RPA.Desktop.Windows

Windows is a library for managing the Windows operating system.

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()