
TA.Gui – A tool for non-developers and business users to automate web apps - tanky_frank
https://github.com/tebelorg/TA.Gui
======
grw_
Looks cool, well done. I toyed with the idea of building something similar as
a product a few months ago. I think there's an opportunity for a service that
allow users to create their own integrations for services that are too niche
for Alexa/Siri etc to bother with, but would still benefit from automation.
Example might be booking local tennis courts, seeing what specials are on at
local restaurant, etc.

Some other ideas-

\- Save macros retroactively. i.e, Extension records all the time, user
selects previous n steps from 'action history' view.

\- Paid service for running macros in cloud on schedule, receive reports,
notifications, etc.

\- Invoke macros from Alexa, FB bot, etc

\- With above, can interactively ask for instruction if it encounters an error
(button not found, etc).

~~~
kensoh
Thank you grw_ :) And especially for sharing your well thought out points.

I have noted down all your ideas for further exploration. I'm chewing on an
idea of crowdsourcing + marketplace, where people can make use of the flows
made by others (without sensitive credentials), and where users with complex
automation requests can have someone do it for a small goodwill fee.

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wffurr
It's for non-developers and business users, but your demo uses vi and a
command line. I would not expect most non-developers and business users to be
comfortable with those tools.

~~~
kensoh
Thanks wffurr for your feedback, using notepad will do as well, but yes, I
believe there is still a large potential gap to be closed in removing user
friction, and that is the priority in pipeline. The other being porting over
to Windows after the ground issues from incoming feedback are resolved.

For the beta, a primary aim is to minimize writing code to zero or minimal if
a user knows JavaScript. I started working on this general tool 2-3 months ago
because I hate writing code to drive automation.

I was spending much time copying and pasting and editing that I can't believe
its 2016. I want to retain all the capability of handling complex scenarios,
without writing large chucks of code.

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nerdponx
Looks like AppleScript for the web. Neat!

In theory could it also be used to script actual desktop applications with JS
UIs?

~~~
kensoh
(hit the comment limit yesterday, trying again)

Thanks nerdponx!

Do you mean cross-platform desktop apps base on Electron for example?
Currently the terminate points are PhantomJS or Firefox and I haven't tested
that use case.

[https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tebelorg/TA.Gui/master/src...](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tebelorg/TA.Gui/master/src/media/flowchart.png)

For raw desktop apps, might be able to work some integration out with projects
such as RobotJS or pywinauto. Regardless, feel free to reach me at
support@tebel.org or the repo issues page.

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kensoh
Thank you tanky_frank for sharing here :) Overnight the stars jumped from 2 to
500+, and became trending repo #2 on GitHub.

Hope to say hi to you at support@tebel.org. Next in pipeline is making the
Chrome extension more expressive, and porting to Windows.

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23432
Nice tool and well done. But the overall idea very much looks like the popular
iMacros for Chrome or iMacros for Firefox browser addons - Chrome version
here: [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/imacros-for-
chrome...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/imacros-for-
chrome/cplklnmnlbnpmjogncfgfijoopmnlemp)

And for _non-developers_ the screenshot-driven Kantu Web Automation Browser
(Chromium-based, [https://kantu.io](https://kantu.io) ) is much easier to use
than any tool that relies on Xpath and CSS Selectors.

~~~
kensoh
(hit the comment limit yesterday)

Hi 23432, thank you for your kind feedback :)

I have not used iMacros before but did a quick check. I guess one of the
difference would be it costs between $500-$3000 for different types of
licenses (common for RPA software like Automation Anywhere or UiPath), while
TA.Gui is under MIT license free to use/modify/share.

iMacros supports scripting by writing code, while one of the primary aims of
TA.Gui is to minimize writing code while still supporting datatables, object
repositories, incoming and outgoing API calls etc. I can't add more since I
have not used iMacro but have noted this tool for reference.

For Kantu, it reminds me of SikuliX project, except that SikuliX is for entire
desktop while Kantu is for browser. Have noted this down as well for reference
:)

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uberneo
Recently i have started working with NightmareJs to scrape few sites. There
also you have to mention the flow as in click here , grab this data n all.
Wondering how is it different from that . Also can we use it to scrape data
from a site and save to database?

~~~
kensoh
Hi uberneo, thanks for your feedback. TA.Gui is based on CasperJS (with
PhantomJS as underlying browser in invisible mode or SlimerJS+Firefox in
visible mode).

One of the main aims of TA.Gui is converting almost natural language into
working JavaScript code to run automation. Of course, it supports JavaScript
directly within the automation flow for developers to still retain their full
expressive ability.

I haven't used NightmareJS before to comment on the difference between it and
CasperJS. But yes, TA.Gui can be used to scrape data from a site and outputs
to text files or screen. Current beta version (v0.6.0) does not support
writing directly to database, however a script (shell, PHP, etc) should be
able to directly read the output text files into a database.

If you are already familiar with NightmareJS, using TA.Gui would probably be a
breeze for you. You might have a try to see and I appreciate feedback on gaps
to support@tebel.org or through the GitHub repo issues page :)

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register
Windows defenders reports a malware when trying to download the master branch.
Now I will be forced to format my company laptop. Great! P.S: The reported
virus is Trojan:Win32/Sprinsky.

~~~
tinodotim
Probably a false-positive:
[https://virustotal.com/en/file/504f86c07384b93800120b182a81e...](https://virustotal.com/en/file/504f86c07384b93800120b182a81ebf2af9200ed4a77ce807f0c21e51bf86284/analysis/1487431934/)

Webroot Heuristic goes riot on the Resurrectio_LICENSE.GPL file in the chrome
plugin. Only file that is "infected". (See File Details on Virustotal)

Without it:
[https://virustotal.com/en/file/44f9ffa063cf3f2e23dfedef81150...](https://virustotal.com/en/file/44f9ffa063cf3f2e23dfedef81150fa1f433d8bf3c3f49d74592771768d15488/analysis/1487432121/)

But of course: no warranty.

EDIT: It's also probably Win32/Sprisky instead of SpriNsky.
[https://duckduckgo.com/?q=win32+sprisky&t=hb&ia=web](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=win32+sprisky&t=hb&ia=web)

Looks more and more like a false positive, happened also with the/a GnuPG
Installer for Windows: [http://gnupg.10057.n7.nabble.com/Trojan-detected-in-
Windows-...](http://gnupg.10057.n7.nabble.com/Trojan-detected-in-
Windows-10-Simple-Installer-for-GnuPG-Modern-td50896.html)

~~~
darfs
Is the snake oil srsly attacking a GPL-License File?

That has so much potential for jokes... ^^

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supremesaboteur
Other options :

Dejaclick

Selenium IDE

~~~
kensoh
Thanks supremesaboteur for your feedback, I have not used Dejaclick before.
For Selenium IDE, I got the impression that I cannot have access to
conditions, loops, datatables, object repositories, invoking by
API/scheduling, make outgoing API calls, etc. Without writing code.

I thought it was a rather limited tool (the Selenium IDE part), so usually
test automation teams write their own frameworks in their preferred
programming language to drive Selenium WebDriver (which of course is
mainstream), then write code to do the test automation.

I'm basically attempting to bring that sort of framework out of the picture,
to let users being able to do the same kind of complex stuff without writing
code. They can still use JavaScript code in their automation flow if they
want.

~~~
supremesaboteur
You should mention that in the README. 'Why TAGui over currently available
tooling ?' is the first question many people will ask

~~~
kensoh
Sure supremesaboteur, thanks for your suggestion!

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LordKano
It reminds me of QuicKeys. I'm going to have to look into this.

~~~
kensoh
Thanks LordKano, feel free to feedback any bugs or suggestions to
support@tebel.org or through the GitHub repo issues page. I welcome
suggestions to make it better!

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m-a-r-c-e-l
awesome tool, go on!

~~~
kensoh
Thank you m-a-r-c-e-l!

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dema_guru
Cool

~~~
kensoh
Thanks dema_guru!

