Datatel / ellucina Silverlight screens

[cbroome]

Good Afternoon

I have read the posts about automating data entry on the Datatel screens. (they changed their name to ellucian) and I see that this may not be easy. I am attempting to setup some unattended data entry on Verion 4.3.2 of the webUI.

 

I have successfully gotten snippets of code to intermittently work to:

* copy the person ID from the context box to a variable (using smoooove)

* copy the contents of the quick access box to a variable (using smoooove)

* Update data and save the records.

 

My problem is that it is inconsistent. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not.

 

If data entry is going to be unattended I would like to be able to tell what screen is active and what person record is in the context box. Then there are errors, and locked records to deal with. I have delays in place that are too long, and results are still inconsistent. I always start with a resize and position of the window and set the cursor position so I know where things start.

 

 

QUESTIONS:

Has anyone else done this?

Is the inconsistency I am seeing a feature of macro express?

Do the HOME, CONTROL-A, SHIFT HOME keystrokes not work in macro express or is this an ellucian silverlight thing?

 

Your advice would be most appreciated.

[marteb]

Hello cbroome,

 

We've been using Macro Express to enter data into the Datatel/ellucian desktop interface for several years. I am currently using Macro Express Pro and posted a question regarding Datatel Silverlight in that forum. Fortunately I still have access to the desktop interface and haven't needed to use webUI for major data entry projects.

 

I hope to start working on a script for the webUI soon, but don't hold out much hope that it will work well or efficiently in Silverlight. My scripts depend on the 'popups' in the interface to determine what actions to take, handling errors, etc.

 

My guess is that Silverlight is the problem, not Macro Express. As far as the shortcut keys you mentioned, some only work within the UI form itself.

 

marteb

 

[acantor]

It's tricky automating tasks in non-standard windows via macros. However, automating tasks in standard windows is also not always easy.

 

It's not unusual to create a script in five minutes that works reliably 95% of the time. To get it to the 99% level can take considerably longer. No macro is 100% reliable. Even a very simple script may fail due to a Windows or application hiccough. When a macro sends to delivers information via the internet, count on it being less reliable.

 

In general, adding time delays is not the best approach. I find "Wait for..." statements work better. (In fact, I find them better in Macro Express 3 than in Pro.)

 

Trial-and-error experimentation is the only way to improve reliability of Macro Express scripts. Be cognizant that there is a point of diminishing returns. If you can bash out a script that is 99% reliable in one hour, are you willing to spend 20 hours to make it work reliably 99.5% of the time? There is no right answer: sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes no.

 

A script that detects when something has gone afoul, and then stops, is worth putting time into when writing complex automation tasks.

[cbroome]

Good Morning Everyone

 

 

Thanks folks, I agree about the 100% thing, the first bit is easy, it is more complicated to get it to be consistently reliable.

 

My demo of macro express expired and I downloaded macro express pro. The code that was inconsistent started working much better in the pro version. I have have successfully gotten text from the pop up boxes in webUI version 4.3.2 by hovering the mouse over the text then right clicking and copying to the clipboard. (no need for smoooove any more) I then put the text in a variable and check it in the calling macro.

 

Cheers!