Automating windows desktop applications

Bots are taking over jobs, and the same is true for computer bots as well. We use computers to do simple and complex tasks , some of the tasks are repetitive and do not require complex decision making and  deep learning, We can save our time by automating such tasks using bots.  The task can be browser based or completed using the other apps (e.g. a windows desktop app).

Automating desktop applications can be difficult . Web bots are usually used to automate tasks  in a browser, but sometimes tasks we need to automate are not completely browser based and need other software to be automated also.

An Example, iTunes Gift Sender Bot:

I  had a similar project, a client uses iTunes app on windows to send an app as a gift to their users. Since the client wanted to gift an app to a large number of their users and do this thing on routine bases, the client contacted us to develop a bot to automate this task.

I did some research about the best techniques to develop this bot and decided to use C# with the White Framework which is a .NET based framework for Windows application automation.

• At first the bot will query the database and get a list of all the users, each row contains all the data that we need to send a gift, this includes sender name, recipient name, recipient email, personal message etc.
• It than opens the app page on iTunes.
• Selects Gift this Item option from the Purchase drop-down.
• A popup comes and the bot enters that data (taken from database, name,email, message etc) and clicks the Continue button.
• If the user is not logged in than it will show a login popup and bot will enter username and password to sign in to apple account.
• After login a new Purchase Summary page opens.
• Bot clicks Buy gift button.
• iTunes again asks for a password before completing the order.
• Bot enters the password and if the password is authorized, iTunes processes the payment.
• The bot marks this row in the database as completed and moves to the next row.
  

What other processes could be automated like this?  

Any repetitive tasks that are manually done by humans in a browser or in any other app can be automated using the bots. Usually we automate time sucking activities that are repetitive and there is not much decision making involved.

How to get a similar bot:

You need to write down all the steps to complete a task,  any special cases that can occur, where to get the data that the task needs. Which OS needs to be used, which apps the bot will interact with and how.

This kind of automation requires strong programming skills and experience with automation, Botsol offers affordable bot development services, get in touch to discuss and we will be glad to help you.