Introduction

Using API calls on public websites is an alternative to UI interaction. On previous episode I’ve shown how to use this technique. Now I will show typical RPA way of doing the same. But before we continue you can download full UiPath solution for API approach described in the previous article.

The Problem

When searching on Camping-Kaufhaus.com for a specific product with unique identifier called EAN we are getting multiple results.

The problem is: which one is the proper product which has EAN we are looking for? When clicking on link of each result we can examine EAN number on product page. So we can find out that our product is the chair.

UI Approach

Our high level design won’t be much different than the one for API apporach. The only thing that will change is that we will use different activities that rely on UI.

High level design

1. Execute search with given EAN
2. Extract product links with Table Extraction 2.1. Click on link from results page 2.2. Search for EAN on product page 2.3. If EAN on product page matches the one we’ve given initially save product’s URL
3. Return product’s URL or empty string if not found

For performing search in point 1. we will just append URL https://www.camping-kaufhaus.com/search?sSearch= with EAN - the same way as we started API approach. I know we could type EAN into search textbox and execute search from there, but I want to give a slight advantage to UI method. You’ll see it’ll still be slower than API approach.

Extracting URLs from search results

Let’s first start with the same arguments as for API approach

• in_EAN of type String, direction IN, default “4260182767924”
• out_ProductURL of type String, direction OUT, default empty We’re going to open web browser and use Table Extraction on product hyperlinks:

• Use Application/Browser, URL: “https://www.camping-kaufhaus.com/search?sSearch=” + in_EAN, Close: NAppCloseMode, Open: NAppOpenMode.Always
• Extract Table Data - just click on first hyperlink of products - it should already recognize them all. Rename column with URLs to url - that’s the only one we need

After that let’s verify if we’re getting proper URLs by putting empty Write Line just after Extract Table Data with breakpoint on it. Press F6 to debug workflow.

linkText	url
Dometic-Kühlschränke Gasregelventil für RM…	https://www.camping-kaufhaus.com/marken/dometic/488761/dometic-kuehlschraenke-gasregelventil-fuer-rm-22xx/41xx/42xx
Dometic Türverriegelung Kühlschränke RM…	https://www.camping-kaufhaus.com/marken/dometic/488796/dometic-tuerverriegelung-kuehlschraenke-rm-42xx/43xx/44xx
Campingstuhl Be-Smart Majestic	https://www.camping-kaufhaus.com/campingmoebel/campingstuehle/klappstuehle/492061/campingstuhl-be-smart-majestic
Dometic-Kühlschränke Heizpatrone gewinkelt 125…	https://www.camping-kaufhaus.com/marken/dometic/488649/dometic-kuehlschraenke-heizpatrone-gewinkelt-125-watt/235-volt

So we already have URLs of product pages. We could use them to find each hyperlink element a on website and click on it, but again we will use something faster: Go To URL activity. So let’s continue with point 2.1 using below activities:

• For Each Row, DataTable: ExtractDataTable
• Inside each loop Body:
  • Go To URL, URL: CurrentRow(“url”).ToString()

We can remove Write Line, put Delay activity with duration 00:00:05 right after Go To URL in each loop to test our workflow. After pressing F6 we should see all four product pages cycle before bot finishes its run. Now let’s implement ponint 2.2 but removing Delay and continuing with following activities:

• variable productEAN, of String type, scope Body of For Each Row, default empty
• Get Attribute, Strict Selector: <webctrl class='ean--value' tag='SPAN' />, Attribute: “text”, Result: productEAN

• Write Line, Text: productEAN

Let’s check one last time before implementing point 2.3. Running workflow by pressing F6 should result in writing 4 EANs to console. If all run well we can just add last actvities that will write product URL if EAN matches the one given as input argument:

• If, Condition: productEAN = in_EAN
• Then branch:
• Assign, To: out_ProductURL, Value: CurrentRow(“url”).ToString()
• Break

And the last Write Line in the main sequence:

• Write Line, Text: “Resulting product URL is: “ + out_ProductURL

Comparison: API vs UI

Let’s see the results of repeatedly running our both workflows - with API and UI approach. I think I’ve run it a little bit too many times since I’ve managed to get following page shown 😅:

After completing both workflows for 50+ runs UI approach took 11.9 seconds and API - 1.7 seconds on average:

I think numbers speak for themselves - that’s 7 times the difference. I believe that speed is not the only factor you consider when building automations, and it’s definitely not typically the topmost priority. Still, it’s one that is easy to measure.

I Hope you enjoyed this article. Here’s project with full UiPath solution for both approaches. Go, be greate!