Get Element HTML
Get the HTML code of the element on a web page.
Command availability: IBM RPA SaaS and IBM RPA on premises
Description
Get the HTML code of the element on a web page and return the HTML code as a Text value. The HTML code might include the element and its children's elements. Also, each element or its children can contain the element's tag name,
the element attributes and attribute values, and the element content.
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.
webGetFieldHTML --selector(WebFieldElementSelectors) --id(String) --name(String) --css(String) --xpath(String) [--simulatehuman(Boolean)] [--timeout(TimeSpan)] (String)=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 Get Element HTML (webGetFieldHtml) 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selector type | selector |
Required |
WebFieldElementSelectors |
Type of selector to identify the elements in the web page. See the selector parameter options. |
| ID | id |
Required when the Selector type parameter is Id, IdAndName |
Text |
A text that contains the ID attribute value to match and get the element. |
| Name | name |
Required when the Selector type parameter is Name, IdAndName |
Text |
A text that contains the Name attribute value to match and get the element. |
| CSS | css |
Required when the Selector type parameter is CssSelector |
Text |
A text that contains the CSS selector to match and get the element. |
| XPath | xpath |
Required when the Selector type parameter is XPath |
Text |
A text that contains the XML path value to match and get 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. |
| XPath | XPath |
Matches the element based on the XML path in the HTML root. |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| HTML Code | value |
Text |
Returns a Text value with the HTML code of the element and its children elements. |
Example
The following code example demonstrates how to get the HTML code of the <p> element from the web page. The Get Element HTML (webGetFieldHTML) command uses the css selector to get
this element content.
defVar --name htmlCode --type String
defVar --name webpage --type String --value "https://example.com/"
// Launches the Google Chrome browser
webStart --name browser --type "Chrome"
// Navigates to the web page with the text elements
webNavigate --url "${webpage}"
webGetFieldHTML --selector "CssSelector" --css "body > div > p:nth-child(3)" --simulatehuman htmlCode=value
// Logs the HTML code
logMessage --message "${htmlCode}" --type "Info"
webClose --name browser
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.