Get Text

UiPath.UIAutomationNext.Activities.NGetText

Description

Extracts and copies the text from a UI element.

This activity must be added inside a Use Application/Browser activity.

This activity is compatible with Object Repository.

Project compatibility

Windows - Legacy | Windows | Cross-platform

Windows - Legacy, Windows configuration

Designer panel

• Click Indicate in App/Browser to indicate the UI element to use as target.

  After you indicate the target, select the Menu button to access the following options:

  • Indicate target on screen - Indicate the target again.
  • Edit target - Open the selection mode to configure the target.
  • Remove informative screenshot - Remove the screenshot of the target application or web page.
  • Add to Object Repository - Add the current UI element to a library project, from where it can be reused throughout your automation process.
  • Preview extraction - Opens the Get Text - Extraction preview wizard, which enables you to see what text is retrieved from the target in real-time.

• Save to - Enables you to store the text from the specified UI element in a variable. Variables created in this field are of String type.

Extraction preview

The Get Text - Extraction preview wizard enables you to choose what scraping method you want to use and also displays in real time the text that is displayed by using the chosen method. The extracted text is displayed in the Extraction preview text box, and can be copied by using the Copy to Clipboard button.

If the wizard is not used, all scraping methods are tried by default and the best one is chosen automatically. Choosing a scraping method in the Extraction preview window overrides this mechanism and makes that method the only one that is used.

The following methods are available:

• Default
• Text attribute
• Fulltext - This method offers the option to Ignore hidden text, which can be activated by selecting its respective check box.

• Native - This method enables you to Allow formatting and retrieve the screen coordinates of the words by selecting the check boxes for each of these features.

  
  

  

  
  

After selecting the method you want to use for scraping, hitting Save & close closes the wizard and propagates the changes you have made in the Properties Panel of the activity.

Properties panel

Common

• Continue on error - Specifies if the automation should continue even when the activity throws an error. This field only supports Boolean values (True, False). The default value is False. As a result, if the field is blank and an error is thrown, the execution of the project stops. If the value is set to True, the execution of the project continues regardless of any error.

• Delay after - Delay (in seconds) between the time this activity is completed and the time the next activity begins any operations. The default value is 0.3 seconds. Adding a delay between activities ensures that one activity has enough time to complete before the next activity begins.

• Delay before - Delay (in seconds) between the time the previous activity is completed and the time this activity begins performing any operations. The default value is 0.2 seconds. Adding a delay between activities ensures that one activity has enough time to complete before the next activity begins.

• Display name - The name displayed for the activity in the Designer panel. A display name is automatically generated when you indicate a target.

• Timeout - Specify the amount of time (in seconds) to wait for the activity to be executed before throwing an error. You can also choose a predefined value from the drop-down menu: 10 (s), 20 (s), 30 (s). The default value is 30 seconds.

  You can also choose a predetermined value from the drop-down menu: 10 (s), 20 (s) or 30 (s).

Input

• Scraping method - Describes the scraping method you want to use. The following options are available:

  • Default - Goes through possible scraping methods (Text attribute, Fulltext, in that order) and stops at the first method that returns data.The only reason to change the default method is if it returns a text, but not the right one. If the default method does not return anything, the same applies to the other scraping methods.
  • Text attribute - Extracts the text attribute value for the specified UI element.
  • Fulltext - Extracts the full text of the UI element including its child elements. This method is useful when you want to extract the full text of a container element that contains multiple child elements.
  • Native - Extracts the visible text for the specified UI element.

• Target - The target element. Target element must be set. Before indicating on screen, this field is set to (null). Once the target is indicated, all properties regarding the element that was indicated are displayed.

  Note: If a selected check box is targeted by this activity, the returned text is checked. If an image is targeted by this activity, the alt text of the image is returned.
  • CV Control type - Indicates the type of control identified using Computer Vision.
  • CV Text - Indicates the text identified using Computer Vision.
  • Fuzzy selector - The parameters for the fuzzy selector.
  • Native text - The text that is used to identify the UI element.
  • Responsive websites - Enable responsive websites layout.
  • Strict selector - The strict selector generated for the UI element.
  • Targeting methods - The selector types that you want to use for identifying the element. This property can be set to any combination from the drop-down menu:
    • None
    • Strict selector
    • Fuzzy selector
    • Image
    • Native text
    • Computer Vision
  • Visibility check - Checks whether the UI element is visible or not. You can choose one of three options from the drop-down menu:
    • None - Does not check for visibility.
    • Interactive (for Fuzzy Selector) - Default option. Checks if the element is potentially visible, ignoring page scroll and obstructions by other apps, or the fact that the application is minimized. This check is useful when trying to ensure that you are not targeting invisible elements that exist in the DOM but are hidden.
    • Fully visible - Checks if the UI element is visible or not.
  • Wait for page load - Before performing the action, wait for the application to become ready to accept input. You can choose one of three options from the drop-down menu:
    • None - Does not wait for the target to be ready.
    • Interactive - Waits until only a part of the app is loaded.
    • Complete - Waits for the entire app to be loaded.
  • Window selector (Application instance) - The selector that is used for the application window. Only applicable when the window attach mode is set to Application instance.

Input/Output Element

• Input element - The UI element on which the activity is executed, stored in an UIElement object. This field supports only UIElement objects. This object can be obtained from the Output Element property field of other UI Automation activities.
• Output element - Outputs a target UI Element and stores it in a UIElement object, which can be further used to target the same element with other activities.

Misc

• Private - If selected, the values of variables and arguments are no longer logged at Verbose level. This field supports only Boolean (True, False) values. The default value is False.

Output

• Text - See Save to in the Designer panel.
• Words info - The additional information of the retrieved text, such as screen coordinates, are saved in the variable supplied in this field. This field supports only NWordInfo variables.

Cross-platform configuration

• Work in scope - Choose the browser tab rendering the web application to automate.

• Indicate target on screen - Indicate the UI element to use as target.

  After you indicate the target, select the plus button to access the following options:

  • Indicate target on screen - Indicate the target again.
  • Edit target - Open the selection mode to configure the target.

Additional options

Timings

• Delay before - Delay (in seconds) between the time the previous activity is completed and the time this activity begins performing any operations. The default value is 0.2 seconds. Adding a delay between activities ensures that one activity has enough time to complete before the next activity begins.

• Delay after - Delay (in seconds) between the time this activity is completed and the time the next activity begins any operations. The default value is 0.3 seconds. Adding a delay between activities ensures that one activity has enough time to complete before the next activity begins.

• Timeout - Specify the amount of time (in seconds) to wait for the activity to be executed before throwing an error. You can also choose a predefined value from the drop-down menu: 10 (s), 20 (s), 30 (s). The default value is 30 seconds.

• Continue on error - Specifies if the automation should continue even when the activity throws an error. This field only supports Boolean values (True, False). The default value is False. As a result, if the field is blank and an error is thrown, the execution of the project stops. If the value is set to True, the execution of the project continues regardless of any error.

Options

• Scraping method - Describes the scraping method you want to use. The following options are available:

  • Default - Goes through possible scraping methods (Text attribute, Fulltext, in that order) and stops at the first method that returns data.The only reason to change the default method is if it returns a text, but not the right one. If the default method does not return anything, the same applies to the other scraping methods.
  • Text attribute - Extracts the text attribute value for the specified UI element.
  • Fulltext - Extracts the full text of the UI element including its child elements. This method is useful when you want to extract the full text of a container element that contains multiple child elements.

Input/Output

• Text value - Enables you to store the text from the specified UI element in a variable. Variables created in this field are of String type.
• Words info - The additional information of the retrieved text, such as screen coordinates, are saved in the variable supplied in this field. This field supports only NWordInfo variables.
• Input element - The UI element on which the activity is executed, stored in an UIElement object. This field supports only UIElement objects. This object can be obtained from the Output Element property field of other UI Automation activities.
• Output element - Outputs a target UI Element and stores it in a UIElement object, which can be further used to target the same element with other activities.