GUI automation tool (windows)

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Tue, 10 Aug 2010 20:05:12 +1200, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:

> In message
> <56a18e2b-4967-4a63-852e-1eb53bb6e561 at j8g2000yqd.googlegroups.com>, Alex
> Barna wrote:
> 
>> So what happens to this field (Windows GUI automation) ?
> 
> Can’t understand the point to it. “GUI automation” is a contradiction in
> terms, because a GUI is designed for use by humans to do manual tasks,
> not ones that can be automated.

There have been plenty of systems for recording user actions and playing 
them back. They're very useful at times.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macro_recorder
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macro_(computer_science)


You might even have heard of one of them... Emacs. I hear that it's 
moderately popular among Linux users.

http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/3769



> Tasks that can be automated are most easily, flexibly, and above all
> reliably, done via command lines and other such scripting interfaces.

That's a matter of opinion, and it clearly depends on the nature of the 
GUI and CLI, as well as what task you're trying to automate.



-- 
Steven