iMacros for Chrome

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Thank your for using iMacros for Chrome, the open-source web automation solution.

Note that this version is a Beta version, so please do not expect it to be as polished as its bigger siblings for IE and Firefox.

Having said that, iMacros for Chrome is ready to be used for web automation. Its a macro recorder for your Google Chrome browser. With iMacros for Chrome we are also testing an interesting new GUI layout and the concept of storing iMacros as bookmarklets. We look forward to your feedback!

Contents

Installation

No administrative rights are required for the installation. All versions of Chrome (Win, Mac and Linux) are supported.

First Steps

After you installed iMacros for Chrome you will see the iMacros icon in the toolbar. First we recommend that you look at a few demo macros. After this start recording your first own macro. To get start, a simple website like this wiki or our company website are a good start. To record, open the iMacros panel and click record. When you are done recording, click the stop icon either in the panel or in the Chrome toolbar. The iMacros icon changes to a stop button with line counter during recording and replay.


The iMacros for Chrome Panel: You can start playing macros either from the iMacros panel or from your bookmarks or macros that are embedded into websites.
The iMacros icon changes to a stop button with line counter during recording and replay. The WAIT command displays the wait time as countdown.

The iMacros panel has a loop button to run macros repeatedly. This can be useful for checking a certain web page status or for web testing. While the loop is running, the current loop number is stored in the !LOOP internal variable.

Example usage: Create a macro that refreshes the current page every 5 seconds: 

 VERSION BUILD=1031208 RECORDER=CR
 REFRESH
 WAIT SECONDS=5
Start the PAGE REFRESH macro with the LOOP button.

iMacros as Bookmarklets

If you are used to other iMacros versions, you might be surprised that iMacros for Chrome does not store its macros as text files. The reason for this is that Chrome extensions can not write or read files unless they use a special NPAPI dll (Update: iMacros for Chrome V2.0 Beta has such a DLL and can now read and write normal macros!). Instead we are testing a new concept and store macros as bookmarklets inside the regular Chrome bookmarking system.

This means you can take full advantage of the Google Bookmark Sync features or bookmark sync extensions such as Xmarks.

As the macros are packed as bookmarklets, you can just drag & drop them to your bookmarks folder or bookmarks bar.

Example: Search the German railway website for train connection from Frankfurt International Airport to Mannheim - Select "Proceed to this site" to run the macro!

You can rename, edit or delete your iMacros via the the Chrome bookmark manager
You can sync your iMacros macros just like normal bookmarks. And with the iMacros secure password encryption that means that you can even store login macros securely in the cloud.
iMacros for Chrome V2 Beta can view, run and edit the standard *.iim text file based macros, just like iMacros for Firefox/IE.

Social Scripting

iMacros for Chrome pioneers the social scripting concept. Users can embed the complete macro in a simple link that can be shared with friends and coworkers. Users can also embed the link on their homepage, blog and company Intranet. In this way, users can help website visitors perform certain tasks. Instead of telling visitors how to fill out a form, users can let iMacros fill out the form for them. All information is stored inside the link as a text string, and nothing is stored on our servers.

Tip: To send macros (bookmarklets) by email, use the TinyUrl.com link shortener service. Example usage:

"Hi Sandra, which of the available flights do you prefer? Just click the link to run the search and get up-to-date pricing."

Demo and Test Macros

For a list of demo and test macros please see http://www.iopus.com/imacros/chrome/. If these macros replay fine in your Google Chrome browser, then the basic installation of iMacros for Chrome is ok.

Command Line Support

The Google Chrome API does not provide command line information for extensions yet, but user "cammarin" suggested a great way to use iMacros for Chrome via the command line: Embed the iMacros bookmarklet in a local web page.

Example: 

 <html>
     <head>
         <script language="JavaScript">
             function macro()
             {
                 // Body of the original function on the created macro, i. e.,
                 // from "var m64..." until "...div.dispatchEvent(evt);"
 
                 var m64 = "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", n = "alertfox demo login";if(!/Chrome\/\d+\.\d+\.\d+\.\d+/test(navigator.userAgent)){alert('iMacros: The embedded macros work with iMacros for Chrome. Support for IE/Firefox is planned.');return;}if(!/^(?:chrome|https?|file)/.test(location)){alert('iMacros: To run a macro, you need to open a website first.');return;}var div = document.getElementById("imacros-bookmark-div");if (!div){alert("Can not run macro, no iMacros div found");return;}var ta = document.getElementById("imacros-macro-container");ta.value = decodeURIComponent(atob(m64));div.setAttribute("name", n);var evt = document.createEvent("Event");evt.initEvent("iMacrosRunMacro", true, true);div.dispatchEvent(evt);    
       
             }// end function macro
         </script>
     </head>
     <body onload="macro();"></body>
 </html>

Example batch file: 

 "C:\Users\m\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\Chrome.exe" www.google.com file:///D:/web/test.htm

"test.htm" is the local website with the bookmarklet. Note that you need to open another tab first, otherwise Chrome is not ready to start the bookmarklet (we are investigating this). So the workaround is to simply open "www.google.com" before our local website with the bookmarklet. This way you can also start your macro via the Windows task scheduler or a Linux crown job.

Scripting Chrome

Google Chrome, the complete browser, can be scripted with the commercial iMacros Enterprise Edition (= iMacros Scripting API). The API allows you to control Chrome from external software (C++, C#, Python, Perl,...). For details, see the chapter with the iimOpen command.

Using Chrome with the iMacros RunAs Agent (iimRunner)

  1. iimRunner only works with a non-default Chrome UserDataDir (aka profile)
  2. Make sure the iMacros add-on is installed in the new user profile.
  3. In order to launch Chrome with a different user profile via the iMacros scripting interface (e.g. iimOpen("-cr -crUserData C:\MyProfile")) or with iimRunner (e.g. iimOpen("-cr -runner -crUserData C:\MyProfile")), you need to allow access to file URLs:
    1. Go to Tools - Extensions and click the small triangle next to the iMacros add-on
    2. Make sure "Allow access to file URLs" is checked
Allow access to file URLs (with border).png

Where is the iimDisplay message?

Due to Chrome's UI, we opted to show messages output by iimDisplay as a desktop notification pop-up window.

In iMacros for Chrome, if the sidebar is not available (e.g. if you start the browser from scripting interface API or run macros from bookmarks menu) errors and iimDisplay() messages are shown in a desktop notification pop-up window.

Getting Help

If you run into any issues, please don't hesitate to contact us on our support forum. Take a quick look through the forum before asking your question, we might already have a solution or work around available.

Limitations

While iMacros for Chrome works well for many web automation tasks, some iMacros features are not yet implemented. But we are working on it.

Not yet available:


(*) Feature requires updates to the Chrome extensions API before we can implement it.

Version History

Read what's new:


  • 2012-10-08 V5.21
    • Added: ONERRORDIALOG
    • Added: EVAL
    • Added: Performance log feature
    • Added: SET !FILE_PROFILER
    • Improved: iimTakeBrowserScreenshot support
    • Improved: Bookmarklets support - now iMacros for Chrome and iMacros for Firefox bookmarklets have the same format.
    • Fixed: MAC Chrome compatibility issues introduced by Chrome V22
    • Fixed: BACK button not recorded
    • Fixed: Many smaller bug fixes



  • 2012-04-24 V5.01
    • Added: FRAME support
    • Added: SAVEAS support
    • Added: EVAL support
    • Added: Support for TIMEOUT_PAGE and TIMEOUT_MACRO
    • Improved: iMacros Chrome icon is changed only on those windows where replaying or recording happens
    • Fixed: Negative counter issue
    • Fixed: Several smaller bug fixes


  • 2012-02-09 V4.01
    • Added: Visual display for recorded commands
    • Added: Visual display for replayed commands
    • Added: iimDisplay support
    • Improved: Web Scripting Interface: control Chrome with iimInit ("-cr").


New visual display for recording and replay
iMacros for Chrome can store macros as text files (fully compatible with iMacros for IE and Firefox) and also embeded them inside bookmarks - perfect for quick access and syncing macros with your bookmarks. Use the macro storage option to switch.


  • 2011-07-15 V3.5.3
    • Added: Re-added support for iMacros in bookmarks
    • Added: Conversion of macros between "stored as local file" and "stored as bookmarks". Bookmark storage is great for automated syncing.
    • Added: Double treeview - view macros stored as files and in bookmarks.


  • 2011-05-05 V3.5.1 Beta
    • Added: Mac OSX support!
    • Added: Improved iimInit ("-cr") support


  • 2011-01-20 V3.0.2 Beta


  • 2010-05-20 V2.0.1 Beta
    • Added: Read/write/edit standard text based iMacros macro files ("*.iim" files).
    • Added: Drag & Drop tree view
    • Added: Run more than one instance (requires Google Chrome V5.x)
    • Fixed: Several minor issues


  • 2010-02-08 V1.1.1
    • Added: !CLIPBOARD command: SET !CLIPBOARD "Hi" works, but {{!CLIPBOARD}} does not currently work due to a bug in Chrome.
    • Added: Macro edit, rename and delete with right-click
    • Added: STOPWATCH - Result is written to Chrome Javascript Console
    • Fixed: Several minor issues




  • 2009-12-5 V1.0.0
    • Added: Improved GUI, panel now stays open during record and replay
    • Added: Pause button
    • Added: LOOP button & {{!LOOP}} variable
    • Added: REFRESH
    • Fixed: Several smaller issues


  • 2009-12-1 V0.6.5
    • Added: Line numbers and WAIT time in seconds are displayed as text in the browser action icon
    • Fixed: Another page load timing issue


  • 2009-11-30 V0.6.1
    • Fixed: Page load timing issue



  • 2009-11-23 V0.5.0
    • Added: Browser Action support
    • Fixed: Encoding issue for Non-ASCII characters in macro. Bookmarklets now Base64 encoded.
    • Fixed: Several smaller issues


  • 2009-10-01 V0.3.2
    • Added: Initial release



How to install a Beta version

As of Chrome V22 Google has blocked the installation of Chrome extensions that are not hosted in their web store. So if support emails you a iMacros for Chrome extension as beta version please install it this way:

How to install:

  • Open Chrome, navigate to Tools > Extensions
  • Drag and drop the imacros-xyz.crx extension on the extension page

Security

Chrome displays a scary security warning when installing iMacros for Chrome. So we sometimes get questions like:

Q: When I click the link to install iMacros, Chrome pops up a warning with this message: "All data on your computer and the websites you visit". Is this actually true or is it an over reaction from Chrome programming?

A: iMacros for Chrome needs to read and write the macro files. So technically we need permission to access files on your PC - and thus we could access all files on your PC - just as any other program that you install. Of course, we don't do that. Also, our iMacros for Chrome code is open-source, so everyone can verify it.

To summarize, that is a very strong warning from the Chrome team for a simple thing. iMacros for Chrome does not do anything bad or unexpected.


Known Issues

Please report any problem in our user forum. We can only fix issues that you report! Thank you for your help.

All issues will be fixed as soon as possible.

See Also

iMacros Community Editions, iMacros for Firefox, Compare all iMacros versions, iMacros 7 Version History

Retrieved from "http://wiki.imacros.net/iMacros_for_Chrome"
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