[Tutor] OT: How to automate user interactions with GUI elements of closed-source programs?

[boB Stepp]

My Google-fu is weak on this question.  I keep getting lots of hits on
web scraping, but my interest is actually as follows:

I find myself doing the same boring, repetitive tasks by hand, which
amounts to copying certain information from one program and putting it
into other programs.  None of these programs, to my knowledge, have a
publicly accessible API.  Are there ways to programmatically
accurately click the right buttons (or check boxes, radio buttons,
etc.), copy desired fields and then switch to another program and
paste the desired information into the desired fields, accurately
clicking all things that need to be clicked, etc.?  This is mostly a
Windows-based scenario, but if the techniques (if they exist) can be
abstracted to any OS I can find plenty of uses elsewhere as well!

TIA!
Merry Christmas!!!

-- 
boB