How To Find Windows AppID for Native App Steps (unable to create new remote session)
Windows applications built using the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) API require Cycle to open the application using the AppID of the application rather than than specifying the executable application as needed when opening Classic Windows (Win32) applications.
Determining the AppID of a UWP application is not as straightforward as finding the executable and providing the full path and executable name to Cycle.
Error Using Application Executable to Open UWP Apps
UWP applications will give an error if you attempt to open the application using the application executable file.
The example below shows an attempt to open the Calculator app using calc.exe:
Finding the AppID for a UWP application
PowerShell can be used to find the AppID of a given application.
1) Search for PowerShell in the Windows search box
2) Open the PowerShell application. If PowerShell is not found, you will need to install PowerShell on your machine.
3) Run the command below in PowerShell replacing 'Application Name' with the name of the application you need to open using the AppID in Cycle:
get-StartApps | Where-Object {$_.Name -like '*Application Name*'}
For example, this would be the command to get the AppID for the Calculator application:
get-StartApps | Where-Object {$_.Name -like '*Calculator*'}
The command returns the name of the application as well as the AppID
In this example, the AppID for Calculator is 'Microsoft.WindowsCalculator_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App'
4) Use the Cycle step below to open applications using AppID
I open app "<APP_NAME>" with id "<APP_ID>"
Example step to open Calculator:
Given I open app "Calculator" with id "Microsoft.WindowsCalculator_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App"
The application successfully opens in Cycle:
Related Articles
How To Decide When to Use Native App Steps
Beginning with Cycle 2.4, Cycle now has the ability to interact with native Windows applications by using the WinAppDriver (WAD). These new native app steps allow Cycle to interact with Windows applications without relying on desktop steps that are ...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 ...How to Use xPath With Native App Steps
Native app steps and xPath Cycle native app steps (using WinAppDriver) allow for the use of several object locator types to identify objects within the app. Whenever possible, it is best to identify application objects using the WinAppDriver ...How To Use WinAppDriver UI Recorder to Record xPath
Why You Might Use WinAppDriver (WAD) UIRecorder Cycle native app steps using WinAppDriver allow for the use of several object locator types to identify objects within the app. Whenever possible, it is best to identify application objects using the ...How to use Inspect.exe and Locator Types with Native Apps
To use Cycle native app steps, it is recommended that Window’s Inspect.exe is used to identify app Object Identifiers. It is recommended to use Inspect.exe with multiple monitors. If you have not downloaded and installed Inspect.exe, follow the ...