Data Reading Actions

The Mainframe module Data Reading actions retrieve text and field values from the mainframe terminal screen. Use these actions to extract data from the terminal during a robotic task execution.

See Mainframe Actions for prerequisites and Connection and Setup Actions to establish a session before reading data.

• Find Text
• Get Text
• Get Field at Coordinates

Find Text

This action searches the terminal screen for a specified text string and returns the screen coordinates where the text is found. Use this action to locate text before navigating to it or reading surrounding content.

You can configure CONFIGURATION, OUTPUTS, and AFTER COMPLETION parameters for this action.

Configuration

In the CONFIGURATION area of the ACTION CONFIGURATION pane, configure the following parameters:

• Search text: Enter the text string to search for on the terminal screen. This field lets you enter a text string, choose a variable, or use the expression editor.
• Search direction: Choose the direction to search the terminal screen:
  • Forward: Search from the top-left of the screen toward the bottom-right.
  • Backward: Search from the bottom-right of the screen toward the top-left.

Output

This action returns the screen coordinates (row and column) of the first occurrence of the search text.

In the OUTPUTS area of the ACTION CONFIGURATION pane, configure the following parameters to store this result:

• Operator: Select an option to store the result as a single-value variable (is stored as) or add the result as a multiple-value variable (is appended to).
• Target: Enter the name of the robotic task variable where you want to store or append the result. If your variable is type CDT, you can specify which field of a CDT to store the result into using dot notation.

After completion

In the AFTER COMPLETION area of the ACTION CONFIGURATION pane, configure the following parameters:

• Wait before executing next action: Enter the number of seconds the robotic task waits before it continues to the next action in the robotic task definition.
• Take a screenshot: If you select this option, the robotic task takes a screenshot of the host machine immediately after the action completes successfully.

Get Text

This action retrieves text from the terminal screen, either from the full screen or from a defined range of rows and columns. The action returns a list of strings, with one entry per extracted line.

You can configure CONFIGURATION, OUTPUTS, and AFTER COMPLETION parameters for this action.

Configuration

In the CONFIGURATION area of the ACTION CONFIGURATION pane, configure the following parameters:

• Scope: Choose what portion of the screen to read:
  • Full screen: Retrieve all text from the entire terminal screen.
  • Range: Retrieve text from a specific range of rows and columns. When you select this option, the following fields appear:
    • Start row: Enter the starting row number. This field lets you enter a number, choose a variable, or use the expression editor.
    • Start column: Enter the starting column number. This field lets you enter a number, choose a variable, or use the expression editor.
    • End row: Enter the ending row number. This field lets you enter a number, choose a variable, or use the expression editor.
    • End column: Enter the ending column number. This field lets you enter a number, choose a variable, or use the expression editor.

Output

This action returns a list of strings. Each entry in the list corresponds to one extracted line from the terminal screen.

In the OUTPUTS area of the ACTION CONFIGURATION pane, configure the following parameters to store this result:

• Operator: Select an option to store the result as a single-value variable (is stored as) or add the result as a multiple-value variable (is appended to).
• Target: Enter the name of the robotic task variable where you want to store or append the result. If your variable is type CDT, you can specify which field of a CDT to store the result into using dot notation.

After completion

In the AFTER COMPLETION area of the ACTION CONFIGURATION pane, configure the following parameters:

• Wait before executing next action: Enter the number of seconds the robotic task waits before it continues to the next action in the robotic task definition.
• Take a screenshot: If you select this option, the robotic task takes a screenshot of the host machine immediately after the action completes successfully.

Get Field at Coordinates

This action retrieves the text value of the terminal field at a specified row and column. Use this action when you know the exact screen position of the field you want to read.

You can configure CONFIGURATION, OUTPUTS, and AFTER COMPLETION parameters for this action.

Configuration

In the CONFIGURATION area of the ACTION CONFIGURATION pane, configure the following parameters:

• Row: Enter the row number of the field to read. Rows are numbered starting from 1. This field lets you enter a number, choose a variable, or use the expression editor.
• Column: Enter the column number of the field to read. Columns are numbered starting from 1. This field lets you enter a number, choose a variable, or use the expression editor.

Output

This action returns a text value containing the content of the field at the specified coordinates.

In the OUTPUTS area of the ACTION CONFIGURATION pane, configure the following parameters to store this result:

• Operator: Select an option to store the result as a single-value variable (is stored as) or add the result as a multiple-value variable (is appended to).
• Target: Enter the name of the robotic task variable where you want to store or append the result. If your variable is type CDT, you can specify which field of a CDT to store the result into using dot notation.

After completion

In the AFTER COMPLETION area of the ACTION CONFIGURATION pane, configure the following parameters:

• Wait before executing next action: Enter the number of seconds the robotic task waits before it continues to the next action in the robotic task definition.
• Take a screenshot: If you select this option, the robotic task takes a screenshot of the host machine immediately after the action completes successfully.

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