Post by SOTE » 26 Jan 2020, 07:58
drizzt wrote: ↑25 Jan 2020, 19:14
For example I created a simple sysview32 tree for testing purposes. now in UIpath all i need to do to click on a specific item in this tree is to use the recorder and click on the number i want. now whenever this script runs, it will click on that number.
The way UIpath works (and modern RPA tools I suspect) is it automatically breaks down all windows into their UIelements and is able to find those elements based on their windows attributes. this is all built into the system.. no need to go on forums and hope that some AHK expert created a library tool like ACCget, findText etc..
The learning curve and amount of effort required is so much greater in AHK compared to UIpath (and probably other RPA tools like BluePrism Automation Anywhere etc)
This simple process would take many many hours of coding in AHK vs 5 minutes in a modern RPA tool.
Maybe one day some AHK guru can create a tool that gives AHK the same functionality as UIpath.
There seems to be some confusion. Do you not know about WindowSpy.ahk, that comes with AutoHotkey installations (check install directory), works with standard Windows GUIs, and shows controls?
And, I don't see the problem with using a library tool like AccViewer (
https://www.autohotkey.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=40590) for finding controls, etc...
In your previous post, you were referring to working with a spreadsheet, but didn't name what that was. Was that Microsoft Excel or something else? Or are you specifying the issue that you are having is with non-standard Windows GUI programs or Web Browsers? The more vague you are about what you are doing, the harder it is for people to be clear about what is going on.
The learning curve and amount of effort required is so much greater in AHK compared to UIpath (and probably other RPA tools like BluePrism Automation Anywhere etc)
AHK can be used for doing a lot more. The effort required to learn AHK has a great return later on, as it's a more gentle way for regular folk and non-programmers to get into programming and having a great amount of flexibility in the type of utility programs that can be made. At a certain point, AHK users can build their own tools or modify the free open source tools contributed to the community (like with AccViewer). AHK is a scripting language, not just an application. For example, Pulover's Macro Creator is an RPA-like application built years before the term became popular. If a person is so willing, they can modify the existing application or build a new RPA-like one.
I'm not saying that UiPath or other RPA tools can't have certain advantages, but so can AutoHotkey over them, so this can be more of a plus and minus type of thing, where it depends on the subject and what people are trying to do.
[quote=drizzt post_id=311322 time=1579997678 user_id=87755]
For example I created a simple sysview32 tree for testing purposes. now in UIpath all i need to do to click on a specific item in this tree is to use the recorder and click on the number i want. now whenever this script runs, it will click on that number.
The way UIpath works (and modern RPA tools I suspect) is it automatically breaks down all windows into their UIelements and is able to find those elements based on their windows attributes. this is all built into the system.. no need to go on forums and hope that some AHK expert created a library tool like ACCget, findText etc..
The learning curve and amount of effort required is so much greater in AHK compared to UIpath (and probably other RPA tools like BluePrism Automation Anywhere etc)
This simple process would take many many hours of coding in AHK vs 5 minutes in a modern RPA tool.
Maybe one day some AHK guru can create a tool that gives AHK the same functionality as UIpath.
[/quote]
There seems to be some confusion. Do you not know about WindowSpy.ahk, that comes with AutoHotkey installations (check install directory), works with standard Windows GUIs, and shows controls?
And, I don't see the problem with using a library tool like AccViewer ([url]https://www.autohotkey.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=40590[/url]) for finding controls, etc...
In your previous post, you were referring to working with a spreadsheet, but didn't name what that was. Was that Microsoft Excel or something else? Or are you specifying the issue that you are having is with non-standard Windows GUI programs or Web Browsers? The more vague you are about what you are doing, the harder it is for people to be clear about what is going on.
[quote]The learning curve and amount of effort required is so much greater in AHK compared to UIpath (and probably other RPA tools like BluePrism Automation Anywhere etc)[/quote]
AHK can be used for doing a lot more. The effort required to learn AHK has a great return later on, as it's a more gentle way for regular folk and non-programmers to get into programming and having a great amount of flexibility in the type of utility programs that can be made. At a certain point, AHK users can build their own tools or modify the free open source tools contributed to the community (like with AccViewer). AHK is a scripting language, not just an application. For example, Pulover's Macro Creator is an RPA-like application built years before the term became popular. If a person is so willing, they can modify the existing application or build a new RPA-like one.
I'm not saying that UiPath or other RPA tools can't have certain advantages, but so can AutoHotkey over them, so this can be more of a plus and minus type of thing, where it depends on the subject and what people are trying to do.