Win Screenshot

Win Screenshot

Type: win-screenshot  ·  Package: Desktop Activities v1.0.8

Takes a screenshot of the whole window or of a specific element and saves it to an image file. Use it to keep evidence of a result (the receipt the application showed) and to diagnose failures: a screenshot in the catch shows you what the application looked like when something went wrong.

How it works

It captures the screen area of the selector element or —if you leave it out— of the session’s whole window, and saves it in path.

• It captures what is visible on screen in that area: it doesn’t bring the window to the front, so if another window covers it, that one shows up in the image. Use Win Focus first if needed.
• If path ends in .jpg it saves a JPEG; with any other extension, a PNG.
• It creates the destination folder if needed and overwrites the file if it already exists.
• Like every capture, it is explicit: it only happens where you place the activity, never automatically on failure.

To capture the whole desktop without a session or selector, use Take Screenshot.

Required parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
path	string	—	Output file path (.png, .jpg). E.g. C:\temp\capture.png.

Optional parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
session	ZoanDesktopSession	—	Win Attach session. Inside a body it is taken automatically. Required to capture the whole window.
selector	selector	—	Element to capture. Empty = the session’s whole window. Without a session, the selector must include the window.
timeout	number	30000	Maximum ms to wait for the element (if there is a selector). Empty = the project’s UI timeout or, if not set, 30000.

Output

This activity does not return a value: the image is left in path. If you need the path in a variable, build it in one first and pass it in path.

Common errors

Message	Cause and fix
'session' or 'selector' is required.	There is no session (nor body) and no selector: there’s nothing to capture.
'path' is required.	The file path is missing.
Element not found with selector {…}.	See common errors.
Windows error while copying the screen	The robot has no interactive desktop (Session 0 or locked session). Run it with a robot session.

Example

Capture the window if something fails, for diagnosis:

Try / Catch   errorVariable = error
 ├─ try:
 │    Win Click   session = app   selector = (button "Process")
 │    Win Wait For   session = app   selector = (label "Done")   state = visible
 └─ catch:
      Win Screenshot   session = app   path = "C:/evidence/error_" + now().ToString("yyyyMMdd_HHmmss") + ".png"
      Log   level = error   message = "Processing failed: " + error.Message

Keep as evidence only the receipt the application shows:

Win Screenshot   selector = (panel "Receipt")   path = pathJoin(evidenceFolder, invoiceNumber + ".png")

Screenshots in the catch

A screenshot inside the catch block of a Try / Catch is the best way to understand why an unattended desktop bot failed: it shows you the exact state of the application at that moment. If the error may have left the window closed or covered by another, Take Screenshot captures the whole desktop.

Related activities

• Take Screenshot — capture the whole desktop and get the path.
• Try / Catch — take a screenshot while handling an error.
• Win Get Text — read a specific value instead of an image.