Keyboard commands

Keyboard commands are a type of Interaction Expression. With keyboard commands, the Bot pretends to be a user: It navigates your application, typing on the keyboard.

Typically, you scan your application to create a Module and then use keyboard commands in the Steps that you create from this Module. Often, you will combine keyboard commands with click operations.

RPA Studio offers the following types of keyboard commands:

• Text and numbers

• Single keyboard commands for simple commands

• Key combinations with the WinForms function SendKeys for more complex user interactions. For instance, if you want the Bot to mark all content of an entry field with CRTL + A and then delete it.

• Virtual-key codes to simulate keyboard entries if your application doesn't support single keyboard commands or SendKeys.

You can also steer entire windows rather than individual elements in a window.

To do so, use the Module Send Keys from the RPA subset.

Enter letters and numbers

To insert letters or numbers, simply enter the letters or numbers.

You can use uppercase or lowercase letters. RPA Studio interprets capital letters as SHIFT + lower case letters.

Some applications might not accept the input of several text characters at once.

In this case, use the syntax {TEXTINPUT["<Unicode characters>"]} to enter your text as Unicode characters.

Use single keyboard commands

To perform single keyboard commands, use the syntax {COMMAND}.

The following commands are available:

Command	Action
BACKSPACE	Backspace
BREAK	Break
CAPSLOCK	Caps Lock
CLEAR	Clear
DEL	Del
DOWN	↓
END	End
ENTER	Enter
ESC	Esc
HELP	Help
HOME	Home
INSERT	Ins
LEFT	←
NUMLOCK	Num Lock
RETURN	↵
RIGHT	→
SCROLLLOCK	Scroll Lock
TAB	Tab
UP	↑
SHIFT, LSHIFT, RSHIFT	Shift, Left Shift, Right Shift
CTRL, LCTRL, RCTRL	Ctrl, Left Ctrl, Right Ctrl
ALT, LALT, RALT	Alt, Left Alt, Right Alt
F1 ... F24	F1 - F24
LWIN	Left Windows key
RWIN	Right Windows key
APPS	Windows context menu key

Use key combinations

This Expression allows you to perform more complex user interactions. It uses the WinForms function SendKeys.

To define a key combination in RPA Studio, use the syntax {SENDKEYS["<Microsoft SendKeys command>"]}.

For a list of available SendKeys commands and their syntax, see the Microsoft SendKeys documentation: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.forms.sendkeys.aspx

The double quotation marks " that enclose the SendKeys command escape any special characters within the command. If your command contains double quotation marks as a special character, you need additional escaping. For more information on working with special characters, see "Use special characters".

In some cases, your application may need some time to process between commands.

You can add the special task configuration parameter SendKeysDelay or the steering parameter SendKeysDelay to specify a delay in milliseconds.

If you have specified both, the steering parameter takes precedence.

Simulate keyboard entries

This Expression allows you to simulate keyboard entries by using Microsoft virtual-key codes.

To use virtual-key codes in your Expressions, use the syntax {KEYPRESS[<Microsoft Virtual-key code>]}.

For a list of available virtual-key codes, see the Microsoft virtual-key codes documentation: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd375731(v=vs.85).aspx

If you want to perform key combinations, use the syntax {KEYDOWN[Virtual-key code]} for pressing the key and {KEYUP[Virtual-key code]} for releasing it.