Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a technology that acts like a "digital employee," automating tasks on your computer. Unlike a human, RPA follows a predefined set of commands and executes them in a specific order to complete complex workflows. By automating tasks such as logging into websites, filling out forms, or extracting data, RPA frees up your time for more important activities.
For more details, check out our blog post, What is RPA, where we dive deeper into RPA’s capabilities and use cases.
Command Basics
Before creating your own RPA app, let’s first understand the basics of commands.
Each command contains essential components that define a specific action, such as "click a button" or "enter text in a form." When combined in a sequence, these simple commands work together to perform more complex tasks, automating workflows from start to finish.
In RPA, commands are made up of four key Components:
Element | Description | Example |
Object | The entity the command acts upon, such as a webpage, Excel file, or database. | After executing the "Go to Web Page" command, the web page becomes the object. |
Target | A specific part of the object that the command interacts with, such as a button, input field, or table on a webpage. | On the web page, the "search button" or "input box" is the target element for interaction. |
Action | The specific operation performed on the element, such as clicking, entering text, or extracting data. | Click on the "search button" or "enter text" into the input field. |
Output | The result of the command, such as the extracted data or the next object/data for subsequent steps in the workflow. | After executing the "Go to Web Page" command, the output web page becomes the object for subsequent commands. |
These building blocks work together to perform more complex tasks when arranged in a sequence. Understanding commands will give you a solid foundation for creating your own RPA workflows!
Building your first RPA app
Building an automation workflow is like stacking blocks—each command adds a new step to the process. The power of RPA lies in the simplicity of arranging these commands to automate complex tasks.
For example, to automate logging into a website, you’d arrange the necessary commands in the correct sequence:
With Octoparse AI, you can easily create automation workflows by dragging and dropping these basic commands, according to this tutorial. Future updates will even allow you to generate workflows automatically using AI—saving you even more time!