Problem scenario
You want to leverage the power of image recognition and automation without an expensive license for software that has no API exposed. In other words you want a free version of Robotic Process Automation software on your Windows server. What do you do?
Solution
Prerequisites
Install Java version 8. If you do not know how, see this posting. We tested these directions on a Windows 2016 Server with 2 vCPUs and 4 GB of RAM. The performance was fine.
Procedures
1.a. If you are not using I.E., go to step #2. If you have the recommended I.E. browser settings, you will need to do the following substeps.
1.b. Open I.E. If you are prompted, you may want to accept the recommended settings.
1.c. Go to the gear icon in the upper righthand corner. Go to "Internet Options."
1.d. Go to Security tab and then click on "Trusted Sites."
1.e. Click on the "Sites" button.
1.f. Enter this text with no quotes "https://launchpadlibrarian.net" and click "Add".
2. Download this file: https://launchpad.net/sikuli/sikulix/1.1.1/+download/sikulixsetup-1.1.1.jar
3. Create a folder called "Sikulix" in C:\.
4. Transfer the downloaded .jar file to c:\Sikulix\
5. Double click the .jar file
6. Click "Yes" to the first window.
7. Unless you have a reason to change the default settings, check the box for "Pack1".
8. Click "Setup Now."
9. To the question about "The following file(s) will be downloaded..." click "Yes".
10. To the prompt about Jython version2 2.7.0, choose "Yes".
11. To the last window that says "Have fun!" click "Ok".
12. Now to open Sikulix, double click the "runsikulix" (Windows Command Script) in C:\Sikulix. (You may want to remove the Trusted Site you added in I.E. if you did step #1.)
Remember
Sikulix is straight-forward and intuitive to use after it has been installed. If you use a web browser with your Skiluix automated sequences, be aware of one thing. Some web browsers have an "auto-fill" or suggestion feature. The browser may dynamically and quickly display text that could interfere with picture recognition. You may want to add a step in Sikulix to click into another field that is not affected or obfuscated by the suggested text to make such text disappear for the next step in the Sikulix program to execute without a problem. This dropping-down text will usually disappear if an irrelevant text field is clicked on.
If you want step-by-step directions on how to use Sikulix as an example for the first time, see this posting.