Hi CRaisin, Automating BMC Remedy column/field/screen update with AutoIt , mouse click on Save & Close buttons

Are you looking for a free tool?  If so, have you tried Selenium?  Do you know the code behind the web page?  Is it HTML, Flash, or something else?  

This question is a continuation of Question  26206760 and a solution is already well under way after four months work on a solution using VB and AutoIt3.
This new question thread has been especially set up so that the second part of the solution can be handled. The first part was solved in the previous question.
HTML, Flash are not used by the author's application, BMC appears to be an in-house or commercial program activated within Browsers, but working in a non-windows/Explorer environment. (i.e. as an Application).
Sunhux and I are continuing the solution here for the second part of the problem to simplify the final documentation of the solution (as well as reduce the size of the original question which is currently 177 replies!)

Multiple PC to PC connections have already been made between Sunhux and myself (Australia -> Singfapore) in resolving this complex problem. Thanks for your thoughts anyway developedtester :-)

Thank you for the info!  Best wishes and good luck.

Sunhux, this question should also be in the VBA and Visual Basic Zones, as well as automation. Could you arrange this please?
Cheers.......Chris

It's currently in the following Zones :
  Automation, VB Script

So I guess this shd be sufficient

OK that's fine. We will now try to solve this second part of the question, following on from the initial question 26206760.
I am investigating the use of
                     WM_SYSKEYDOWN
           and   WM_CHAR
for sending keystrokes directly to a designated window (that way the screen does not have to be in focus, and the user can be looking at other applications etc.)
Of course, if Mouse Clicks are involved in any script, then the screen  would have to be active since the user could not use the mouse while the script of Automonitor is using it.
There is also a potential problem if the user is using the keyboard at the same time as the "Automonitor" script is running in the background. If the user presses "Ctrl/Alt/Shift" there is a strong likelihood that the keystrokes sent in the background would be compromised, since an attempt by the script to process (for example) "Ctrl" plus a key would not work if the user is already holding down the "Ctrl" key.
I do not hold high hopes for a completely successful solution for "background" processing but we will give it a try. If it does not work, only successful foreground processing  is a possibility. I will add a "switch" on the interface to allow the user to pick between "foreground" and "background" processing.
Next scheduled link-up with Sunhux is in the next couple of days to perform some testing.
Will report back then.

Latest version of Automonitor available from:
https://filedb.experts-exchange.com/incoming/ee-stuff/8021-AutoMonitor2.5.2.zip 
 

Downloaded & installed the latest version

Unable to connect to you via Remote Assistance. A message keeps appearing saying “DNS name unable to be resolved”.
 
Will have to leave it tonight since I have something coming up at 8pm - preparation for special service next Saturday for the canonisation of Sister Mary McKillop as the first Australian Saint (which happens next Sunday).
 
Please use latest version. I am trying to set it up so that the program can be played in the “background” and so other activities on the screen will not interfere with Automonitor’s monitoring or keystrokes, but please be aware that in “background” mode, mouse clicks are not possible within Automonitor and the pressing of “Ctrl” or “Alt” or “Shift” keys MIGHT be affected by the simultaneous pressing of these keys by the operator on a foreground task if the keys are pressed at the precise moment that Automonitor is sending those keys.
 
I have not actually tested the “background” processing activities and they are certainly not even guaranteed to work yet. Please just ensure that you get the program to go as far as possible in foreground mode.
 
Cheers
Chris

Any further developments? It looks as though I may have lost my free access since your problem has taken so long to complete. We must get a move on with this else I will have to leave you with what we havfe arrived at sofar. I don't like to leave things unfinished, but since I am unemployed I cannot afford to lose my free membership to Experts Exchange. I would have to stop being a member. Please advise ASAP

Yes, they are asking me to pay $99-00 to renew my access. So that looks like that is the end for me! I certainly cannot afford to renew.

Perhaps you could contact EE and advise what has happened.If I cannot get my ranking extended to allow me to complete this question and retain my status then (after 7 years)
 I will have to stop answering questions, which would be a pity since I really enjoy helping others.
This is urgent.

Hi EE Moderator,

I would urge you to keep CRaisin's membership as he's been very helpful.
As the efforts he put in are mainly coding/programming, the points awarded
certainly can't commensurate with his efforts.

Also, I've been caught up, so my apologies that I can't revert back earlier.

Kindly extend Chris Raisin's membership for another 3 months at least.

Sunhux,
You need to make your comments to a Moderator via the "!Request Attention" button found at the very top of the thread (on the right-hand side).

I have been advised that if I can just get 3000 points I will get my status back, so if you are awarding full points for the second half of this question with "Excellent" grading (when we are finished) that will invoke a multiplyer of 4 which will give me 2000 points, so all I need to do is find another question and answer it successfully to get my status back (phew!)
So no panic stations really. Please lets finish this one off as quickly as possible.
Have you tested the latest version in foreground mode? Remember that background mode is not reliable yet.

If that can work, we can then make the MUCH mire difficult "Background mode" a third thread so at least the points from this part of the work can be awarded.

Hi CRaisin,

I've posted in "Request Attention" but have not received any reply yet.

I've also emailed VEE Moderator directly asking to deduct 3 months of
my membership to be given to you if that's possible

Thanks for that, Sunhux.
You are so kind. There is really no need to go to that extreme, but if that works, that would be very helpful. If not, I will just have to answer a few other questions to get the required points.
The only onconvenience to me at the moment is that I am unable to search for soultions myself if I have a problem. Hopefully I will regain my status quickly.
I look forward to seeing what progress is happening with your problem.
 
Cheers
Chris

Sunhux,
Now I have a couple of more months to get back on track, I want to finish your project off as quickly as possible.
How are things going? I need to know whether you have it working yet in foregound mode. If we can just het that working, then we will tackle "background mode" under a different thread since that is more difficult.

Did you see the nice comments in the "Experts Exchange" Newsletter mentioning both your name and mine? Nice work!

Anyway, please advise ASAP how you are situated.

Has EE moderator granted you extra 3 months' membership?

Can't work on foreground yet : is this Tue 1pm Melbourne time good for you to
connect up?

Yes, they have granted me the extra time, thanks for your help with that.

Tuesday at 1pm  is fine, although Melbourne Cup horse-race is on at  3pm so can only work on it for about 1 hour before stopping to prepare for race. (Don't worry, I am not a jockey! :-)
Will expect an email with log-in code at about 1pm on Tuesday (Melbourne time)
 
Cheers
Chris

Still no email!  What happened?

Hi Chris,

Sorry, tomorrow (a public holiday here) 11am Melbourne time is fine to connect up.
On working days, it was a mad-house at work

We were suipposed to connect on Tuesday.
11am today (Friday) is OK, but I have just finished a whole heap of coding for another user
(see problem titles "Searching Datagrid VB6) It was fun ! Should get me some more points.

Please send me the email tomorrow close to 11am our time and lets see if we can get this thing moving.
 
Cheers
Chris

I mean TODAY (of course)  :-)

Well it is Friday 5th November and 11.40am and still no email for linking-up!
Don't forget we are on Dailight-Saving on the East coast of Australia so our normal time difference has changed by one hour to the time difference you are used to in your country.
PLEASE can we get a move on with this....I have other people pressuring me for help with their problems too.
Cheers
Chris

Ok, did not realize it's daylight savings now...  you should get the email in 5 mins

I hope you received my emails.
The one you sent me with the link-up authorization did not work. I tried for an hour (on and off) then sent you an rmail advising same.
I am getting very busy now on other answers and we will have to either finish this off soon. I hate leaving things unfinished, so I would at least like to get the thing working in "foreground" mode correctly. I can then concentrate on "background" mode and advise you by email when solution is ready. We could then create a thrid question thread for the backgraound mode and finish it off quickly.
Please advise.

My apologies, I must have used the LAN broadband which never
seems to allow Remote Asstnce.  Let's make it this coming Wed
or Thu, 5pm Melbourne time (we're now 3 hrs apart)

Apologies for the delay.  A couple of relatives from a neighbouring
country just pop by in town  & I'll need to keep them company

No problems.
Wednesday at 5pm Melbourne time is fine.
 
Cheers
Chris

Hi Chris,

Have emailed you about 1.5 hrs ago, did you receive it?

Sorry, I emailed you yesterday to say that I may be held up at a lestucre (and I was.
Did not get home until 6.30pm and was too tired to even think abou PC work.
How about tomorrow (Thursday) at 5.00pm our time. Can only spend up to 1 gour though.
 
 

Tomorrow is not possible as I'll be at a remote site, engaged with some sort of drill.

This Fri 5pm Melbourne time is Ok though

OK, but again I can only spend 1 hour since I leave for my Bridge club )which I own and run) at 6pm.
Will link up on Friday (tomorrow) at 5.00pm Melbourne time.

Ok, thanks, Fri (tomorrow) then

Hi Chris, sorry, I sent you the connection file about 47 minutes late.

Are u still there?

Sorry, I had to leave at 6pm, so when I had not received the link by 5.30pm I gave up.

Have had a bit of an operation on my toe today and am in a bit of pain,s so am not doing anything for the next day or two. If you want to link up again anytime from Tuesday afternoon until Wednesday night please let me know.

If we cannot get this setled soon I will have to give up on it. It would be a shame because I think we could get this thing to work if we can only get together sometime.

Have you ANY success at all with what you have? Please remind me just how far it goes before the operation stops. I know it is not working in the background yet, but that is what i am aiming to do....get the code written so that it works in either foreground OR backhround (no matter what is happening on the screen).

Please let me know progress and a DEFINATE link up time if possible.

Hope you're feeling better & recovers well.

This Tue 5pm Melbourne time is fine to link up

PK, that will be fine. I am by the machien all afternoon Tuesday and all day Wednesday.....send me the email on Tuesday afternoon when you are ready.

Cheers Chris

OK....not PK.....:-)

Chris, sent the email with the connection

Hi Chris, did you get the email?

Yes, I received it very late (7.50pm our time). There seems to be a dreadful slowdown in the Internet at the moment.

I tried to connect but it said nobody was there to establish link (or words to that effect). I then sent an email to you asking whether you want to connect now or tomorrow (anytime).

The only times I am not available are Thursday or Friday morning (our time),
or on Saturday in late afternoon (our time). Any other time is OK.

We will eventaully co-ordinate successfully I am sure....   :-)

How about tomorrow (Wed) 1pm Melbourne time?

OK...I will await with baited breath (having fish for lunch) :-)

Can you try to access now - using the attachment from the email I sent yesterday.
Just wanted to test out if this same thing can still allow access as we've never
tested reusing this thingy.   I'm on my way to send you a fresh one

For the record....we connected and tried to run the program, but it was falling over with an error (out of bounds) which we may have crossed when dealing with this project under question 26206760 (I will check).

In the meantime, an additional problem appears when there are NO records found in the initial search. In that case we do not want the second script to kick in! We have not (in fact) put in place the initiation of the second script yet.

At the moment after the initial search toolbar appears (activated by AutoMonitor) that error occurs. I sense it happens when the program attemps to press the {Del} key to clear the Search bar's current value (yet to be verified).

I have requested Sunhux to email me the Automonitor Scripts he is currently using with the program, and I will review the process to:

               1. Fix the error
     and    2. Make provision for "No Records"

After we overcome that hurdle, we will concentrate on getting a "Found" record to be processed by the second script.

The last part of this project will then be to get a working (foreground) version to work in the background. (Whew!)

Hi Chris,

When you're ready, just post again so that this thread doesn't go into "orange" status.

We can close this once the background mode works & open another one to address
the 2nd pop-up screen

OK...Shall do...I was tied up a bit with other matters during the past week, but I will concentrate on our problem again this week...
Stand by....

I have uploaded version 2.5.7 which you can get from this link.

      https://filedb.experts-exchange.com/incoming/ee-stuff/8036-AutoMonitor2.5.7.zip 

Hopefully the "Out Of Bounds" error is rectified, and also if no records are found
in the first script the script should not continue on to call the next script line now.
I have made it generic so that a "not found" item will cause further processing of the current script to cease until the next scheduled run (I hope). Strangely, that will work more efficiently in "background" mode, but that mode is yet to come.

I will leave the background version provisions until all scheduled scripts runs successfully. since background processing is much more exacting in the coding and I need to know the existing code works fully.

I just wish your program was running on my machine so I could test it fully. It is very hard to simulate your environment...in fact I am only guessing what is happening at your end.

Please let me know how you go.

I will be away on holidays from Wednesday 22nd Dec until Sunday Jan 9th 2011, so if there is any development please let me know how you went testing the version 2.5.7

If I don't hear from you, please keep your eye on this thread to make sure it does not go into "orange" status until my return.

Have a great Christmas and New Year....

Cheers
craisin (Chris)

Hi Chris,

This latest version 2.5.7 won't install : it gave error that requires reboot to update something
but after reboot & my laptop is up, rerunning setup.exe gave the same message that it
required a reboot again.

I can connect up tomorrow 5-9pm Melbourne time assuming Melbourne is still 3hrs behind me

Can you please give exact error message?

Attached the 2 screen shots which kept repeating (despite after reboot) each time I tried to
run setup for automon 2.5.7

We'll catch up again after 8th Jan : I may need to undergo a surgery

Sunhux...I am back from the floods in Queensland - just escaped the tsunami by about 30 minutes! I thank God I am still alive.
My family are OK, although one sister is stranded and has been without food or power supplies for three weeks.

Anyway, when you are ready to resume our project please let me know. I hope the surgery went OK.

I am adding comments just to keep this question alive, while you recover from your operation (it seems)

I've just returned from the surgery.  Is tomorrow Sunday 2:30pm Melbourne time Ok
to reconnect?

Good to hear you have pulled through.

Yes, 2.30pm would be fine.

It is so long now since we have worked on this that I have forgootten where we are at!

Send me the logon password by email closer to the time for logon.

Cheers
Chris (craisin)

Hi Chris,

is 6 Feb (Sun), 3:30 Melbourne time convenient to connect up?

I've found that there were several versions of Automon installed &
I've removed all of them & then reinstall V 2.5.8 & I don't get that error
anymore; just that automon did not launch the 2nd browser page

Hi Sun,

OK, 3.30pm Melbourne time is fine.

Will await your email with password for connection.
I think to keep this Experts Exchange comments section clear
of messages just about link-ups via the Internet, comments shoudl be emailed directly.

Of course ANY changes to the code etc. must be posted here.
Lets restrict our conversation on EE to just successful developments in the code etc.

I will contact the Moderator to see if they can trim out the superfluous comments.

Cheers
Chris

There were so many messages which just said "Lets connect up....." etc.
or "did you receive the email?" (I stopped after 23) , that I gave up listing them.

I guess anyone reading this thread will only go to the eventual "Accepted Solution"anyway, so I will not bother the moderator.

Lets just keep communicating as we have been.

Sorry....

Cheers
Chris

Where are we at, SunHux?

What are you expecting from this end at the moment? (I've lost track)

Cheers
Chris (craisin)

Hi Chris,

Perhaps we can next start with :

"a bit of nuisance if we close AutoMonitor altogether and have to restart it from “Star/Programs” etc.
I will put in place another “status” with the program. It will minimize when running (showing a certain icon in the status bar) and also will MINIMIZE
To the status bar with a different icon (but not in a running state). That way you do not have to have it maximized on the screen all the time when it is not running"


I'm Ok this Sunday 4pm Melbourne time to connect

OK - lets connect then.

I will put up a new version under advice here before that time.

Cheers

The latest version (incorporating easier to identify minimization as opposded to "Monitoring" mode) is version 2.5.9 available from this link:

https://filedb.experts-exchange.com/incoming/ee-stuff/8062-AutoMonitor2.5.9.zip

Sunhux....

Well, I am getting near my time to do my Tax return for LAST year and lots of other stuff.

We are going to HAVE to finish this question off soon - it has been going on (I think) for about......forever!

Please, can you test the latest version (2.5.9) then write down a list of points you want fixed, or new functionality put in place, so that I can finish this project off successfully ASAP.

As much as I enjoy corresponding with you, it is dragging on so long that I continually forget where we are "at" (I'm getting older you know :-)    )

Many thanks

Chris

I'll reopen another thread for the new fun ctionality

OK...lets get this thing finished....I need the points again and I cannot spend too much more time on this.

Have you tarted the new thread yet?

Can any points be awarded for the work done in this thread?

Still waiting for the new thread (I m recovering from flu at the moment...what next!)   LOL   :-)

Thanks very much