frame() and popup() - explore technical feasibility and hacks [done]

[ck81]

Hi Ken,

Have been using frame() and popup() in TagUI on some websites that use iFrame and popup windows. They worked amazingly well! And these 2 commands are another unique TagUI features that are not available in many other RPA tools.

Was wondering if these two commands have been ported to TagUI-Python?

[kensoh]

Hey CK, these 2 commands are not ported, because they are not supported in TagUI live mode. The syntax is such that user defines the code block and then insert the steps in between to be done. But in live mode, each statement is executed 1 by 1, making this impossible.

But I think having this capabilities will open up more use cases to TagUI for Python. Will take a look to see if there is some hack (eg using custom JavaScript + chrome_step with send()) that is technically possible to implement.

[ck81]

Hi Ken,

Just some thought...

(1) Not sure if you can modify TagUI a bit such that it can also run the tagui command in LIVE mode. This means that we can store some TagUI scripts in a file and then call this script from LIVE mode.

(2) If [1] is possible, then you can add one more TagUI-Python command e.g. tagui(). This means we can now extend TagUI-Python to run almost any TagUI scripts and commands from python, including frame() and popup().

[kensoh]

For 1, this is not technically feasible, because tagui step actually expands out the script. But within that script there can be steps such as frame / popup / run / check etc which not supported in live mode. This will create unexpected behaviour and errors.

For 2, actually if you have an existing installation of TagUI, you can use the run() function to do so already now, frame and popup will work, but it will be a separate TagUI process.

[kensoh]

I'm looking if it is possible to find a hack to do this. The catch with implementing such a hack at TagUI main project would be inconsistent behaviour with PhantomJS and Firefox mode because I'm hacking the Chrome communications.

If the hack exists, this catch is ok in TagUI for Python as only Chrome is the browser used.

[kensoh]

An update that frame() POC works and coming right up!

Reference - tested with https://www.w3schools.com/html/html_iframe.asp for main frame
and https://internet-banking.dbs.com.sg/IB/Welcome for main frame + sub frame

---

popup() POC works and it is also on the way.

Reference - tested with http://tebel.org to click on links and use title() and snap() on popup tabs

[kensoh]

Implemented and available with pip install tagui --upgrade

Documentation at https://github.com/tebelorg/TagUI-Python#pro-functions

Sample usage for frame() with a frame on webpage

# set context to the webpage frame
t.frame('mainframe_name_or_id')

# do your stuffs on elements in that frame

# exit frame context and reset to main webpage
t.frame()

Sample usage for frame() on a frame within a frame

# set context to the webpage frame
t.frame('mainframe_name_or_id', 'subframe_name_or_id')

# do your stuffs on elements in that subframe

# exit frame context and reset to main webpage
t.frame()

Sample usage for popup() on a new popup tab launched by main page

# set context to the webpage popup tab
t.popup('unique_string_in_url_of_popup_tab')

# do your stuffs on elements on that webpage popup tab

# exit popup context and reset to main webpage
t.popup()

[ck81]

Implemented and available with pip install tagui --upgrade

You're amazing, Ken!

Let me try this on some websites tomorrow and get back to you on the test result.

[kensoh]

Thanks CK, hopefully the implementation is ok🤞- look forward to hearing from your testing!

[kensoh]

Hi CK, a note that I did a minor update to v1.11.1. There was an upstream patch for TagUI for live mode for variables to work correctly. This patch should not cause impact to TagUI for Python, and I have already tested.

Fyi in case you have not started testing frame() and popup(), then upgrade to this version (v1.11.1 instead of v1.11.0) before testing is preferred, because this will be the codebase going forward.

[ck81]

Hi Ken,

Have downloaded the latest version v1.11.1

Tested on 2 of my corporate websites with iframe().

1. type() works perfect!

2. But for some reason, click() didn't work. I have tested by loading the url within the iframe. It tested ok. So there's nothing wrong with the xpath or the click command. Have tested clicking on a number of elements. All didn't work. This is the same for both websites.