RPA.Desktop.Windows

Windows is a library for managing the Windows operating system.

DEPRECATION WARNING! USE RPA.Windows library instead.

For Windows desktop automation Robocorp recommends the RPA.Windows library.

No further updates will be released for this library and new functionality will continue to be developed in RPA.Windows library.

Running Windows applications

Windows applications can be started in several ways. The library supports the following keywords:

  • Open Application (dispatch Office applications)
  • Open File (open the file as process which opens the associated application)
  • Open Executable (uses pywinauto start)
  • Open Using Run Dialog (uses Windows run dialog)
  • Open From Search (uses Windows search dialog)

Locators

Locator is used to identify the element for interaction - usually for a mouse click.

Locators can investigated for application once it has been opened by calling the keyword get_windows_elements which can store locator information into JSON file and screenshot of the element into an image file.

Identifying locator

The element needs to be identified by a unique method, for example, "Three" for button 3 in the Calculator application. It can be given either as Three or name:Three.

Possible search criterias:

  • name
  • class (class_name)
  • type (control_type)
  • id (automation_id)
  • any if none was defined

The current method of inspecting elements on Windows is inspect.exe which is part of Windows SDK.

Keyboard

The keyword send_keys can be used to send keys to the active window. The keyword type_keys sends keys to the active window element.

Special key codes are documented on pywinauto documentation page.

FAQ

  1. I see error message AttributeError: module 'win32com.gen_py.00020813-0000-0000-C000-000000000046x0x1x9' has no attribute 'CLSIDToClassMap'
  1. From PowerShell run this command: Remove-Item -path $env:LOCALAPPDATATempgen_py -recurse

Examples

Robot Framework

*** Settings ***
Library          RPA.Desktop.Windows
Suite Teardown   Close all applications

*** Tasks ***
Open Calculator using run dialog
    ${result}=              Open using run dialog    calc.exe   Calculator
    ${result}=              Get Window Elements
    Send Keys               5*2=
    ${result}=              Get element             partial name:Display is
    Log Many                ${result}
    ${result}=              Get element rich text   id:CalculatorResults
    Should Be Equal As Strings  ${result}  Display is 10
    ${result}=              Get element rectangle   partial name:Display is
    ${result}=              Is Element Visible      CalculatorResults
    ${result}=              Is Element Enabled      partial name:Display is

Python

from RPA.Desktop.Windows import Windows

win = Windows()

def open_calculator():
    win.open_from_search("calc.exe", "Calculator")
    elements = win.get_window_elements()

def make_calculations(expression):
    win.send_keys(expression)
    result = win.get_element_rich_text('id:CalculatorResults')
    return int(result.strip('Display is '))

if __name__ == "__main__":
    open_calculator()
    exp = '5*2='
    result = make_calculations(exp)
    print(f"Calculation result of '{exp}' is '{result}'")
    win.close_all_applications()