UiPath Studio - Recording
Recording, an important functionality of UiPath studio, enables us to capture user's action on the screen and translate them into sequences. It saves lot of time when you want to automate business process.
In this chapter, let us discuss recording using UiPath in detail.
Recording using UiPath Studio
You can find Recording option under Design Tab of UiPath Studio. An important point about recording is that some of the actions are non-recordable. Following table will show automatically recordable as well as non-recordable actions −
| Automatically Recordable Actions |
Non-recordable Actions |
| Left click on buttons |
Keyboard shortcuts |
| Left click on check boxes |
Right click on GUI elements |
| Left click on drop-down lists & other GUI elements. |
Mouse hover |
| Text typing |
Use of modifier keys |
Types of Recording
UiPath studio provides us the facility to choose from following four types of recording −
- Basic recording
- Desktop recording
- Web recording
- Citrix recording
Following screenshot shows how we can use recording feature of UiPath studio −
Basic Recording
Basic recording is suitable for single activity. It basically generates a full selector for each activity. It does not generate containers hence the automation is slower in comparison to the other type that generates containers.
Desktop Recording
As the name suggests, it is suitable for all types of Desktop apps and multiple actions. It generates container and hence it is faster than Basic recording.
Web Recording
As name suggests, it is suitable for all types of recording in web apps and browsers. It also generates containers and hence faster than Basic recording too.
Citrix Recording
This kind of recording is used to record virtualized environments like VNC, virtual machines etc. It basically requires explicit positioning and allows only image, text and keyboard automation.
Automatic Recording
UiPath studio provides us the facility of automatic recording of the actions. It saves lots of time and can easily customized ad parameterized. Followings are the activities that are generated automatically for the recordable actions −
Click − As the name suggests, it is automatically generated when we click on a button while performing Basic or Desktop recording and a link while performing Web recording. UiPath studio provides us the option to add a time delay before or after the action.
Type Into − As the name suggests, it is automatically generated when we type in a text field or any editable UI element. UiPath studio provides us the option to add a time delay before or after the action or between key strokes.
Check − As the name suggests, it is automatically generated when you click a radio button or check box. UiPath studio provides us the option to add a time delay before or after the action and select or unselect the check box.
Select Item − As the name suggests, it is automatically generated when you select an item from drop-down list or combo box. UiPath studio provides us the option to add a time delay before or after the action and change the selected item.
Example of Basic Automatic Recording
We can perform Basic automatic recording with the help of following steps −
Step1 − Open any application say MS Word or Notepad.
Step2 − Create a new Sequence in UiPath Studio Designer panel.
Step3 − Choose Basic Recording from Recording tab under Design ribbon tab. It will display Basic Recording toolbar.
Step4 − Now from Basic Recording toolbar click Record button.
Step5 − Go to your opened application Ms Word or Notepad, click there and a pop-up window would be displayed as follows −
Step 6 − Type and press enter. The string will be displayed in your application.
Step 7 − For exiting and saving the recording, press two times Esc key.
The above screenshot shows the sequence in which automation will be executed.
Step 8 − Now press F5 to execute in UiPath studio. The automation will be executed.
Example of Desktop Automatic Recording
We can perform Desktop automatic recording with the help o*f above steps used for Basic Automatic Recording. The only change, in Step3, is that we need to Choose Desktop Recordingfrom Recording tab under Design ribbon tab Desktop Recording toolbar. Following is the screenshot after implementing Desktop recording. It is generating a container Attach Window.
Example of Web Automatic Recording
We can perform Web automatic recording with the help of following steps −
Step 1 − First, open any internet browsing application say Google Chrome, Internet explorer or Mozilla.
Step 2 − Next, create a new Sequence in UiPath Studio Designer panel.
Step 3 − Now, Choose Web Recording from Recording tab under Design ribbon tab. It will display Web Recording toolbar.
Step 4 − Now from Web Recording toolbar click Record button.
Step 5 − Go to your open browser, click on the URL bar, a pop-up window would be displayed as follows −
Step 6 − Type the URL and press enter. The string will be displayed in the browser URL bar.
Step 7 − For exiting and saving the recording, press two times Esc key.
The above screenshot shows the sequence in which automation will be executed. It will also generate a container as like in the Desktop Automatic Recording.
Step 8 − Now press F5 to execute in UiPath studio. The automation will be executed.
Manual Recording
As we know that there are some actions that cannot be handled by automatic recording. They are called single actions or manual recordings. We can find these manual recording under the Action toolbar of all types of recordings, Basic, Desktop, Web and Citrix.
Types of Manual Recordings
The followings are the types of manual recordings −
Start and Stop an App or Browser
These manual recording or single actions enables us to open as well as close an app or browser. You can find these options in Desktop and web recording toolbar respectively.
Click
With the help of such kind of single actions we can record
- Clicks on the desktop or a running application
- Selecting an option from a drop-down list or combo box
- Selecting a check box or a radio button
Type
These kind of manual recordings or single actions require input from keyboard. It includes key presses or keyboard shortcuts.
Copy
As the name suggests, this single action enables us to copy a selected text from an open application or a web browser. The copied text can be used later in our project. Option of screen scraping, under copy menu, enables us to extract images or text from browser.
Mouse Elements
As the name suggests, it enables us to imitate mouse movements such as right-clicking or double clicking.
Windows Elements
Such kind of single actions enables us to close the window or shift the focus to a different window.
Text
Text manual recording enable us to −
- Hover over text to make tooltips visible for scraping
- Right click to make the context menu visible
- Copy and paste text
Image
Image manual recording enable us to −
- Wait for a specified image to disappear
- Finding a specific image in an app or website
- Right click an image
- Hover over an image
