How To Configure Your Computer to use Cycle's Native App Steps
Beginning with version 2.4, Cycle adds a new set of steps designed for interacting with native applications on your computer in specifically targeted ways. In order to use these steps, you will need to take the following steps on your machine:
Step 1: Download and setup WinAppDriver in Cycle
Download and Install WinAppDriver
You can download WindowsApplicationDriver.msi from Microsoft's github page for WinAppDriver here (v1.1.1 or newer recommended). When you run the installer, you can either use the default install location or choose a specific one, but be sure to copy the path for later use in Cycle.
In most cases it will be something close to: C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Application Driver\WinAppDriver.exe
Set the WinAppDriver Location in Cycle's Project Settings
Either paste in your copied file path (including \WinAppDriver.exe) or click the 3 dots to navigate to it through the Windows explorer. You will now be able to execute the family of Steps identified in the Step Guide with the WinAppDriver filter.
Turn on Windows Developer Mode
Turning on Windows Developer Mode will allow for more transparency into unsigned applications. You can access this setting in Windows 10 from Windows Settings > Update & Security > For developers:
Step 2 (optional): Using Inspect.exe to identify objects in native applications
Now that you have your WinAppDriver set up, you may need some help in identifying the specific objects or components within the native app that you want Cycle to target. Inspect.exe is a Windows program that can be very helpful for this purpose.
Download and Install Windows SDK
Downloading the Windows SDK will give you access to Inspect.exe.
You can download the Windows SDK installer from here.
Follow the instructions to download the installer with its default settings. Once it completes, you will have the ability to open and run Inspect.exe which (depending on your installation) should be located in:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.18362.0\x86
Having developer mode on and the Windows SDK installed you should be ready to run Inspect.exe. For more help on how to use this tool, see Microsoft's documentation here.
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