Block reference / Web interaction

Press key

Send a key, or a string of keys, to an element or to whatever has focus.

Only inWarpX Browser

Press key sends keyboard events into the page: a single key such as Enter or Escape, a combination such as Control+a, or a run of characters. Use it to submit a simple search form, close a dialog that listens for Escape, trigger a page's own keyboard shortcut, or step through a list with the arrow keys. To enter text into a field, Type text and Forms are more reliable.

The Press key block's settings, filled in as in the example below.

Settings

Target element (Optional)

The element that gets the keys, as a CSS selector or XPath. The target button picks it in the profile's browser. Leave it empty to send the keys to whatever has focus. Without Debug mode, the block looks once and does not wait; if nothing matches, it fails with an element-not-found error and sends no keys. With Debug mode on, the target is focused first, and one that matches nothing fails the block too.

Exampleinput[name="q"]
Action

Press a key sends one key. Press multiple keys sends a string of characters, one after another.

ExamplePress a key
Keywhen Action is Press a key

A key name such as Enter, Escape, Tab, ArrowDown or a, or a combination joined with +, such as Control+a or Shift+Tab. The keys go down in the order written and come up in reverse, and each event carries the flags of the modifiers held; Control++ is Control with the + key. The button next to it records the next key you press.

ExampleEnter
keyswhen Action is Press multiple keys

The characters to send. It takes references such as {{variables.searchTerm}}. In a text field or editable element the text is added after what is already there. Anywhere else each character is sent as its own key press.

Example{{variables.searchTerm}}
Press time (milliseconds)

With Press a key, how long the keys stay down before they are released, in milliseconds. With Press multiple keys, the pause between characters. 0 releases at once.

Example0
Delay time (ms)

How long to wait after the block finishes, in milliseconds. Write a range such as 1000,3000 to pick a random wait in it each run.

Example1500

Every block also has the shared block settings — a description, Disable block and what to do on an error. Fields that take text accept data from earlier blocks.

What it hands on

Writes nothing to the table or variables, and leaves by its single output. It fails when Target element (Optional) is filled in and finds nothing.

Example: Submit a search box with Enter

  1. Start
  2. Open URL
  3. Type text
  4. Press key
Where Press key sits in the example workflow.
  1. Add Open URL after Start with https://forum.example.com/search.
  2. Add Type text with input[name="q"] and the text proxy rotation.
  3. Add Press key. Set Target element (Optional) to input[name="q"]. Type text leaves the field without focus, so name it here.
  4. Keep Action on Press a key and set Key to Enter.
  5. Set Delay time (ms) to 1500 to give the results page time to load.
  6. Run the workflow. The search form is sent and the results page opens.

Good to know

  • Without Debug mode, the keys are events created by script in the page. The page's own key listeners see them, but the browser does not act on them: Tab does not move the focus, and a browser shortcut such as Control+a does not select anything. A page that listens for the shortcut itself, such as Control+k for its search box, does react.
  • Without Debug mode, no character is typed into a field while Control, Alt or Meta is held: Control+a sends the events and leaves the field's text as it is.
  • Without Debug mode, Enter in a text field inside a form submits the form the way a person's Enter does: the form's submit event fires, so the page's own submit handling and the browser's field checks run. A form the page blocks, for example because a required field is empty, is not sent.
  • Without Debug mode, a single letter sent with Press a key into a text field is added to its value without the input event frameworks listen for. Use Type text for text.
  • Turn on Debug mode in the block's settings to send the keys as real keyboard input from the browser itself, as a person's keys are. The page sees trusted events (isTrusted is true), and the browser acts on them: Tab moves the focus and Control+a selects the text. A combination is held down in the order written for Press time (milliseconds), then released in reverse. Press multiple keys types the text with Press time (milliseconds) between keys.
  • The keys are not paced like a person's typing beyond Press time (milliseconds), and Human Emulation is not offered on this block.

See also

  • Type text — Put text into an input, textarea or editable element.
  • Trigger event — Fire a DOM event such as change, mouseover or keydown on an element.
  • Forms — Fill a text field, choose a dropdown option, or tick a checkbox or radio button.
  • Click element — Click an element on the page, with human-like mouse movement by default.