Message boxes actions

You can use message boxes in your desktop flows to interact with users, request input, and provide an output.

To display a message to the user while a flow runs, use the Display message action. You must specify the title of the message box, its content, the icon and the buttons in the box to be displayed. Moreover, you might set a default button to be preselected as well as to indicate if the message box should always be on top of all other windows on your machine and whether the message box is to be closed automatically after a certain amount of time.

The example here displays a message box that informs the user that parsing is complete and asks whether to parse another file. The message box displays a question icon and always is on top of other windows. The ButtonPressed variable will store the user's selection.

The created message box should look like the following example:

In addition to this, you might create a custom form for displaying a message as part of your flow with the use of the Display custom form action. A custom form accepts multiple elements, and you can create a custom form that contains various input types and buttons. More information: Create custom forms.

To request input data using a dialog, deploy the Display input dialog action. This action requires a title for the dialog and a message as a prompt for the user. Optionally, you can set a default value and an input type (single line, multiline, or password).

Use the Display select file dialog action to prompt users to browse for a file. The following example prompts you to select an image file. A variable specifies the initial folder, and the file filter limits the available selections to specific file extensions.

The created file dialog should look like the following example. You can see the specified filter in the bottom right corner of the dialog.

Display message

Displays a message box.

Input parameters

Argument	Optional	Accepts	Default Value	Description
Message box title	Yes	Text value		The text to use as the message box title
Message to display	Yes	Text value		The text to display as the actual message
Message box icon	N/A	None, Information, Question, Warning, Error	None	The icon to display with the message box
Message box buttons	N/A	OK, OK - Cancel, Yes - No, Yes - No - Cancel, Abort - Retry - Ignore, Retry - Cancel	OK	The buttons to display on the message box
Default button	N/A	First button, Second button, Third button	First button	The button to highlight by default. If the user presses Enter, this button will be pressed
Keep message box always on top	N/A	Boolean value	False	Specify whether the message box should always remain on top of all other windows
Close message box automatically	N/A	Boolean value	False	Specify whether the message box closes automatically after a preset time, as if the default button was pressed. Otherwise, the flow will wait until a button is pressed by the user
Timeout	Yes	Numeric value	3	The seconds to pause the automation while waiting for input, until continuing automatically

Variables produced

Argument	Type	Description
ButtonPressed	Text value	The text of the button pressed

Exceptions

Exception	Description
Failed to display message box	Indicates a problem displaying the message dialog
Can't display message box in noninteractive mode	Indicates a problem displaying the message dialog in non-interactive mode

Display input dialog

Displays a dialog box that prompts the user to enter text.

Input parameters

Argument	Optional	Accepts	Default Value	Description
Input dialog title	Yes	Text value		The dialog title
Input dialog message	Yes	Text value		The dialog message
Default value	Yes	Text value		Specify the text to display by default. If the user wishes to change this text, they can type over it. Otherwise, the default text will be used
Input type	N/A	Single line, Password, Multiline	Single line	The format for the input text. Choose Single line - password to hide the text or multiline so that a larger display box makes visible more than one line of text
Keep input dialog always on top	N/A	Boolean value	False	Specify whether the input dialog should always remain on top of all other windows

Variables produced

Argument	Type	Description
UserInput	Text value	The text entered by the user, or the default text
ButtonPressed	Text value	The text of the button pressed. The user will automatically be given the choice of OK or Cancel

Exceptions

Exception	Description
Failed to display input dialog	Indicates a problem displaying the input dialog
Can't display input dialog in non interactive mode	Indicates a problem displaying the input dialog in non-interactive mode

Display select date dialog

Displays a dialog box that prompts the user to enter a date or date range.

Input parameters

Argument	Optional	Accepts	Default Value	Description
Dialog title	Yes	Text value		The dialog title
Dialog message	Yes	Text value		The dialog message
Dialog type	N/A	Single date, Date range (two Dates)	Single date	Whether the user will enter a single date or two dates as the endpoints of a range of dates
Prompt for	N/A	Date only, Date and time	Date only	Specify whether the user will enter the date only or the date and time
Default value	Yes	Datetime		The default value for the date
Default value for second date	Yes	Datetime		The default value for the end date in a range
Keep date selection dialog always on top	N/A	Boolean value	False	Specify whether the date selection dialog should always remain on top of all other windows

Variables produced

Argument	Type	Description
SelectedDate	Datetime	The date entered by the user or the default date
SecondSelectedDate	Datetime	The second date entered by the user or that default date
ButtonPressed	Text value	The text of the button pressed by the user. The user will automatically be given the choice of OK or Cancel

Exceptions

Exception	Description
Failed to display select date dialog	Indicates a problem displaying the select date dialog
Can't display select date dialog in non interactive mode	Indicates a problem displaying the input dialog in non-interactive mode

Display select from list dialog

Displays a dialog box with options that lets the user select from a list.

Input parameters

Argument	Optional	Accepts	Default Value	Description
Dialog title	Yes	Text value		The dialog title
Dialog message	Yes	Text value		The dialog message
List to choose from	No	General value		The list to display as a drop-down menu for the user to choose from
Keep select dialog always on top	N/A	Boolean value	False	Specify whether the select dialog should always remain on top of all other windows
Limit to list	N/A	Boolean value	True	Whether to allow the user to enter their own answer outside of the list being displayed
Allow empty selection	N/A	Boolean value	False	Allow the user to not select anything, creating an empty selected item output
Allow multiple selections	N/A	Boolean value	False	Allow the user to select more than one choice. The selected item and selected index variables will hold a list of items
Preselect items starting with a + sign	N/A	Boolean value	False	Specify whether the items with a prepended '+' sign will appear automatically preselected

Variables produced

Argument	Type	Description
SelectedItem	Text value	The item selected from the list as text
SelectedItems	List of Text values	The items selected from the list as a list of text
SelectedIndex	Numeric value	The index number of the item selected from the list. You can use the item number instead of the full text of your choice
SelectedIndexes	List of Numeric values	The index number of the items selected from the list. This parameter allows you to use the item number instead of the full text of your choice
ButtonPressed	Text value	The name of the button pressed by the user (OK or Cancel)

Exceptions

Exception	Description
Failed to display select dialog	Indicates a problem displaying the select dialog
Can't display select dialog in noninteractive mode	Indicates a problem displaying the input dialog in non-interactive mode

Display select file dialog

Displays the select file dialog and prompts the user to select one or more files.

Input parameters

Argument	Optional	Accepts	Default Value	Description
Dialog title	Yes	Text value		The dialog title
Initial folder	Yes	Folder		The initial folder to open when browsing for a file. This folder is where the select file dialog action will start the user looking for the file(s)
File filter	Yes	Text value		A filter to limit the files retrieved. This parameter allows wild cards, for example ".txt" or "document?.doc" (without the quotes). To allow the user to choose from multiple file filters, separate the choices with a semi-colon, for example ".txt;*.exe"
Keep file selection dialog always on top	N/A	Boolean value	False	Whether the file selection dialog should always remain on top of all other windows
Allow multiple selections	N/A	Boolean value	False	Whether the user will be able to select more than one file or not
Check if file exists	N/A	Boolean value	False	Whether only files that already exist will be accepted

Variables produced

Argument	Type	Description
SelectedFile	File	The file that will be selected through the dialog
SelectedFiles	List of Files	The file(s) selected
ButtonPressed	Text value	The text of the button pressed. The user will automatically be given the choice of Open or Cancel

Exceptions

Exception	Description
Failed to display select file dialog	Indicates a problem displaying the select file dialog
Can't display select file dialog in noninteractive mode	Indicates a problem displaying the input dialog in non-interactive mode

Display select folder dialog

Displays the select folder dialog and prompts the user to select a folder.

Input parameters

Argument	Optional	Accepts	Default Value	Description
Dialog description	Yes	Text value		The description of the select folder dialog For example, "Please select the folder into which you wish to copy the files"
Initial folder	Yes	Folder		The initial folder to open. This folder will be the default folder unless the user picks a new one
Keep folder selection dialog always on top	N/A	Boolean value	False	Whether the folder selection dialog should always remain on top of all other windows

Variables produced

Argument	Type	Description
SelectedFolder	Folder	The selected folder
ButtonPressed	Text value	The text of the button pressed. The user will automatically be given the choice of OK or Cancel

Exceptions

Exception	Description
Failed to display select folder dialog	Indicates a problem displaying the select folder dialog
Can't display select folder dialog in noninteractive mode	Indicates a problem displaying the input dialog in non-interactive mode

Display custom form

Display a customized form that can include multiple types of elements, like text, number or file inputs etc.

Input parameters

Input parameters are configured through the custom form designer.

Variables produced

Argument	Type	Description
CustomFormData	Custom object	A custom object containing the user's input
ButtonPressed	Text value	The ID of the button pressed

Exceptions

Exception	Description
Failed to display custom form	Indicates a problem displaying the custom form