Keyboard Actions

Actions in the Keyboard group of the actions menu.

Upgrading from 0.23.x

Type Text's confusingly named Timeout between actions (milliseconds) was replaced by Sleep between characters (seconds). Values set in the old field are not carried over on upgrade — if you relied on it, re-enter it after upgrading.

Type Text

Types text into the active field, or into the field you point at with a search object. Shortcut Ctrl+Shift+T.

Parameter	Description
Search object	Field to type into. Leave empty to type into whatever currently has focus.
Text to type	Text or variable content to enter. Click VAR to insert a variable.
Clear before typing	Selects the field's existing content and deletes it before typing. Default off. How the selection is made is set by Selection method.
Key after typing	A key pressed once the text is in — typically Enter or Tab. Optional; saves a separate Key Shortcut action.
Wait after	Pause after typing.
Sleep between characters	Pause in seconds before every character, including the first. Set it for applications that swallow characters when typed at full speed. (Advanced options)
Selection method	How the existing text is selected when Clear before typing is on. Default Ctrl+A. (Advanced options)
Required success	Stop the scenario if typing fails.

Stopping a long Type Text

Stop takes effect in the middle of a long text: the run checks for a stop request between typed segments. Up to 0.24.0 that check only happened when Sleep between characters was set, so typing a very long text could not be interrupted at all — you do not need to configure a sleep to be able to stop a run any more.

Selection method

Some applications ignore Ctrl+A inside their input boxes, and in others it selects far too much — a whole data grid instead of the one cell you meant. In both cases clearing before typing either does nothing or wipes the wrong thing. Selection method lets you pick how the robot selects what it is about to replace.

Option	How it selects	When to use it
Ctrl+A	Sends Ctrl+A.	The default; works in ordinary text fields.
Double click	Double-clicks the field.	Fields that respond to a double-click selecting the word or the value. Needs a search object.
Left click	Clicks the field once.	Fields that select their whole content when they receive focus. Needs a search object.
End + Shift+Home (line select)	Presses End, then Shift+Home.	Selects only the current line. The one to reach for in stubborn legacy inputs and grid cells where Ctrl+A grabs the whole grid.

note

Double click and Left click have to know where to click, so they only work when the action has a Search object. The other two methods act on whatever has focus.

Key Shortcut

Sends a key or key combination. Shortcut Ctrl+Shift+K.

Parameter	Description
Key	The key combination to send, e.g. Ctrl+C or Alt+F4. Num-lock keys are supported.
Wait after	Pause after the keys are sent.
Sleep between keys	Pause between the individual key presses. (Advanced options)

Since 0.24.0 the individual presses are spaced out by default. Applications that resolve shortcuts through their menus used to miss chords such as Alt+S+2 when all keys arrived at once; raise Sleep between keys if one still does.

Clear

Clears the contents of an input field.

Parameter	Description
Search object	Field to clear. Leave empty for the focused field.
Required success	Stop the scenario if the field cannot be cleared.
Wait after	Pause after clearing. (Advanced options)
Selection method	How the existing text is selected before it is deleted. Default Ctrl+A; the options are the same as for Type Text. (Advanced options)

Clipboard Get / Clipboard Set

Reads the clipboard into a variable, or writes a value to the clipboard.

On an RDP robot these appear as [RDP] Clipboard Get and [RDP] Clipboard Set and act on the clipboard of the remote session; the unprefixed versions are Desktop-only and act on your local clipboard.

Clipboard Get

Parameter	Description
Save to variable (name)	Variable that receives the current clipboard content.

Clipboard Set

Parameter	Description
Text	Plain text or variable value to place on the clipboard.

tip

Copying a value with Ctrl+C and reading it with Clipboard Get is often more reliable than reading text off the screen — no OCR involved. Use it whenever the application lets you select and copy the value.