Addressing Dynamic Web Objects via Placeholder Templates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing robotic process automation (RPA) technologies face difficulties in addressing objects on dynamically generated, list-, table-, or tree-like structured websites, as these objects lack unique attributes for addressing, and existing methods like Xpath addresses are not effective due to their variability.
Innovation Solution
A method using at least two web-based addresses with deviating characters replaced by placeholders to create a common absolute address for a group of objects, employing a taxonomy or ontology structure to facilitate automatic selection and addressing, with index numbers distributed in a predeterminable order to generate appropriate web-based addresses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If XPath addresses are used to address objects on dynamically generated websites, then objects can be addressed using a standardized method, but the addresses vary accordingly making automatic selection difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The XPath address is segmented into static and dynamic parts. The static parts (common to all objects in the group) are extracted and form the base address, while the dynamic parts (varying between objects) are identified and replaced with placeholders. This segmentation allows the system to work with a stable template rather than dealing with the full variability of individual addresses.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the parameter representation by replacing varying characters (parameters) in the XPath addresses with placeholders. This transformation converts the variable XPath addresses into a parameterized template where only the placeholder positions indicate variability. The actual values are then supplied through index numbers distributed in a predeterminable order.
2Measurement precision
If manual user interaction is used to select objects, then precise selection is possible, but automation is not achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables automated selection by making the selection process self-service through the parameterized addressing scheme. Instead of requiring manual user interaction to identify and select each object, the system automatically generates the sequence of index numbers and substitutes them into the template address, allowing the automation software to independently select all objects in the group without human intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention performs preliminary action by pre-defining the template address with placeholders before the actual selection process. This template, created by analyzing the commonalities in XPath addresses of objects in the group, serves as a prepared framework that guides the automated selection. The system doesn't need to analyze each object individually during selection; it simply needs to iterate through index values and substitute them into the pre-prepared template.
3Extent of automation
If a common addressing scheme is created for a group of objects, then automated selection becomes possible, but the complexity of creating the scheme increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses copying by creating a template address that is replicated and instantiated multiple times with different index values. Instead of creating unique addressing logic for each object, the system copies the base template and substitutes only the varying placeholder positions. This copying approach simplifies the overall system complexity because the same template structure is reused throughout the selection process.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method for supporting a robotic process automation, comprising the following steps: - providing a definition for the robotic process automation, also called addressing scheme, which is designed to make the objects (O11, O12, O21, O22) incorporated into the definition, said objects belonging to a group of objects, selectable such that said objects can be addressed in an automated manner by means of a controller, characterized in that at least two web-based addresses are used to create said definition, each address being assigned an object of the group, wherein a comparison of the at least two web-based addresses with each other with respect to deviations in the character strings of the web-based addresses is carried out in order to identify a contiguous point having at least one deviation corresponding to a number, and wherein the mutually deviating characters identified in the comparison are replaced with a placeholder, and wherein an automated selection of one or more such objects is carried out, the selection being carried using the placeholder in question, by means of which an absolute address of the object is referenced and/or derived.