Editing Objects During Process Creation and Execution

You can edit learned objects when creating a process or during a manual execution. When an attribute string no longer describes a window or object, you can fix the failed object with the Edit Object tool. With this tool, you can see which attribute names and values are not matching and fix them.

After you edit an object in the Edit Object tool, the updated object persists through all processes that use this object.

System objects can not be edited.

Interfaces

If you are not using the following interfaces, see Editing Objects in a Process Step and Editing Objects During Process Execution for instructions on editing objects:

• HTML
• Silverlight
• Flex

If you are using the Mobile interface, see Editing Mobile Interface Objects During Process Creation and Execution.

Edit Object Utility Toolbar

The Edit Object toolbar provides the following functionality:

Button	Description
	Touch Live Object This button utilizes a Touch Live functionality that allows you to select and edit an object in the application. On the device, drag your cursor around the object that you want to learn. A red box appears as you drag the cursor around the object. Right-click on the object and select Update Object.
	Toggle Anchor Remove an existing anchor or add a new anchor. Anchors are object attribute strings embedded in the window attribute string. The object described by the object attribute string must be found in order for the window to be found. Adding anchors to an object helps execution stay in sync with the web page because execution will continue to look for the web page until the page anchor object has finished loading. If an object already has an anchor, an Anchor tab appears in the Edit Object tool.
	Add Attributes Add attributes to the object. This button is only enabled if the window, object, or anchor is connected to a live object.
	Highlight Live Object Click this button to highlight the object in the application. This button is only enabled if the window, object, or anchor is connected to a live object.
	Rebuild Attributes From Live Object Click this button to clear the current list of attributes and replace them with attributes based on the configuration rule for the selected object. When you click the button, a message appears asking if you want to rebuild the object attribute string based with the configuration settings. Click Yesand the attributes are rebuilt. This button is only enabled if the window, object, or anchor is connected to the live object.
	Always on Top If you select this button, the Edit Object dialog will always be the top window when opened.

Edit Object Utility Icons

The following icons are used in the Match and Edit columns:

Icon	Description
	Passed In the Match column, this icon indicates when the criteria and attribute value are correct.
	Deleted In the Match column, this icon indicates the criteria and attribute value do not match. In the Edited column, this icon indicates that an attribute row has been removed. If the Active column is disabled for both TagName and Instance attributes, the Deleted icon appears.
	Unknown In the Match column, this icon indicates that there is no live window or object attached.
	Added In the Edit column, this icon indicates that an attribute row has been added.
	Edited In the Edit column, the icon indicates that a change has been made in the Criteria and/or Active Value columns.

Edit Object Utility Procedures

With the Edit Object utility, you can do the following tasks:

• Edit an object in the Process Editor
• Edit an object during process execution
• Add or remove an anchor
• Add new attributes

This section shows you how to complete each task. The application that contains the object must be open to complete each task.

To edit an object in the Process Editor:

1. Open the application that contains the object you want to edit.

2. In the Processes window, right-click on an existing process and select Edit.

   The Process Editor opens.

3. In the Process Editor, click the Steps tab.

   The Steps tab opens.

4. In the Step grid, right-click on an existing step that you want to edit and select Edit Object.

   Before the Edit Object utility opens, it attempts to find the Window running the object in question.

5. Click the Object tab.

   If the object was not found, then the Unknown icon appears in the Match column.

6. To match the attribute strings with the object in the application, click the Touch Live Object button.

7. In the application, hover over the object and press the <Ctrl> key to select the object.

   The Touched Object dialog opens, and the object is highlighted.

8. Optional If you would like to select a different object in the Touched Object dialog, repeat this process.

9. Click OK to save your object.

   In the Edit Object utility, the attributes that match the selected object displays the Passed icon in the Match column. The attributes that do not match display the Deleted icon.

   The AUT value column displays the value that is actually in the application, and the Database Value column displays the value that is in the database.

10. If needed, you can edit the value in the Active Value column and/or change the criteria in the Criteria column. When you edit one of these values, the Edited icon appears in the Edit column for the attribute.

    If the object is a dynamic object with an unmatched attribute, edit the Active Value to txtDynamic_<date>, and change the Criteria column to Contains.

11. If needed, add new attributes. For more information, see To add new attributes.
12. If needed, remove or add anchors. For more information, see To remove or add anchors.

13. After you have made your changes, click Save to save your edits.

To edit an object during process execution:

1. In the Navigation pane, click Processes.

The Processes window opens.

2. In the Processes Summary pane, select a process that contains a Manual Step action and complete one of the following steps:
3. Select a process and click the Run button
4. Right-click a process and select Run.

The Configuration dialog opens.

3. In the Run Settings section, select Manual from the Run Mode drop-down list.
4. Configure the other settings to run your process. For more information, see Configuring Process Execution.
5. Click Start.

The Execution dialog opens with the Step tab in view.

6. Expand the Step view by clicking the Expand/Collapse button on the right of the dialog to view the steps while using the other tabs.
7. Click the Manual Execution tab to view the details of each step's execution.
8. At the top of the Execution dialog, click Step to begin process execution.
9. Continue to click Step for each process step.

10. If an object cannot be found when executing a specific step, right-click on the step and select Edit Object.

    Before the Edit Object utility opens, it attempts to find the Window running the object in question.

11. Click the Object tab.

    If the object was not found, the Unknown icon appears in the Match column.

12. To match the attribute strings with the object in the application, click the Touch Live Object button.

    A message appears that states, Press the <Ctrl> key to select and <Esc> key to cancel.

13. In the application, hover over the object and press the <Ctrl> key to select the object.

    The Touched Object dialog opens, and the object that you selected is highlighted.

14. Optional If you would like to select a different object in the Touched Object dialog, select the object that you want to use.

15. Click OK to save your object.

    In the Edit Object utility, the attributes that match the selected object displays the Passed icon in the Match column. The attributes that do not match display the Deleted icon.

    The AUT Value column displays the value that is actually in the application, and the Database Value column displays the value that is in the database.

16. If needed, you can edit the value in the Active Value column and/or change the criteria in the Criteria column. When you edit one of these values, the Edited icon appears in the Edit column for the attribute.

    If the object is a dynamic object with an unmatched attribute, edit the Active Value to txtDynamic_<date>, and change the Criteria column to Contains.

17. If needed, add new attributes. For more information, see To add new attributes.
18. If needed, remove or add anchors. For more information, see To remove or add anchors.

19. After you have made your changes, click Save to save your edits.

To add or remove anchors:

If an object has an existing anchor, an Anchor tab appears in the Edit Object utility. If there is a bad anchor attribute string, an Unknown icon appears in the Match column. The anchor can be resolved in the same manner as the object in the Object tab; however, you will use the Toggle Anchor button to fix the anchor attribute.

1. In the Edit Object utility, click the Toggle Anchor button to add an anchor, fix an anchor attribute string, or remove an existing anchor.

2. If you are adding an anchor, a message opens and asks if you want to add an anchor. Click Yes.

   If you are removing an anchor, a message opens and asks if you want to remove an anchor. Click Yes and the anchor is removed.

3. If you are adding or editing an anchor, hover over the object in the application and press the <Ctrl> key to select the object.

   The Touched Object dialog opens, and the object that you selected is highlighted.

4. Optional If you would like to select a different object in the Touched Object dialog, repeat this process.

5. Click OK to save your object.

6. In the Edit Object utility, click Save to save your edits.

To add new attributes:

1. In the Edit Object utility, click the Object tab.

2. Click the Add Attributes button.

   The Attributes dialog opens.

3. Select an attribute or several attributes.

4. Click OK.

   The new attributes appear in the Object tab in the Edit Object utility. In the Edit column, the Added icon appears next to the newly added attributes.

5. Click Save to save your edits.

 

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