I am trying to use the Web Macro feature to download a file that is dynamically generated by a webpage. The friendly, client-facing name is the same, but the underlying URL changes each time the file is generated. Based on testing, I can assume that the generated file is deleted within a very short window of when it was generated.

I can successfully use the Web Macro to log in and navigate to the spot where the file normally pops up for download in Chrome, but the download step of the macro just stalls when replaying.

I looked at the criteria for the download step, and it's trying to reference a timestamped URL that the server generated on my first recording of the macro (http://www.example.com/page?rn=/20170523102557004&n=/Filename.xls). I'm guessing the Web Macro is trying to download the destroyed original file (old timestamp) when the newer file (http://www.example.com/page?rn=/20170523142557004&n=/Filename.xls) is being offered by the server.

Is there a way to have the Web Macro just accept any downloadable file content, and not require it to be sourced as a specific name?

The page is hosted on an intranet and full of other code , but I believe the underlying source behind the fun is this:

<FORM ACTION="page?rn=/20170523142557004&n=/Filename.xls" ID="printForm" NAME="printForm" METHOD="POST" >

The launch page for the dynamic download would be www.example.com/page 
The resulting refreshed download URL would be www.example.com/page?rn=...7004&n=/Filename.xls 

This problem appears in both 8.2.7 (15611) and 8.2.6 release.

Thanks!

To see if this is possible we need a sample web page.

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Unfortunately, the site is currently restricted to within our network.

Thankfully, I was able to navigate around the issue by finding an alternative, more permanent link to use as a basis for downloading.

It is downloading properly now!

If I come across the same behavior from a website "in the wild", I will update this thread to allow further inspection.


Thanks!

I too am running into a similar situation.
We generate a report (csv file) from a website every week. Every time we request the report a different file name is generated by the site.
Since the Web Macro keeps the name of the filename at recording, and I am not able to change the filename during execution, I have not been able to automate this download and are having to do this manually.
The Website is WhenToWork.com, an employee time tracking site and your exploration of what we can do in this situation is appreciated.
TIA
Hector

Hector,

It looks like WhenToWork.com offers a free read-only peek through their system at a manager and employee access level (https://whentowork.com/testdrive.htm ).

Can you make a test job file that uses the external demo to better show off this issue? We're still successfully using statically-linked workarounds, but having a dynamic option would definitely be superior.

Thanks!

John

Hi John
Sorry for the delay.
This need has reappeared, and here is a web macro task that uses the free part of When to Work.
Let me know what you find.
TIA
HectorA
  whentowork.zip (5kb) downloaded 52 time(s).

Any news on this request.
TIA

Try to uncheck "Disable web security".

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