Scripting language

CoScripter's scripting language is very simple. Each instruction is parsed into a set of words, and the current web page is searched to find the control (such as a button, link, or text box) that best matches the words in the instruction. The ordering of the words doesn't matter, so "click the koala button" is equivalent to "button the click koala".

In order to find the best matching control, CoScripter annotates every control on the given web page with words describing its type and the actions that can be done to it. For example, a hyperlink is annotated with words like "link", "anchor", "click", "press", and "hit". A text box is annotated with words like "field", "text", "textbox", "enter", "type", and "fill". Each control is also annotated with words that appear near or inside it on the page. For example, links are annotated with their link text (the words that appear inside the link).

CoScripter also understands a few special words, such as "first", "second", "third", and "thirty-fourth", as referring to the n^th such control on the page. It also understands words like "top", "bottom", "left", and "right" to refer to controls in different parts of the page, e.g., "click the Go button on the left".

Given these annotated controls and the words in your instruction, CoScripter attempts to find the control that best matches the instruction by counting the number of words each control has in common with the instruction. The control with the most words in common is chosen as CoScripter's best guess.

Sometimes CoScripter chooses the wrong action. In this case, you can perform the correct action yourself and try to edit the script to make it do the right thing. We are continually improving CoScripter's ability to guess what you meant based on the written instructions.

"You" steps

If a step contains the word "you", CoScripter will assume that it does not know how to execute this step, and it will pause execution (turning the step red in the sidebar) and wait for you to perform the instruction manually. One use for this type of step is to confirm the execution of a step that is potentially destructive or important, such as actually placing an order. Another use is to pause a script and wait for the user to read some piece of information, such as terms of use. Another use is to work around bugs in CoScripter, where CoScripter can't programmatically execute something, so you have to tell users to do it themselves.

"Your" steps

Steps that contain the word "your" are interpreted as containing references to the user's personal database, a store of name-value pairs that can be plugged into scripts to personalize them. See the personal database page for more information about using this feature.