Issues with Element Selectors in UiPath Studio - Need Guidance

Help Studio
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Hello UiPath Community,

I recently started using UiPath Studio for automating some repetitive tasks at my workplace, and while I’ve found most of the features intuitive, I’m struggling with a recurring issue related to element selectors. I’m hoping to get some advice from more experienced users here.

Background: I’m working on a project that involves automating data entry tasks in a web application. The workflow requires clicking on various buttons, entering data into fields, and navigating through different pages. The problem arises when the selectors for these elements don’t seem to remain consistent across sessions or even within the same session at times.

The Issue: Here are some specifics about the problems I’m encountering:

  1. Dynamic Selectors: The web application seems to have dynamic IDs for buttons and input fields, which change every time I reload the page or log in again. This makes the selectors generated by UiPath unreliable as they often fail to find the elements during subsequent runs.
  2. Anchor Base Activity: I tried using the Anchor Base activity to make the selection more robust by identifying elements based on nearby static elements. However, this approach sometimes fails when the layout of the page changes slightly, or if the anchor element is not unique enough.
  3. Wildcards and Variables: I’ve read about using wildcards (*) and variables to handle dynamic elements, but I’m unsure about the best practices for implementing these in a way that maintains the reliability of my automation.

Questions:

  1. How do you manage dynamic selectors in web applications effectively? Are there specific strategies or tools within UiPath Studio that can help create more stable selectors?
  2. What are some best practices for using the Anchor Base activity? Are there particular scenarios where this activity is more effective, and how can I ensure it improves the reliability of my automation?
  3. Can you share examples of using wildcards and variables in selectors? Any tips on balancing flexibility and accuracy when dealing with selectors in UiPath Studio would be greatly appreciated.

Additional Context: I’ve gone through some of the UiPath Academy training and read several forum posts, but I’m still finding it challenging to apply these solutions to my specific scenario. I’m hoping to get some insights from those who have dealt with similar issues and successfully resolved them.

Thank you in advance for your help and suggestions. Your expertise and experience are invaluable to those of us who are new to UiPath and RPA in general.

Best regards,
Emily

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@theidioms

Use Strict Selectors instead of fuzzy,Use Anchors to uniqly identify the target element
Use Retry scope activity,if the target element identification is not done at first it will retry 2nd time.

1 Like
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@theidioms ,

Don’t depend on only ID’s of the selectors. Try finding more constant selectors like AAname, Inner text, visible text etc. You can check all peroperties and build striong, reliable selector using Ui Explorer.

Anchor Base is also depends on the selectors you are selecting for it. Try to be as precise as possible and constant values.

Simple examples would be like below:

  1. Using wildcards: Suppose if your web browser title changes as per transaction number and the length of that is also dynamic like Order No 1232, Order No 123245, Order No 1232345345
    You would use it like this in selector: Order No* This will be able to identify the Ui Element correctly for all order numbers.

  2. Using Variable: We can take same example as above for Order no. You can to make it more dynamic and have the order number to place at number in selector then you can use selector as below.

string.Format("<webctrl aaname='{0}' parentid='post_1' tag='A' />", strUserId)

Thanks,
Ashok :slight_smile:

1 Like
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Idioms Thank you very much Ashok and Rajyalakshmi for your help and prompt reply. I found your simple examples useful and helping.

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@theidioms,

Happy to help you @theidioms :smiley: Happy Automation :pray:

Thanks,
Ashok :slight_smile:

1 Like
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Hi Ashok,

I received an email stating that I should select the solution post if the topic is resolved. So, I’m choosing it.

Well, thank you so much for your help with the issues. Your guidance was spot on and really made a difference. You’ve turned what seemed like a complex problem into a manageable task.

Best regards,
Elena