Open Application Activity

The Open Application activity launches a native Windows desktop application, or attaches to an already-running one by window title, and establishes an instance reference for subsequent MS UI Automation activities to interact with its UI elements.

Field	Description	Requirement
Application name	The reference name assigned to this application instance, for use by subsequent activities (e.g. `${myApp}`).	Required
Application path / Window title	The full path to the executable file to launch, or the title of an already-running window to attach to instead. Supports wildcards (`*`, `?`).	Required
Timeout (sec)	The duration in seconds to wait for the application to launch or the window to be found before failing.	Optional
Maximize	When enabled, the application window is maximized after a successful launch or attach.	Optional

Action Types & Examples

Application Launch

Format: string (file path)
Example Result: "C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe"

Attach to Existing Window

Format: string (window title, wildcards supported)
Example Result: "Untitled - Notepad"

Implementation Examples

Field Setup - Application name: ${myApp} - Application path / Window title: C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe - Timeout (sec): 15 - Maximize: true

Execution Parameters - Application path / Window title: *Notepad (attach to any running window whose title ends with "Notepad")

Technical Notes

The application instance created by this activity is referenced by subsequent MS UI Automation activities (Click, Get, Set, and others) through their Application instance field. Use the Close Application activity to terminate the instance once automation is complete.

Application path / Window title serves two purposes depending on whether the target application is already running: provide a full .exe path to launch a new instance, or a window title (optionally with */? wildcards) to attach to an existing window instead of starting a new process.