RPA Design &

Development
v1.1

Lesson 10
Selectors
Agenda
Selectors
UI Element Properties of Selector editor
Static and Dynamic UI Selector Status
Accessing the selector Editor UI Explorer

Types of Selectors
Full
Partial
Dynamic

Customization
Customizing Selector

Debugging
Selector Debugging
Learning Objectives

Explain the functional

components of selectors

Define selectors
Learn how to debug
selectors

Identify the types of selectors

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Selectors
UI Element Properties of Selector editor
Static and Dynamic UI Selector Status
Accessing the selector Editor UI Explorer

Types of Selectors

Customization

Debugging
Selectors
Selectors are a fundamental part of UiPath Studio that are used to recognize the
objects on the project screen.
UI Element
UI element refers to all graphical user interface pieces that construct an application.

Example of UI elements:
 Search bar
 Search button
 Audio button
User Interface and its Types
The UI elements are embedded in User Interface that acts like a container holding all
the pieces that construct an application.

Types of User
Static User Interface Interface Dynamic User Interface
Static and Dynamic User Interface

Static Interface Scenario Dynamic Interface Scenario

The UI element entitled “Address” will always be found at In this example, the layout has changed although it
this exact pixel coordinate in the part of the web page. If contains the same UI elements. The selector from the first
the layout does not change, the selector will remain valid example would become invalid as the pixel positioning of
through its operations. the “Address” element has changed.
Selector Editor
The selector editor window enables us to see the automatically generated selectors
and edit their attributes.

To access this window:

 Go to the Workflow
Designer panel
 Click on the activity
whose selector you want
to edit
 In the properties panel,
click on the option
“TARGET”
Selector Editor (Contd.)
The selector editor window can also be accessed by:

To access this window:

 Click the hamburger

button next to the
selector field in the
properties panel
 Click on “Edit Selector ”
Properties of the Selector Editor
On clicking the hamburger button, the following options are displayed

 Indicate on Screen
 Edit Selector
 Change Informative
Screenshot
 Remove Informative
Screenshot
 Show Informative
Screenshot (Double
Click)
Selector status
The selector status can be viewed in the selector editor window.
Ui Explorer
The Ui Explorer is used to customize the selector.
Properties of Ui Explorer

 The Visual Tree is

located on the left-hand
side of UI Explorer
 To change the format of
text written in a notepad,
click on “menu item
Format” button
Property Explorer
The Property Explorer contains features which make UI Explorer functionality
exclusive.

 Validate
 Indicate Element
 Highlight
Selectors

Types of Selectors
Full
Partial
Dynamic

Customization

Debugging
Types Of Selectors
The Selectors are defined by looking at the element they target to perform their
specific activity.

Partial Selectors
Are mainly generated by the Full Selectors
Desktop Recorder Contain all the required
elements to identify a UI
element

Dynamic Selectors
Can change attribute
values based on the
selected variable.
Types Of Selectors (Contd.)
Full selectors Partial selectors
Best suited for situations in which the action performed Best suited for performing multiple actions in the same
requires switching between multiple windows. window.

Editor Section

Explorer
Section

Dynamic selectors
Best suited for situations in which the targeted element can constantly change it’s its value.
Selectors

Types of Selectors

Customization
Customizing Selector

Debugging
Customizing Selectors
When a wildcard is used or a variable is added in between selectors, it is called
customizing selectors. The default selector contains preset attributes.

Default selector

<webctrl id=“targetElem-212345”>

Target VariableV
Element alue
Customizing Selectors (Contd.)
The customized selector contains the “*” wildcard that replaces certain characters.

Customized selector

<webctrl id=“targetElem-*”>

Target VariableV
Element alue

Wildcard types

Asterisk (*) – replaces zero or more characters

Question mark (?) – replaces a single character
Customizing Selectors (Contd.)
A wildcard is a special character that can replace the dynamic part of a selector. There
are two types of wildcard:

Asterisk (*)
Replaces zero or more
characters.
Question mark (?)
Replaces a single
character.
Selectors

Types of Selectors

Customization

Debugging
Selector Debugging
Debugging
Debugging is the process of identifying and removing errors from a given project.

Use the UI
Identify the Refresh the
Explorer to
element causing webpage after
inspect the user
the issue. modifying
interface
attribute values.
applications.

UI Explorer Examine Identify Fix Refresh Test

Test the
Examine the Change the functionality of the
elements from the element’s recently
element’s path attributes. debugged
element.
Takeaways
Selectors, Types of Selectors

There are 3 types of selectors:

Selectors rely on the GUI of
Partial, Full and Dynamic, each
the application to find
having specific attributes.
elements

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Takeaways
Customization, Debugging

The wildcard is a symbol that You can use the UI Explorer tool for
enables you to replace the debugging.
characters during the runtime
process.

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Questions & Answers

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What is the format in which the selectors store GUI
attributes and characteristics?

a) XML.

b) JavaScript.

c) CommaSeparatedValues.
Which of the following best defines a partial
selector?

a) Contains all the required elements to identify an UI element,

including the top-level window.

b) It’s generated by the Desktop Recorder and does not contain

information about the top-level window.

c) Can change certain attribute values based on the selected

variable.
Which types of selector are best suited for wildcard

a) Partial selectors.

b) Full selectors.

c) Dynamic selectors.
Which set of activities can help you when
debugging selectors?

a) “Identify Element”, “List Plugins” and “Expand Selectors”.

b) “Find Element”, “Element Exists”, “Find Children” and “Get

Attributes”.

c) “Find Bug”, “Show Element Path” and “List Extensions”.

 RPA Challenge

Open the RPA Challenge

Press Start to begin the
link in a browser.
RPA Challenge.
http://rpachallenge.com/

Prerequisite Step 1 Step 2 Step 3

Read the instructions presented in

Make sure that UiPath Studio is installed
the exercise and download the
on the machine.
required Excel file.
 Next Steps

Module 4: Image, Text & Advanced Citrix Automation

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