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Automatic step creation

Automatic step creation is the default mode for intelligent recording. Automatic step creation allows you to quickly and easily create a basic automation. When using automatic step creation, steps are created in the recording assistant as you interact with controls. The gear icon displays a green background to indicate automatic step creation is available.

Screenshot showing the green gear icon next to a control field indicating automatic step creation is available.

As you interact with the application, you create steps that are added to the Recording assistant. For example, to log in, you enter your username and password, and then click the Login button. As you perform these actions, the system interrogates the control, which creates steps in the Recording assistant.

The steps replicate the exact actions that you perform. If you enter text into an input field, the default action is Set Text, and the Value source is Constant. The Value field is the text that you entered. For example, if you enter pega into the User Name field, the step created will always set the exact text as pega for that control.

Screenshot showing the resulting step created by Pega Robot Studio during automatic step creation.

Often, you want to customize the step to change the action or value source for input. In the previous example, you may wish to use an input parameter rather than a constant value for the username and password. When interacting with a control, click the Gear icon to access the step editor.

Screenshot showing the step editor after clicking the gear icon during recording.

In the step editor, you can customize the name of the control, change the action to perform, and adjust the value source and value of the input. For more information about editing steps, see Targeted step creation.

The Recording assistant displays the recorded steps. You can edit, delete, or add steps to an automation by using the menu of the Recording assistant.

Availability of automatic step creation

When recording steps in an application supported by X-ray Vision, automatic step creation is available. Applications supported by X-Ray Vision are web applications and Windows applications built on .NET WPF and WinForm technologies. For more information about X-ray Vision, see X-ray Vision.

Previously interrogated controls also use automatic step creation regardless of the application technology. This action is true whether users interrogate a control manually or you revisit controls previously interrogated as part of a targeted step creation recording. When you revisit a control, the Gear is green to indicate that automatic step creation is available.

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