. For more information, see Scheduling Tasks.
3. Trigger: To automatically run a task in response to events that occur on your computer, click

Page 8
the Trigger tab. Here you can tell Automation Anywhere to run the task when, for example, a
new window opens, or a specific file is created or deleted, etc. For details, see Triggers.

Click Edit to change, optimize, or customize your tasks without re-recording


them. For more information, see Task Editor.

4. Click New to create a new task using any one of three methods: with the Record
feature, the Web Recorder, or based on a Template. For more information, see Creating Tasks.

The following special keys are available when recording and playing simple tasks:

To abort a running task, press and hold the ESC key for 2-3 seconds. The next time
you run the task, Automation Anywhere starts the task from the beginning.

To pause a task during playback, press the Pause/Break key. While you pause a
task, a Resume button appears at the bottom right corner of the screen. To continue
the task, click the Resume button. Note: This feature is handy for long tasks, when
you need to interrupt a task to use your computer.

To create an icon on the Windows desktop that you can click to run the task
quickly, first select the task in the Task List in the Automation Anywhere window,
then right-click the task and choose Send To -4> Desktop (Create Shortcut).

Page 9
Compare Versions of Automation Anywhere
To read about the features of the different Automation Anywhere versions, see:
http://www.tethyssolutions.com/compare-automation-anywhere.htm.

Page 10
Create a Task
Automation Anywhere gives you four easy ways to create a task:

1. Record

(Click for details.) Record offers the easiest way to create simple tasks. After you record a task, you can
make changes using the Edit feature. In most cases, recording and editing a task is much faster than
creating the task from scratch in the Task Editor.

2. Templates

(Click for details.) Automation Anywhere includes sample templates for common computer tasks: data
backup, auto-shutdown, FTP, data transfer, Web data extraction, and so on. To customize a template,
or to create a new template, choose New > Templates in the Automation Anywhere window, choose a
category and template, and follow the wizard to create the new task. See complete list of templates.

3. Task Editor

(Click for details.) To create a task manually, choose New > Task Editor, and add actions to the task
using the commands available in the Editor.

4. Web Recorder

(Click for details.) For Web-only tasks, choose New > Web Recorder. The Web Recorder understands
all Web controls. If a website changes and the controls on a page move, Automation Anywhere can find
the correct controls and adjust the task so that it will continue to work.

Page 11
Recording Tasks
Recording a task is usually the easiest way to create a new task. Follow these steps:

1. Click Record to begin recording keystrokes and mouse movements.

2. Perform the activities you want to automate.

3. Click Stop (the small window in lower right corner of the screen) to stop
recording your activity.

The Save Task dialog appears.

4. Type a Filename for the task and click Save. If you have the purchased version, you can specify
a password that Automation Anywhere will require the user to type before it runs the task.

5. When you want to repeat the actions you recorded, double-click the task in the
Task List in the Automation Anywhere window, or highlight the task and click Run. Note: To
abort a task while it runs, press and hold the ESC key for 2-3 seconds.

Page 12
Using Templates
Automation Anywhere provides templates for automating a number of common tasks on your computer,
including data backups, FTP functions, data transfers, Web data extraction, and so on. For descriptions
of the templates, see the complete list of templates

Using templates is easy:


1. Click New > Templates to open the list of available templates.
2. Select a template from the list and click OK.
3. Follow the wizard and answer the questions. Automation Anywhere will create a new task for
you, based on the supplied template.

Tip: After you create a new task from a template, you can make changes to it manually. Choose the task
in the Task List and click Edit. The task opens in the Task Editor, where you can make your changes,
using dozens of convenient, click-to-enter commands.

To read more about Automation Anywhere templates, see Template Marketplace.

Page 13
List Of Automation Templates
When you purchase Automation Anywhere, you receive the following professional templates:

Auto Shutdown, Restart, Logoff

This template can automatically shut down, restart, or log off your computer at a predefined time. You
can configure it to run at any time, for example, every night, once a week, on specific days of the week
or month, etc.

Here are some uses for this template:


 Have Automation Anywhere shut down and restart your PC at specified intervals.
 Automatically shut down your PC at night to save power and spare the environment.
Note: Actions in Automation Anywhere that save energy and spare the environment are indicated with

the following Go Green icon:

Automate Data Backups

Use this template to specify the data that you would like to back up, and where and how often you
would like Automation Anywhere to save backup files. When you answer the questions in the template
wizard, Automation Anywhere creates a backup task that saves your data in a Zip file to minimize
storage space.

Automation Anywhere can perform incremental backups – that is, it can back up only those files that
have changed since the last backup. You can tell Automation Anywhere to save the backup file on a
local computer, a network computer, or an FTP site.

Here are some uses for this template:


 Back up critical files at a regular interval that you choose. Protect your data from computer
crashes, viruses, accidental deletions, disk failures, etc.
 Have Automation Anywhere back up your data automatically, on a regular schedule. You’ll
never need to worry about remembering to back up your critical files again.
Automate File Operations

Use this template to schedule file tasks to execute automatically at the times you specify; for example,
copying, renaming, deleting, or printing files.

Here are some uses for this template:


 Delete unwanted files (for example, temporary files) every day to keep your machine clean and
conserve disk space.
 Print all documents in a folder with a single click.
 Rename all files created on a specific date by inserting a timestamp in the filename.
Automate FTP Tasks

This template lets you automate FTP tasks such as uploading, downloading, and deleting files from a
website or FTP file storage site. This template supports anonymous logins for guest access.

Here are some uses for this template:


 Download large files overnight, to avoid slow downloading during peak-traffic hours.

Page 14
 Schedule website backups once a week, or at any other interval you choose.
Auto-run Disk Cleaner

This template frees disk space by launching the Windows Disk Cleaner at a time you specify. For
example:
 Schedule Disk Cleaner to run late at night once a month to free disk space and optimize your
computer’s performance.
Auto-run Disk Defragmenter

This template defragments your hard disk(s). For example:


 Schedule defragmentation to run once a month, to improve your computer’s performance.
Auto-Run the Registry Cleaner

This template cleans your Windows registry using registry cleaner software installed on your machine.
The template can identify and integrate with any leading third-party registry cleaner application. For
example:
 Schedule a registry cleaning to run once a month at midnight to clean your system registry and
improve your computer’s startup time and performance.
Auto-run Spyware/Adware Removers

This template creates a task that launches spyware cleaner software and starts a spyware/adware scan.
The template is designed to identify and integrate with several leading third-party spyware/adware
remover applications. For example:
 Schedule this task to scan your computer for malware once a month.
Download Files From Internet

This template automates downloading files from the Internet. For example:
 Perform routine tasks such as downloading stock data, customer data, log files, or software
patches.
Extract Tabular Data From Webpage

This template can extract a table from any Web page and save it to a CSV file. (CSV is a standard
comma-delimited file format that you can open in Excel, Access, and other spreadsheet or database
applications.). For example:
 Use this template to extract data from a website.
 Transfer data from an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) Web page to an application such as
Excel.
Find Broken Web Links

Use this template to check all the links on a specific Web page or an entire website. Automation
Anywhere stores the results in a CSV (comma-delimited) data file that you can open in Excel, Access, or
other spreadsheet and database applications. After the task runs, you can open the CSV file to identify
broken links. For example:
 Use this template to routinely check your website for broken links.
Internet Cleanup

Page 15
This template creates a task that erases your Internet and computer “data trail” and frees disk space. It
can clear your Internet history, delete cookies, delete temporary Internet files, and empty the Recycle
Bin. For example:

 Schedule this task to run once a month, or at any interval you choose, to improve your computer
’s performance and prevent others from tracing your Web browsing history.

Super Task (Create Task Chain)

This template creates a “super-task” that can run multiple tasks in a row. For example:
 Chain several smaller tasks together in a single super-task and run it with a single mouse click.
 Break down long, complex tasks into smaller tasks that are easier to edit and manage. You can
reuse the smaller tasks in new tasks.
Transfer Data From Database

Use this template to automate data transfers or migrations from an SQL database. For example:

 Query an SQL database to pull out selected data and transfer it to another application, e.g., a
spreadsheet, database, or Web design application.

Transfer Data From Excel

Use this template to create a task that copies data from Excel to another application using Copy and
Paste. For example:
 Automatically transfer data from a column or row containing thousands of values.
 Automate data transfers from Excel, where the data is formatted in a non-standard way (e.g., in
alternate rows or columns).

Page 16
Using Task Editor to Create Tasks
Advanced and intermediate users will enjoy the powerful features of the Automation Anywhere Task
Editor. The Editor offers more than 150 convenient command wizards for creating and editing tasks – no
programming required. Just select a command from a list, choose the properties to apply to the
command, and save the command in the current task.

To learn more, see Task Editor.

Page 17
Using Web Recorder Examples

Automation Anywhere can automate any tasks that you perform in a Web browser.

The Web Recorder tool understands all Web controls (e.g., Forward, Back, selecting buttons, filling in
and saving forms, etc.). If the layout of a Web page changes and the Web controls move to a different
location on the page, Automation Anywhere will locate the relocated controls and run the task correctly.

You can use the Web Recorder to automate any Web tasks, including logging in to a website, searching,
submitting forms, updating database records, using a Web-based ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
program, extracting Web data, testing an online application, etc.

Follow these steps to create a new task using the Web Recorder:
1. In the Automation Anywhere window, click New, then click Web Recorder, or choose Tools >
Web Recorder.
The Enter Website URL dialog appears.

2. In the URL: text box, type the address of a website, and click Start.
3. Automation Anywhere opens the website in Internet Explorer and displays the Web Recorder
toolbar.

4. If the tasks will include extracting tabular data, click Extract Table.
Many websites have data organized in HTML tables. Extract Table makes it easy to save tabular
data in a CSV (comma-delimited) file that you can open in most spreadsheet and database
applications, including Excel and Access. For examples, click here.
If your actions will include extracting or copying other data, such as paragraphs of text, etc., click
Extract Data. For examples, click here.
5. To stop recording keyboard and mouse actions, click Stop Recording in the toolbar.
6. Type a name for the task and click Save to save the task. If you have a purchased version of
Automation Anywhere, you can type a password to prevent the task from being run by
unauthorized users.

7. When you want to run the task, double-click the task, or select it and click RUN.
Automation Anywhere will perform the actions in the task. Note: To abort a running task, press

Page 18
and hold the ESC key for 2-3 seconds.

Tips:
1. When you open a task in the Task Editor that you created with Web Recorder, Automation
Anywhere shows you the Web Recorder commands related to the controls you worked with
while recording the task – for example, tasks that work with links, text boxes, drop-down
menus, etc. To enter other commands that require keystrokes or mouse clicks, choose the
appropriate command from the Commands list in the Task Editor.
2. You can create a task that includes both Web and standard commands. For example, to transfer
data from Internet Explorer to Excel, begin by recording the task in Internet Explorer using Web
Recorder, then edit the task and insert actions that transfer the data to Excel. (You can use the
same procedure to transfer data from Excel to Internet Explorer.)

Page 19
Editing Tasks
The Automation Anywhere Task Editor includes more than 270 commands that you can insert in tasks
by clicking the command’s name and following a wizard.

Features that you can add to tasks include: adjusting playback delays, inserting new actions (or
keystrokes), removing mouse moves, optimizing tasks, and creating new tasks from scratch. See all
commands.

Page 20
Commands
The Task Editor offers the following commands which you can insert in tasks by clicking the command’s
name and following the wizard.

Page 21
Keystrokes/Mouse
Insert Keystrokes

Insert Mouse Click

Insert Mouse Move

Page 22
Insert Keystrokes Examples

Use this command to tell a task to insert keystrokes in a window.

1. In Automation Anywhere, select a task in the Task List and choose Edit.

2. In the Task Editor, double-click the Insert Keystrokes task. The Insert Keystrokes dialog
appears.
3. Click the drop-down arrow to the right of the Select Window text box, and select the title of a
currently open window.

Tip: Windows that you already included in the task appear at the top of the list. The currently
open windows appear below the dotted line in the list. Before you begin inserting keystrokes in a
window, make sure the window is open. If the correct window doesn’t appear in the Select
Window drop-down list, open the window, and in the Insert Keystrokes dialog, click Refresh.

4. In the Select Window text box, you can type a wildcard character (*) at the start or end of the
window title. This is helpful, for example, if you expect the window title to change over time. For
example, you can type “Microsoft Excel*” or “*Excel” or “*Excel*,” so that the window will still
be selected when the task runs, even if the window title has changed to reflect the name of an
open document. However, if you know the exact title of the window, we recommend that you
type the complete window title to ensure that the actions will always performed only in that
window.

5. In the Keystrokes text box, type (or cut and paste) any text you want Automation Anywhere to
insert.
6. To insert special keystrokes such as Control, Shift, or Tab, click the appropriate button in the
Special Keystrokes box. For example, if you want Automation Anywhere to type Ctrl + C in a
window, first click Ctrl Down, then type “c,” and click Ctrl Up. You should now see the
following commands and text in the Keystrokes window: [CTRL DOWN]c[CTRL UP].
Similarly, if you want to type Ctrl + Shift + a, first click Ctrl Down and Shift Down, type “a,” and
click Shift Up and Ctrl Up.

7. You can insert many system variables in the Keystrokes window. You can also insert your own,
user-defined variables. For example, to insert today’s date, in the Insert Variable list double-click
Date, or choose Date, then click Insert. If you don’t want your keystrokes to be visible while you
edit a task, select Encrypt Keystrokes (above the Keystrokes box).

Page 23
Pa ge 2 4
Insert Keystrokes Command Examples How to use?

Example 1: Insert keystrokes in a Microsoft Word document titled news.doc.


Open a document named news.doc in Microsoft Word.

1. In Automation Anywhere, click New, and in the Create New Task dialog, click Task Editor.
2. In the Commands list, double-click Insert Keystrokes.
3. Click the downward-pointing arrow to the right of the Select Window text box, and in the
drop-down list select news.doc - Microsoft Word.
4. Insert the required keystrokes. For example, type “Today's tasks are complete” and under
Special Keystrokes choose Enter.
5. Click Save.
Example 2: Copy a cell from an Excel document titled data.xls.

1. Open a document named data.xls in Microsoft Excel.

2. In Automation Anywhere, click New, and in the Create New Task dialog, click Task Editor.

3. In the Commands list, double-click Insert Keystrokes.

4. Click the downward-pointing arrow at the right of the Select Window text box, and in the
drop-down list click Microsoft Excel - data.xls.

Follow these steps to perform a copy operation by inserting a Ctrl+C command in the
Keystrokes window:

5. In the Special Keystrokes section, click Ctrl Down, then type “c” in the Keystrokes window,
and under Special Keystrokes click Ctrl Up. The Keystrokes window now displays: [CTRL
DOWN]c[CTRL UP].

6. Click Save.

Example 3: Insert the current date and time. For example, to include the date and time in filenames,
so that you can identify the files that were created when you ran the task.

Automation Anywhere provides system variables that you can use to insert the current date and time and other
useful data. The date system variables are: $Date$, $Year$, $Month$, $Day$, $Hour$, $Minute$,
and $Second$. You can configure the $Date$ variable to print the date in your preferred format.

1. In the Task Editor, choose Tools > Variable Manager > System Variables > Date. Click the “...”
button to the right of the Date variable, and in the Date format text box, edit the format, or click
the down-arrow to the right of the Date format text box and select a standard format from the
drop-down list.

2. For example, to name an Excel file MyExcelResults plus the current date and time, open the File
Save dialog in Excel, then follow steps 1 and 2 above to insert the following in the Keystrokes
text box: MyExcelResults-$Year$-$Month$-$Day$-$Hour$-$Minute$- $Second$.xls.

To configure your own date and time format, using the System variables $Year$, $Month$,

Page 25
$Day$, $Hour$, $Minute$, $Second$, follow these steps:

1. In the Task Editor, double-click Insert Keystrokes in the Commands list.

2. Click the down-arrow to the right of the Select Window text box, and from the drop-down list
select the window where you want to insert the date and time.

3. From the Insert Variable list, select a system variable (e.g., Date) and click Insert. The variable
appears in the Keystrokes text box.

Example 4: Insert keystrokes in any currently active window.

1. Open the window of the application where you want to enter keystrokes.

2. In the Task Editor, double-click Insert Keystrokes in the Commands list.

3. From the Select Window drop-down list, select Currently Active Window.

4. Enter keystrokes and commands in the Keystrokes text box, as described in Example 1 above.

5. Click Save. When you run the task, Automation Anywhere will insert your keystrokes.

Page 26
Keystroke Encryption
To prevent your Automation Anywhere tasks from being altered by unauthorized persons, you can
protect them with strong encryption. You can also hide sensitive information or passwords that you type
on the screen, to prevent prying eyes from seeing them. (If you turn off this option, you will be able to see
the data normally as you type.) To prevent unauthorized persons from turning this option off, see
Additional Security below.

Additional Security
If you protect your tasks with keystroke encryption, it is strongly recommended that you also
password-protect them to prevent unauthorized persons from turning off keystroke encryption and
gaining access to your tasks.

Page 27
Keystroke Encryption
To prevent your Automation Anywhere tasks from being altered by unauthorized persons, you can
protect them with strong encryption. You can also hide sensitive information or passwords that you type
on the screen, to prevent prying eyes from seeing them. (If you turn off this option, you will be able to see
the data normally as you type.) To prevent unauthorized persons from turning this option off, see
Additional Security below.

Additional Security
If you protect your tasks with keystroke encryption, it is strongly recommended that you also
password-protect them to prevent unauthorized persons from turning off keystroke encryption and
gaining access to your tasks.

Page 28
Insert Mouse Clicks Examples

To insert a mouse click in any window when a task runs, follow these steps:
1. Open the window in the application where you want to enter a mouse click.
2. In Automation Anywhere, in the Task List, select a task and choose Edit.
3. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click the Insert Mouse Click command. The
Insert Mouse Click dialog appears.

4. In the Select the Window... drop-down list, select the title of the window where you want to
enter a mouse click. The Insert Mouse click dialog displays a small graphic image of the window
you selected.

Tip: In the Select the Window... drop-down list, Automation Anywhere places windows
currently being used by the task at the top. Below the dotted line it lists windows currently open
on the desktop. If you don’t see your window in the list, click Refresh.
5. If you expect that the name of the window where you want to enter a mouse click will change
over time, perhaps depending on the content of the window, you can type a wildcard character
(*) at the start or end of the window title. For example, you can type “Microsoft Excel*” or
“*Excel” or “*Excel*”. However, if the title of the window will never change, we recommend
that you type its exact name, to ensure that the actions will be performed only in the correct

Page 29
window.
6. Click Capture. Automation Anywhere activates the window you selected in step 3. Click in the
window where you want your task to insert the mouse click. Optionally, you can click Advanced
View and choose the following:

o The mouse button you want to insert a click with: Left Button, Middle Button, or Right
Button.
o The type of click: Click, Double Click, etc.
o Under Relative To, the Window option is useful when you are working in different screen
resolutions (for example, in a dual-monitor setup) but the relative location of the click
remains the same.
7. In the Insert Mouse Click dialog, click Save.

Page 30
Insert Mouse Click - Example How to use?

Example 1: Perform a mouse click at the Yahoo! sign-in dialog.


1. Open mail.yahoo.com in your Web browser.
2. In Automation Anywhere, click New > Task Editor, or Tools > Task Editor.
3. In the Commands list, double-click the Insert Mouse Click command.
4. Click Refresh.
5. From the Select the Window... drop-down, select “Sign in to Yahoo! - Microsoft Internet
Explorer”.
6. Click Capture and hold the left mouse button. Automation Anywhere activates the “Sign in to
Yahoo! - Microsoft Internet Explorer” window.
7. Click the Yahoo! “Sign In” button, and release the mouse button.
8. In the Insert Mouse Click dialog, click Save.
Note: To insert other types of clicks (double-click, right-click, etc.), click Advanced View and select the
appropriate options.

Page 31
Insert Mouse Move - How to use Examples

The Insert Mouse Move command lets you insert a command that tells a task to move the mouse from
one location to another.

Tip: If you want to insert a mouse click, moving the mouse to the click location is NOT required. The
Mouse Move command is useful in menus like the Windows Start menu, where moving the mouse cursor
over an item may display a new sub-menu.
1. Open the application and window where you want to insert a mouse move.
2. In Automation Anywhere, select a task in the Task List and click Edit.
3. In the Task Editor, in the Task Actions List, select the action after which you want to insert a
mouse move.
4. In the Commands list, double-click Insert Mouse Move. The Insert Mouse Move dialog
appears.
5. Select Mouse Position (From), and click Capture.
6. Automation Anywhere switches to the active window in the application.
7. In the active window, left-click the mouse and drag the cursor to the location where you want the
mouse move to begin. Release the mouse button. This step automatically captures the required
information about the point where the mouse move should begin.
8. In the Insert Mouse Move dialog, select Mouse Position (To) and click Capture. Automation
Anywhere switches to the active window in your application.
9. Left-click with the mouse and drag the mouse cursor to the location where you want the mouse
move to end. Release the mouse button.
10. In the Insert Mouse Move dialog, click Save.

Page 32
Insert Mouse Move - Example How to use?

Example 1: Insert a mouse move command that moves the mouse cursor from position
(200,300) to (400,500) in the active application window.
1. In Automation Anywhere, click New Task, Task Editor, or choose Tools > Task Editor.
2. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Insert Mouse Move.
3. Select Mouse Position (From).
4. Click Capture. Automation Anywhere switches to the active application window.
5. Left-click and drag the mouse to location (200,300) and release the mouse button.
6. In the Insert Mouse Move dialog, select Mouse Position (To).
7. Click Capture. Automation Anywhere switches to the active application window.
8. Left-click and drag the mouse to location (400,500) and release the mouse button.
9. In the Insert Mouse Move dialog, click Save.

Page 33
Programs/Files/Windows
Open Program/File

Files/Folders

Window Actions

Log to File

System

Manage Windows Controls

Page 34
Open Program/File - How to use Examples

Use this command in a task to launch a program or open a file. The following are some actions you can
insert in a task with the Open Program/File command. (Click Examples above for details on using Open
Program/File.)
1. If your program requires command line parameters, you can optionally provide the parameters in
the Parameters text box.
2. You can also optionally have Automation Anywhere test whether the path you entered is
correct.
3. You can insert the current window title in a task.
4. You can enter variables in a file path.

Page 35
Open Program/File - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Open Notepad.exe.


1. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.
2. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Open Program/File. The Open
Program/File dialog appears.
3. In the Program/File Path text box, type “notepad.exe”.
4. Click Save.
5. Optionally, if you want to open a file in Notepad called mynotes.txt, then type the path and
filename in the Parameters text box, for example, C:\words\correspondence\mynotes.txt.
Example 2: Run a batch file from Automation Anywhere.
1. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.
2. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Open Program/File. Automation
Anywhere opens the Open Program/File dialog.
3. In the Program/File Path text box, type the path and name of the batch file; e.g.,
C:\My-Batch-File.bat.
4. Click Save.
Example 3: Open a Microsoft Word document.
1. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.
2. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Open Program/File. Automation
Anywhere opens the Open Program/File dialog.
3. In the Program/File Path text box, type the path and name of the batch file; e.g., C:\My
Documents\smithletter.doc.
4. Click Save.
Tip: If you use the Record feature in Automation Anywhere to create a task that opens an application or
a file, you can make the task run faster by opening the task in the Task Editor and replacing the multiple
keystrokes that you recorded with single Open Program/File commands, as described in the examples
above.

Page 36
Files/Folders - How to use Examples

This Files/Folders command lets you automate the following common operations with files and folders.
(To learn more, click Examples above.) The Files/Folder command also offers advanced operations for
working with files and folders based on their size and/or created/modified date.
1. Open File
2. Open Folder
3. Copy Files
4. Copy Folder
5. Rename Files
6. Rename Folder
7. Delete Files
8. Delete Folder
9. Create File
10. Create Folder
11. Zip Files
12. Unzip Files
13. Print Files
14. Print Files in a Folder
15. Create File Shortcut
16. Create Folder Shortcut

Page 37
Pa ge 3 8
Files/Folders - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Copy files from one folder to another that were created within the last 180 days,
and that are 50 Kb or larger.
1. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.
2. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Files/Folders. A list of Files/Folders
actions appears.
3. Double-click Copy Files. The Files/Folders dialog appears, with the Copy Files option selected.
4. In the Source Files text box, type the path and name of a source file to copy; or click Browse
and select a file.
5. In the Destination Folder text box, type the name of a destination folder where you want to copy
the file.
6. Click Advanced View. The Command Options appear on the right side of the Files/Folder
dialog.
7. In the Select Size drop-down, select “atleast”, and in the KB text box type 50.
8. In the Date drop-down, select “created date”.
9. Select “in last” and type 180 in the “days” text box.
10. Click Save.
Example 2: Rename all .dat files to .bak
1. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.
2. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Files/Folders. A list of Files/Folders
actions appears.
3. Double-click Rename Files. The Files/Folders dialog appears, with the Rename Files option
selected.
4. In the File(s) text box, type the path to the folder that contains the .dat files you want to rename,
and specify all .dat files by inserting the “*” wildcard character. For example:
C:\MyFolder\*.dat. Or click Browse and select a folder, and add “*.dat” to the folder path.
5. In the New File Name text box, type the filename extension for the renamed files; for example:
*.bak.
6. Click Save.
Example 3: Back up your work at the end of the day in a Zip file.
1. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.
2. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Files/Folders. A list of Files/Folders
actions appears.
3. Double-click Zip Files. The Files/Folders dialog appears, with the Zip Files option selected.
4. In the Specify File(s) to Compress text box, type the path to the folder that contains the files you

Page 39
want to compress. For example: C:\MyWork\. Or click Browse and choose a folder.
5. Optionally, in the File Type text box, type the filename extensions for the file types you want
Automation Anywhere to compress. Separate the filespecs with commas; for example: *doc,
*.txt, *rtf.
6. In the Specify Destination Zip File text box, type a name for the Zip file that will hold the
compressed files.
7. To choose advanced options, click Advanced View. The advanced options appear on the right
side of the Files/Folder dialog. Here you can tell Automation Anywhere whether to overwrite or
move existing files; specify a compression speed; and/or password-protect the resulting Zip file,
etc.
8. Click Save.
Example 4: Delete all *.tmp files at the end of the day.
1. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.
2. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Files/Folders. A list of Files/Folders
actions appears.
3. Double-click Delete Files. The Files/Folders dialog appears, with the Delete Files option
selected.
4. In the File(s) Name text box, type the path to the file(s) you want Automation Anywhere to
delete. For example, to delete all temporary files with a .tmp filename extension in the C:\Temp
folder, type: C:\Temp\*.tmp
5. Click Save.
Example 5: Print all of the Microsoft Word documents in the folder C:\My Documents\.
1. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.
2. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Files/Folders. A list of Files/Folders
actions appears.
3. Double-click Print Files. The Files/Folders dialog appears, with the Print Files in a Folder option
selected.
4. In the Folder Name text box, type the path to the folder; for example: C:\My Documents\.
5. Optionally, in the File Type text box, type the filename extensions of the file types you want to
print. For example, to print all “doc,” “docx,” and “rtf” files, type the filename extensions with a
leading wildcard character (*) and period, separated by commas: *.doc, *.docx, *.rtf.
6. Click Save.
Example 6: Create a shortcut to open a file by clicking an icon on the desktop.
1. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.
2. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Files/Folders. A list of Files/Folders
actions appears.
3. Double-click Zip Files. The Files/Folders dialog appears, with the Zip Files option selected.
4. Select the Create File Shortcut option.

Page 40
5. Specify the location of the file for which you want to create a shortcut. e.g.
C:\Temp\DailyPlan.xls.
6. Specify the destination folder where you want to create the shortcut, e.g., C:\Documents and
Settings\Administrator\Desktop\.
7. Click Advanced View to specify which files to print by size and/or date; for example, print only
files larger than 50 KB, created in the last 7 days.
8. Click Save.

Page 41
Window Actions - How to use Examples

Use the Windows Actions command to perform the following actions in tasks. (To learn more, click
Examples above.)
1. Activate Window
2. Close Window
3. Maximize Window
4. Minimize Window
5. Resize Window
6. Get Active Window Title

Page 42
Window Actions - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Close the window “Untitled – Notepad” in Microsoft Windows Notepad.


1. Start Microsoft Notepad. Notice that the title bar says “Untitled – Notepad.”
2. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.
3. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Window Actions. A submenu appears.
4. Double-click Close Window. The Window Actions dialog appears.
5. In the Select Window drop-down, select “Untitled – Notepad.”
6. Click Save.
Example 2: Close all open windows.
1. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.
2. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Window Actions. A submenu appears.
3. Double-click Close Window. The Window Actions dialog appears.
4. From the Select Window drop-down, select “Close All Open Windows.”
5. Click Save.
Example 3: Resize a browser window
1. Open a Web page in a browser.
2. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.
3. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Window Actions. A submenu appears.
4. Double-click Resize Window. The Window Actions dialog appears.
5. From the Select Window drop-down, select the browser window title that you want to resize.
6. Click Capture, and draw a rectangle of the desired size to retrieve coordinates for the resized
window.
7. Click Save.
Example 4: Maximize a Microsoft Excel file named Microsoft Excel-Book1.
1. Open the file Book1.xls in Microsoft Excel.
2. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.
3. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Window Actions. A submenu appears.
4. Double-click Maximize Window. The Window Actions dialog appears.
5. From the Select Window drop-down, select the window titled Microsoft Excel-Book1.xls.
6. Click Save.
Example 5: Activate a Microsoft Word document titled Document1.

Page 43
1. In Microsoft Word, open a new document – Word automatically names it Document 1.
2. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.
3. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Window Actions. A submenu appears.
4. Double-click Close Window. The Window Actions dialog appears.
5. From the Select Window drop-down, select Document1-Microsoft Word.
6. Click Save.

Page 44
Log to File - How to use Examples
Use the Log to File command to have Automation Anywhere create a log file to store information while a
task executes. The following are some uses and features of Log to File. (To learn more, click Examples,
above.)
1. It can help you verify that a task has executed properly, especially if the task has complex
conditional and looping commands.
2. Automation Anywhere will create a new log file if it does not already exist.
3. You can specify custom text to be included in the log file.
4. You can optionally add a timestamp to the log file.
5. You can tell Automation Anywhere to use a log file as a variable.

Page 45
Log to File - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Monitor the performance of a task by inserting a Log to File command in the task.
When task playback reaches the Log to File command, Automation Anywhere creates a
timestamp in a log file.
1. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools -> Task Editor.
2. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Log to File. The Log to File dialog
appears.
3. In the Log File text box, type a path and name for the log file, or click Browse to choose an
existing file.
4. Optionally, in the text box, type any text that Automation Anywhere should add to the log file
each time it creates an entry in the file.
5. Optionally, select Add Timestamp. Each time the task runs, Automation Anywhere will insert the
current date and time.
After the task runs, you can open the log file (a simple text file) and check the actions that
Automation Anywhere has played back. Log files can help you measure the performance and
accuracy of your tasks.
Example 2: Log the clipboard contents to help debug a task that copies data.
1. Let's say you are using loops within your tasks, and you want to check the text in the clipboard
variable during each pass of the loop.
2. Automation Anywhere provides system variables called $Counter$ and $Clipboard$. You can
log these variables, for example, by including a $Counter$-$Clipboard$ variables in a Log to File
command. For complete information on using variables, see the Using Variables help section.

Page 46
Manage Windows Controls - How to use Examples

( Available only in Premier and Enterprise versions)

Use the Manage Windows Controls command to have Automation Anywhere perform the following
control actions in an active window. (To learn more, click Examples above.)

Get Text: Use this option to have Automation Anywhere extract text that cannot be selected and copied
using standard clipboard operations such as Ctrl+C to copy text.
1. Drop Down: Use this option to perform the following actions on a drop-down list in an
application:
1. Get Total Items
2. Get Selected Item
3. Get Selected Index
4. Select Item by Index
5. Select Item by Text
2. Text Box: Perform the following actions in a text box:
1. Get Text
2. Set Text
3. Append Text
3. Check Box: Have Automation Anywhere save the status of a checkbox (checked or
unchecked). You can also set the status of the check box (check or un-check the check box).
4. Tree View: Automation Anywhere can perform actions in a tree view, similar to the actions listed
under number 1 above for drop-down lists.
5. Command Button: Automation Anywhere can click a button in an application. It can also
execute the commands in a toolbar.
6. List Box: Automation Anywhere can perform actions similar to those listed under number 1
above, but in a list box or list view.
7. Radio Button: Get the status of a radio button (selected or non-selected), or select a radio
button.
8. Status Bar: Automation Anywhere can “grab” text in the status bar of an application.
9. Tabs: Automation Anywhere can perform actions similar to those listed in number 1 above, but
on a tab control.
10. Menu: Automation Anywhere can perform the following actions on a menu in an application:
1. Get Total Items
2. Get Text By Index
3. Get Index By Text
4. Click Item By Index
5. Click Item By Text
Note : Automation Anywhere can only execute actions that use standard Windows controls. If your
application has customized controls, Automation Anywhere may not be able to capture them. Note that
you must use Manage Web Controls (not Manage Windows Controls) to capture controls in Internet
Explorer.

Page 47
Pa ge 4 8
Manage Windows Controls - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Extract a PC’s event log.

1. Open the event log whose contents you want Automation Anywhere to extract.

2. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.

3. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Manage Windows Controls. The Manage
Windows Controls dialog appears.

4. From the Select Window drop-down list, select the window that contains the log file data you
want to capture.

5. Click and hold Capture and select the text in the log file.

6. In the Manage Windows Controls dialog, select Get Text in the right pane.

7. In the Assign to variable drop-down, select the variable to which you want to assign the log file.
(To learn more about variables, see Using Variables.)

8. Click Save.

Example 2: Get (or set) the status of a check box.

1. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.

2. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Manage Windows Control. The Manage
Windows Controls dialog appears.

3. Click and hold Capture and drag the mouse to the checkbox whose status you want to capture.

Page 49
4. From the Select Window drop-down, select the title of the window that contains the checkbox
whose status you want to get or set.

a. To get the status of the checkbox:

In the Manage Windows Controls dialog, select Get Check Box Status in the right pane.

b. In the Assign to variable drop-down, choose a variable to assign the checkbox status to.
(For detailed information on variables, see Using Variables.)

To set the status of the checkbox:

1. In the Manage Windows Controls dialog, select Set Check Box Status in the right pane.

2. In the Assign to variable drop-down, choose a variable to assign the checkbox status to. (For
detailed information on variables, see Using Variables.)

3. Click Save.

Example 3: Enter data from a comma-separated (CSV) data file into an application.

1. Open the application where you want to enter data.

2. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.

3. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Excel. A submenu appears.

4. Double-click the Open Spreadsheet command. The Excel dialog appears.

5. In the Excel dialog, fill in the Spreadsheet Path and Specific Sheet Name text boxes, then click
Save.

Page 50
6. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Excel > Get Cells. The Excel dialog
appears.

7. In the Excel dialog, select Get Multiple Cells.

8. Fill in the From Specific Cell and To Specific Cell text boxes: type the coordinates of the first and
last cells of the data you want to capture.

9. Click Save.

10. In the Task Editor, double-click Loop. A submenu appears.

11. Double-click Each Row In An Excel Dataset. The Loop dialog appears.

12. Type a session name, and click Save.

13. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Manage Windows Controls. The Manage
Windows Controls dialog appears.

14. From the Select Window drop-down, select the application window where you want to insert
the captured CSV data.

15. Click and hold the Capture button and drag the mouse onto the control you want to select. Then
select the required action to set the value of the control to that from the Excel dataset.

16. Click Save

17. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Loop. A submenu appears.

18. Double-click “Each Row In An Excel Dataset.” The Loop dialog appears.

19. Select End Loop.

20. Click Save.

21. In the commands list, double-click Excel. A submenu appears.

22. Double-click Close Spreadsheet. The Excel dialog appears.

23. Click Save.

Example 4: Select options to generate a report with an application.

1. Open the application from which you want to generate the report, and open the application’s
report-generation options window.

2. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.

3. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Manage Windows Controls. The Manage
Windows Controls dialog appears.

4. In the Select Window drop-down, select the report generation options window.

5. Click and hold Capture and drag the mouse onto the control you want to select.

Page 51
6. In the Manage Windows Controls dialog, in the right pane under Select Action, select the action
to set the value of the control.

7. Click Save.

8. Repeat steps 5 to 7 for each of the options required to generate the report.

9. In the Manage Windows Controls dialog, click and hold Capture and drag the mouse in the
application onto the button to be clicked to save the options you entered and begin processing
the report.

10. In the Manage Windows Controls dialog, click Save.

Example 5: Extract a table from a Web page.

1. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.

2. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Web Recorder and double-click Open
Browser. The Web Recorder dialog appears.

3. In the URL to Open text box, type the URL of the page you want Automation Anywhere to
open.

4. Click Save.

5. In the Commands list, double-click Manage Windows Controls. The Manage Windows Controls
dialog appears.

6. In Internet Explorer, open the page that contains the table you want to extract.

7. In the Manage Windows Controls dialog, in the select Window drop-down, select the Internet
Explorer window.

8. Click and hold Capture and drag the mouse onto the Internet Explorer status bar.

9. In the right pane of the Manage Windows Controls dialog, in the Select Action list, select the
variable to which you want to assign the value of the status bar.

10. Click Save.

11. In the Commands list, double-click If/Else. A submenu appears.

12. Double-click Variable. The If dialog appears.

13. Click Edit. The If Variable dialog appears.

14. In the Variable text box, type the name of the variable you specified above.

15. In the Operator drop-down, select Equal To (=).

16. Select Fix, and in the Fix text box, type a value.

17. Click Save.

Page 52
18. In the Commands list, double-click Web Recorder. A submenu appears.

19. Double-click Extract Table. The Web Recorder dialog appears.

20. In the Step 1 text box, type the URL of the Web page where you want to capture the table.

21. In the Step 3 text box, type the name of a CSV file where you want to save the table data.

Note: The Extract Table command above should be within the If and End If actions.

22. Click Save.

23. In the Commands list, double-click Web Recorder, and in the submenu double-click Close
Browser. The Web Recorder dialog appears, with Close Browser selected.

24. Click Save.

Tip: Using Wildcards (*)

1. You can use wildcards (*) when you specify a window title in any Manage Windows Controls
dialog.

2. For example, if you want to perform any operation in any window that contains the word
“Untitled,” insert the “*” wildcard character to indicate any number of characters before and/or
after “Untitled”: “*Untitled*”.

3. Automation Anywhere will first search for a window titled “Untitled,” and if it does not find it, it
will look for other windows whose names include the word “Untitled.”

4. You can insert the wildcard character (*) at the beginning or end of the window title.

Page 53
System - How to use Examples

Use the System command to perform any of the following actions as part of a task:
1. Lock the computer
2. Log off
3. Shutdown the computer
4. Restart the computer
Note: If you include a shutdown or restart action in a task, any actions after shutdown or restart will
obviously not be executed, so you must only include these commands at the end of a task.

Some actions in Automation Anywhere can actually save energy and spare the environment, Shutdown
being a good example. You can create a task that turns off your computer at the end of the workday. To
increase environmental awareness, energy-saving actions in dialog boxes are marked with a green icon:

Page 54
System - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Lock the computer.

1. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the Task
List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.

2. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click System. A submenu appears.

3. Double-click Lock Computer. The System dialog appears. Note the green symbol indicating that the
Shutdown command can help save energy and spare the environment.

4. Click Save.

Example 2: Shut down the computer.

1. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the Task
List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.

2. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click System. A submenu appears.

3. Double-click Shutdown. The System dialog appears. Note the green symbol, indicating that the
Shutdown command can help save energy and spare the environment.

4. Click Save.

Example 3: Restart the computer.

1. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the Task
List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.

2. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click System. A submenu appears.

3. Double-click Restart.

4. Click Save.

Tip: You can have Automation Anywhere perform an auto-login, so that when your computer
restarts, Automation Anywhere will enter your username and password. To learn more about
auto-login, click here.

Note: Always put System commands last in tasks, since actions entered after the System command will
not be executed.

Page 55
Conditions / Loops
If-Else-Endif

Loop

Page 56
If-Else-Endif - How to use Examples

This is one of Automation Anywhere’s most powerful commands. Use it to perform actions only if certain
conditions are true or false. With most of these conditional commands, you can specify how long to wait
for the condition to be true.

Here are some of the many ways you can use If-Else-Endif commands:
1. If File exist / If File doesn’t exist: Use this command when you want to perform an action based
on whether a file exists. For example, if a data file exists, then you can have Automation
Anywhere format the file and upload it to a database.

2. If Folder exist / If Folder doesn’t exist: This command is similar to number 1, but it checks if a
folder exists.

3. If Window exist / If Window doesn’t exist: This is one of the most frequently used commands in
Automation Anywhere. You can use it to check if a specific application is open (by checking for
the application’s window name), or if an error condition have occurred (by checking for an error
window), or if a file download has finished (by checking for a file download window), etc.

4. If Application running / If Application not running: If an application is running but is not open (for
example, because it is minimized to the system tray), or an application doesn’t have a window
but runs behind the scenes, you can still perform actions with the application by using this
command.

5. If Script successful / If Script not successful: This command lets you integrate third-party scripts
with Automation Anywhere. It runs the script and, depending on the return code, decides if it ran
successfully. If you have already developed scripts, you can use this command to integrate them
with Automation Anywhere.

6. If Task successful / If Task not successful


With this command you can run several Automation Anywhere tasks, one after another. The
command runs the first task, and depending on the return code, decides if it ran successfully. For
example, if a script that monitors your website runs successfully, it means that your website is up
and no action is required. But if the script is unsuccessful, it means that the website is down and
you need to take action.

7. If Ping successful / If Ping not successful


Use this command to check if a machine or server is running, and take appropriate actions based
on the result.

8. If Variable
This command, though it looks simple, is perhaps the most powerful conditional command. It is
actually many commands in one. With an If variable, you can perform hundreds of checks – for
example, you can use this command if you copy data from an application or website, and want to
check if what you copied matches a specific text, or if it is a number, or if it is greater than or less
than some another or fixed number.

9. If Web Control
Use this command to check if a specific Web control exists on a Web page, e.g., a link, text box,
drop-down, etc. You would normally use this command to edit tasks created with the Web
Recorder.

Page 57
10. If File Size
You can use this command to check if a file is exactly a certain size, or larger or smaller, etc.

11. If File Date


This command checks if a specific file was created or modified on, before, or after a certain date.

12. If Service running / If Service not running


Use this command to check if a particular installed service is running or not.

13. Image Recognition (Available only in Enterprise version)


Use this command to check if an image exists within another image. Automation Anywhere can
recognize images stored in files or captured from a window when the task runs. You can even
specify a minimum “percentage match” for the If command to be true. Image Recognition also
provides a powerful tool that lets you click an image if it is found within the larger image.

How long to wait for a condition to be true?

Most of the conditional commands let you tell Automation Anywhere how long to wait for a condition.
Let’s say you want to perform an action only if a specific window exists. You know that it might take
from 5 seconds to 5 minutes for the window to open. Obviously, you don’t want to wait 5 minutes when
the window comes up in just 30 seconds. Automation Anywhere takes care of this for you. Here’s how:
1. In the If dialog, you can choose If and “Window does not exist,” and type the maximum time in
seconds that Automation Anywhere should wait for the window to appear. (In this case, 5
minutes, or 300 seconds.)
2. Automation Anywhere will keep checking for the window to appear. If it appears in 30 seconds,
Automation Anywhere will immediately begin executing the actions you specified within the
conditional If.
3. If you leave the “How long would you like to wait...?” text box empty, or enter 0, Automation
Anywhere will check for the condition immediately and execute the actions. If the condition
doesn’t exist, it will skip those actions and proceed to the actions that follow the Endif.

Page 58
Pa ge 5 9
If-Else-Endif - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Close the Windows Notepad window (if open).


1. Open Windows Notepad. Note that a new file opens automatically, titled “Untitled – Notepad.”
2. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.
3. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click If/Else. A submenu appears.
4. Double-click Window Exists. The If dialog appears, with Window exists selected.

5. In the Select Title drop-down, select Untitled – Notepad.

6. Click Save.

Note: You should insert the Close Window command between If and End if statements in the
task.

Example 2: Search for a record. If found, then perform a different set of actions.

Automation Anywhere can search for an item, a word, or a record in an application, and if found,
perform a set of actions that you specify; and if not found, perform a different set of actions.

The following example shows how to search for an item, word, or record that doesn’t exist, so that you
see the standard application window that says “Not Found” (or equivalent wording).
1. Open the application, and display a “Not Found” (or equivalent) page by searching for
nonexistent data.
2. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.
3. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click If/Else. A submenu appears.
4. Double-click Window Exists. The If dialog appears.

5. In the Select Title drop-down, select the “Not Found” window in the application.

6. Click Save.

Note: You would perform steps 1 to 6 to create a new condition within If and End If statements.

Example 3: Make a copy of the log file named mylog.txt, if it exists.


1. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.
2. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click If/Else. A submenu appears.
3. Double-click File Exists. The If dialog appears, with Window exists selected.

4. In the Select File text box, type (or click Browse to browse to) the path and filename of the
mylog.txt file.

5. Click Save. Automation Anywhere inserts If File Exists and End if commands in the task.

Page 60
6. In the Task Editor, in the Task Actions List, click the last action before the End If statement.

7. In the Commands list, double-click Files/Folders. A submenu appears.

8. Double-click Copy Files. The Files/Folders dialog appears.

9. In the Source File(s) and Destination Folder text boxes, type or browse to the path and filename
of the file you want to copy, and the folder that you want to copy it to.

10. Click Save. Note that Automation Anywhere has inserted the Copy Files action immediately
above the End If statement.

When you run the task, Automation Anywhere will check if the file exists, and if it does, it will
copy the file to the folder you specified.

Example 4: Create a task that prompts the user for a value, and if the user types “STOP,” the
task stops.
1. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.
2. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Prompt. A submenu appears.
3. Double-click Prompt For Value. The Prompt dialog appears.

4. Click “Assign the value to an existing variable.”

(Note: this example uses variables for illustration purposes only; to learn how to create and use
variables, see Using Variables.)

5. In the Select Variable pull-down, select a variable that you previously created (for example,
$User-Input$).

6. Insert an IF condition that compares the value of the $User-Input$ variable with the text “Stop.”
In the IF command, select the option “Variable”. Click Edit. Specify the variable
$USerUser-Input$ in the first text box, select Includes, and under Fix, type “STOP”.

7. Insert a Stop task command within the IF-End if commands.

8. Set the Repeat property of the task to “Repeat Until I Stop.”

9. This task will continue to repeat until the user enters “STOP” when prompted.

Example 4: To open a downloaded file, if it exists (if not, prompt for another file before
proceeding).
1. In Automation Anywhere, open the Task Editor. To open an existing task, select the task in the
Task List, and click Edit. To create a new task, click New, or choose Tools > Task Editor.
2. In the Task Editor, in the Commands list, double-click Prompt. A submenu appears.
3. Double-click Prompt For Value. The Prompt dialog appears.
4. Select “If-File Exists” and type the path to the file in the Select File text box, e.g., C:\Documents
and Settings\...\Desktop\Downloadfile.txt.

5. Click Save.

Page 61
6. In the Commands list, double-click Open Program/File.

7. Type the program/file path.

8. Click Save.

9. In the Commands list, double-click If-Else, then click End if in the submenu.

10. Select Else and click Save.

11. Double-click Prompt for File/Folder.

12. Type a custom caption and message.

13. Under Select File/Folder, select File.

14. Assign it to a list variable from the list.

15. Click Save.

16. Double-click Open Program/File again.

17. In the program/file path, press F2 and insert the list variable that was used in Prompt for
File/Folder.

18. Click Save.

Example 5: Create a task that checks if a specific Web server in a cluster is up and running.

1. Open the Task Editor.

2. Double-click If-Else, then EndIf in the submenu.

3. Select If-Ping-Successful and type the IP address or the hostname of the first Web server in the
cluster.

4. Click Save.

5. Select Else If from the If/Else menu. Then select If-Ping-Successful and type the IP address or
the hostname of the next Web server in the cluster.

6. Click Save.

7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for all Web servers in the cluster.

8. Select Else from the If/Else menu.

9. Double-click Run Task and select a task that you want to run if all Web servers are down.

10. Click Save.

Page 62
Tip: Using Wildcards (*)

1. For the options Window Exists, Window Does Not Exist, and Image Recognition, you can
specify wildcards (*).

2. For example, if you want to perform an operation if any window has the word “Microsoft” in the
title, you can use wildcards to indicate any string before or after “Microsoft”.

3. For example, you can specify: IF Window Exists *Microsoft*.

4. Automation Anywhere will first search for the exact window title (“Microsoft”), and if it does not
find it, it will look for windows with the word Microsoft anywhere in the title.

Page 63
Loop - How to use Examples

Loop is one of Automation Anywhere’s most powerful commands. There are four types of loop
commands:
 Start Loop
 End Loop
 Exit Loop
 Continue Loop
Start Loop

Automation Anywhere provides eight Start Loop commands:


1. Loop For N times:
Loops the actions between the Start Loop and End Loop commands the number of times you
specify. If you want to repeat the action 10 times, place the actions between Start Loop and
End Loop commands and specify 10. (For details, click Examples above.)

2. Loop For List variable:


You don’t know how many times a task needs to loop, but let’s say you have a list variable with
many values in it. Sometimes the value will be 10, sometimes 100. Using this command you can
repeat the actions within the Start Loop/End Loop block as many times as there are items in the
list variable. You can access the list variable values within the loop; for example, the first time the
loop runs you can get the first value of the list variable, the second time you get the second value
of the list variable, and so on.

3. Loop For Each file in a Folder:


If you want to perform an action for all files in a folder, use this command. Often, the number of
files in a folder will change. You can specify a folder, and the loop will run as many times as there
are files in the folder. You can get the name of a file by using the system variable $FileName$.
Similarly, to get the extension of the file, you can use the system variable $Extension$; finally, to
get the path of the folder where the file is stored use the system variable $CurrentDirectory$. All
of these system variables will return an empty value when used outside the looping command.

4. Loop For Each folder in a folder:


This is similar to Loop For Each File in a Folder, except that it loops for folders, not files. To
access the folder name within the loop, use the system variable $FolderName$.

5. Loop For Condition:


You can use this loop command for several conditions; for example, if you want to repeat a set
of actions if a file exists.

6. Loop For Each Row in an SQL Query Dataset:


You must use this looping command in conjunction with the Database commands. Whenever
you issue an SQL query using an Automation Anywhere Database SQL Query command, the
results set of the SQL query is stored in the system variable $Dataset Column$. Let’s say you
issued an SQL query to the database and you queried for five columns. You can access the five
columns of the result set in the query by calling $Dataset Column(1)$, $Dataset Column(2)$,
$Dataset Column(3)$, $Dataset Column(4)$, $Dataset Column(5)$. This command is extremely
powerful for transferring data from a database to other applications such as a Web page or
Excel, etc.

Page 64
7. Loop For Each row in an Internet Explorer Table:
You must use this looping command in conjunction with the Extract Table option of the Web
Recorder command. When you extract a table using the Automation Anywhere Web Recorder
> Extract Table command, the rows and columns of the table are stored in the System Variable
$Table Column$. Let’s say you extracted a table with five columns. You can access the five
columns by calling $Table Column(1)$, $Table Column(2)$, $Table Column(3)$, $Table
Column(4)$, $Table Column(5)$. This command is extremely powerful for transferring data from
a Web page table to other applications such as Web pages or Excel, etc.

8. Loop For Each Row in an Excel Dataset:


You must use this looping command in conjunction with the Get Multiple Cells option of the
Excel command. When you have retrieved a range of cells from Excel using Excel > Get Cells >
Get Multiple Cells, the rows and columns of the range are stored in the system variable $Excel
Column$. Let’s say you retrieved a range of cells from Excel that has five columns. You can
access the five columns of the table by calling $Excel Column(1)$, $Excel Column(2)$, $Excel
Column(3)$, $Excel Column(4)$, $Excel Column(5)$. This command is extremely powerful for
transferring data from one Excel spreadsheet to another, or to any other application.

End Loop

Use this command to end the loop. The commands that appear between the Start Loop and End Loop
statements will repeat based on the type of loop you selected (see descriptions above). The End Loop
command is always inserted every time you insert a Start Loop. If it gets deleted, you can insert it again.

Exit Loop

Use this command to break from a loop if you do not want to execute the loop when certain conditions
are met. The Exit Loop command can appear only between Start Loop and End Loop commands.

Continue Loop

You can use this option to continue the next iteration of a loop if a particular condition is fulfilled. As soon
as Automation Anywhere encounters a Continue Loop command, it skips the commands up to End

Page 65
Loop and goes to the next iteration of the loop.

Page 66
Loop - Examples How to use? Tips

Example 1: Open five Internet Explorer windows with one click.


1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Loop command and select the option Times, then type 5 in the text box.
3. Save the command. It automatically inserts an End Loop command.
4. Insert an Open Progam/File command to open IEXPLORE.exe within the Start and End Loop
commands.
Example 2: Loop through a list and insert one value at a time in an already-open Excel
document.
1. Create a list variable from Tools > Variable Manager (we’ll call it $my-list$).
2. Specify an option to have the variable read from a text file.
3. Let’s say you have filled the values of the list variable.
4. Double-click the Loop command.
5. Select List and select $my-list$ from the drop-down list.
6. This inserts Start and End Loop commands in the editor.
7. Insert a Keystroke action $my-list$[ENTER in the Excel window. It will type the next value of
the list variable each time it loops.
Example 3: Monitor an application and send email to the administrator if the application shuts
down.
1. Double-click the Loop command.
2. Select Condition.
3. Select Application Running and specify the path of the application that you want to monitor for
(e.g., C:\My-Application.exe).
4. Save the command. It inserts Loop and End Loop commands.
5. Insert a Send Email command after the End Loop command.
6. When you run the task, it loops as long as the application is running. As soon as the application
crashes or shuts down, it leaves the loop and sends an email alert.
Example 4: Query for all contacts in the database that have last name beginning with “R” and
print the names in an Excel document.
1. Using database commands, connect to a database and issue an SQL query to fetch your
records. Insert a Connect command first, then an SQL Query command.
2. Double-click the Loop command.
3. Select “Each row in a SQL Query dataset.”
4. To access the result returned by the SQL query, use the $Dataset Column$ system variable
provided by Automation Anywhere. Use the “Loop for Each row in a SQL query dataset”
option to loop through all rows of the SQL query result. To access each column, use $Dataset
Column(index)$; for example, to get the first column use $Dataset Column(1)$, and so on.

Page 67
5. You can use the Insert Keystrokes commands with the $Dataset Column$ variable to type the
results in the Excel document.
6. Disconnect from the database.
Example 4: Print prices extracted from a pricing table on a Web page.
1. Use the Web Recorder “Extract Table” command to extract the tabular data from the Web
page.
2. After you call the Extract Table command, Automation Anywhere stores all of the tabular data in
a system variable called $Table Column(index)$. You can use this variable to get all the rows
and columns of the table you extracted.
3. Double-click the Loop command.
4. Select “Each row in an Internet Explorer Table.”
5. To access each row and column in the $Table Column$ system variable, use the “Loop for Each
row in an Internet Explorer table” option to loop through the rows of the table. To access each
column, use $Table Column(index)$; for example, to get the first column, use $Dataset
Column(1)$, and so on.
6. You can use the Insert Keystrokes command with the $Table Column$ variable to type the
results in the Excel document.
Example 5: Insert an Exit Loop command to break out of the loop.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Loop command and select Exit Loop, and move it to the appropriate location
between the Start and End Loop commands.
3. The Exit Loop command can appear only between Start Loop and End Loop statements.

Tips for Using Nested Loop

Let’s say you are using a nested loop as follows:

1 Start Loop "List Variable my-list-variable"


2 Variable Operation: $my-list-variable$ To $Income$
3 Start Loop "5" Times
4 Keystrokes: $Income$[ENTER] in "Untitled - Notepad"
5 End Loop
6 End Loop

You should assign the value of the list variable to a value type variable before the nested loop starts, and
use the value type variable inside the nested loop.

You can apply the same tip when you are using Loop for each row in an Internet Explorer Table, Loop
for each row in a SQL Table, or Loop for each row in an Excel dataset.

Page 68
Pause/Delays
Pause

Delay/Wait

Page 69
Pause
When you want a task to pause after certain actions, you can insert a Pause command.

Example: Insert a pause so that you can enter or modify information when the task runs.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Pause command.
Automation Anywhere inserts a Pause statement in the task, below the row where the cursor was when
you double-clicked Pause.

Page 70
Delay/Wait - How to use Examples

Delay

Wait For Window

Wait For Screen Change

Delay

If you want a task to wait before it performs the next action, you can insert a delay.

You can insert a specific delay in milliseconds or seconds, or you can insert a random delay by providing
a range of numbers within which Automation Anywhere will generate a random number.

Wait For Window

You can use the Wait For Window command to wait for a specified window to open or close before the
task performs the next action.

Page 71
Wait For Screen Change

Page 72
You can use this option to wait until a rectangular image on the screen changes before proceeding.
 Let’s say that when you run a task, you want to wait for the contents of a portion of your screen
or an area within your application to change before performing the next set of actions (e.g.,
mouse clicks or keystrokes). This is useful in many windows where the text is not in a selectable
format that you can use to verify the window’s state.
 In this case, you can mark the area using the capture button. A picture will appear in the preview
image square so that you can verify that you have captured the correct image.
 The sample image is not used for comparing during task playback; it is only used to verify that the
image was captured correctly.
 When the task runs and it reaches this command, Automation Anywhere takes a screenshot of
the area you marked, using the coordinates relative to the screen or window. Let's call the image
“imageA.”
 Automation Anywhere waits the number of seconds you specified, then begins comparing the
images on the page to imageA. It continues to compare the image in the marked rectangular
section to imageA, and as soon as imageA and the current image differ, it stops comparing and
proceeds to the next command.
 However, if the images never differ within the specified time, it either stops the task or proceeds
to the next command.

Page 73
Page 74
Delay/Wait - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Insert a delay of 5 seconds


1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click Delay/Wait.
3. Select Delay.
4. Type 5 in the Delay text box.
5. Select Delay in Seconds.
6. Click Save.
Example 2: Generate random delays to simulate user behavior in a testing scenario.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Delay/Wait command.
3. Select Delay.
4. Select the Random Delay.
5. Type 5 in the From text box.
6. Type 500 in the To text box.
7. Select Delay in Seconds.
8. Click Save.
Tip: When the task runs and Automation Anywhere comes to the random delay command, it generates a
random number in the range you specified.

Example 3: Wait for a window titled “Untitled – Notepad” to open


1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Delay/Wait command.
3. Select Wait For.
4. Select Wait For Window To Open, and type the window title: “Untitled – Notepad”.
5. Type how long you want Automation Anywhere to wait for the condition to be true, i.e., for
Notepad to open.
6. You can specify the task to continue or stop if the Notepad window doesn’t open with the
specified time.
Tip: Using Wildcards (*)
1. You can use wildcards (*) in the following options: Wait For Window To Open, Wait For
Window To Close, and Wait for Screen Change (relative to Window).
2. For example, if you want to perform an operation in any window with the word “Untitled”
anywhere in the title, you can insert a * wildcard character before and after “Untitled”. In this
case, you can specify Wait For Window To Open *Untitled*.
3. Automation Anywhere will first search for the exact window named “Untitled,” and if it does not
find it, it will look for windows with “Untitled” anywhere in the title.

Page 75
4. You can insert the wildcard character (*) at the beginning or end of the window title.
Example 4: Wait for a submitted query to return successfully on the Web.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Click the Delay/Wait command.
3. Double-click Wait For Screen Change.
4. Keep the Web page open to the page where the result of the query will be displayed.
5. Select the relevant option based on whether you want to capture the image relative to the screen,
or a particular window. If you select Window, you will be required to select a window from the
list.
6. Click Capture and capture a rectangular selection around the area that will change when the
query returns.
7. Specify 1 second in the box titled “How long you want to wait before comparing the screen.”
8. Specify the maximum number of seconds you want the task to wait, and whether you want
Automation Anywhere to stop the task or proceed to next command.
9. Save the command.

Page 76
Internet
Web Recorder

Launch Website

FTP

Send Email

Internet Connection

Page 77
Web Recorder - How to use Examples

You can use the Web Recorder to automate many Web tasks:
1. Open Browser
Specify a URL that you want Internet Explorer to display before Automation Anywhere
performs other actions. Generally, this is the first command in the task, to be followed by other
Manage Controls commands.

2. Close Browser
This command partners with the Open Browser command – it closes the browser opened by the
Open Browser command.

3. Manage Web Controls


This is the most powerful Web Recorder command. Actually, it is many commands in one. You
can use it to select various controls on an Internet Explorer page – for example, links, check
boxes, radio buttons, drop-downs, etc. You simply specify the URL and capture the control by
selecting it.

4. Download File
Using this command, you can download any HTTP file. This command doesn’t require a
browser. It works on its own. Use it, for example, to download stock data, log files, patches, or
other files you need to download routinely.

5. Extract Table
Using this command, you can select any table in an IE browser window and import its data to a
CSV file. A CSV file is a comma-separated file that will open in Excel as rows and columns.
You can use this command to extract data from any website. It is also very effective when you
need to transfer data from an ERP Web front-end to another application such as Excel.

6. Find Broken Links


Using this command option, you can test whether all links in a website or a Web page are
working. The results are stored in a CSV (comma-separated) file that will open in Excel as rows
and columns. Once the task is complete, you can open the CSV file to identify broken links.

7. Extract Data
With this very handy command you can extract text data from a website or Web page. Its
versatility allows you to specify the range of text you want to copy, using Before and After
keywords. For example, in the text string “= Price: $249 xyz,” if you want to copy only “$249”
you can specify “= Price:” in the “Before Keyword” space and “xyz” in the “After Keyword”
space.

8. Navigate URL
You can use this command to navigate to a URL in an already-open browser window.

Page 78
Pa ge 7 9
Web Recorder - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Extract tabular data from a Web page.


1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Web Recorder command and select Extract Table.
3. Specify a URL, e.g., http://www.yourserver.com.
4. Launch the URL.
5. Click Capture and click the table you want to extract.
6. Specify the path of the CSV file where you want the table data to be saved when the task runs.
7. Save the command.
8. After you call the Extract Table command, Automation Anywhere stores all the tabular data in a
system variable called $Table Column(index)$. You can use this variable to get the rows and
columns of the table that you extracted.
9. Double-click the Loop command.
10. Select “Each row in an Internet Explorer Table”.
11. To access each row and column in the $Table Column$ system variable provided by Automation
Anywhere, use “Loop for Each row in an Internet Explorer table” to loop through all the rows of
the table. To access each column, use $Table Column(index)$; for example, to get the first
column, use $Dataset Column(1)$, and so on.
12. You can use Insert Keystrokes commands with the $Table Column$ variable to type the results
into the Excel document.
Example 2: Click a link that changes its location in Internet Explorer.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Web Recorder command, and select Open Browser.
3. Specify the URL (e.g., http://www.yourserver.com).
4. Save the command.
5. Double-click the Web Recorder command again and select Manage Controls.
6. Specify the URL where the link is present; in this case, the same page you specified in Open
Browser.
7. Click Launch. Click Capture and leave the mouse on the link you want to click.
8. The link information will be captured.
9. Save the command
10. Save the task.
11. When you run the task, it will open the URL and click the link you specified.
Example 3: Download an http file.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Web Recorder, and select Download File.
3. Specify the download file URL (e.g., http://www.yourserver.com/myfile.exe).

Page 80
4. Save the command.
5. Specify a local filename to store on your machine.
6. Save the command.
Example 4: Check all links in a Web page.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Web Recorder command and select Find Broken Links.
3. Specify the URL (e.g., http://www.yourwebpage.com).
4. Select Test Specified Webpage Only.
5. Specify the local path for the CSV file to store the results of the command.
6. Save the command.
7. When you run the command, it will test all links in the Web page you specified, and store the
results in the CSV file you named.
Example 5: Check all links in a website.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Web Recorder command, and select Find Broken Links.
3. Specify the website address (e.g, http://www.yourwebsite.com).
4. Select Test Entire Website.
5. Specify a local file path for the CSV file to store the results of the command.
6. Save the command.
7. When you run the command, it will test all the links in the website you specified, and the results
will be stored in the CSV file you named.
Example 6: Always click the third link in the CNN Headlines.
1. Click Tools > Web Recorder.
2. Type http://www.cnn.com and click Start
3. Click the third link, then click Stop recording.
4. Open the task in the Task Editor.
5. Edit the Click command.
6. Uncheck the Name check box, and check the Index check box. Now, every time Automation
Anywhere reaches this command it will search the link by its index (and not the name or URL it
points to). Thus, even if the name of the link changes, it will click the third link.
Example 7: Extract data from a website and paste it into a blank Word document
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Web Recorder command.
3. Double-click Extract Data.
4. Type a website URL and click Launch (e.g.,
http://www.tethyssolutions.com/automation-software.htm).
5. Once the site is open, you are redirected to the Extract Data dialog box.

Page 81
6. Click Capture.
7. The mouse appears as yellow background text indicating “Please click on the data you want to
extract.”
8. Move the mouse over the text you want to copy, and click anywhere in the text. (If the text
background of the mouse changes to red, it means the text is not available for copying.)
9. Assign the copied text value to a variable from the list; e.g., $my-variable$.
10. Click Save.
11. Make sure a blank Word document is open.
12. Double-click Insert Keystrokes.
13. Select the window title from the list.
14. Insert the variable from the list on the right side of the dialog box, i.e., $my-variable$.
15. Click Save.
Tip: You can specify keywords that determine the range of your text. For example, from the text “Your
reference no. is 245698 for today,” if you want to copy only the number and avoid the extra text, you
can specify “is” as the “Before Keyword” and “for” as the “After Keyword.”

Note: The Manage Controls command has an Advanced option for Links and Buttons.

For Links, it has three check boxes: Name, URL, Index:


 Name: While running the task, it searches for the link by the name recorded. For example, while
recording at www.tethyssolutions.com you clicked a link called “Automation Anywhere.” When
the task plays, if the box is checked (default behavior), Automation Anywhere will search for a
link called “Automation Anywhere” on www.tethyssolutions.com. If it doesn’t find a link with this
name it returns an error.
 URL: Similar to the Name checkbox, but instead of searching the link by name, it searches by
the URL it points to. For example, if you recorded a click on a link called “Automation
Anywhere 3.0” that points to http://www.tethyssolutions.com/automation-software.htm, and
tomorrow you expect the link to change to “Automation Anywhere 4.0” but it still points to the
same URL, then you can check this box.
 Index: This option searches the link by its location index. Every link in a Web page has a
location index. For example, if you click a link whose index number is 2, and you always want to
click that link when the task runs, no matter what the name or URL of that link is, then you can
keep this option checked.
For Buttons, it has three check boxes: Name, Caption, Index:
 Name: While running the task, it searches for the button by the name that was recorded. For
example, if while recording on http://www.tethyssolutions.com/automation-software.htm you
clicked a button labeled “Go” with the name “button1” then while the task plays, if this box is
checked (default behavior) it will search for a button named button1 on the page, even though the
caption may have changed from “Go” to “Search.” If it doesn’t find a button with this name, it
returns an error.
 Caption : Similar to Name, but instead of searching for the button by name, it searches by
caption. For example, if you record a click on a button labeled “Go” with the name “button1” on
http://www.tethyssolutions.com/automation-software.htm, and tomorrow the button’s name
changes to “button2,” it will still look for the button with the caption “Go” if this box is checked.

Page 82
 Index: This option searches for the button by its location index. Every button in a Web page has
a location index. For example, if you click a button whose index number is 2, and you always
want to click on this button when the task runs, no matter what the name or caption of that button
is, then you can keep this option checked.

Page 83
Launch Website - How to use Examples

You can use this command to launch websites in a task:


1. Specify the URL of the website.
2. Click Launch.
3. Select the title of the website. (If you don’t find the window, click Refresh.)
4. Save the command.

Page 84
Launch Website - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Open the website www.cnn.com.


1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Launch Website command.
3. Type “www.cnn.com” in the “Enter a URL and click Launch” text box.
4. Click Launch.
5. Click Refresh.
6. Select the title “CNN.com - Microsoft Internet Explorer” in the drop-down.
7. Click Save.

Page 85
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) - How to use Examples

You can use the Automation Anywhere FTP command to automate any FTP task; for example, FTP
uploads/downloads, backing up a website, etc.

The FTP command provides the following features:


1. Connect to FTP server :
Specify the FTP server name, username, and password to connect. Anonymous login to FTP
servers is supported. Click the Advanced button to set advanced connection options.

2. Disconnect from FTP server


Terminates the connection to an FTP server.

3. Put Folder
Automation Anywhere can upload an entire folder from a local machine to an FTP server. You
can specify filters using wildcard characters to restrict uploads to specific types of files.

4. Get Folder
You can download an entire folder from an FTP server to a local machine. You can specify
filters using wildcard characters to download only specific types of files.

5. Put File(s)
This feature can upload one or more files from a folder.

6. Get File(s)
With this feature you can download one or more files to a local machine from an FTP folder.

7. Delete File(s)
You can delete one or more files from an FTP folder.
8. Rename File(s)
You can rename one or more files in an FTP folder.

9. Create Folder
You can create a folder on an FTP server.

10. Delete Folder


You can delete a folder (including its subfolders and files) from an FTP server.

11. Change Folder


You can move to any folder on an FTP server. You would generally use this feature when you
want to download or upload files in more than one directory on your FTP server.

Page 86
Pa ge 8 7
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Download a file routinely from an FTP server


1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the FTP command. Select the Connect option.
3. Specify the server address, e.g., ftp://yourserver.com, and the username/password, and click
Save.
4. Double-click the FTP command and select the Get File option.
5. In Remote File specify the name of the file on the FTP server that you want to download, e.g.,
Folder1/Folder2/myfile.doc.
6. In Local file, select the folder name by clicking the “...” button.
7. If your document is HTML, plain text, or any other ASCII format, select ASCII format,
otherwise select binary.
8. Click Save.
9. Double-click the FTP command and select Disconnect.
Example 2: Download your Website.
1. Insert an FTP > Connect command.
2. Insert an FTP > Get Folder command. Specify the folder you want to download from your Web
server.
3. Specify the Local Folder where you want to download the FTP folder.
4. Optionally, specify *.htm File Type to download only .htm files.
5. Insert an FTP > Disconnect command.
Example 3: Upload your Website.
1. Insert an FTP > Connect command.
2. Insert an FTP > Put Folder command. Specify the folder you want to upload to your Web
server.
3. Specify the File Type that you want to upload, e.g., *.htm.
4. Insert an FTP > Disconnect command.
Example 4: Periodically clean your FTP folder.
1. Insert an FTP > Connect command.
2. Insert an FTP > Delete File(s) command.
3. Specify the File Types you want to delete, e.g., abc.htm, or *.htm, or abc*.atmn, or *.*, etc.
4. Insert an FTP > Disconnect command.
Example 5: Rename files in your FTP folder before you upload the new ones.
1. Insert an FTP > Connect command.
2. Insert an FTP > Rename File(s) command.

Page 88
3. Specify the file names you want to rename, e.g., abc.htm, or *.htm, or abc*.atmn, or *.*, etc.
4. Specify the filename that you want to give to the files, e.g., OLD*.htm or OLD*.*, etc.
5. Insert an FTP > Disconnect command.

Page 89
Send Email - How to use Examples

Use this command when you want to send an email as part of a task. (You can include attachments with
the email as well as format the message in HTML.)

For this command to work, you need to set the following parameters under Tools > Options > Email
Settings:
The SMTP Host allows you to send email from
Automation Anywhere. You can obtain this information
Host
from your email provider, or from the configuration
settings in your email program.
This setting defines the TCP/IP port that Automation
Port
Anywhere will use to send email. (The default is port 25.)

Page 90
Send Email - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Send an email to a list of contacts, and attach a document with details about a new
product.
1. Create a List variable for your list of contacts. You can enter all of the list values in the Variable
Manager, or you can read the data from a text file.
2. Open the Task Editor.
3. Insert a Loop for List variable action from the Loop command. Select the list variable that you
created in step 1.
4. Double-click the Send Email command.
5. Specify the appropriate From address.
6. In the To text box, type the list variable you created in step 1.
7. Specify the path and name of the document you want to attach.
8. Type the email message you want to send.
9. You can use the following keywords to send specific information about the task: <taskname>,
<desc>, <repeat>, <status>, <lastruntime>.
10. Save the command.
11. Place the Send Email command within the Start and End loop.
12. When you run the task, it loops through the list and sends an individual email to each contact,
with the attached document.

Page 91
Internet Connection - How to use Examples

As part of a task (for example, downloading emails), you can have the task connect to the Internet using
a dial-up connection.
1. Select your dial-up connection from the drop-down list.
2. Specify if you would like to try again if the attempt to connect fails.
3. You can specify how many times to attempt the connection, and the time interval between
connection attempts.
4. You can insert a disconnect command in the task to disconnect the dial-up connection.

Page 92
Internet Connection - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Connect to “myDialUp.”


1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Internet Connection command.
3. Select the Connect option in the “Internet Connection” category.
4. Select your dialup connection from the drop-down list.
5. Click Save.

Page 93
Tasks/Scripts
Run Task

Run Script

Stop Task

Page 94
Run Task - How to use Examples

Use this command to:


1. Run small tasks from a big task.
2. Create a single task, and within the task run other tasks, one after the other, and schedule only
the single task. (This spares you from having to schedule each smaller task.)

Page 95
Run Task - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Create a workflow (Task Chain) that calls several smaller tasks.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Run Task command.
3. Click Browse, and select the path to notepad.atmn.
4. You can select repeat and speed properties for the task.
5. Click Save.
6. Insert Run Task commands to call the remaining tasks.
Note: You can run as many tasks as you want from a single task. You can also chain tasks, e.g., call
Task2 from Task1, and call Task3 from Task2, etc. You can even call tasks conditionally; for example,
you can call the Run Task command within an IF condition.

Page 96
Stop Task
You can stop a task anytime you want. For example, you can stop the task if a specific condition is met
(e.g., Automation Anywhere finds a file larger than 100 MB).
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Stop Task command
Automation Anywhere inserts a Stop Task statement above the line in the Task Actions List where you
double-clicked Stop Task.

Page 97
Run Script - How to use Examples

Use this command when you want to:


1. Run VB Scripts (*.vbs) or JScripts (*.js) from a task.
2. You can pass parameters to your scripts.
3. There is an option to specify the return value in your scripts.

Page 98
Run Script - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Loop through all files in a folder, and pass each filename as a parameter to a
VBScript that checks the size of the file and prompts the user.
1. Double-click the Loop command.
2. Select “Loop for each file in a folder.”
3. Specify the path of the folder from which you want to pass all the files as a parameter to the
VBScript.
4. Call the VBScript within the loop and pass the following system variables as a parameter to the
script: $CurrentDirectory$, $FileName$.$Extension$.
5. Save the task.

Page 99
Applications
Database

Excel

Page 100
Database - How to use Examples

Use this command to connect to a database and issue SQL queries or INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE
statements. You can also run any procedure that you’ve created and stored in your database. If you want
to transfer data from a database to another application, you can use the Database commands and loop
for each row in an SQL Query dataset command.

You can also use this command to read a comma- or tab-delimited CSV file.

The following code snippet shows how your task should loop if you want to transfer data from the
database to the target application.

Tip: When you use the database connect command to select a target database, we suggest clicking the
“Test Connection” button to ensure that the database connection is working.

Page 101
Database - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Connect to a database and update the records based on user input.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Database command.
3. Select Connect.
4. Specify the database you want to connect to.
5. Test the connection before you save the command.
6. Similarly, insert a Database > Insert/Update/Delete command with the appropriate SQL
statement.
7. Insert a Database > Disconnect command.
Tip: The Insert/Update/Delete statement can include variables, and the values of the variables can be
taken from the user with the Prompt command.

Example 2: Query all accounts with revenue over $1 million and print the account names to an
Excel file.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Database command.
3. Select Connect.
4. Specify the database you want to connect to.
5. Test the connection before you save the command.
6. Similarly, insert a Database > Select Query command with the appropriate SQL statement to get
all required accounts.
7. Insert a Database > Disconnect command.
8. To access the result returned by the SQL Query, use the $Dataset Column$ system variable.
Use “Loop for Each row in a SQL query dataset” to loop through the rows of the SQL Query
result. To access each column, use $Dataset Column(index)$; for example, to get the first
column, use $Dataset Column(1)$.
Example 3: Connect to a database and create tables, drop tables, or alter tables.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Database command.
3. Select Connect.
4. Specify the database you want to connect to.
5. Test the connection before you save the command.
6. Similarly, insert a Database > Insert/Update/Delete command with the appropriate SQL
statement to create, drop, or alter tables, etc.
7. Insert a Database > Disconnect command.
Example 4: Connect to a database and call a procedure stored in the database to update
records based on user input.
1. Open the Task Editor.

Page 102
2. Double-click the Database command.
3. Select Connect.
4. Specify the database you want to connect to.
5. Test the connection before you save the command.
6. Similarly, insert a Database > Run Stored Procedure command with the procedure name and
parameters, if any. The procedure you specify should have already been created in the database.
7. Insert a Database > Disconnect command.
Tip: The procedure name and parameters can have variables, and the values of the variables can be
taken from the user with the Prompt command.

Example 5: Read values from a tab-delimited CSV file and transfer the values to another
application.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Database command.
3. Select Read From CSV File.
4. Specify the name of the CSV file you want to read.
5. Select Tab as the delimiter, and check the Header check box if your CSV file has headers.
6. Click Save.
7. To access the values returned by the command, use the $Dataset Column$ system variable. Use
the “Loop for Each row in a SQL query dataset” option to loop through the rows of the result.
To access each column, use $Dataset Column(index)$; for example, to get the first column, use
$Dataset Column(1)$.
8. Within the loop, insert Manage Windows Controls commands to set the value of the controls in
the target application.
Examples of SQL Queries
1. To query all columns from a table called Table1, use the query Select * From Table1.
2. To query FirstName and LastName from a table called Names, use the query Select
FirstName, LastName from Names.
3. To query FirstName and LastName from a table called Names, where FirstName is John, use
the query Select FirstName, LastName from Names WHERE FirstName=John.

Page 103
Excel - How to use Examples

Use this command to transfer data to and from Excel spreadsheets.

(Note: This feature is supported only in Microsoft Office 2000 and later.)

The Excel command provides the following features:


1. Open Spreadsheet
Use this command to open an Excel spreadsheet. You can specify the session name and/or the
sheet name if your task involves working with many sheets and workbooks.
2. Close Spreadsheet
This command complements the Open Spreadsheet command. It closes a spreadsheet opened
with the Open Spreadsheet command. It identifies the spreadsheet by the session name provided
with the Open Spreadsheet command.
3. Activate Sheet
This command activates the specified sheet.
4. Get Cells
Use this command to fetch the value(s) of the active/specific cell, as well as a range of cells from
the spreadsheet opened by the Open Spreadsheet command. When you fetch values for an
active/specific cell, you can assign the cell’s value to a variable from the list. However, when
fetching values for multiple cells, the value is assigned to the system variable $Excel Column
(index)$ which you can use in “Loop for each row in an Excel Dataset”.
5. Set Cells
Using this command, you can set the value for the active cell or a specific cell in an Excel
spreadsheet opened with the Open Spreadsheet command. You can also input the value of a
variable into the sheet.
6. Go to Cell
Using this command, you can go to a specific cell, or one cell left/right/above/below the active
cell, or at the beginning/end of the row/column in an Excel spreadsheet opened with the Open
Spreadsheet command.
7. Run Excel Macro
Using this command option, you can run an Excel macro stored in an Excel spreadsheet opened
with the Open Spreadsheet command.
8. Delete Cells
Use this command to delete values in an active cell or a specific cell in an Excel spreadsheet
opened with the Open Spreadsheet command.
9. Activate Sheet
Use this command to activate a specific sheet in an open workbook.

Page 104
Pa ge 1 0 5
Excel - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Copy the values in a column in an Excel sheet to another sheet.


1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Open Spreadsheet command.
3. Specify a session name, e.g., “copy cells.”
4. Click “...” and select the Excel spreadsheet from which you want to copy.
5. Click Save.
6. Double-click the Open Spreadsheet command.
7. Specify a session name, e.g., “paste cells.”
8. Click “...” and select the Excel spreadsheet where you want to paste.
9. Click Save.
10. Double-click the Get Cells command.
11. Specify a session name, e.g., “copy cells.”
12. Select Get Multiple Cells and insert the range, e.g., if the range is from cell C6 to C18, insert C6
in From Specific Cell and C18 in To Specific Cell.
13. Choose Loop for Each row in an Excel Dataset and set the session name as “copy cells.”
14. Double-click the Set Cells command.
15. Set the session name as “paste cells.”
16. In the cell value, select the variable Excel Column and select the column number as 1, since you
are retrieving values for one column.
17. Click Save.
18. Double-click the Go to Cells command.
19. Set the session name as “paste cells.”
20. Select one cell below.
21. Click Save.
Example 2: To copy from Excel into Notepad.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Open Spreadsheet command.
3. Click “...” and select the Excel spreadsheet that you want to copy from.
4. Click Save.
5. Click Get Cells.
6. Select Get Multiple Cells and insert the range, e.g., if your range is from cell C6 to C18, insert
C6 in From Specific Cell and C18 in To Specific Cell.
7. Start a Loop for Each row in an Excel Dataset.
8. Make sure Notepad is open.
9. Double-click the Insert Keystrokes command.

Page 106
10. Select the Notepad window title from the drop-down list.
11. Select the variable Excel Column from the list on the right, and insert the column number as 1,
since you are retrieving values for one column.
12. Insert a special keystroke of [ENTER] after the $ExcelColumn(1)$ variable.
13. Click Save.
Example 3: Run an Excel macro in an Excel spreadsheet.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Open Spreadsheet command.
3. Click “...” and select the Excel spreadsheet that contains the macro.
4. Click Save.
5. Double-click the Run Excel Macro command.
6. Type the macro name, e.g., Macro1.
7. Click Save.
Example 4: Delete an entire row in an Excel spreadsheet.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Open Spreadsheet command.
3. Click “...” and select the Excel spreadsheet.
4. Click Save.
5. Double-click the Delete Cells command.
6. Specify a cell in the row you want to delete.
7. Select Entire Row from the Delete options.
8. Click Save.

Page 107
Interactive
Prompt

Prompt for File/Folder

Message Box

Page 108
Prompt - How to use Examples

Use the Prompt command to include any of the following actions as part of a task:
1. Prompt for value: Use this command in tasks where the values change frequently, for example
while filling out online forms. The value you enter during task playback can be assigned to a
variable. You can therefore use the variable in other places in the task, instead of prompting
again.
2. Prompt for file: Use this command to prompt for one or more files from a single folder. The
value of the files selected can be assigned to a list variable. You can also configure a caption for
the prompt window.
3. Prompt for folder: Use this command to prompt for a single folder only. The value of the folder
selected can be assigned to a value variable. You can configure a caption for the prompt
window.
4. Prompt for Yes/No: Use this command to prompt the user for a response (Yes/No) to a
question during playback. The value selected during playback can be assigned to a value
variable.

Page 109
Prompt - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Prompt the user for Start and End dates and generate a sales report for the date
range.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Prompt command and double-click Prompt For Value.
3. Select Don’t Write In Any Window from the drop-down list.
4. Type a message to prompt the user for the Start date.
5. Assign the value the user enters to a variable, by selecting the variable from the variable list.
6. Similarly, assign the End date entered by the user to a variable.
7. You can use the two variables in place of start and end dates in the task that generates the sales
report.
8. When the task runs, the two variables will be assigned the values entered by the user.

Example 2: Create a task that prompts the user for data and automates the installation of an
application.
1. Click Record in Automation Anywhere.
2. Perform the steps to install the application.
3. If you plan to run the task on different computers with different resolutions, we suggest using the
keyboard instead of the mouse while recording the installation process.
4. After you finish recording and save the task, select it in the Task List and click Edit.
5. Review your keystroke actions, such as the actions where you specified an installation folder,
etc.
6. Right-click an action and select Convert to Prompt (or select it and click the Actions button).
7. This converts your recorded keystrokes to a Prompt command that prompts the user when the
task runs.
8. In this manner, you can create a generic task to automate the application and not depend on the
values you entered while recording.

Page 110
Example 3: Prompt for a file that will be used in a loop to enter data.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Prompt command and double-click Prompt for File.
3. Type the caption text.
4. Enter a custom message for the user to specify the file.
5. Assign the value to a list variable from the list.
6. Expand the Loop command and double-click the list.
7. Select the list variable you assigned to the file.
8. Double-click the Insert Keystrokes command.
9. Select the window title from the list of files where the data will be entered.
10. Type the data you want to insert into the file.
11. Click Save.
Note: This is a procedure for a single file. You can do the same for multiple files; you will have to check
“Enable this task to run with similar window titles/files” under the General Tab, in the Properties menu.

Example 4: Prompt for the folder that contains a setup file (setup.exe).
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double click the Prompt command and double-click Prompt for Folder.
3. Type a caption.
4. Type a message for the user to select the folder.
5. Assign the value to a value variable from the list.
6. Click Save.
7. Double-click the Open Program/File command.
8. In the Program/File path, type the variable to which you assigned the value of the folder, followed
by “\setup.exe”.
9. Click Save.
Example 5: Prompt the user for confirmation before deleting a record from a database.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Insert the command to connect to a database.
3. Double-click the Prompt command and double-click Prompt For Yes/No.
4. Type a caption.
5. Type a custom message asking the user to select the desired option (Yes/No).
6. Assign the value to a value variable from the list.
7. Click Save.
8. Double-click the Loop command and double-click Condition.
9. In the If dialog, choose File exists.
10. Insert an If - Variable condition to check whether the variable to which the value assigned has the

Page 111
value Yes.
11. Click Save.
12. Double-click the Database command and double-click Insert/Update/Delete.
13. In the Database dialog, in the Enter Insert/Update/Delete Statement text box, type the delete
statement to delete a record from a particular table.
14. Click Save.
15. In the Program/File path, type the variable to which the value of the folder was assigned,
followed by \setup.exe.
16. Double-click the Database command and double-click Disconnect.
17. Click Save.

Page 112
Message Box - How to use Examples

You can insert a Message Box command in a task when you want to show the user a message when the
task runs. You can also specify a custom caption for the message box.

Page 113
Message Box - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Insert Message Box commands to instruct the user how to change the screensaver
on a PC.
1. Insert a Message Box command that says “Click on Start button and then click on Control
Panel.”
2. Insert a Delay of 2 seconds.
3. Insert another Message Box command that says “Double-click on the Display.”
4. Insert another Message Box command that says “Select the Screen Saver Tab.”
5. Insert another Message Box command that says “Select your Screen Saver and click on Apply,
then click OK.”
Example 2: Create an automated interactive task that tells the user how to perform the next
action.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Create a task and insert a Message Box command at appropriate locations to tell the user which
actions to take.
3. Insert a Pause command after the Message Box command. Sometimes users may hit OK without
reading the complete message. This ensures that the task does not proceed but pauses until the
user manually resumes it.

Page 114
Miscellaneous
Clipboard

Comment

Get Text

Play Sound

Variable Operation

String Manipulation

Image Recognition

Page 115
Clipboard - How to use Examples

When you copy text using Ctrl + C, the text is copied to the Windows Clipboard. Automation Anywhere
provides a system variable called $Clipboard$ that you can use to retrieve text that has been copied to
the Clipboard, etc.

Using this command you can do the following:


1. Clear Clipboard: You can clear the contents of the Clipboard.
2. Assign To Clipboard: You can assign the value of any variable created with the Variable
Manager to the Clipboard. You can then access the value with the $Clipboard$ system variable.
3. Assign From Clipboard: You can assign the value of the Clipboard to any Value type of
variable created with the Variable Manager.

Page 116
Clipboard - Examples How to use?

Example 1: During a data transfer task, use the Clear Clipboard command before each
iteration.
1. Before the End Loop command, insert a Clear Clipboard command.
2. This command is useful when you are transferring data using Ctrl + C (copying) from one
application and Ctrl + V (pasting) into another application; or when you are performing these
operations within a loop. Sometimes there is empty data in an application (e.g., Excel cells), and
the copied data needs to be cleared after the previous iteration.

Example 2: Assign the value of a variable to the Clipboard so that the value can be directly
pasted using Ctrl + V after the task completes.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Clipboard command.
3. Double-click Assign To Clipboard.
4. Select the variable from the drop-down list whose value you want to assign to the Clipboard.
5. Click Save.
6. At the end of the task, if you want to move some data into the Clipboard, you can use this
command so that as soon as the task finishes you can simply use Ctrl + V to paste the data into
the desired application (e.g., an email client).
Example 3: Compare two cells of an Excel document by assigning the value of the Clipboard to
a variable.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Clipboard command.
3. Double-click Assign From Clipboard.
4. Select the variable Cell1 from the drop-down list.
5. You can assign values from the Clipboard only to Value type variables, not to List or Random
type variables.
6. Click Save.
7. Similarly, assign the value of the Clipboard (after performing a Ctrl + C operation) to another
variable, Cell2.
8. Perform the comparison operations on variables Cell1 and Cell2 as needed.

Page 117
Comment
You can insert comments in a task for your own reference. Comments are ignored when the task runs.

Example 1: Insert a comment in a task.


1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Comments command, type a comment, and click Save.

Page 118
Play Sound - How to use Examples

You can insert a Play Sound command in the task if you want the task to beep after it executes a
particular command. You can also have the Play Sound command play a media file. When the task plays
the media file, it will not proceed to the next action until the media file finishes playing.

Page 119
Play Sound - How to use Examples

You can insert a Play Sound command in the task if you want the task to beep after it executes a
particular command. You can also have the Play Sound command play a media file. When the task plays
the media file, it will not proceed to the next action until the media file finishes playing.

Page 120
Play Sound - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Insert a Play Sound command to beep when the task finishes.
1. Open the task in the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Play Sound command and double-click Play Beep
3. Click Save.
4. Move the Play Beep action to the last position in the task.
Example 2: Play a recorded file.
1. Open the task in the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Play Sound command and double-click Play Media File
3. Select the media file to play, and click Save.

Page 121
Variable Operation - How to use Examples

Use this command to work with variable assignment. For example, you can assign a value to a variable.
The right side of the “equal to” operator can be a regular operation; for example, you can specify
something like: $var1$ = ($var2$ + $var5$ - 10) / 5.

Which operands are supported?

This command supports the (, ), /, *, + and - operands. The left and right parentheses take precedence,
and the operation within them is evaluated from left to right.

In the expression ($Var1$ + 5) * ($Var2$ -10), the first calculation – ($Var1$ + 5) – will be evaluated
first, then ($Var2$ -10), and the result of both will be multiplied and assigned to the variable specified on
the left side of the equals sign.

Page 122
Variable Operation - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Use yesterday’s date as a variable.


1. Open the Variable Manager (Tools > Variable Manager)
2. Click Add new variable.
3. Set the variable type as Value, type a name for the variable (e.g., yesterday), and enter 1 as a
value. (This will be the temporary value.)
4. Open the Task Editor.
5. Double-click Variable Operations.
6. On the left side of the = sign, press F2 and select the variable you created from the list.
7. On the right side of the = sign, press F2 and select the system variable date and click insert.
8. Type -1 after $Date$.
9. Click Save.
Example 2: Convert the value of a variable to thousands.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click Variable Operations.
3. On the left side of the = sign, press F2 and insert the variable whose value you want to convert
into thousands.
4. On the right side of the = sign, press F2 and again insert the variable whose value you want to
convert to thousands.
5. Type / 1000 after the variable
6. Click Save.
Example 3: Increment the value of a variable by 1 without using $Counter$.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click Variable Operations.
3. On the left side of the = sign, press F2 and insert the variable whose value you want to increment
by 1.
4. On the right side of the = sign, press F2 and again insert the variable whose value you want to
increment by 1.
5. Type +1 after the variable
6. Click Save.

Page 123
String Manipulation - How to use Examples

You can use this command to manipulate any string or extract part of a string to a variable. You can
specify the range of the text you want to extract, by using Before and After keywords.

For example, in the text string “Name of Applicant James Smith Applicant Location,” if you want to copy
only “James Smith,” you can specify “Applicant” as the Before keyword and “1” as Occurrence. Also,
specify “Applicant” in the After keyword and “1” in “Occurrence” (i.e., the first occurrence after the
Before keyword, although it is the second occurrence from the beginning of the string).

You can also specify the number of characters to be extracted, starting from the first character after the
Before keyword. The extracted string can be trimmed to remove leading or trailing spaces, and you can
then save the string in a variable.

Page 124
String Manipulation - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Extract the price of a product from a product literature document.


1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Open Program/File command.
3. Specify the location and name of the product literature document in the Program/File Path.
4. Click Launch Program/File.
5. Click Save.
6. Double-click the Insert Keystrokes command.
7. Select the window in which the document is open.
8. Specify [CTRL DOWN]a[CTRL UP][CTRL DOWN]c[CTRL UP] as the keystrokes.
9. Double-click the String Manipulation command.
10. Press F2 and select Clipboard variable from the list, as the source string.
11. Specify the Before keyword, i.e., the word before the product price, e.g., $.
12. Specify the occurrence of the Before keyword in the string.
13. Specify the After keyword, i.e., the word after the product price, e.g., A.
14. Specify the occurrence of the After keyword in the string.
15. Select a variable from the list to assign the extracted price to.
16. Click Save.

Example 2: Extract an account number from a text file.


1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Open Program/File command.
3. Specify the location and name of the text file in Program/File Path.
4. Click Save.
5. Double-click the Insert Keystrokes command
6. Select the window in which the text file is open.
7. Specify [CTRL DOWN]a[CTRL UP][CTRL DOWN]c[CTRL UP] as the keystrokes.
8. Double-click the String Manipulation command.
9. Press F2 and select Clipboard variable from the list, as the source string.
10. Specify the Before keyword, i.e., the word before the account number, e.g., No.
11. Specify the occurrence of the Before keyword in the string.
12. Specify the length of the account number in “Number of characters to be extracted,” e.g., 8.
13. Select a variable from the list to assign the extracted account number to.
14. Click Save.

Page 125
System
Printers

Services

Page 126
Printers - How to use Examples

This command lets you automate the following:


1. Get Default Printer
2. Set Default Printer
3. Remove Printer

Page 127
Printers - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Change the default printer.


1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Set Default Printer command.
3. Select a printer from the list of installed printers.
4. Click Save.
Example 2: Remove a printer.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Remove Printer command.
3. Select a printer from the list of installed printers.
4. Click Save.

Page 128
Services - How to use Examples

This command lets you automate the following:


1. Get Service Status
2. Start Service
3. Stop Service
4. Pause Service
5. Resume Service

Page 129
Services - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Start a user-defined or Windows service, if it is not already running, before running
an application that requires the service to be running.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Get Service Status command.
3. Select the service from the list of available installed services.
4. Select the variable from the list to assign the value to.
5. Click Save.
6. Insert an IF condition that checks whether the value of the variable selected in step 4 is not equal
to Started. In the IF command, select the option Variable. Click Edit. Type the variable in the
first text box, select the operator Not equal To (<>), and in the Fix option, type Started.
7. Double-click the Start Service command and insert the same actions within the If-Endif
commands.
8. Select the service from the list of available installed services.
9. Click Save.
10. Double-click the Open Program/File command.
11. Specify the name of the application you want to run.
12. Click Save.
Example 2: Pause a service before performing an action, then resume it.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Pause Service command.
3. Select the service from the list of available installed services.
4. Click Save.
5. Insert the commands for the actions you want to perform.
6. Double-click the Resume Service command.
7. Select the service from the list of available installed services.
8. Click Save.

Page 130
Advanced
Error Handling

Image Recognition

Page 131
Error Handling
(Available only in Enterprise version)

Begin Error Handling

End Error Handling

Page 132
Error Handling - How to use Examples

(Available only in Enterprise version)

You can use this command to handle errors when a task runs. You can continue the task after the block
where the error occurs, or stop the task. When an error occurs, Automation Anywhere can take the
following actions:
 Take a snapshot of the screen.
 Run another task.
 Log data in a file. For example, you can log the Error Line No. and Description, then use the
system variable $Error Line Number$ and $Error Description$.
 Send an email when the error occurs, optionally with a snapshot of the screen attached.
All four options can be performed together or in combination. For example, you can run a task and log
data into a file.

Page 133
Error Handling - Examples How to use?

Example 1: To continue extraction of all tables from a website after a table is not found.
1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Web Recorder command.
3. Double-click the Extract Table command.
4. Type the website URL and click Launch.
5. Once the site is open, you will be redirected to the Extract Table command dialog box. Click
Capture.
6. The mouse will appear as a yellow background text indicating “Please click on the table you want
to extract.”
7. Move the mouse over the table you want to extract and click anywhere in the table. (If the text
background of the mouse changes to red, it means the table cannot be extracted.)
8. Specify the local file path for the CSV file where you want to store the results of the command.
9. Click Save.
10. Double-click the Loop command.
11. Double-click Times.
12. For example, if you want to extract all tables with table number between 1 and 50, specify the
loop to run 50 times.
13. Click Save.
14. You need to place the Extract Table command within the above loop.
15. Double-click the Error Handling command.
16. Double-click the Begin Error Handling command.
17. Select the Continue option.
18. Select the Log Data into File check box.
19. Type the local file path for the log file, and the text you want to log.
20. Click Save.
21. The Extract Table command should be within the Begin Error Handling and End Error Handling
commands.
22. When you run this command, it extracts all tables with table number from 1 to 50 in the Web
page you specified, and stores the results in the CSV file you specified. If a table is not found, the
error is logged in the specified log file but the task continues to extract the next table.

Page 134
Image Recognition - How to use Examples

(Available only in Enterprise version)

Use this command to find an image saved in a file or captured from a window at runtime, within another
image which is captured dynamically at runtime from a specified window. Specify the minimum
percentage match for which you want the command to return true. It also provides a powerful feature
that allows you to click, right-click or double-click the image if it is found within the larger image.

Page 135
Image Recognition - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Search for an image in a website and click it if found.


1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the Launch Website command.
3. Specify the URL of the website where you want to search for the image.
4. Click Launch.
5. Click Refresh.
6. Select the window where the website has been launched.
7. Click Save.
8. Double-click the Image Recognition command.
9. Select the same window as in step 6.
10. Click Capture and capture the rectangular area (Image 1) where you want to search for the
image.
11. Select Window.
12. Select the same window as in steps 6 and 9.
13. Click Capture and capture the image you want to find (Image 2).
14. Select Left Click.
15. Specify the minimum percentage match as 100%.
16. Click Save.
17. When you run the task, it will launch the website and click Image 2 if it is found within Image 1.
Tip: Using Wildcards (*)
1. You can specify cards (*) in the window title.
2. For example, you want to perform an operation only if a window has the word “Microsoft” in the
title. The window title can have any string before or after the word “Microsoft.”
3. In this case, you can specify: IF Window Exists *Microsoft*.
4. Automation Anywhere will first search for a window with the exact title “Microsoft,” and if it
does not find it, it looks for windows with the word “Microsoft” anywhere in the title.
5. You can place the wildcard character (*) at the beginning and/or end of the window title.

Page 136
Integration Pack
App Integration

OCR

Page 137
App Integration - How to use Examples

( Available only in Integration Pack )

Use this command to capture text data from any window. Its versatility lets you specify a range of text
to capture, using Before and After keywords. For example, in the text string "Name: ABC Inc.
Location:", if you only want to copy "ABC Inc.", you can specify "Location" plus Before Keyword, and
"Name:" plus After Keyword. You can also tell Automation Anywhere to trim the captured text to
remove leading and/or trailing spaces.

You can also use this command to capture text that you couldn't otherwise copy for a
task. Non-standard Windows controls are supported.

Page 138
App Integration - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Capture the text from any control in an application and set the status of a check
box depending on the captured text.
1. Open the application where you want to capture text data.
2. Open the Task Editor in Automation Anywhere.
3. Double-click the App Integration command.
4. Double-click Window Application.
5. Select the application window from the dropdown list.
6. Click View Captured Text. This will generate the image preview on the right side, together with
the captured text.
7. If you need to filter the captured text, check the "Filter the captured text" checkbox and specify
Before and After keywords.
8. Assign the value to a variable from the list.
9. Click Save.
10. Double-click the Conditions/Loops -> If/Else command, and double-click Variable. Click Edit
and select the variable you specified in Step 6. Select Equal To(= ), select Fix, and specify the
value you want to check.
11. Double-click the Manage Windows Controls command, and double-click Check Box. Select
the application window from the drop-down list. Click Capture and hold and drag the mouse on
the check box control. Then set the check box status to Checked.
12. Click Save.
13. Save the task.

Tip: Using Wildcards (*)


1. You can specify wildcards (*) in a window title.
2. For example, use this command to perform an operation in any window that has the word
"Untitled" anywhere in its title.
3. To tell Automation Anywhere to perform the operation in a window with any text string before or
after the word "Untitled" in the window title, simply specify *Untitled* for the window title.
4. Automation Anywhere will first search for the exact window ("Untitled"), and if it doesn't find it, it
will look for windows with the word "Untitled" anywhere in the title.
5. You can put the wildcard character (*) at the beginning or end of the window title.

Page 139
OCR - How to use Examples

( Available only in Integration Pack )

Use this very handy command to capture text data from any window, or even from any image.

You can capture the text in any one these four ways:

1) Capture Window: Specify the window title, and Automation Anywhere will capture the window as an
image

2) Capture Area: Specify a specific area of the window to capture

3) Capture Image By Path: If the text you want to extract is contained in an image stored on your local or
network drive, you can tell Automation Anywhere where to find the file by typing or browsing to the
path. (Note: the drive must be accessible when you run the task.)

4) Capture Image by URL: You can specify a URL where Automation Anywhere can access the image.

You can further define the captured text by specifying Before and After keywords. For example in the
text string "Name: ABC Inc. Location:", if you want to copy only "ABC Inc.," you can specify "Location"
in the "Before Keyword" text box and "Name:" in the "After Keyword" text box. You can also trim the
captured text to remove leading or trailing spaces.

Finally, you can use this feature to capture text that you wouldn't otherwise be able to copy; and
non-standard Windows controls are supported.

Page 140
OCR - Examples How to use?

Example 1: Capture the text from a remote desktop software window


1. Open the Task Editor.
2. Double-click the OCR command.
3. Double click Capture Window.
4. Select the application window from the dropdown list.
5. Click View Captured Text. This will generate the image preview on the right side, together with
the captured text.
6. If the captured text needs filtering, check the "Filter the captured text" checkbox and specify the
Before and After keywords.
7. Assign the value to a variable from the list.
8. Click Save.
9. Save the task.

Tip: Using Wildcards (*)


1. You can specify wildcards (*) in a window title.
2. For example, use wildcards to perform an operation in any window that has the word "Untitled"
anywhere in the title. You can place the wildcard character before and/or after "Untitled" to
capture variations such as "Window 1: Untitled" or "Untitled - Text Document", etc.
3. To capture all variations of "Untitled," simply specify *Untitled*.
4. Automation Anywhere will first search for a window titled exactly "Untitled" and if it does not find
it, it will look for windows with the word Untitled anywhere in the title.

Page 141
Filter
The Automation Anywhere Task Editor includes useful task action filters. Filters do not modify a task;
rather, they allow you to focus on specific aspects of a task without modifying it. For example:
 If you want to see only keystrokes in the Editor, check the Keystrokes filter.
 If you do not want to see mouse moves in the Editor, uncheck the Mouse Moves filter.
The Group by Window filter is very useful when a task involves two or more applications. Usually, a task
will show all actions in chronological order (sorted by time). But if you want to see which actions are
performed in which application, use the Group by Window filter.

The Visualize filter is useful for viewing images captured when you specify the snappoints option in debug
mode. (The snappoints tool is available only in the Enterprise version of Automation Anywhere.)

Use the Find Text box to search within a task for text strings or variable names, etc. This can be helpful
when creating and editing long tasks.

Tip: If you want to delete all mouse moves, select all mouse moves and use the DEL key to delete them.
Simply un-checking the filter will not delete it.

Group by
Group all your actions by windows for easy editing.
windows
Mouse
Display or hide all Mouse Moves actions from the editor.
Moves

Keystroke
Display or hide all Keystrokes actions from the editor.
s

Mouse
Display or hide all Mouse Clicks actions from the editor.
Clicks

Delay Display or hide all Delay actions from the editor.

Display or hide all commands from the editor that are not mouse moves, keystrokes,
Others
mouse clicks, or delays.

Page 142
Task Properties
General

Repeat

Speed

Notification

Hotkeys

Security

Page 143
General
After you create a task, you can view and edit the task’s properties. The General property tab shows
properties such as the task name, status, last run time, etc. It allows you to type a description or notes
related to a task. The table below gives a detailed description of each property.

File Name Name of the task.

Created at The date and time of task creation.

The last time the task was run. Click View Log to see historic and detailed
Status status of the task. If the task has failed, View Log shows the line number where
the task failed.

Last Run
The last time the task was run.
Time

Mouse The total mouse clicks recorded in a task, automatically calculated based on the
Clicks task.

Total keystrokes recorded in the task, automatically calculated based on the


Keystrokes
task.

Total clicks (Mouse Clicks + Keystrokes) recorded in the task. (Every time you
Total Clicks run a task, you save this many clicks and keystrokes.) Automatically calculated
based on the task.

Priority (for You can specify a priority for the task, which will decide the precedence of the
queuing) task when it is in a queue.

Enable this By default, the task recorded will only run on the specific file(s) it was recorded
task to run on. However, SMART Automation Technology includes an option for running
with other the recorded task on any file within the application it was recorded in. For
similar example, you record a task to run on the file abc.xls. By enabling this option, you
files or can run the task on def.xls, xyz.xls, or any other *.xls file, without editing the
window titles task.

Page 144
Description/N
Add descriptions and notes for a task in the Description/Notes window.
otes

Page 145
Task Priority
(Available only in Enterprise version)

Automation Anywhere Enterprise features advanced task-queuing technology. This technology ensures
that every task will complete based on its priority, regardless of how many other tasks interrupt the
running task.

Let’s say that the task demo.atmn is running. While the task runs, another task called demo1.atmn begins
based on a trigger condition. Soon after, demo2.atmn, which was scheduled to run at the same time,
starts as well. Advanced task queuing technology ensures that all three tasks finish one after the other,
based on their priority and category.

Priority: You can assign each task one of the following priorities:
1. High
2. Medium
3. Low
Category: The Task category is automatically determined based on how the task is launched. A task can
have one of the following three categories:
1. Triggered
2. Scheduled
3. Manual
The order is of execution is decided by the priority. If two tasks in a queue have the same priority, the
precedence is decided by the category of the tasks. Thus, if the two tasks have the same priority, a
triggered task has higher precedence, followed by scheduled tasks, then manual tasks.

Examples:

1. The task demo.atmn is running and has priority High. When a triggered task demo1.atmn with a Low
priority starts, the triggered task waits for the first task to finish, then the triggered task runs.

2. The task demo.atmn with Low priority has been launched manually, and a triggered task demo1.atmn
with Low priority starts. The triggered task has precedence. In this case, both tasks have the same
priority, so the precedence is defined by the category, and the triggered task has higher precedence, so
demo.atmn pauses while demo1.atmn runs. When demo1.atmn finishes, demo.atmn resumes.

Page 146
Repeat
You can repeat a task using repeat properties. Automation Anywhere offers many repeat options, as
shown in the figure and table below, including “repeat for X number of times,” “repeat for certain
duration,” “repeat until I stop it,” etc.

You can specify advanced repeat options such as “time between repeats” and tell Automation Anywhere
what to do when an error occurs. For detailed descriptions of the repeat options, see the table below.

Do not
The default – the task runs once.
repeat

Repeat N Automation Anywhere repeats the task N times; for example, to send an email
times 15 times.

Automation Anywhere repeats the task until you stop it with by pressing the ESC
Repeat until I
key. The task will also stop if an error occurs. Use this option when you don’t
Stop it
know how many times the task needs to repeat.

Automation Anywhere repeats the task for a time period that you enter. You can
enter up to 99 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds, i.e., a repeat duration of more than
Repeat for 4 days.
hh:mm:ss
time Tip: This option is ideal for running maintenance tasks. For example, you can set
a task to begin when you leave office on Friday evening, and stop on Monday
morning.

Time
Use this option with the repeat options. Automation Anywhere waits for the time
between
you specify before repeating the task.
replays

By default, Automation Anywhere stops if there is an error, e.g., if task replay


Upon error, fails. However, if you choose this option, Automation Anywhere will proceed to
continue with the next repeat.
next repeat Note: Use this feature to test tasks, or for operations where you want a task to
repeat despite failed replays.

Page 147
Speed
Speed allows you to set the speed at which a task runs. For detailed descriptions of the speed options,
see the table below.

Duration of the
task run Displays the time it took a task to run.
(hh:mm:ss)

Automation Anywhere provides the following options to speed-up task


execution:

 Standard Replay (as recorded): the task replays at the speed it was
recorded.

 High Speed Replay (faster): the task replays at a high speed. SMART
Automation Technology ensures that even if you increase the replay
Replay speed
speed, accuracy and reliability will not be compromised.

 Turbo-Action Replay (faster, no mouse moves): the task runs even


faster by omitting mouse moves.

Note: In some rare cases, certain pauses during recording have implicit
application-specific meanings. In these cases, set the replay speed to the
recorded speed for the most accurate replay.

Page 148
Notification
Use this property when you want Automation Anywhere to notify you of the status of a task when it runs.

When you check this option, Automation Anywhere will send a task status notification email to the email
address you specify. If you check this option, but don’t specify anything under the Email property,
Automation Anywhere uses the email address you specified in the To field under Tools > Options >
Email Notification.

If you have only one email address that you want to notify, it is easier to set it under Tools > Options >
Email Notification just once. However, if you want various tasks to send status emails to different
addresses, you should specify the email addresses for each task.

Before setting up email notification, be sure to set up the email settings:

Page 149
Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP)
The SMTP Host allows you to send email from
Automation Anywhere over the Internet. You can obtain
Host
this information from your Internet email provider, or from
the configuration section of your email program.
This setting defines the TCP/IP port that Automation
Port Anywhere will use to send emails. The default is port 25,
the Internet standard for sending SMTP emails.
If your outgoing mail server requires a username and
Username
password, specify your username in this field.
If your outgoing mail server requires a username and
Password
password, specify your password in this field.

Other

Automation Anywhere cares about the environment and wants to spread the message as well. As part of
the Green Campaign, a message is included at the end of each email sent out by Automation Anywhere.
You can uncheck this option if you don't want your outgoing emails to carry that message at the end.

Page 150
Hotkeys
You can assign a task to hotkey (a keyboard shortcut) so that you can run the task by pressing the
hotkey (even when Automation Anywhere is not running).

To select a hotkey, simply press the key combination you would like to use, or select it from a list.

Page 151
Security
(This feature is available only in PURCHASED versions of Automation Anywhere.)

Automation Anywhere offers advanced task security. You can password-protect your tasks.
Password-protected tasks are encrypted with strong, industry-standard encryption.

When you specify a password, you can choose whether you want Automation Anywhere to prompt for
and verify the password “While editing the task” and/or “While running the task.”

Auto Login Advanced Settings

You can specify advanced settings for Auto Login, such as whether you want the window where your
keystrokes and mouse clicks will be played to be hidden, and/or whether to disable mouse and keyboard
access while your task runs. (Available only in Premier and Enterprise versions.)

Running tasks in stealth mode:

This feature allows you to hide the windows and programs running on your screen, to prevent
unauthorized persons from seeing them. This feature significantly increases security, because it hides
sensitive information from prying eyes.

Disabling of mouse and keyboard:

This feature allows you to disable mouse and keyboard access to prevent unauthorized persons from
gaining control of the computer while the task runs in auto-login mode. This feature significantly increases
security, as it denies access to your machine by unauthorized persons.

Page 152
Add Schedule
Automation Anywhere lets you schedule tasks to run at predefined times, unattended. You can also
schedule your workflows to run at predefined times.
Scheduling a task is easy:
1. Select the task you want to schedule.
2. Click the Schedule tab.
3. Set scheduling options and click Save.
4. Provide your Windows username and password. Why do I need to provide a Windows
username/password?
5. You can define multiple schedules for a single task. To add another scheduled time, click Add.
6. To unlock the computer when the scheduled task runs, click Auto Login Settings

Automation Anywhere offers many scheduling options:


 Daily (e.g., every day, only weekdays, or every 2 days)
 Weekly (certain days of the week, e.g., every Monday)
 Monthly (certain days of month, e.g., January 1 and October 5)
 One time only
 When the computer starts
 When you log on
 When the computer is idle
Note:

Scheduling functionality is not available on Windows NT 4.x.

Page 153
Why must I enter a Windows username and password?
For security reason, Windows XP requires that you enter your Windows username/password if you want
to run a scheduled task. The username/password ensures that only you can schedule tasks.

What if I don't have a username and password?

Many home users do not have passwords set up for their PC. Often, home users don’t want the
inconvenience of having to type a password each time the computer starts. There is an easy solution. You
can create a password so that you can schedule tasks, but then set auto-login ON so you won’t need to
type the password every time you start your computer.
1. Create a password:

 Click Start, Control Panel, and double-click User Accounts.


 Click the user account you want to add a password to, and click Create a Password.
 Follow the instructions on the screen to create a password. Note that any valid password
is acceptable, but it cannot be a blank password, and you must log off and log on again
before you can schedule a task.
2. Set auto-login On. You can configure Windows XP to automatically log you in every time it
restarts.

 Click Start, Run, and type control userpasswords2.


 Uncheck the “Users must enter a username and password to use this computer” check
box. Click Apply.
 Enter the user name and password you wish to automatically log on with, and click OK.
Click OK again and you're done.
This feature allows users to start the computer and use the account you established to
automatically log on. Enabling auto logon makes your computer more convenient to use,
but can pose a security risk since anyone can simply turn on the machine and access your
files.

Page 154
Why doesn’t a scheduled task run?
If your scheduled task doesn’t run, follow the steps in the checklist below to fix the problem.
1. Ensure that you have provided the username/password:

 For security reasons, Windows XP requires your Windows XP username and password
to run a scheduled task. For more information on what to do if you don't have password,
read Why username/password?
 On any other Windows operating system, if your account requires a password to log on,
then you will need to provide the password while scheduling tasks, otherwise you don’t
need to provide a password.
2. If you have multiple accounts, ensure that you have provided the correct
username/password:
If you have multiple accounts on the same computer, e.g., a domain account and a local account,
make sure the username you provided is the same username you used to log in to the computer.
The scheduled tasks will not work if you scheduled the task using one user account but are
logged on as another user. Automation Anywhere automatically fills the username that you used
to log in.
3. Check Status in Control Panel > Scheduled Tasks:
Go to Control Panel > Scheduled Tasks. Select the task corresponding to your task (it starts
with your task name) and right-click it and choose Run. See if it runs. If it does not run, check the
Status column.
4. Schedule Calculator Application:
If your task still doesn’t run, go to Control Panel > Scheduled Tasks and click Add Scheduled
Task. From the list of applications, select Calculator (see figure below). If the calculator doesn’t
run, then the scheduler service is not installed correctly on your computer.

5. Make sure Task Scheduler Service is started:


By default, Scheduler service is started on all Windows XP machines. To make sure, go to
Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services. Verify that the status of the Task Scheduler
service reads “Started.” If it is not running, right-click it and select Start. Also, ensure that the

Page 155
“Startup type” is set to “Automatic” so that the next time your computer starts the service will
start automatically.
6. Restart Task Scheduler:
If it still doesn't work, go to Control Panel > Scheduled Tasks. In the Advanced Menu, click
“Stop using Task Scheduler.” Wait 10 minutes and click “Start using Task Scheduler.”
7. Contact Technical Support:
If you are not able to run your task at the scheduled time even after following all of the above
steps, then most likely the scheduler service is not installed correctly on your computer. Please
contact us: http://www.tethyssolutions.com/support_form.htm.

Page 156
Adding Triggers Examples

You can run a task in response to some other activity on your computer. For example, you can run a
task when a new file is created in a specific folder, or when a specific window opens, etc. Automation
Anywhere supports six types of auto-response triggers:
1. Window
2. File
3. Folder
4. Performance
5. Process
6. Service
1. Window Trigger

Two types of actions are supported in the Window trigger:


o When window opens
o When window closes
2. File Trigger

Three types of actions are supported in the File trigger:


o When file is created
o When file is deleted
o When file is renamed
3. Folder Trigger

Six types of folder triggers are supported:


o When any file is created in that folder
o When any file is deleted in that folder
o When any file is renamed in that folder
o When folder is created
o When folder is deleted
o When folder is renamed
4. Performance Trigger

Three different types of performance triggers are supported:


o CPU Usage
o Free disk space
o Process count
5. Process Trigger

You can specify two types of triggers for each executable running on your computer:
o When process starts
o When process stops
6. Service Trigger

You can specify four types of triggers for each service installed on your computer:
o When service starts
o When service stops
o When service resumes
o When service pauses

Page 157
To unlock the computer when the triggered task runs, click Auto Login Settings.

Note: You can also use triggers to execute a workflow.

Example 1: Running an Automation Anywhere task every time an “Adobe Photoshop”


window opens.
1. Select the Type as Window.
2. From the Window Title drop-down, specify the Title as “Adobe Photoshop.” If you do
not see the title, then open the application and click Refresh.
3. Under Action, select “When window opens” and save the trigger.
4. Your task will run each time the Adobe Photoshop window opens.
Example 2: Run an Automation Anywhere task to send you an email every time a file is
deleted from a critical work folder.
1. Select the Type as Folder.
2. Click “...”next to Folder Name and select the folder you want to monitor.
3. Under Action, select “When any file is deleted” and save the trigger.
4. Every time a file is deleted from your critical folder, your task will run and send you a
notification email.

Page 158
Trigger Manager
The Trigger Manager shows you all triggers in your system. For example, you could have five different
tasks run at five different triggers.

The Trigger Manager lets you add, modify, delete, enable, and disable triggers.

Page 159
Variables in Automation Anywhere
Variables Overview

Automation Anywhere provides powerful options for using variables in tasks. A variable is simply a
“holder” that you can assign a value to. Using variables in tasks lets you run the same task repeatedly
with different values, without re-recording tasks.

How to create new variables?

To create new variables, use Tools > Variable Manager. Automation Anywhere provides predefined
variables, called system variables. You can also create your own variables (under User Variables) and
optionally assign their values. You can then use the variables in any number of tasks.

What are the different types of variables?

Automation Anywhere can create three types of variables:

1. Value (Single Value):

A Value type variable can hold text data. For example, you can assign your email address to an email
variable. Example: email=contact@tethyssolutions.com

2. List (Multiple Values):

With variables of the List type, you can assign multiple values to a single variable. List variables are very
useful when you use them inside the Loops command. For example, you can assign 10 different product
names to a single list variable and place the variable inside a Loop command. Then, each time the Loop
runs, it reads and applies the next variable in the list.

3. Random (Random Value):

You can define Random type variables to hold two types of values: a string or a number. For a Random
variable of type String, Automation Anywhere will generate a random string value of a length you specify.
For a Random variable of type Number, Automation Anywhere will generate a random number within a
range you specify. The values for Random variables are generated at the time the task runs.

Page 160
How can I use variables?
You can use variables in many actions, e.g., Keystrokes, Open Programs/Files, Files/Folders, Insert
Prompt, etc. Automation Anywhere always formats variables between “$” signs, e.g., $Your-Variable$.
The $ sign before and after the variable name tells Automation Anywhere to treat the text between the $
signs as a variable, and not as plain text. When the task runs, Automation Anywhere replaces the variable
name with the actual value of the variable.

The following screenshot illustrates how to insert a variable with the Keystroke Action.

Page 161
How to convert a keystroke to a variable?
Automation Anywhere can quickly convert an existing keystroke action to a variable. Simply right-click
keystroke action and select Convert to Variable.

Page 162
Reading variables from a text file:

Automation Anywhere lets you define the values of your variables in an external text file.
 You can declare the variable as a Value or List type variable using the Variable Manager.
 If you don’t want to specify the value of the variable at the time you create the variable, but you
want the task to read the values from the text file, you can select the option “Read from text file.”
 When the task runs and comes to the variable, it reads the value of the variable from the file you
specified in the Variable Manager.
Follow these guidelines to format the text file so that Automation Anywhere will successfully read the
values of the variables:
1. One text file can have multiple <variable>=<value> pairs in different lines, separated by the
ENTER key.
2. If the variable is a Value type, it should have only one value, for example “myvar=value1”
(without quotes) where myvar is the name of the variable you defined in Automation Anywhere.
3. If it is a List type variable, you can define the comma-separated values for the variable, for
example my-list-var =value1,value2,value3.
4. Variable names are not case-sensitive.
Following is an example of a text file with different <variable>=<value> pairs:
Age=12,13,16,21

Games=Football,Soccer,Rugby

username=my-username

password=my-password

Page 163
Pa ge 1 6 4
Convert a task to an .exe (executable) file
If you want to distribute and deploy automated tasks on computers other than your own, use Automation
Anywhere Premier or Automation Anywhere Enterprise. These versions allow you to convert tasks to
standalone programs (.exe files). An .exe file can run on any machine* without other software.

Automation Anywhere .exes are intelligent .exes that have a SMART Automation agent embedded inside
them. The SMART Automation agent provides the same intelligent automation and auto-sensing
technology contained in Automation Anywhere.

When you run the .exes on other computers, the SMART automation technology adjusts for more than
40 possible hardware differences, such as window size, position changes, CPU load, desktop icon
location changes, etc. It also replaces system variables such as dates and user-defined variables, etc., to
ensure easy task compatibility across computers.

With Automation Anywhere Premier and Enterprise, businesses and IT departments can generate .exes
to manage and configure software, alter software behavior, create interactive scripts that accept user
input, and much more.

To make an .exe from a task, select the task and click Create EXE.

Tip: To improve accuracy while running .exe files across multiple machines, use keyboard shortcuts and
keystrokes instead of mouse clicks while recording tasks.

*See licensing options for more information

Example 1: Automate Installation


1. Create a task that automates installation of an application.
2. To automate installation of the application on 100 machines, create an executable of the task
using Create EXE.
3. Deploy the executable on the 100 machines.
4. The executables are standalone and do not require Automation Anywhere to be installed on the
local machine.
Example 2: Distributed Load Testing
1. Record or create a task to log in to the website to be tested and perform the actions.
2. Create an executable of the task and distribute it to various computers within the LAN, or to
different geographical locations.
3. You can now run the executables simultaneously from different computers to load-test your
application.

Page 165
Deploying tasks on remote machines
Automation Anywhere Enterprise offers single-click Remote Deployment and Remote Task
Administration features and a Deployment Manager to track deployment status.
 You do not need to install Automation Anywhere software on a remote PC.
 You can schedule a task deployed on a remote PC.
 The Deployment Manager lets you create groups and initiate, maintain, and monitor old and new
tasks to a particular group or individual computer on the network. You can schedule the remote
tasks, get the status of remote tasks that have run, receive email notifications, and clean up tasks
on the remote machines.
1. Prerequisites
2. How do I Deploy?
3. Deployment Manager

Prerequisites

The default admin$ sharing should be available on the PCs where you want to deploy tasks using
Automation Anywhere. Follow these steps to enable admin$ sharing:
1. Log in as administrator (or as a user with administrative privileges) on the PC where you want to
deploy the task.
2. Go to Start > Settings > Control Panel.
3. Open Administrative Tools.
4. Open Local Security Policy.
5. Open the Local Policies folder.
6. Open the Security Options folder.
7. Scroll down and double-click Network access: Sharing and security model for local accounts.
8. If the dialog says “Guest only - local users authenticate as guest,” change it to “Classic - local
users authenticate as themselves” and click OK.

Page 166
How do I Deploy?

Deploying a task is an easy wizard-driven process. Choose a task from the Automation Anywhere Task
List, click Deploy, and follow the wizard. The wizard has four steps:
1. Step 1: Select Network Computers
2. Step 2: Select Deployment Actions
3. Step 3: Select Optional Actions
4. Step 4: Deploy

Step 1: Select Network Computers

Page 167
 In this step, you can add all of the remote machines where you want to deploy your task.

 Simply select a group (or create a new group) and click Add to add the computers.

 Remote Machine Name: This is the name of the machine where you want to deploy the task, for
example, \\PC1. You can either type it or click “...” and select it from the network.

 Administrator username: This is the username with administrative privileges on the remote
machine.

 Administrator password: This is the password for the administrator username.

 Remember password for next deployment: Check this box if you want Automation Anywhere
to remember the password for this machine so that when you select the same machine next time,
it will connect automatically. Also, this checkbox is useful for automatic retrieval of status from
remote machines. You can view the Status in Tools > Deployment Manager.

 Is your remote operating system Microsoft Vista?: If the operating system of your remote PC
is Microsoft Vista, check this box and provide the username and password of the user under
which you want to deploy the task. This username and password need not be the administrator’s
username and password.

 Once you have added all your remote PCs, click Select Deployment Actions to go to the next
step.
Step 2: Select Deployment Actions

Page 168
 You can apply the following three deployment actions to a task: Execute Task, Schedule Task,
and Copy Files.

 Execute Task: Select this action and click Add if you want to run the task immediately upon
deployment. The only parameter you need to specify in this action is where you want the task to
be copied on the remote PC. It will be the same location on all of the remote PCs. The default
location is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Automation Anywhere
(C:\ProgramData\Automation Anywhere on Vista). You also specify another folder, e.g.,
D:\Remote folder name. If you want to copy the task to the system32 folder, use the variable %
System32%. Note: you cannot include a folder name after the %System32% variable. For
example, you can specify %System32%\. Note: You can have only one Execute Task action in
this step.

 Schedule Task: Select this action and click Add if you want to schedule the task on the remote
PCs. Simply select the schedule you want and click Save. You can add multiple schedules in this
step. All of the schedules are applied to all the remote PCs.

 Copy Files: Select this action and click Add if you want to copy additional files along with your
task to the remote PCs. You can add multiple copy files actions. All of the copy files actions are
applied to all the remote PCs.

 Once you have added all your deployment actions, click Select Optional Actions to go to the
next step.
Step 3: Select Optional Actions

Page 169
 If you want the task to send email after it runs on the remote PC, check this option. Use the
Email Notification Template and Email Settings button to configure your email server and email
template. If you have deployed the task on 10 PCs, emails will be sent from all 10 PCs after the
task runs.
Step 4: Deploy

Page 170
 This is the last step. It displays the summary of your deployment, e.g., the machines you selected,
the deployment actions you specified, etc.

 When you click Deploy, Automation Anywhere begins deploying to the remote PCs, one at a
time.

 You can choose an option not to deploy but save the configuration to a file. You can then later
retrieve the deployment descriptor file from Tools > Deployment Manager and deploy it.
Deployment Manager

Page 171
 You can also deploy the task using the Deployment Manager.

 Besides deploying the task, you can get the status of your deployment and clean up all deployed
files from the remote PCs.

Page 172
SnapPoints
1. Capture images while recording tasks
2. Visualize the graphical view of the task
3. Set SnapPoints to refresh or capture new images
4. What commands support SnapPoints?
Capture images while recording tasks

Automation Anywhere offers state-of-the-art technology for capturing and displaying screenshot images
while you record tasks. To capture screenshots, choose Tools > Options > Advanced Settings >
Capture Screenshots While recording.

You can resize and move the images within the Task Editor to place them at a desired location. The
captured image will be the active window during recording, and it will tell you exactly where your mouse
cursor was. For example, in the following screenshot, notice line number 16 in the task, “Mouse Click:
Left Button on ‘9’ in “Calculator,” and the corresponding image which shows the Windows calculator.

Visualize

With the Visualize tab in the Task Editor, you can see a complete graphical view of the current task. The
screenshot below shows a task after clicking the Visualize tab. The example shows that you clicked
Start, then Run, then OK in the Run window, then number “9” in the calculator.

Page 173
Set SnapPoints to refresh the images

When you create a task manually in the Task Editor and insert new commands, or if you modify
recorded actions in a task, the images that you captured during recording may no longer be accurate.
Automation Anywhere provides a convenient way to refresh the images, called SnapPoints.

To set SnapPoints, click the Set SnapPoint button.

You can now set SnapPoints in the column to the left of the line numbers, as shown below.

When you run a task after setting SnapPoints, Automation Anywhere re-captures the images for the
commands where you set SnapPoints.

The images are captured after the command executes.

Which commands support SnapPoints?

The following commands support SnapPoints:


 Insert Keystrokes

Page 174
 Insert Mouse Click
 Prompt
 Excel
 Web Recorder
 Window Actions
 MessageBox

Page 175
Workflow Designer
(Available only in Enterprise version)
1. What is Workflow?
2. How do I create a Workflow?
3. How does a Workflow run?
4. Properties of Workflow
5. Can I trigger a Workflow?
6. Can I schedule a Workflow?
What is Workflow?

Automation Anywhere Enterprise provides flow diagrams that are very helpful for automating IT
processes. The following are some Workflow features:
 Workflow shows a graphical representation of conditional logic, task initiation, etc.
 Workflow is a high-level graphical view of your business process.
 You can create graphical representations for business or IT processes, or for simple and
complex task processing.
 Use the intuitive drag-and-drop tool to design workflows.
How do I create a Workflow?

Choose Tools > Workflow Designer.


The Workflow Designer provides five design objects:
1. Start
2. Run Task
3. Conditional (If)
4. End
5. Arrows

Page 176
Start:
Every Workflow may have only one Start object.
Run Task:
Using Run Task, you can call any previously configured task (.atmn). Before
proceeding to the next step, Workflow stops until the Run Task command is
completely executed.
When you drag and drop the Run Task object, it displays one Successful and one
Unsuccessful arrow. It must have these two arrows. If one arrow is deleted, you
can move the mouse over the Run Task object and pull another arrow and
connect it to the desired object.

Conditional (If):
This object determines the condition specified. Based on the result (True or False),
it takes the appropriate path in the workflow.
When you drag and drop the Conditional object, it displays one True and one False
arrow. It must have these two arrows. If one arrow is deleted, you can simply
move the mouse over the object and pull another arrow and connect it to the
desired object.

End:
When the workflow reaches this object, it stops execution.
Arrows:
 To draw an arrow from any object, simply move the mouse over the object until

Page 177
the mouse icon changes to a hand, as shown in the figure:

Tip: Always validate the Workflow before running or exiting the Workflow designer. Validation ensures
that your Workflow objects will be connected correctly and run as expected.

How does a Workflow run?


 Running a workflow is simple. To run the workflow, click on Run in the Workflow Designer, or
double-click the workflow file in the Automation Anywhere Task List.
 When you run the workflow in the designer, it tells you the path that it follows, e.g., it tells you if it
took the True or False option, etc.
 Once the workflow has run, it highlights the complete path it has taken.
Properties of Workflow
 You can repeat a Workflow using the Repeat property.
 Using the Notification property, you can send an email notification when the workflow execution
finishes.
 You can save the workflow as an image by choosing File > Save as Image from the Workflow
Designer
 You can print the workflow by choosing File > Print from the Workflow Designer.
Can I trigger a Workflow?
 Yes. Using Automation Anywhere’s triggers, you can easily set up a workflow to trigger based
on specific actions.
Can I schedule a Workflow?
 Yes. Using Automation Anywhere's scheduler, you can easily schedule a workflow to run at
specified times.

Page 178
Report Designer

(Available only in Enterprise version)


1. What is a Report?
2. How do I run a Report?
3. How do I save a Report?
4. Properties of a Report
5. Can I trigger a Report?
6. Can I schedule a Report?
What is a Report?

Automation Anywhere Enterprise provides a graphical view that displays the status of tasks and
workflows, as well as the ROI against time.

You can view the following report types:


 Task Run: Displays how many times a task has run successfully, and how many times it has failed
in the specified period. You can view this report for (a) All Tasks saved in the default location,
i.e., My Documents\Automation Anywhere\Automation Anywhere\My Tasks, or (b) tasks in a
specified folder, or (c) selected tasks.
 Workflow Run: Displays how many times a workflow has run successfully and how many times it
has failed in the specified period. You can view this report for (a) All workflows saved in the
default location, i.e., My Documents\Automation Anywhere\Automation Anywhere\My
Workflow, or (b) workflows in a specified folder, or (c) selected workflows.
 Task Timeline: It displays the history behind the task(s) in a graphical timeline format. You can
select a timeline and a task to find out how many times the task was run or modified during the
specified time period. It also tells you if the task was created or deleted during that time. You can
view this report for a) All Tasks saved in default location, i.e. My Documents\Automation
Anywhere\Automation Anywhere\My Tasks or b) tasks in a specified folder or c) selected
tasks.
 Workflow Timeline: It displays the history behind the workflow(s) in a graphical timeline format.
You can select a timeline and a workflow to find out how many times the workflow was run or
modified during the specified time period. It also tells you if the workflow was created or deleted
during that time. You can view this report for a) All Workflow saved in default location, i.e. My
Documents\Automation Anywhere\Automation Anywhere\My Workflow or b) workflows in a
specified folder or c) selected workflows.
 ROI: Displays how much money you have saved using Automation Anywhere during the
specified period.

Page 179
How do I run a report?
 Running a report is simple. To run the report, simply specify your criteria and click Run Report in
the Report Designer. To run a saved report, double-click the report file in the Task List, or select
the report in the Task List and click Run.
How do I save a report?
 After specifying the criteria, click Save and Run Report. Automation Anywhere will remember
your selection and save it as a template for future use. If you want to save a report as an image,
choose File > Save As Image from the Report Designer.
Properties of a report
 Using the Notification property, you can have Automation Anywhere send an email notification
once the report has run. The email will include the report as an image, as well as other
information.
 To print the report, in the Report Designer choose File > Print.
Can I trigger a report?
 Yes. Using Automation Anywhere’s triggers, you can easily set up the report to trigger based on
certain actions. In the Task List, select the report, select Trigger, and define your trigger. You
can use the Notification property to send an email notification after the task runs.
Can I schedule a Report?
 Yes. Using Automation Anywhere's scheduler, you can schedule a report to run at a specified

Page 180
time. In the Task List, select the report, select Schedule, and specify the scheduling parameters.
You can use the Notification property to send an email notification after the task runs.

Page 181
Debugging Tasks
For advanced users, Automation Anywhere offers the capability to debug tasks. Go to Debug > Enable
Debugging and use the toolbar to insert breakpoints in your task, then debug the task action-by-action
using the Step Over (F10) functionality. You can also set Snappoints in a task to capture images of the
task while it executes. (Snappoints is available only in the Enterprise Version. See Snappoints.)

How to Debug:
1. If you want to run your task in debug mode, i.e., one command at a time, insert a breakpoint next
to each command where you want the task to pause.
2. To insert a breakpoint, select a command and insert a breakpoint by clicking F9.
3. To remove the breakpoint, select the command and click F9.
4. Select the Step over feature of Debugging to step over one command at a time.
5. To clear all breakpoints, click Clear All Breakpoints.
6. To stop debugging, click Debug > Disable Debugging.
Note: The debugging information (breakpoints) is not stored, so when you close the editor window all of
the breakpoint information will be lost.

Page 182
System Logs
Automation Anywhere Enterprise logs all events that occur in the application – for example: when a task
runs, when a task is created, when the properties of a task change, etc.

To view the system logs:


1. Go to Tools > System Logs (or press Ctrl + L).
2. Select the Log Type from the drop-down list.
3. Specify the Starting and End dates in the format you specify.
4. Click Generate Logs.

To export the logs to a CSV file, specify the name of the CSV file and click Export.

To delete an entry, select the check box next to the log and click Delete.

Page 183
ROI (Return On Investment) Calculator
(Available only in Enterprise version)

The ROI Calculator is a planning tool that calculates the following components:
 Resource costs for time saved
 Reduced error rates
 Automated troubleshooting
 Automated documentation
 Resource realignment
 Training benefits
 Knowledge capture
Automation Anywhere calculates the return on investment as a result of automation. You can also view
the ROI as a chart. The ROI is a cumulative amount in dollars that is calculated when you run a task.
You can reset the ROI whenever you want.

Page 184
Pa ge 1 8 5
Options
Auto Login

Notification

Record Tasks using Hotkeys

Moved Icons/Menus

View

Advanced Settings

Page 186
Auto Login
Use this setting to tell Automation Anywhere to automatically unlock or log in to your computer when a
task runs.

With Auto Login, when a task runs, Automation Anywhere checks if the computer is locked or logged
off. If it is, Automation Anywhere unlocks the computer, or logs in using the username and password you
provided, and begins executing the task. Once the task completes successfully, Automation Anywhere
restores the previous state of the computer.

Automation Anywhere can also lock or log off the computer if any of the following conditions occur while
a task runs:
 Someone presses the Escape key.
 Someone hits a pause key.
 An error occurs while the task runs.
Note For Windows XP Users: Auto Login can only work with the classic logon screen. If you are
using windows XP, please disable the “Welcome” screen and “Fast User Switching” by following these
steps:
1. Go to Start > Settings > Control Panel
2. Click User Accounts
3. Click “Change the way users log on or off.”
4. Un-check the check box “Use the Welcome Screen.”
5. Click Apply Options.
See the screenshot below to verify that you are on the correct screen.

Note for Vista Users: Auto Login is not currently supported in Windows Vista.

Page 187
You can also set this option when you schedule a task.

Once you set the Auto Login option, Automation Anywhere will apply it to all your tasks.

To turn off Auto Login, go to Tools > Options > Auto Login Settings, and uncheck the Enable Auto
Login box.

Page 188
Notification
Use this property when you want Automation Anywhere to notify you of the status of a task when it runs.

When you check this option, Automation Anywhere will send a task status notification email to the email
address you specify. If you check this option, but don’t specify anything under the Email property,
Automation Anywhere uses the email address you specified in the To field under Tools > Options >
Email Notification.

If you have only one email address that you want to notify, it is easier to set it under Tools > Options >
Email Notification just once. However, if you want various tasks to send status emails to different
addresses, you should specify the email addresses for each task.

Before setting up email notification, be sure to set up the email settings:

Page 189
Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP)
The SMTP Host allows you to send email from
Automation Anywhere over the Internet. You can obtain
Host
this information from your Internet email provider, or from
the configuration section of your email program.
This setting defines the TCP/IP port that Automation
Port Anywhere will use to send emails. The default is port 25,
the Internet standard for sending SMTP emails.
If your outgoing mail server requires a username and
Username
password, specify your username in this field.
If your outgoing mail server requires a username and
Password
password, specify your password in this field.

Other

Automation Anywhere cares about the environment and wants to spread the message as well. As part of
the Green Campaign, a message is included at the end of each email sent out by Automation Anywhere.
You can uncheck this option if you don't want your outgoing emails to carry that message at the end.

Page 190
Record Tasks using Hotkeys
By defining an Automation Anywhere hotkey, you can record a task without leaving your application.

To configure hotkeys, choose Tools > Options > Hotkeys.

Note: To use a hotkey to record, Automation Anywhere needs to be running in the system tray.

Page 191
When Icons or Menus Move
Use this advanced option to ensure proper execution of your tasks when desktop icons, quick launch
icons, or Start menu items move. Automation Anywhere’s SMART automation technology will identify
the moved items and adjust automatically.

After enabling this option, you do not need to re-record your task. This feature works in most cases,
except for a handful such as opening the Windows Control Panel and Printers dialog, etc. In such cases,
leave this option unchecked.

Page 192
View
Show Run Use this option to show or hide the status window that Automation Anywhere
Time Window normally displays while it runs a task.
Use this option to show or hide the errors that Automation Anywhere generates
Show Errors
while it runs a task.
Show Start
Use this option to show or hide the Automation Anywhere Start Page at startup.
Page

Page 193
Advanced Settings
Automation Anywhere provides the following Advanced Settings:
1. Record Mouse Moves
2. Record Mouse Clicks
3. Record Keystrokes
4. Internet Explorer Timeout
5. Application Path
6. Capture Screenshots While Recording (Available only in Enterprise version)
7. Enable System Logging (Available only in Enterprise version)

Record Mouse Moves

If you don't want to record mouse moves while recording, uncheck this option. In some rare cases,
certain mouse moves have application-specific meanings, e.g., for recording with application menus. In
these cases, don’t uncheck this option.

Record Mouse Clicks

If you don’t want to record mouse clicks while recording, uncheck this option.

Record Keystrokes

If you don’t want to record keystrokes while recording, uncheck this option.

Internet Explorer Timeout

While playing tasks in Internet Explorer, you can specify timeout periods based on your Internet
connection speed. For example, if you use a dial-up connection and see frequent timeout errors during

Page 194
task playback, you can use this setting to increase the timeout.

Application Path

The default application path is the Automation Anywhere folder under My Documents. Use this option to
can choose a different application path. All of your tasks will then be saved in the specified path.

The new path will take effect when you restart Automation Anywhere. Meanwhile, the scheduled tasks
will work as-is. The triggered tasks will start working only after Automation Anywhere starts with the
new path.

Capture Screenshots While Recording (Available only in Enterprise version)

To learn more about this feature, see SnapPoints.

Enable Logging (Available only in Enterprise version)

To learn more, see System Logs.

Page 195
Customize Automation Anywhere
Use the View > Columns Displayed feature to customize List View by adding or removing columns. The
table below describes the available options.

Select a column from the list of Available Columns and click Add. The newly
Add >>
selected column will be displayed in the List View.

Select a column from the list of displayed columns and click Remove. The column is
<<Remov
removed from the list of displayed columns and listed under Available Columns.
e
Note: The File Name column is required and cannot be removed from the list.

Use these buttons to change the column position in the List View. The Move Up
Move Up
button moves the selected column to the left, and the Move Down button moves it
/ Move
to the right in the List View. Columns listed from top to bottom are displayed from
Down
left to right.

Save Click Save to save our changes and apply them to the List View.

Cancel To abandon your changes, click Cancel.

Click Reset to restore the default columns in the List View, i.e., File Name, Type,
Reset
Repeat, Status, and Last Run Time.

Page 196
Call Automation Anywhere Tasks from any script
You can call Automation Anywhere tasks from a batch file, any program, or a script.

Note: Automation Anywhere saves all tasks by default in the My Documents\Automation


Anywhere\Automation Anywhere folder.

Example:

To call the Automation Anywhere task “download-emails.atmn” from a batch file, add the following line
in the batch file:

>“C:\Program Files\Automation Anywhere\Automation Anywhere.exe” “C:\Documents and


Settings\<your username>\My Documents\Automation Anywhere\Automation Anywhere\My
Tasks\download-emails.atmn” /u

To call the Automation Anywhere task “download-data.atmn” from an Excel macro, add the following
text to the Excel macro:

Dim RetVal
RetVal = Shell(“C:\Program Files\Automation Anywhere\Automation Anywhere.exe “C:\Documents and
Settings\<your username>\My Documents\Automation Anywhere\Automation Anywhere\My
Tasks\download-emails.atmn” /u”, 1)

If the task is successful, it returns 0 to the calling program, or if it encounters an error it returns 1.

Page 197
Use Hotkeys or Keywords with Launch-n-Go

Automation Anywhere is integrated with the popular Launch-n-Go from Tethys Solutions. You can
install this product and run your Automation Anywhere tasks using hotkeys or keywords. To
download a free trial version of Launch-n-Go, visit http://www.tethyssolutions.com/launch-n-go.htm.
Launch-n-Go gives you fast, single-key access to your websites, files, folders, and applications.

To use Launch-n-Go with Automation Anywhere, right-click any task file in the List View and click
“Add keyword or hotkey to Launch-n-Go.” In the dialog box that appears, enter a keyword or
hotkey. To run the task, enter the keyword in the Launch-n-Go desktop toolbar on the right end of
the system tray, or press the assigned hotkey.

Page 198
Support
1. Frequently Asked Questions: For quick answers to your questions, see the relevant help
sections, or visit the FAQ.
2. Sample Tasks Online: For quick solutions to common automation use cases, visit Sample Tasks
Online.
3. Open a Support Case: If the above resources don’t answer your questions, we encourage you to
open a support case.

Page 199
Ask the Expert
If you have questions about how to automate your tasks, feel free to use our FREE Ask the Expert
service

Ask the Expert service is perfect for:


 Simple and direct questions such as "How do I do xyz?"
 If your application is well known (e.g., Excel, Word, etc.), you can ask how to perform specific
tasks.
If your application is unique, or your question would require someone to work with you for a longer
period, we suggest using our Consulting Services.

Page 200
Consulting Services
 Unwavering focus on your objectives
 Leveraging the best automation practices
 Maximize ROI and minimize risk
Tethys Solutions has helped many companies automate their business and IT processes. We’re experts
at streamlining execution and maximizing ROI. Our experience and best practices dramatically reduce
implementation time while increasing returns. Our engineers are ready to provide expert, efficient
hands-on training and knowledge transfer. We offer onsite and offsite implementation.

We can help you automate:


 Business Processes
 IT Processes
 Web data extraction
 Data transfer from one application to another, or from files
 ERP systems
 File and data management
Tethys Solutions Consulting assigns you a dedicated customer agent who is familiar with your domain,
requirements, technologies, and environment. The customer service agent can log in to your computer
remotely to automate tasks and guide you through your project.

To discuss our consulting services, please submit the Consulting Services Request Form. We’ll be in
touch quickly.

Page 201
Limitations
Automation Anywhere features advanced SMART Automation Technology that employs sophisticated
algorithms to ensure the high reliability of Automation Anywhere tasks. However, some instances may
require you to re-record a task file. Future upgrades will focus on eliminating these limitations.

 Taskbar right-click is not recorded: Automation Anywhere cannot close a window if the user,
while recording, closes the window by right-clicking the window icon in the taskbar and selecting
Close from the menu.

 Advanced IE-Plugin works only for IE: If you use Internet Explorer, Automation Anywhere can
automatically account for delays in loading a Web page. Automation Anywhere will wait until the
page loads and then perform subsequent actions. However, this may not work in all cases for
other browsers.

Page 202
Tips
1. How to copy an Excel cell and move to the next cell in the record?
2. How to paste data in your application and move to the next item?
3. How to create timestamps for your files using Automation Anywhere System variables?
4. What is the recommended way to open an application as part of your task?

1. How to copy an Excel cell and move to the next cell in your record?
When you highlight the cell and use Ctrl + C to copy a cell in Excel, it copies an extra ENTER keystroke
along with the data in the cell. To copy only the cell in the Excel file, use the keystrokes:
[F2][HOME][SHIFT DOWN][END][SHIFT UP][CTRL DOWN]c[CTRL UP].

The above keystrokes will copy the data in the cell.

Now, if you want to move the cursor to the next cell after copying the current cell, use the following
keystrokes:

 ENTER to move one row down in the same column


 TAB to move to the next cell to the RIGHT in the same row
 Shift + ENTER ( [SHIFT DOWN][ENTER][SHIFT UP] ) to move one row
up in the same column
 Shift + TAB ( [SHIFT DOWN][TAB][SHIFT UP] ) to move to the next cell to
the LEFT in the same row
To skip a cell, you need to use the corresponding key twice. For example, to move RIGHT to alternate
cells, you must enter [TAB][TAB]
2. How to paste data in your application and move to the next item?
Most applications support the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + V to paste data that has been copied to the
clipboard. To paste the data using the keyboard, you need to ensure that the focus is at the correct place,
e.g., the correct cell in a table, or the correct control in a browser page, etc. You can then perform the
Ctrl + V keystroke. To simulate Ctrl + V in Automation Anywhere, you need to write it as [CTRL
DOWN]v[CTRL UP].

The above series of keystrokes will paste the data into your application.

The following examples illustrate how to move to the next record/cell in your application using the
keyboard:

 Use the TAB key to move from a highlighted link to the next link in an Internet
Explorer Web page
 Use the [RIGHT ARROW] to move to the next cell in the same row in a
Microsoft Word table.
 Some applications also support using the Spacebar to move to the next control or
button.
3. How to create timestamps for your files using Automation Anywhere System variables?
Automation Anywhere provides the following system variables that you can use to append timestamps:
 Year

Page 203
 Month
 Day
 Hour
 Minute
 Second
 Date
You can combine these variables to create a timestamp of your own design.

Examples
 To append Year, Month, Day at the end of ABC, you can write:
ABC$Year$$Month$$Day$.
 To create a complete timestamp with date and time, you can write:
ABC$Year$$Month$$Day$$Hour$$Minute$$Second$.
 You can also include text characters between the variables, e.g.,
ABC$Year$-$Month$-$Day$.
 You can configure your own format for the Date variable. Choose Tools >
Variable Manager > System Variable > Date. If you use the Date variable to
append a date to filenames, be sure there are no slashes (/) in your date format,
since filenames in Windows may not use the / character.
4. What is the recommended way to open an application as part of a task?
When you record a task, you might double-click the icon of an application on the desktop or go to Start
> Programs and click the application's icon. It is very likely that the location of these icons will change,
resulting in an error when the task runs. However, to prevent these errors, we recommend that you
follow the following recommendations:
 Open the task in the Task Editor.
 Select the actions that involve going to menu items and clicking. They may involve
several mouse moves and mouse clicks.
 Delete these actions.
 Replace them with single-line commands that you create by double-clicking the
Open Program/File command and specifying the path to the application you want
to open. The Open Program/File dialog includes a text box where you can type
parameters that Automation Anywhere will pass to the application.
 The task will now open your application, no matter where the icon is located.

Page 204

Вам также может понравиться