Got an Emergency - Macro unable to see controls on Prod Server

[gryphon410]

Ok, so...I developed a macro on a dev server for a customer through RDP and was expecting that the environment and setup would all be the same as it would be for their Prod server. When I did everything on dev, my "Get Control" worked just fine. Here's an example -

 

<GET CONTROL Flags="1" Program_Name="FSMAIN.EXE" Class="ThunderRT6MDIForm" Title="ProgramName - Acme" Control="\"MDIClient\",\"3\",\"MDIActiveXClass\",\"1\",\"ThunderRT6FormDC\",\"1\",


\"WindowsForms10.Window.8.app.0.378734a\",\"1\",\"WindowsForms10.Window.8.app.0.378734a\",\"1\",\"WindowsForms10.Window.8.app.0.378734a\",\"20\",\"WindowsForms10.Window.b.app.0.378734a\",


\"2\",\"WindowsForms10.EDIT.app.0.378734a\",\"1\"" Variable="%C[1]%" Caption="ProgramName - Acme" Partial="TRUE" Wildcards="FALSE" _COMMENT="Obtain information about the Client ID field 


to be able to gain focus."/>

When I do the same thing on the Prod server, it's not interacting with the program at all. Instead, it seems like the capture is only getting to the top level of my remote session and grabbing that information. Here's what I get -

<GET CONTROL Flags="1" Program_Name="WFICA32.EXE" Class="Transparent Windows Client" Title="ProgramName - Acme - \\\\Remote" Variable="%C[1]%" Caption="ProgramName - Acme - \\\\Remote" Partial="TRUE" Wildcards="FALSE" _COMMENT="Obtain information about the Client ID field to be able to gain focus."/>

I'm being told that for the dev server, we connect to RDP and on that machine we are already on the network.

 

For the prod server, they use their own "foreign" Azure box and then they use the Citrix receiver to connect to the network and run the "ProgramName" application. Basically the services are not running directly from the server because it's going through Citrix from the server to the network. The app is ported in VIA Citrix.

 

So...what can I do? Is there a way I can still use the controls? I was using all my time and effort building a macro that would consistently work and be accurate all based off of the controls. Without the controls being able to be worked with, I would have to do a ton of rework and attempt this from a completely different angle.

 

Please help! Looking for any ideas on what we could do here!!

 

Thanks,

Doug

 

 

 

[rberq]

We had a problem (not Macro Express, but similar) where the developer tested via RDP on the DEV server. He turned a pretty shade of green when he discovered all the users would be connecting via Citrix so nothing worked. We had to get special dispensation to run the application directly on all the Citrix servers, then it was OK. Maybe something like that could work for you?

[Cory]

rberg is right. If you check some of the posts in here on RDP you can see this crops up from time to time. You can't very well run MEP though an RDP session, you need to install MEP on the RDP server and run MEP on that machine, not the client machine.

[Cory]

Update: This is a case of a Citrix virtual application, not RDP.

[Cory]

I've been helping gryphon410 outside of the forum. What I've found is that Citrix can give a virtual desktop (like MS RDP) or a virtual application. In this case the virtual application the WinForm alone appears like a program running on your local desktop. But what it is is an app which acts as a tunnel to the app running on the server. There is only one control and it appears that all it does it pass though user input events. In terms of writing macros it's very much like working in a web browser web form.

[rberq]

I've been helping gryphon410 outside of the forum. What I've found is that Citrix can give a virtual desktop (like MS RDP) or a virtual application. In this case the virtual application the WinForm alone appears like a program running on your local desktop. But what it is is an app which acts as a tunnel to the app running on the server. There is only one control and it appears that all it does it pass though user input events. In terms of writing macros it's very much like working in a web browser web form.

Didn't understand a word you said. Can he run ME on the Citrix server, or on the application server, or is he SOL?

[Cory]

In this case he's kind of SoL. You see, even if one did install it there he's not getting an desktop experience. It's like a tunnel with a glass plate on one end and the other end the application WinForm. So he can't see the desktop or anything else.

[rberq]

Ouch.