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Highlighting Elements During Playback

Overview

When running a Process, it can sometimes be difficult to tell what is happening within the browser. For instance, clicking elements does not require that the mouse pointer be moved to the element. Buttons are clicked and links are followed without any visual indication as to what is happening.

To help your follow along as a process runs, AutoBloks supports a feature to highlight elements during playback.

Highlighting elements will slow down execution, so this feature should not be turned on when playback performance is important.

Activating the Feature

The Highlight Elements feature is accessed through the AutoBloks Options dialog. To access AutoBloks Options:

Select File on the Ribbon Command Bar. This will open the Backstage Menu with a list of commands on the left edge.
Select Options from the list of commands on the left.

The AutoBloks Options dialog will now be displayed.

Run Options Screenshot with Highlight Element Steps

Select Run to access the Run options.
Make sure Highlight elements during run is checked. The option for Show multiple match results before selection does not need to be checked.
Click OK to close the dialog.

Run Your Process

With this feature turned on, you will now be able to run your Process and watch each element.

Application Screenshot Showing Element Highlight

The Process we have created so far interacts with the search text box twice. During playback, you should see it highlight the element before entering the search query, and then highlight the element again before sending the Enter key to submit the search.

Tutorial Summary

You have now completed the steps for this tutorial! During this tutorial, you should have learned:

a basic understanding of HTML formatting for tag names and attributes
how to use browser developer tools to inspect elements
how to set the value of an Element using Set value Activity
how to send a key to an Element using Send key Activity
how to duplicate Element identification from one Activity Call to another
how to pick an Argument's value from a list of suggested values
how to highlight Elements during playback

If you are unclear about any of these topics, we encourage you to go back and review the steps of the tutorial.