Positional Search

A positional search finds a target by its position relative to another element. Use it whenever the value you need changes every run but something stable sits next to it — a field label, a table column header, a row identifier.

Fields

Parameter	Description
Reference	The stable anchor the robot can always find, e.g. the Email: label or a column header.
Query	The target to find in the given direction from the reference. Leave its Label empty to match any element of that type.
Element index	Which match to take when several elements qualify. (Advanced options)

Both Reference and Query are themselves full search objects, so each has its own Label, Find method and type.

Search directions

Above / Below — find the element above or below the reference.

Parameter	Description
Search Alignment	Which anchor point of the reference the horizontal distance is measured from: LEFT (default), RIGHT or MIDDLE. Combine with DISTANCE to measure on both axes, or THRESHOLD to accept only strictly aligned elements.

On the left / On the right — find the element to the left or right of the reference.

Parameter	Description
Search same row	When on (default), both elements must sit on the same row. Turn it off for layouts where the value is slightly offset vertically.

📸 Screenshot needed — /img/editor/objects/so-above.png

Capture: the Below search-object editor showing Reference, Query and the Search Alignment dropdown expanded with LEFT / RIGHT / MIDDLE. Why it must be retaken: the alignment options are now a proper enum dropdown and sit under Advanced options.

📸 Screenshot needed — /img/editor/objects/so-right.png

Capture: the On the right editor plus a live view of a form where the label is the reference and the value on the right is highlighted as the query. Annotate: mark the reference and the query with two differently coloured boxes.

Worked example

Reading an invoice number that changes every time, printed to the right of a fixed label:

Field	Value
Object type	On the right
Reference → type / Label	Text / Invoice number
Query → type / Label	Text / ^\d{8}$
Query → Find method	REGEX
Search same row	on

The robot locates the fixed label, then reads the first eight-digit number on the same row — regardless of where the window sits on screen.

tip

Anchoring to a label makes the automation immune to layout shifts. A regular expression on the Query then picks only the part you want, ignoring surrounding text such as a currency suffix.