UIPATH fails while screen recording!

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Hello Folks,

I’ve been using UIPATH for a long time, and loved this tool. Quite easy to understand how things are getting automated in the background . I have created different workflows for many processes. But I am annoyed with an issue the tool brings in each time I run the workflow which is: While I use SCREEN RECORDING , I am getting errors, mostly “Selector not found” .
But when I run the workflow normally, there is no issue at all and it is working perfectly!!!
But whenever I use screen recording to record the activity, I am getting the above errors and at times, I’ve felt that it spoils my entire workflow. I’ll have to edit the selectors and run again.

What might be the reason for this??? Is there any alternate software where we can easily record our running bot :frowning:
Screen recording softwares (Original version) used are
Ispring
AVS video editor

1 Like
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when you edit selector are you specifying them for the particular session or you making it generic…? if it is generic it should handle everytime.

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Thank for quick response !

I didnt get u exactly, can you be more specific??

Whenever I get the error, I 'll edit the attach browser by using the “Attach from live element” .
Actually,the error itself is not same all times, I wud end up in multiple errors…
Sometimes, While running, the cursor vibrates and fails to click the element.
All this happens only while screen recording and not otherwise :slight_smile:

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yes when you do “Attach from live element” every time may the value of some attribute may change everytime like iD or index or name of particular attribute so try to replace ID by * and try

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Thanks a lot. I’ll give a try on that!

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@Divyashreem

Hello , I know its been several months , but still I cant find a perfect answer for this issue. Uipath fails to run the bot at times.
ss

This is the selector of excel sheet. So where should I use the ’ * ’ symbol in order to make it generic.
The problem is, I have created this workflow 3 months back. But now when I run the workflow I am getting "Cannot find Ui element " error. It was working smoothly back then. But now, I have to select and indicate each and every activity which is tiring .
ss1

This is example of another selector.

This is a frequent error

ss2
ss21325×33 18.7 KB

Completely confused. Really need a help on this.

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Dear UnicornStark,

Due to the error in red that you’ve highlighted at the bottom of your screen, I believe that you need to place the Send hotkey activity inside of the Excel Application Scope.

One more question, what exactly are you trying to achieve with this?

Regards.
Bogdan

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@Bogdan_Coman
Thanks for pointing out that.
Sendhotkey was already inside the recording sequence,but thankfully now resolved that issue.

I need to do some calculations inside excel worksheet,save the file and mail it .
I used Screen Recording to do that. Worked fine. But now when I run the workflow, the various click activities inside the recording sequence is not working. Then I indicated live element for each and every click activities, thus worked.

But my question is, do we have to indicate each and every time, does the screen element change frequently. Or, what is the way to make it generic so that whenever I run the bot , it should work. (Especially when I run it after a gap or when I send the xaml file, it should work on their enviornment)

A help on this is really apprecialble
Thanks in advance!

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Dear UnicornStark,

If you need to perform calculations inside of excel my recommendation is to read the entire excel file and perform the calculations in background. Also if the calculations are very complex you can use excel macros(be careful to rename the file into .xlsm format if you want to apply macros) and after that call using Execute Macro activity.

One thing after another, I would not suggest to perform the calculations by clicking on the elements, because as you can see selectors can frequently change, but if you’re reading the entire excel file and perform the calculations in the background(and the format of the file remains the same), then the probability of failure is very low.

Regards,
Bogdan

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And can you replace the value of wnd cls=‘*’…? and give a try?

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I have the same problem with screen recording. i am using ShareX and one click will not work when i record the screen. Do you know any other software that will work everytime? The error is selector not found when i record. I used Simulate Type, Sendwindowmessages, click before type, everything.

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@bogdan_margarit @UnicornStark

it’s a known problem, at least for me.

from my experience OBS doesn’t collide with UiPath

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Hello!

I´ve been dealing with the same problem, the record I use is the one on microsoft power point.

The selector works with highlight activity but not on the typing one.

Does anyone know if there is another way to record without errors??

Thanks!

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Hi there, I know this was a long time ago but I have just spent the last 2 weeks struggling with an issue that sounds suspiciously similar to yours. I plan to make my own post about it shortly.

My discovery is that some screen recording applications can actually change application selectors. I have seen evidence of this. I tried to get the selector of some part of the ‘saplogon.exe’ application window and found a selector from ‘snagit32.exe’ in its place. Snagit is a sneaky piece of screen recording software which I wasn’t even aware was installed on the machine I deployed to. It would intermittently and spontaneously obliterate any trace of SAP selectors from the machine and replace them all with its own disgusting invasive selectors like a sick parasite. This is made even harder to diagnose as checking the application selectors with the UI explorer actually “refreshes” the application back to its original selectors leaving no trace of what happened.

The fact that this is even possible is something that every RPA developer should be aware of as it could save them hours of frustration and confusion while they watch hopelessly as their well engineered bot works flawlessly one minute and then fails spectacularly with no explanation other than “selector not found”.

My best guess as to why this happens is that the recording software needs to apply its own template layer over the top of the application before it can be captured.

Hope this helps one of you in the future.

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Looks like this thread went dead without a resolution.
I can back up what the original poster said. Screen recording does tend to interfere with desktop automation.
I’ve seen it happening for conferencing apps MS Lync, MS Teams, and screen recording apps such as the one built into Powerpoint. I was left a few times very red faced when I tried to give people remote demos.

So, I’m still looking for a definitive answer on what to do to successfully record automations.

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Hi @zbalint

Could you provide more information? What software are you using that interferes with the recording?

Would this be an option (a post from a bit above in this topic):

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Thanks @loginerror, I could try OBS for screen recording, as PPT recorder produces huge files and virtually no editing options other than trimming the ends. But this still leaves me with the issue that I can’t showcase a robot via MS Lync or MS Teams (I haven’t tried others recently).

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Hi @zbalint

Now I know it is not the most straight forward way, but maybe, if OBS does not interrupt Studio functionality, then you could use OBS as a virtual camera input for one of the other programs?

I’m sure it should be doable technically, just not sure if it will work without a hitch.

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I’ve been working trying to record some tasks in MS Teams and I am facing the same problem, I tried the same with Automation Anywhere and is working perfectly fine. I would like to know if someone found how to solve this issue.