When you highlight the cell and use the keystrokes Ctrl + C to copy a cell in Excel, it also copies an extra ENTER keystroke along with the data in the cell. To only copy the cell in the Excel file use the keystrokes [F2][HOME][SHIFT DOWN][END][SHIFT UP][CTRL DOWN]c[CTRL UP].
The above series of keystrokes copies the data in the cell.
Now, if you want to move the cursor to the next cell after copying the current cell then you need to use the following keystrokes.
- ENTER to move one row down in the same column
- TAB to move to the next cell to the RIGHT in the same row
- Shift + ENTER ( [SHIFT DOWN][ENTER][SHIFT UP] ) to move one row up in the same column
- Shift + TAB ( [SHIFT DOWN][TAB][SHIFT UP] ) to move to the next cell to the LEFT in the same row
To skip a cell, you need to use the corresponding key twice. For e.g. to move RIGHT to alternate cells, you have to use [TAB][TAB]
Most of the applications support the keyboard shortcut 'Ctrl + V' to paste the data that has been copied to clipboard. To paste the data using keyboard you need to ensure that the focus is at correct place for e.g. right cell in a table or correct control in browser page etc. and then perform the 'Ctrl + V' keystrokes. To simulate Ctrl + V in Automation Anywhere, you need to write it as [CTRL DOWN]v[CTRL UP].
The above series of keystrokes paste the data in your application.
Following are some examples on how to move to next record/cell in your application using keyboard.
- TAB key is useful to move from highlighted link to next link in an Internet Explorer webpage
- [RIGHT ARROW] is useful to move to next cell in the same row in a Microsoft Word Table
- Some applications also support space (using space bar) to move to next control or button.
Automation Anywhere provides following System variables that can be used in appending timestamps
- Year
- Month
- Day
- Hour
- Minute
- Second
- Date
You can use the combination of any of the above variables to create a timestamp of your own choice.
Examples
- To append Year, Month and Day at the end of ABC you have to write ABC$Year$$Month$$Day$
- To put a complete timestamp with date and time, you can use ABC$Year$$Month$$Day$$Hour$$Minute$$Second$
- You can also put your own characters in between the variables for e.g. ABC$Year$-$Month$-$Day$
- To use the Date variable, you can configure your own format from Tools->Variable Manager->System Variable->Date. If you are using this variable to append to filenames then please ensure there are no slashes (/) in your date format as it is not supported in any filenames in Windows operating system.
When you record a task, it is possible that you would have double-clicked the icon of your application on the desktop or went to Start->Programs menu and clicked the icon from the menu. Now, it is very likely that over a period of few days the location of those icons can change resulting in the task to error out. We recommend you to follow the below mentioned best practice
- Open your task in Task Editor
- Select the actions that involve going to the menu items and clicking. It may involve several mouse moves and mouse clicks actions.
- Delete all of those actions.
- Replace them with just single line command called Open Program/File (found under Windows/Programs/Files category) and specify the path of your application to open. It also provides facility to pass parameters in case your application needs parameters while launching.
- This command will open your application no matter where the icon is located.