The renewal maintenance has officially ended for Progress iMacros effective November 30, 2023.
This Wiki site will also no longer be moderated from the Progress side.
Thank you again for your business and support.
Sincerely, The Progress Team
Difference between revisions of "First Steps"
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===Encrypted web site passwords and ask for the Master Password === | ===Encrypted web site passwords and ask for the Master Password === | ||
Passwords are encrypted using the same strong 256-bit encryption based on the industry-standard [[AES]] algorithm as in 2., but the master password is not stored. It is only kept temporarily in memory while you run the macros. You need to re-enter it once when you start iMacros and use a website password the first time; much more secure than the other two options, but less convenient. This means that even if somebody steals your PC they can not run the macros which include website access using passwords. This method is recommended for macros that you start manually, such as your personal online banking macros. | Passwords are encrypted using the same strong 256-bit encryption based on the industry-standard [[AES]] algorithm as in 2., but the master password is not stored. It is only kept temporarily in memory while you run the macros. You need to re-enter it once when you start iMacros and use a website password the first time; much more secure than the other two options, but less convenient. This means that even if somebody steals your PC they can not run the macros which include website access using passwords. This method is recommended for macros that you start manually, such as your personal online banking macros. | ||
+ | |||
+ | '''Tip:''' If you need to change a password inside a macro, you can create new secure password strings with [http://www.iopus.com/imacros/support/passwordtool/ this password tool]. | ||
== Offline == | == Offline == | ||
If you work on a PC without Internet connection, it is recommended that you check the box "Work Offline" in the Options dialog. This avoids the Internet connection check at iMacros startup. | If you work on a PC without Internet connection, it is recommended that you check the box "Work Offline" in the Options dialog. This avoids the Internet connection check at iMacros startup. |
Revision as of 15:12, 1 December 2008
Starting iMacros
iMacros can be used in two different modes.
Internet Explorer Plug-in:
After installing the software a new icon called "iOpus iMacros" appears in the menu bar of Internet Explorer (IE). Click this icon to start iOpus iMacros. If you have already customized your toolbar you might need to add the icon to the Internet Explorer toolbar manually.
Please see the relevant FAQ for more on how to do this.
The Special Internet Explorer Browser [PRO and SCRIPTING Edition]:
To start this program click on the icon on your desktop, or navigate to the file "imacros.exe" and click on it.
To become familiar with the iMacros run the "Demo-FillForm" macro that is automatically installed. This demonstrates the basic features of iMacros in an uncluttered way. It navigates to a test form, fills the form, sends it and returns to the iOpus Internet Macro Website.
The iMacros Graphical User Interface
We have invested a lot of effort in making the Graphical User Interface of the iMacros Browser and the Internet Explorer Plug-In as intuitive as possible. In this section the basic elements are explained. There are minor differences between the iMacros Browser and the Plug-In, which will be pointed out as neccessary.
The main window
The main window consists of two parts, on the left you see the iMacros panel and on the right you see the browser window. The website is displayed in the browser window just as you are used to when using any other browser. With the elements on the left you control iMacros.
The iMacros control can be divided in two parts. At the top you see all your macros. Macros are only recognized by iMacros if they have the file ending .iim and are lying in the Macros directory of your iMacros installation. The default for this is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\iMacros\Macros.
The bottom part consists of three tabs, Play, Rec and Edit. As the name suggests, in the Play tab you will find controls for playing macros, in the Rec tab controls for recording and in the Edit tab you will find controls for editing.
Recording
To record your own macros select the Record tab of iOpus iMacros. Click "Record" to start a recording. Now simply perform whatever tasks you wish to record, such as surfing to web sites, filling out forms, making a test order on your e-commerce site or any other task of your choosing.
After you have finished recording press "Stop". The current recording is automatically saved as #Current macro. Press "Save" to save it under an individual name. When saving the macro is parsed and iMacros attempts to remove all double or multiple entries.
Hints for successful recording:
- During recording do not use your browsers Back or Forward button or change the address line. Use the functions supplied by iOpus iMacros instead (Internet Explorer Plug-in only).
- Recording "Clicks". If a macro generates an error during replay you can experiment by selecting the link recording option (Click Mode) manually from the dialog after clicking Click Mode.
- Automatic: iMacros attempts to choose the best recording options (recommended in most cases).
- Use Link Name: the link is identified by its name. This works well in most cases except when there are several links with the same name on a page.
- Use Link URL: the link is detected by its URL. If the URL changes each time you visit a page this option is not recommended, unless you replace the changing part of the URL with an *. Here is more information.
- Use X/Y: the link is identified by its position on the web page. This can be useful if the name and URL of the item you want to click on changes dynamically from visit to visit. It should also be used if the web page element is embedded in JavaScript and iMacros can not find the recorded name during replay because it was created "on the fly" by JavaScript.
- Use DirectScreen: This is the ultimate solution if everything else fails. It simulates standard mouse clicks within the browser window. This feature works with all Web pages.
- Because the iMacros recording language is fully documented it is easy to edit and "tweak" the macro manually after recording!
Related animated tutorial: Recordig a macro
Note: The iMacros PRO and Scripting Edition licenses include free Silver Level tech support, so our support team is ready to help you with your project and any recording issues that you might encounter.
Replay
To replay any macro from the macro directory open the Play tab, select a macro from the list and press "Play". During replay a blue frame shows you which parts of the web site are being manipulated. To run iMacros in the background click on the "Minimize to tray" button (iMacros Browser only).
To replay the recorded sequence several times, fill in the number of loops and press "Play (Loop)"
There are two different options that affect the speed at which macros are replayed. These can be set in the Settings tab of the Options dialog or they can also be changed within the macro with the !REPLAYSPEED variable.
The first option is the replay speed, which can be set to three different values:
- FAST: the macro is replayed at maximum speed (Recommended in most cases).
- MEDIUM: iMacros waits for 0.25s between each command.
- SLOW: iMacros waits for 1s between each command.
The second option is to insert WAIT statements during recording. If the checkbox marked "RECORD original speed" is marked then WAIT statements are included. Thus, during replay these WAIT statements slow down the process of replaying.
Tip: If you want the blue frame to appear during replay add the following statement to your macro:
SET !POINTER YES
Errors during replay
We work hard to make iMacros as "intelligent" as possible, but it still is not as smart as you. If an error occurs during replay it is mostly due to a "tricky" web page at which one of the automatic suggestions of the iMacros Recorder failed. In almost all cases re-recording the macro with different settings or manually editing the macro solves the problem. For recording tips please see Recording and for information on how to edit your macro go to the Edit Macros section.
Related forum posts:
Edit Macros
(Related example macros: Demo-FillForm)
All recorded macros are stored in a plain text file with the ending .iim in the directory defined by the Folder Macros text field in the Path tab of the Options dialog, e.g. C:\Program Files\iMacros\Macros\. You can manually edit and tweak the macros using any text editor you like, e.g. Notepad, which is shipped with the Windows operating system by default. To open any macro open the Edit tab, mark the macro you want to edit and click the "Edit" button. The editor you entered in the Path Macro Editor text field located in the Path tab of Options dialog (Notepad by default) will open and display the macro - in this example we chose Demo-FillForm:
As a simple edit step, let us change the content of a form text field now. To change the Name below from "Tom Tester" to "Dr. A. Award" locate the TAG command that contains "Tom Tester" and change is as shown below:
Old:
TAG POS=1 TYPE=INPUT:TEXT FORM=NAME:f1 ATTR=NAME:n1 CONTENT=Tom Tester
New:
TAG POS=1 TYPE=INPUT:TEXT FORM=NAME:f1 ATTR=NAME:n1 CONTENT=Dr.<SP>A.<SP>Award
When assigning values to the CONTENT parameter of any iMacro command all whitespaces in the text must be substituted by <SP> and all newlines must be substituted by <BR> (Related forum post). After you save the changes to the file iMacros will immediately apply them during the next replay of the macro.
Tip: iMacros uses the Windows Notepad as default editor. We recommend to install and use the free Notepad++ editor. It not only has better features such a line numbering, but also supports with iMacros syntax highlighting.
Security
Many web sites require you to type a user name and password before you can enter the site. For instance, personalized pages and web sites containing your financial information require you to log in.
The iMacros Password Manager can help you by storing your user names and passwords in macros, and entering them for you automatically when you visit such sites.
There are three ways to store passwords in macros you record. The password encryption method can be either set or disabled for all macros in the Security tab of the Options dialog or individually for each macro with the !ENCRYPTION variable.
No encryption
The password is stored inside the macro in plain text. This method is very convenient, but keep in mind that everybody who opens the macro can read the password.
Encrypted web site passwords
Passwords are encrypted using a strong 256-bit encryption based on the industry-standard AES algorithm. This encryption requires a master password, which is stored on your own computer in the iMacros settings file. The default master password is "iOpus2004". This master password can and indeed should be changed in the Security tab of the Options dialog. The iMacros settings file is very difficult, but not impossible, for an intruder to read. For macros that need to run unattended this is the best solution possible as every automatic solution needs to store the password somewhere. This is the default setting.
Encrypted web site passwords and ask for the Master Password
Passwords are encrypted using the same strong 256-bit encryption based on the industry-standard AES algorithm as in 2., but the master password is not stored. It is only kept temporarily in memory while you run the macros. You need to re-enter it once when you start iMacros and use a website password the first time; much more secure than the other two options, but less convenient. This means that even if somebody steals your PC they can not run the macros which include website access using passwords. This method is recommended for macros that you start manually, such as your personal online banking macros.
Tip: If you need to change a password inside a macro, you can create new secure password strings with this password tool.
Offline
If you work on a PC without Internet connection, it is recommended that you check the box "Work Offline" in the Options dialog. This avoids the Internet connection check at iMacros startup.