Focus on Web Element
Focus on an element on the web page.
Command availability: IBM RPA SaaS and IBM RPA on premises
Script syntax
IBM RPA's proprietary scripting language has a syntax similar to other programming languages. The script syntax defines the command's syntax in the script file. You can work with this syntax in IBM RPA Studio's Script mode.
webFocus --selector(WebElementSelectors) --id(String) --name(String) --css(String) --linktext(String) --innertext(String) --tagname(String) --xpath(String) --class(String) --elementvalue(String) [--simulatehuman(Boolean)] [--timeout(TimeSpan)] (Boolean)=value
Dependencies
Use the Start Browser (webStart) command to start a browser or use the Find Internet Explorer Browser (findBrowser)
command to attach the Microsoft Internet Explorer before using the Focus on a Web Element (webFocus) command.
Input parameter
The following table displays the list of input parameters available in this command. In the table, you can see the parameter name when working in IBM RPA Studio's Script mode and its Designer mode equivalent label.
| Designer mode label | Script mode name | Required | Accepted variable types | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Search for | selector |
Required |
WebElementSelectors |
Type of selector to identify the elements in the web page. See the selector parameter options. |
| ID | id |
Required when the Search for parameter is Id, IdAndName |
Text |
A text that contains the ID attribute value to match and focus on the element. |
| Element name | name |
Required when the Search for parameter is Name, NameAndValue, IdAndName |
Text |
A text that contains the Name attribute value to match and focus on the element. |
| CSS | css |
Required when the Search for parameter is CssSelector |
Text |
A text that contains the CSS selector to match and focus on the element. |
| Link text | linktext |
Required when the Search for parameter is LinkText |
Text |
A text that contains the link text value to match and focus on the element. |
| Text | innertext |
Required when the Search for parameter is InnerTextAndTag |
Text |
A text that contains the element text content to match and focus on the element. |
| Tag name | tagname |
Required when the Search for parameter is InnerTextAndTag |
Text |
A text that contains the tag name attribute value to match and focus on the element. |
| XPath | xpath |
Required when the Search for parameter is XPath |
Text |
A text that contains the XML path value to match and focus on the element. |
| Class | class |
Required when the Search for parameter is ClassAndValue |
Text |
A text that contains the class attribute value to match and focus on the element. |
| Element value | elementvalue |
Required when the Search for parameter is ClassAndValue, NameAndValue |
Text |
A text that contains the Value attribute value to match and focus on the element. |
| Simulate human | simulatehuman |
Optional |
Boolean |
This parameter does not change the behavior of the command. |
| Timeout | timeout |
Optional |
Time Span, Number, Text |
Maximum waiting time for running the command. When blank, the default timeout is 5 seconds. |
selector parameter options
The following table displays the options available for the selector input parameter. The table shows the options available when working in Script mode and the equivalent label in the Designer mode.
| Designer mode label | Script mode name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Id | Id |
Matches the element based on the ID attribute value. |
| Name | Name |
Matches the element based on the Name attribute value. |
| Css | CssSelector |
Matches the element based on the CSS selector value. |
| Link text | LinkText |
Matches the element based on the link text attribute value. |
| Inner text and control type | InnerTextAndTag |
Matches the element based on the element text content and the tag name attribute value. |
| XPath | XPath |
Matches the element based on the XML path in the HTML root. |
| Class and value | ClassAndValue |
Matches the element based on the class name and value attribute. |
| Name and value | NameAndValue |
Matches the element based on the name and the value attribute. |
| Id and name | IdAndName |
Matches the element based on the id and name attribute value. |
Output parameter
| Designer mode label | Script mode name | Accepted variable types | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Success | value |
Boolean |
Returns true if the focus on the element occurs successfully, otherwise return false. |
Example
The following code example demonstrates how to focus on elements in the web page. The Focus on Web Element (webFocus) command uses the id selector to focus on two different input fields.
defVar --name webpage --type String --value "https://www.w3schools.com/tags/tryit.asp?filename=tryhtml_input_test"
defVar --name instanceName --type String --value "chrome-browser"
// Launches the Google Chrome browser
webStart --name "${instanceName}" --type "Chrome"
// Navigates to the web page with the input fields
webNavigate --url "${webpage}"
webFocus --selector "Id" --id fname
webFocus --selector "Id" --id lname
webClose --name "${instanceName}" --leavebrowseropen
Limitations
- When interacting with a not unique web element, using XPath or CSS selectors, that is inside an IFrame, it is necessary to specify which element inside the IFrame the command will interact with. Otherwise, only the first element will be found.