Set form value

This step will set the value attribute of an element and send it a change event. It is most useful for filling out forms and especially for populating a text box.

The value can either be text entered when setting up the step, or it can optionally come from one of the arguments passed to the task when invoked. For instance, a task to perform a search probably requires a keyword argument; the “Set form value” step puts the keyword into the search box invoked by the connector.

A note about drop-downs: A form element one often encounters is the select element which lets you select one of several options. However, the value set does not necessarily correspond to the text displayed. Rather than looking in the page source to determine the value for the desired selection, the Set form value step provides a shortcut: Clicking on the select element to choose it as the target of the step causes the menu will drop down. Proceed to click one of the site’s menu options, and the step will automatically be populated with the value of that selection.