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Reference

Use this section to look up information on steps, helper functions and run options you can use. You can explore using the navigation headers.

Steps

The steps you can use in TagUI are listed here.

Mouse and keyboard

click

Left clicks on the identifier.
click [DOM/XPath/Point/Image]

Examples

click Main concepts
click //nav/div/div[2]/ul/li[4]/ul/li[1]/a
click (500,200)
click button.png

rclick

Right clicks on the identifier.
rclick [DOM/XPath/Point/Image]

See :ref:`click <click>` for examples.

dclick

Double left clicks on the identifier.
dclick [DOM/XPath/Point/Image]

See :ref:`click <click>` for examples.

hover

Moves mouse cursor to the identifier.
hover [DOM/XPath/Point/Image]

See :ref:`click <click>` for examples.

type

Types into a web input. You can use [clear] to clear the field and [enter] to hit the Enter key.
type [DOM/XPath/Point/Image] as [text to type]

Examples

type search-term as John Wick
type //input[@name="search"] as John Wick
type (500,200) as John Wick
type input_field.png as John Wick

type search-term as [clear]John Wick[enter]
type //input[@name="search"] as [clear]John Wick[enter]
type (500,200) as [clear]John Wick[enter]
type input_field.png as [clear]John Wick[enter]

keyboard

Enters keystrokes directly.

keyboard [keys]

You can use the following special keys:

  • [shift] [ctrl] [alt] [win] [cmd] [enter]
  • [space] [tab] [esc] [backspace] [delete] [clear]
  • [up] [down] [left] [right] [pageup] [pagedown]
  • [home] [end] [insert] [f1] .. [f15]
  • [printscreen] [scrolllock] [pause] [capslock] [numlock]

Examples

keyboard [win]run[enter]
keyboard [printscreen]
keyboard [ctrl]c
keyboard [tab][tab][tab][enter]

keyboard [cmd][space]
keyboard safari[enter]
keyboard [cmd]c

mouse

Explicitly sends a mouse event at the current mouse position.
In most cases, you want you use :ref:`click <click>` instead.
mouse down
mouse up

Web

visit

Visits the provided URL.

[URL]

Examples

https://google.com

select

Selects a dropdown option in a web input.
select [DOM/XPath of select input element] as [option value or text]

Examples

select variant as blue

table

Saves table data to a csv file, base on the table number on webpage or its :ref:`XPath <xpath>` identifier.

table [table number] to [filename.csv]
table [XPath] to [filename.csv]

Examples

table 1 to regional_exchange_rates.csv
table (//table)[2] to global_exchange_rates.csv
table //table[@name='report'] to report.csv

popup

Modifies the next steps to be run in a new tab.

popup [unique part of new tab's URL]
  [steps]

Examples

popup confirm
  click Confirm

frame

Modifies the next steps to use the DOM or XPath in a frame or subframe.

frame [frame name]
  [steps]

frame [frame name] | [subframe name]
  [steps]

Examples

frame navigation
  click Products

frame main | register
  click Register

download to

Specifies a location to store file downloads. The default location is the folder of the TagUI flow.
download to [folder location]

upload

Uploads file to a website.
Only :ref:`DOM <dom>` identifier can be used.
upload [DOM of upload element] as [filename]

Examples

upload #element_id as report.csv

api

Call a web API and save the raw response to the variable api_result.

If the response is in JSON, api_json will automatically be created.

api https://some-api-url

Examples

api https://api.github.com/repos/kelaberetiv/TagUI/releases
echo `api_result`
author = api_json[0].author.login

For an advanced example of using api step, setting POST/GET method, header and body, see this example from aito.ai - a web-based machine learning solution for no-coders and RPA developers. In the example, api step is used to make a machine-learning inference to generate the account code of an invoice item, based on its description and price. aito.ai's free tier comes with 2000 API calls/month and it works perfectly with TagUI.

Excel

Perform read, write, copy, delete actions on Excel files using standard Excel formula like this one [workbook]sheet!range. This feature works with both Windows and Mac Excel apps. See this link for notes of passed test cases and known limitations for this feature. To access a password-protected Excel file, use excel_password = 'password'.

variables

You can use variables in your Excel formula, for eg range or sheet. Various Excel file formats are supported, be sure to put the file's .extension as part of the formula so that TagUI can recognise that the instruction is an Excel step instead of some JavaScript code.

[`workbook`.xlsx]`sheet`!`range` = 123
data = [`workbook`.xlsx]`sheet`!`range`

visibility

By default, the Excel app will be opened and run in the background. If you want the automated actions on Excel to be in focus in foreground, you can set it with excel_focus = true in your workflow. Use excel_focus = false to set it off again in your workflow.

For some usage scenarios, you might not even want the Excel app to be visible in the background. In that case, you can set excel_visible = false in your workflow to run Excel invisibly. Use excel_visible = true to make Excel visible again in your RPA workflow.

read

Read data from Excel files. Both relative and absolute file paths supported. Error will be shown if the specified file or sheet does not exist. In below line, range can be a cell or range in Excel.

variable = [workbook]sheet!range

Reading columns and rows can be done using standard Excel formula for range, for example A:A (column A), B:D (columns B to D), 2:2 (row 2), 3:5 (rows 3 to 5). There is no standard Excel formula for selecting the entire range of a sheet, so you will have to provide the actual range required.

Examples

top_profit = [Monthly Report.xlsx]August!E10
top_salesman = [Monthly Report.xlsx]August!E11
data_array = [Quarterly Metrics.xlsx]Main!B3:G100
data_array = [C:\Reports\June.xls]Sheet1!A1:C2

data_array = [C:\Reports\June.xls]Sheet1!A:A
data_array = [C:\Reports\June.xls]Sheet1!B:D
data_array = [C:\Reports\June.xls]Sheet1!2:2
data_array = [C:\Reports\June.xls]Sheet1!3:5

TagUI's backend language is JavaScript, thus data_array can be used just like a JavaScript array.

// to work on data in data_array cell by cell
for row from 0 to data_array.length-1
  for col from 0 to data_array[row].length-1
    echo `data_array[row][col]`

Note - There was a limitation on reading multiple rows and columns, for eg B:D and 3:5 (data array returned will be a 1 x N array instead of the correct row x column array). This is now fixed in v6.87. Get your copy with tagui update command or from MS Word Plug-in Update TagUI button.

write

Write data to Excel files. Both relative and absolute file paths supported. If the specified file does not exist, a new file will be created. If the sheet does not exist, a new sheet will be created. If the data is an array, the given cell will be used as the top-left cell to write the range of cells.

[workbook]sheet!cell = variable

Examples

[Monthly Report.xlsx]August!E10 = 12345
[Monthly Report.xlsx]August!E11 = "Alan"
[Monthly Report.xlsx]August!E12 = variable
[Quarterly Metrics.xlsx]Main!B3 = data_array

TagUI's backend language is JavaScript, thus range data can be defined just like a JavaScript array.

// to assign a set of range data with 2 rows of 3 columns
[C:\Reports\June.xls]Sheet1!A1 = [[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6]]
[C:\Reports\June.xls]Sheet1!A1 = [[variable_1, variable_2, variable_3], [4, 5, 6]]

// example spreadsheet data with #, name and country
[Participants.xlsx]Sheet1!A1 = [['1', 'John', 'USA'], [2, 'Jenny', 'Russia'], [3, 'Javier', 'Serbia']]

// get the next row count for the example spreadsheet
column_A = [Participants.xlsx]Sheet1!A:A
next_row = column_A.length + 1

// write a new row accordingly to example spreadsheet
[Participants.xlsx]Sheet1!A`next_row` = [[next_row, 'Janice', 'Brazil']]

copy

Copy data across Excel files. Both relative and absolute file paths supported. Error will be shown if the specified source file or sheet does not exist. If the specified destination file does not exist, a new file will be created. If the destination sheet does not exist, a new sheet will be created. If the data is an array, the given cell will be used as the top-left cell to write the range of cells.

[workbook]sheet!cell = [workbook]sheet!range

Examples

[Monthly Report.xlsx]August!A1 = [Jennifer Report.xlsx]August!A1
[Monthly Report.xlsx]August!A1 = [Jennifer Report.xlsx]August!A1:E200

delete

Delete data in Excel files. Both relative and absolute file paths supported. Error will be shown if the specified file or sheet does not exist. Delete a range of cells by assigning an empty array to it.

[workbook]sheet!cell = ""

Examples

[Monthly Report.xlsx]August!E10 = ""
[Quarterly Metrics.xlsx]Main!A1 = [["", "", ""], ["", "", ""]]

Word

You can read the text contents of a Microsoft Word document simply by assigning its filename to a variable as follows. TagUI will automate Microsoft Word to copy out the text contents and assign to the variable. Note that you need to have Microsoft Word installed on your computer. This feature works for both Windows and Mac.

Examples for Windows

word_text = [Research Report.docx]
word_text = [C:\Users\Jennifer\Desktop\Report.docx]
word_text = [FY2021 Reports\Research Report.docx]

filename = 'C:\\Users\\Jennifer\\Desktop\\Report'
word_text = [`filename`.docx]
filename = 'Research Report'
word_text = [`filename`.docx]

Examples for Mac

word_text = [Research Report.docx]
word_text = [/Users/jennifer/Desktop/Report.docx]
word_text = [FY2021 Reports/Research Report.docx]

filename = '/Users/jennifer/Desktop/Report'
word_text = [`filename`.docx]
filename = 'Research Report'
word_text = [`filename`.docx]

After reading the text content into a variable, you can process it using TagUI's helper functions such as get_text() and del_chars() to retrieve specific information required for your RPA scenario. Standard JavaScript functions can also be used to do string processing, for more information google javascript how to xxxx. After reading the text content from a Word document, TagUI will close Microsoft Word and continue with the rest of the automation steps.

PDF

You can read the text contents of a PDF file simply by assigning its filename to a variable as follows. TagUI will automate the PDF viewer app to copy out the text contents and assign to the variable. On Windows, you will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader and set it as your default PDF viewer. On Mac, TagUI will use the default Preview app that can already view PDF files.

Examples for Windows

pdf_text = [Research Report.pdf]
pdf_text = [C:\Users\Jennifer\Desktop\Report.pdf]
pdf_text = [FY2021 Reports\Research Report.pdf]

filename = 'C:\\Users\\Jennifer\\Desktop\\Report'
pdf_text = [`filename`.pdf]
filename = 'Research Report'
pdf_text = [`filename`.pdf]

Examples for Mac

pdf_text = [Research Report.pdf]
pdf_text = [/Users/jennifer/Desktop/Report.pdf]
pdf_text = [FY2021 Reports/Research Report.pdf]

filename = '/Users/jennifer/Desktop/Report'
pdf_text = [`filename`.pdf]
filename = 'Research Report'
pdf_text = [`filename`.pdf]

After reading the text content into a variable, you can process it using TagUI's helper functions such as get_text() and del_chars() to retrieve specific information required for your RPA scenario. Standard JavaScript functions can also be used to do string processing, for more information google javascript how to xxxx. After reading the text content from a PDF file, TagUI will close the PDF viewer and continue with the rest of the automation steps.

Using variables

read

Gets some text or value and stores it in a variable.
read [DOM/XPath/Region/Image] to [variable]

When you provide a Region or Image identifier, TagUI uses OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to read the characters from the screen.

Examples

read //p[@id="address"] to address

read //p[@id="address"]/@class to address-class

read (500,200)-(600,400) to id-number

read frame.png to email

assign

Saves text to a variable.

[variable] = [value]
When using text in the value, surround the text in quotes, like "some text". This is actually treated by TagUI as JavaScript, so you can assign numbers to variables or use other JavaScript functions. The variable name needs to be a single word and cannot start with a number.

Examples

count = 5
username = "johncleese"
fullname = firstname + lastname

File saving/loading

dump

Saves text to a new file.

dump [text] to [filename]
dump [`variable`] to [filename]
// creates blank CSV file with header
dump First Name,Last Name to names.csv

write

Saves a new line of text to an existing file.

write [text] to [filename]
write [`variable`] to [filename]

Examples

write firstname,lastname to names.csv
write `fullreport` to report.txt

load

Loads file content to a variable.

load [filename] to [variable]

Examples

load report.txt to report

snap

Saves a screenshot of the whole page, an element or a region.
snap [DOM/XPath/Region/Image/page] to [filename]

If you use page as the identifier, it takes a screenshot of the whole webpage.

Examples

snap logo to logo.png

snap page to webpage.png

Showing output

echo

Shows some output on the command line.

echo [text]
echo [`variable`]

Examples

echo Flow has started
echo The user is `username`

show

Shows element text directly on the command line.
show [DOM/XPath]

Examples

show review-text

check

Shows some output on the command line based on a :ref:`condition <if-statements>`.

check [condition] | [text if true] | [text if false]

Examples

check header_home_text equals to "Home" | "header text is correct" | "header text is wrong"

Custom code

js

Runs JavaScript code explicitly. TagUI has direct access to the JavaScript variables.

js [JavaScript statement]

js begin
[JavaScript statements]
js finish

Examples

js obj = JSON.parse(api_result)
dump `obj` to result.json

js begin
obj = JSON.parse(api_result)
randomInteger = Math.floor(Math.random() * Math.floor(5)) + 1
js finish
dump `obj` to result.json

py

Runs Python code and saves the stdout to the variable py_result as a string.

py [Python statement]

py begin
[Python statements]
py finish

Examples

py result = 2 + 3
py print(result)
echo `py_result`

py begin
import random
random_integer = random.randint(1,6)
print(random_integer)
py finish
echo `py_result`

:ref:`See this link <python>` for more examples and usage patterns on running Python code.

run

Runs a command in Command Prompt or Terminal and saves the stdout to the variable run_result.

run [shell command]

Examples

run cmd /c mkdir new_directory

vision

Runs Sikuli code.

vision [Sikuli statement]

vision begin
[Sikuli statements]
vision finish

Examples

vision click("button1.png")

dom

Runs code in the browser dom and saves returned value to the variable dom_result.

dom [JavaScript statement to run in the DOM]

dom begin
[JavaScript statements to run in the DOM]
dom finish

Examples

// goes back to previous page
dom window.history.back()

// returns text of an element
dom return document.querySelector('#some_id').textContent

r

Runs R statements and saves the stdout to the variable r_result.

r [R statement]

r begin
[R statements]
r finish

Miscellaneous

wait

Explicitly wait for some time.

wait [seconds to wait]
wait [seconds to wait] s
wait [seconds to wait] seconds

Examples

wait 5.5
wait 10 s
wait 20 seconds

timeout

Changes the auto-wait timeout when waiting for web elements to appear (default 10 seconds).

timeout [seconds to wait before timeout]

Examples

timeout 300

ask

Prompts user for input and saves the input as the variable ask_result.

ask [prompt]

Examples

ask What is the date of the receipt? (in DD-MM-YYYY)
type search as `ask_result`

live

Run steps interactively and immediately see the output. The user must enter "done" before the flow continues.

live

tagui

Runs another TagUI flow. Checks the flow's folder.

tagui [flow file]
tagui [folder/flow file]

Examples

tagui update-forex.tag
tagui flows/update-forex.tag

comment

Adds a comment. If you are inside a code block, for example an if condition or for loop, be sure to indent your comment accordingly to let TagUI run correctly after it converts into JavaScript code.

// [comment]

Examples

// updates the forex rates

telegram

Sends a Telegram notification, for example, to update on automation completion or exception.

First, message @taguibot to authorise it to send messages to your Telegram. Then in TagUI:

telegram [id] [message]

Examples

// this line sends message to Telegram user with ID 1234567890, \n means a new line
telegram 1234567890 Hello Alena,\n\nYour HR onboarding bot has completed successfully.

// show telegram_result variable - 'success' means sent, 'fail' means sending failed
echo Telegram message - `telegram_result`

// if condition to check telegram_result 'success' or 'fail' and handle accordingly
if telegram_result equals to 'success'
  echo Message sent successfully.
else
  echo Message sending failed.

Note that the telegram step requires an internet connection. This feature is being hosted at https://tebel.org, but the source code is on GitHub if you wish to host this feature on your own cloud or server. The implementation is in pure PHP without any dependencies.

The only info logged is chat_id, length of the message, datetime stamp (to prevent abuse). If you wish to host on your own, first read through this link to learn more about Telegram Bot API, creating your bot API token and setting up the webhook - https://core.telegram.org/bots

Run options

You can use the below options when running tagui.

For example, the command below runs my_flow.tag without showing the web browser, while storing the flow run result in tagui_report.csv.

tagui my_flow.tag -headless -report

-deploy or -d

Deploys a flow, creating a shortcut which can be double-clicked to run the flow. If the flow file is moved, a new shortcut must be created. The flow will be run with all the options used when creating the shortcut.

-headless or -h

Runs the flow with an invisible Chrome web browser (does not work for visual automation).

-nobrowser or -n

Runs without any web browser, for example to perform automation only with visual automation.

-report or -r

Tracks flow run result in tagui/src/tagui_report.csv and saves html logs of flows execution.

-turbo or -t

Run automation at 10X the speed of normal human user. Read caveats at Advanced concepts!

-quiet or -q

Runs without output to command prompt except for explicit output (echo, show, check steps and errors etc). To have fine-grained control on showing and hiding output during execution (eg hiding password from showing up), use quiet_mode = true and quiet_mode = false in your flow.

-edge or -e

Runs using Microsoft Edge browser instead of Chrome (can be used with -headless option).

my_datatable.csv

Uses the specified csv file as the datatable for batch automation. See :ref:`datatables <datatables>`.

input(s)

Add your own parameter(s) to be used in your automation flow as variables p1 to p8.

For example, from the command prompt, below line runs register_attendence.tag workflow using Microsoft Edge browser and with various student names as inputs.

tagui register_attendence.tag -edge Jenny Jason John Joanne

Inside the workflow, the variables p1, p2, p3, p4 will be available for use as part of the automation, for example to fill up student names into a web form for recording attendence. The following lines in the workflow will output various student names given as inputs.

echo `p1`
echo `p2`
echo `p3`
echo `p4`

See :doc:`other deprecated options </dep_options>`.

Helper functions

csv_row()

Formats an array for writing to csv file.

Examples

read name_element to name
read price_element to price
read details_element to details
write `csv_row([name, price, details])` to product_list.csv

count()

Gets the number of elements matching the identifier specified. Note that the identifier needs to be in single quotes ''.

Examples

rows = count('table-rows')

clipboard()

Puts text onto the clipboard, or gets the clipboard text (if no input is given).

Examples

clipboard('some text')
keyboard [ctrl]v

keyboard [ctrl]c
contents = clipboard()

url()

Gets the URL of the current web page.

Examples

if url() contains 'success'
  click button1

title()

Gets the title of the current web page.

Examples

if title() contains 'Confirmation'
  click button1

text()

Gets all text content of the current web page.

Examples

if text() contains 'success'
  click button1

timer()

Gets the time elapsed in seconds in between each running of this function.

Examples

timer()
click button1
click button2
click button3
echo `timer()`

exist()

Waits until the timeout for an element to exist and returns a JavaScript true or false depending on whether it exists or not.
Note that the identifier is surrounded by quotes.
exist('[DOM/XPath/Image]')

Examples

if exist('//table')
  click button1

present()

Same as :ref:`exist() <exist>` except that it does not wait until the timeout and immediately returns true or false.
Note that the identifier is surrounded by quotes.

Examples

if present('//table')
  click button1

mouse_xy()

Gets the x, y coordinates of the current mouse position.
Particularly useful in :ref:`live mode <live-mode>`.

Examples

echo `mouse_xy()`

mouse_x()

Gets the x coordinate of the current mouse position as a number, eg 200.

Examples

hover element.png
x = mouse_x() + 200
y = mouse_y()
click (`x`,`y`)

mouse_y()

Gets the y coordinate of the current mouse position as a number, eg 200.

Examples

hover element.png
x = mouse_x() + 200
y = mouse_y()
click (`x`,`y`)

get_files()

Returns an array of files and folders in a given folder. Both relative and absolute paths supported.

Examples

// list of files in the same folder as the flow file
list = get_files('.')

// list of files in the Desktop folder of user Alan
// note double backslash because of JavaScript string
list = get_files('C:\\Users\\Alan\\Desktop')

// alternatively, use single forward slash instead
list = get_files('C:/Users/Alan/Desktop')

// showing the list of files after retrieving it
// JavaScript array start from 0 for 1st element
for n from 0 to list.length-1
  echo `list[n]`

// checking to process a specific file extension
for n from 0 to list.length-1
  if list[n] contains '.XLSX'
    echo `list[n]`

get_text()

Extracts text between 2 provided anchors from given text. Optional 4th parameter for occurrence during multiple matches (for example 3 to tell the function to return the 3rd match found).

Examples

pdf_text = 'Name: John State: Texas City: Plano Contact: ...'

name = get_text(pdf_text, 'Name:', 'State:')
state = get_text(pdf_text, 'State:', 'City:')
city = get_text(pdf_text, 'City:', 'Contact:')

echo `name`, `state`, `city`

del_chars()

Cleans data by removing provided character(s) from given text and returning the result.

Examples

pdf_text = 'Name: John\n State: Texas\t City: Plano\n Contact: ...'
echo `del_chars(pdf_text, '\n\t:')`

get_env()

Returns the value of given environment variable from the operating system.

Examples

// getting %USERPROFILE% variable for Windows
echo `get_env('USERPROFILE')`
home_dir = get_env('USERPROFILE')

// getting $HOME variable for Mac or Linux
echo `get_env('HOME')`
home_dir = get_env('HOME')