Automating SAP GUI Interactions with Power Automate Desktop: Navigating Transactions, Extracting Table Data, and Handling Session Errors

Introduction

Picture this: every morning, a business analyst at a manufacturing company opens SAP, navigates to transaction ME2M, filters by plant and material group, scrolls through a grid of 400+ purchase order line items, copies them to Excel, then repeats the exercise for three other transaction codes before 9 AM. It takes 45 minutes on a good day. On a bad day — when SAP is slow, a session times out, or the grid has an extra column — it takes longer, and the data is wrong.

This is the kind of work Power Automate Desktop was built to eliminate. SAP GUI is one of the most common targets for RPA precisely because so much critical enterprise data lives inside it, yet the system predates modern APIs by decades. Connecting to it programmatically is either expensive (SAP RFC/BAPI licenses) or complicated (SAP Business Technology Platform). But the GUI is right there, and Power Automate Desktop can drive it with surprising reliability — if you understand how SAP GUI works under the hood and how to handle its quirks.

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to build a production-ready desktop flow that launches SAP GUI, navigates to any transaction code, interacts with input fields and toolbar buttons, extracts data from ALV grid tables, and recovers gracefully when sessions time out or modal dialogs interrupt your flow.

What you'll learn:

• How SAP GUI's accessibility model differs from standard Windows applications and why that matters for your selectors
• How to navigate transactions using the command field and function keys
• How to extract structured data from SAP ALV grids, including tables that span multiple pages
• How to detect and dismiss SAP-specific modal dialogs and error messages without crashing your flow
• How to build session error recovery logic that reconnects and resumes without human intervention

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Prerequisites

You should already be comfortable with the Power Automate Desktop designer and have built at least a few working flows. Specifically, you'll need a working understanding of:

• UI element selectors and how to repair them — covered in depth at UI Elements and Selectors in Power Automate Desktop: Building Automations That Don't Break
• Error handling with On Block Error — see Error Handling in Desktop Flows: On Block Error, Retry Policies, and Recovery Screenshots
• Data tables and list variables — covered in Variables, Lists, and Data Tables in Power Automate Desktop: A Complete Practitioner's Guide

On the SAP side, you need SAP GUI for Windows (version 7.40 or higher, though 7.60+ is strongly preferred), a user account with appropriate transaction access, and — critically — SAP GUI Scripting must be enabled on both the server and your local client. We'll cover that setup first.

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Enabling SAP GUI Scripting

Before a single Power Automate action will work against SAP, you need to turn on SAP GUI Scripting. This is a two-step process involving your SAP Basis team and your local machine.

Server-side (your Basis admin does this): The profile parameter sapgui/user_scripting must be set to TRUE in your SAP system. Some organizations also set sapgui/user_scripting_disable_recording to FALSE to allow recording. If you're working in a corporate environment, file a request with your Basis team and explain you need it for RPA automation.

Client-side (you do this):

1. Open SAP GUI and log into any system.
2. Go to Customize Local Layout (the icon that looks like a wrench, or press Alt+F12).
3. Choose Options.
4. Navigate to Accessibility & Scripting > Scripting.
5. Check Enable Scripting and uncheck Notify When a Script Attaches to SAP GUI (otherwise a popup will interrupt every automation run).
6. Click OK and restart SAP GUI.

Once scripting is enabled, SAP GUI exposes a rich COM automation object (SAPROTWr.ScriptingCtrl.1) that Power Automate Desktop can interact with either through its built-in SAP actions or — in more complex scenarios — through VBScript. We'll use both approaches.

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Understanding SAP GUI's Automation Architecture

Most Windows applications expose their UI through Microsoft UI Automation (UIA), and Power Automate Desktop is excellent at driving those. SAP GUI does expose UIA, but its accessibility tree is organized very differently from a typical Windows form.

The SAP GUI window hierarchy looks like this:

SAP GUI Main Window
  └── GuiApplication
        └── GuiConnection
              └── GuiSession
                    └── GuiMainWindow
                          └── GuiUserArea
                                ├── GuiTextField (input fields)
                                ├── GuiLabel (labels)
                                ├── GuiStatusBar (bottom status bar)
                                └── GuiGridView (ALV grids/tables)

The key implication: nearly everything in a SAP screen is identified by its technical ID, not by a label or position. A field like "Company Code" has an ID like wnd[0]/usr/ctxtRF02L-BUKRS. These IDs are stable across machines and system refreshes, which is both a blessing and a curse — they don't break when the screen repaints, but you need to know the technical name to target the right element.

Power Automate Desktop has a dedicated set of SAP GUI actions in the action library. However, these built-in actions cover the most common operations, not every edge case. For full control — especially table extraction and custom toolbar interactions — you'll supplement them with VBScript actions that invoke the SAP scripting COM object directly.

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Launching and Attaching to SAP GUI

There are two common patterns: launching SAP fresh from your flow, or attaching to an already-running session. In unattended scenarios, you'll almost always launch fresh.

Launching SAP GUI

Use the Run Application action to start SAP:

Run Application
  Application Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\SAP\FrontEnd\SapGui\saplogon.exe
  Wait For Application: Wait for application to complete loading

After launch, use Attach to Running Process or simply proceed with UI actions targeting the SAP Logon window. For most production setups, you'll want to launch a specific system directly using a connection shortcut (.sap file) to skip the logon pad:

Run Application
  Application Path: C:\SAP_Shortcuts\PRD_Client_100.sap

Logging In Securely

Never hardcode SAP credentials in your flow. Use a sensitive variable sourced from Azure Key Vault or the machine's credential store. The pattern for entering credentials looks like this:

# Set focus on the SAP Logon screen
Click UI Element: SAP_Client_Field
Send Keys: {Client_Number}

Click UI Element: SAP_Username_Field  
Send Keys: %SAPUsername%     # Variable holding username

Click UI Element: SAP_Password_Field
Send Keys: %SAPPassword%     # Sensitive variable - won't appear in logs

Press Key: Enter

For the details on managing credentials safely, see Handling Credentials Securely in Desktop Flows: Sensitive Variables and Azure Key Vault.

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Navigating Transactions

The SAP command field (the text box in the top-left of every SAP screen) is your primary navigation tool. You can navigate to any transaction by typing /n followed by the transaction code. For example, /nME23N navigates to the Purchase Order Display transaction.

Using the Command Field

The command field has the UI element ID wnd[0]/tbar[0]/okcd in SAP's technical naming. You can target it with a standard PAD UI action, but the most reliable approach for transaction navigation is a VBScript action:

' Navigate to a transaction using SAP's scripting API
Dim SapGuiAuto
Dim SapApp
Dim SapConn
Dim SapSession

Set SapGuiAuto = GetObject("SAPGUI")
Set SapApp = SapGuiAuto.GetScriptingEngine
Set SapConn = SapApp.Children(0)
Set SapSession = SapConn.Children(0)

SapSession.StartTransaction "%TransactionCode%"

In this snippet, %TransactionCode% is a Power Automate Desktop variable (e.g., ME2M). The StartTransaction method is the cleanest way to navigate — it handles the /n prefix internally and properly resets the screen state.

If you prefer the UI approach (useful when you need to stay entirely within PAD's visual designer):

# Click the command field
Click UI Element: [SAP Command Field - Technical ID: wnd[0]/tbar[0]/okcd]

# Clear whatever is there and type the transaction
Send Keys: {Ctrl}({A})
Send Keys: /nME2M
Press Key: Enter

Filling Transaction Parameters

Once you're in a transaction, you'll typically need to fill selection screen fields before executing. This is where knowing the technical field names pays off. Use Right-click > Technical Information in SAP to discover them.

Here's a complete example for ME2M (Purchase Orders by Material) — filling the plant and date range, then pressing Execute (F8):

Dim SapGuiAuto, SapApp, SapConn, SapSession
Set SapGuiAuto = GetObject("SAPGUI")
Set SapApp = SapGuiAuto.GetScriptingEngine
Set SapConn = SapApp.Children(0)
Set SapSession = SapConn.Children(0)

' Navigate to ME2M
SapSession.StartTransaction "ME2M"

' Set Plant field
SapSession.findById("wnd[0]/usr/ctxtWERKS-LOW").Text = "%PlantCode%"

' Set Document Date range
SapSession.findById("wnd[0]/usr/ctxtBEDAT-LOW").Text = "%StartDate%"
SapSession.findById("wnd[0]/usr/ctxtBEDAT-HIGH").Text = "%EndDate%"

' Press Execute (F8)
SapSession.findById("wnd[0]/tbar[1]/btn[8]").press()

The pattern SapSession.findById("...") is the core of SAP GUI scripting. Everything — buttons, fields, checkboxes, tabs — has an ID, and findById retrieves it. Toolbar buttons are indexed: btn[8] is always F8 (Execute) on the application toolbar.

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Extracting Data from ALV Grid Tables

ALV (ABAP List Viewer) grids are SAP's standard display for tabular data — purchase orders, open items, material movements, and hundreds of other reports. Extracting this data reliably is the hardest part of SAP automation, and the part most likely to break if you take shortcuts.

Why Screen Scraping ALV Grids Fails

The temptation is to use PAD's Extract Data from Window action or the recorder to capture what's visible. This approach has two fatal problems:

1. ALV grids render only visible rows. If there are 400 rows and only 20 fit on screen, you'll get 20 rows.
2. Column positions shift. If a user has customized their layout (reordered columns, added/removed fields), your coordinate-based extraction will pick up the wrong data.

The correct approach is to use the SAP GUI scripting API to read the grid object directly, bypassing the visual rendering entirely.

Reading ALV Grid Data with VBScript

Here's the complete pattern for extracting all rows from an ALV grid:

Dim SapGuiAuto, SapApp, SapConn, SapSession
Dim oGrid
Dim iRow, iCol
Dim rowCount, colCount
Dim cellValue
Dim outputData

Set SapGuiAuto = GetObject("SAPGUI")
Set SapApp = SapGuiAuto.GetScriptingEngine
Set SapConn = SapApp.Children(0)
Set SapSession = SapConn.Children(0)

' Get the ALV grid object - ID varies by transaction
' Use Technical Information to find yours
Set oGrid = SapSession.findById("wnd[0]/usr/cntlRESULT_LIST/shellcont/shell")

' Get dimensions
rowCount = oGrid.RowCount
colCount = oGrid.ColumnCount

' Build tab-delimited output string
outputData = ""

' First, write column headers
Dim colKey
For iCol = 0 To colCount - 1
    colKey = oGrid.ColumnOrder(iCol)
    outputData = outputData & oGrid.GetColumnDataType(colKey) & Chr(9)
Next
outputData = outputData & Chr(10)

' Then write data rows
For iRow = 0 To rowCount - 1
    For iCol = 0 To colCount - 1
        colKey = oGrid.ColumnOrder(iCol)
        cellValue = oGrid.GetCellValue(iRow, colKey)
        outputData = outputData & cellValue & Chr(9)
    Next
    outputData = outputData & Chr(10)
Next

' Return the data to PAD
WScript.Echo outputData

Handling the Output in PAD

The VBScript action in Power Automate Desktop captures what the script sends to WScript.Echo into a PAD variable. You then parse that tab-delimited string into a proper data table:

Run VBScript: [above script]
  VBScript Output: %RawGridData%

# Split into rows
Split Text
  Text to Split: %RawGridData%
  Delimiter: New Line
  Split Into Variable: %GridRows%

# Create an empty DataTable
Set Variable: %ExtractedData% = {New DataTable}

# Loop through rows (skip index 0 which is headers)
For Each %CurrentRow% In %GridRows% Starting From Index 1
  # Split each row by tab
  Split Text
    Text to Split: %CurrentRow%
    Delimiter: Tab
    Split Into Variable: %RowCells%
  
  # Add row to DataTable
  Add Row to DataTable
    Table: %ExtractedData%
    Row Data: %RowCells%
End

Once you have a proper DataTable, you can write it to Excel, filter it, or pass it as output to a cloud flow. For the Excel write pattern, see Automating Excel with Power Automate Desktop: Reading, Writing, and Running Macros.

Handling Multi-Page Results

Some SAP reports use pagination (Next Page button) rather than a single scrollable grid. In those cases, you need a loop that extracts the current page, clicks Next Page, and repeats until there is no next page.

' Check if Next Page button is enabled
Dim btnNextPage
Dim hasMorePages

On Error Resume Next
Set btnNextPage = SapSession.findById("wnd[0]/tbar[1]/btn[35]")
If Err.Number <> 0 Then
    hasMorePages = False
Else
    hasMorePages = Not btnNextPage.Enabled = False
End If
On Error GoTo 0

WScript.Echo CStr(hasMorePages)

Use this check inside a PAD loop: extract the current page's data, append it to your DataTable, check for more pages, click Next if available, and repeat. The button ID btn[35] is typically the "Next Page" button in ALV toolbar — verify this for your specific transaction.

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Detecting and Handling SAP Modal Dialogs

SAP is notorious for interrupting your flow with modal dialog boxes. These appear for:

• Information messages ("No records found")
• Warning confirmations ("Posting will be made in prior period")
• Error messages ("Company code does not exist")
• System messages ("Short dump occurred")
• Logon conflicts ("User is already logged in")

If your automation doesn't handle these, it will freeze — the modal blocks all further interaction with the SAP window, and your actions time out one by one until the flow errors out.

Detecting a Modal Dialog

A SAP popup dialog is a separate window in the scripting object model, appearing as wnd[1] (the main window is always wnd[0]). You can check for its existence:

Dim SapGuiAuto, SapApp, SapConn, SapSession
Dim popupExists
Dim popupText

Set SapGuiAuto = GetObject("SAPGUI")
Set SapApp = SapGuiAuto.GetScriptingEngine
Set SapConn = SapApp.Children(0)
Set SapSession = SapConn.Children(0)

popupExists = False
popupText = ""

On Error Resume Next
Dim wnd1
Set wnd1 = SapSession.findById("wnd[1]")
If Err.Number = 0 Then
    popupExists = True
    ' Try to get the message text
    Dim msgText
    Set msgText = SapSession.findById("wnd[1]/usr/txtMessageTxt")
    If Err.Number = 0 Then
        popupText = msgText.Text
    Else
        Err.Clear
        ' Some popups use a different text field ID
        Set msgText = SapSession.findById("wnd[1]/usr/lblMessage")
        If Err.Number = 0 Then
            popupText = msgText.Text
        End If
    End If
End If
On Error GoTo 0

WScript.Echo popupExists & "|" & popupText

In PAD, capture this output, split on |, and then branch:

If %PopupExists% = "True"
  If %PopupMessage% Contains "No records found"
    # Dismiss and handle empty result gracefully
    [Run VBScript to press Enter/OK on wnd[1]]
    Set Variable: %ResultCount% = 0
  Else If %PopupMessage% Contains "not authorized"
    # Log the error and alert someone
    [Write to log file]
    Stop Flow with Error Message
  Else
    # Unknown popup - take a screenshot and stop
    Take Screenshot
    Stop Flow with Error Message: "Unexpected SAP dialog: " & %PopupMessage%
  End
End

Dismissing the Popup

To click the OK or Enter button on a SAP dialog:

' Press Enter on the popup (dismisses most information/warning dialogs)
SapSession.findById("wnd[1]").sendVKey(0)

' Or click a specific button by text
' Common button IDs on SAP popups:
' btn[0] = Yes / OK / Continue
' btn[1] = No / Cancel
SapSession.findById("wnd[1]/tbar[0]/btn[0]").press()

sendVKey(0) sends the Enter key to the window — this dismisses the vast majority of SAP information popups.

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Handling Session Errors and Timeouts

SAP sessions time out after a period of inactivity (typically 15-30 minutes, configured by your Basis team). In unattended automation, this is a real problem: if your flow pauses waiting on a previous step (Excel writing, an API call, etc.) and then returns to SAP, the session may be dead.

Detecting a Dead Session

A timed-out SAP session shows the logon screen again, or presents a "Reconnect" dialog. Your VBScript will either fail to find elements (throwing COM errors) or find unexpected elements (the logon fields instead of your transaction screen).

Build a session health check that runs before any SAP interaction:

Dim SapGuiAuto, SapApp, SapConn, SapSession
Dim sessionStatus

Set SapGuiAuto = GetObject("SAPGUI")

On Error Resume Next
Set SapApp = SapGuiAuto.GetScriptingEngine

If Err.Number <> 0 Then
    sessionStatus = "NO_SAP_RUNNING"
    WScript.Echo sessionStatus
    WScript.Quit
End If

Set SapConn = SapApp.Children(0)
If Err.Number <> 0 Then
    sessionStatus = "NO_CONNECTION"
    WScript.Echo sessionStatus
    WScript.Quit
End If

Set SapSession = SapConn.Children(0)
If Err.Number <> 0 Then
    sessionStatus = "NO_SESSION"
    WScript.Echo sessionStatus
    WScript.Quit
End If

' Check if we're on a login screen (session timed out)
Dim loginField
Set loginField = SapSession.findById("wnd[0]/usr/txtRSYST-BNAME")
If Err.Number = 0 Then
    sessionStatus = "TIMED_OUT"
Else
    Err.Clear
    sessionStatus = "ACTIVE"
End If

On Error GoTo 0
WScript.Echo sessionStatus

Recovery Logic with Subflows

Structure your flow so session recovery is a callable subflow. When the health check returns anything other than ACTIVE, the recovery subflow handles it:

[Main Flow]
  Call Subflow: CheckSAPSession
  
  If %SessionStatus% = "ACTIVE"
    [Continue with normal work]
  Else If %SessionStatus% = "TIMED_OUT"
    Call Subflow: ReloginToSAP
    Call Subflow: NavigateToLastTransaction
    [Retry the operation]
  Else If %SessionStatus% = "NO_SAP_RUNNING"
    Call Subflow: LaunchSAP
    Call Subflow: LoginToSAP
    Call Subflow: NavigateToLastTransaction
  Else
    [Log error and stop]
  End

Using subflows for this keeps your main logic readable and makes the recovery code reusable across multiple SAP flows. For more on structuring reusable logic, see Subflows and Reusable Logic in Power Automate Desktop.

Handling the "Already Logged In" Dialog

When SAP detects an existing session for your user, it shows a dialog asking how to handle the conflict. In unattended automation, you almost always want to continue with this logon (terminating the old session):

' After entering credentials and pressing Enter,
' check for the "Already Logged On" dialog
Dim wnd1
On Error Resume Next
Set wnd1 = SapSession.findById("wnd[1]")
If Err.Number = 0 Then
    ' This is the multiple logon dialog
    ' Option: Continue with this logon (terminate other sessions)
    SapSession.findById("wnd[1]/usr/radMULTI_LOGON_OPT1").select()
    SapSession.findById("wnd[1]/tbar[0]/btn[0]").press()
End If
On Error GoTo 0

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Wrapping Error Handling Around SAP Operations

Combine On Block Error handling with your session health checks for a robust execution wrapper. Every significant SAP interaction block should be wrapped:

On Block Error
  Number of Retries: 2
  Retry Interval: 30 seconds
  On Error:
    Call Subflow: CaptureErrorDetails
    Call Subflow: CheckSAPSession
    If %SessionStatus% != "ACTIVE"
      Call Subflow: RecoverSAPSession
    End
    # After recovery, On Block Error will retry the block
  
  # --- Protected block starts ---
  [Run VBScript: Navigate to ME2M]
  [Run VBScript: Fill selection parameters]
  [Run VBScript: Execute F8]
  [Run VBScript: Check for popup]
  [Run VBScript: Extract grid data]
  # --- Protected block ends ---

This pattern means that if SAP throws a COM error mid-extraction (perhaps because a timeout occurred right as you were reading row 237), PAD waits 30 seconds, checks the session, recovers it if needed, and retries the entire block. Most transient SAP errors resolve within one retry.

For deeper patterns on robust error handling strategies, the lesson on Error Handling in Desktop Flows: On Block Error, Retry Policies, and Recovery Screenshots covers this comprehensively.

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Hands-On Exercise: Build an ME2M Purchase Order Extractor

Let's put everything together. You'll build a flow that:

1. Launches SAP GUI and logs in
2. Navigates to ME2M and filters by plant and a date range (passed as input variables)
3. Extracts all rows from the results grid
4. Writes the data to a timestamped Excel file
5. Handles session timeouts and common error dialogs

Step 1: Set Up Your Flow Variables

Create these input variables in your flow (mark the password as sensitive):

• SAPSystem — the system ID (e.g., PRD)
• SAPClient — client number (e.g., 100)
• SAPUsername — your service account username
• SAPPassword — sensitive variable
• PlantCode — e.g., 1000
• StartDate — e.g., 01.01.2024
• EndDate — e.g., 31.01.2024
• OutputFolder — e.g., C:\Reports\PurchaseOrders\

Step 2: Launch and Login Subflow

Build a LaunchAndLoginSAP subflow:

Run Application: saplogon.exe
Wait for Process: saplogon.exe to start
[Wait for UI: SAP Logon window visible]

# Open the target system connection
[Double-click system shortcut in SAP Logon pad 
 OR use the sapshcut.exe command-line approach for direct connection]

[Wait for UI: SAP Login Screen]

# Enter credentials
Click UI: Client Field → Send Keys: %SAPClient%
Click UI: Username Field → Send Keys: %SAPUsername%
Click UI: Password Field → Send Keys: %SAPPassword%
Press Key: Enter

# Handle "Already Logged On" dialog via VBScript (see earlier section)
Run VBScript: [HandleMultipleLogon.vbs]

# Wait for Easy Access menu
Wait for UI Element: SAP Easy Access menu title
  Timeout: 30 seconds
  If Timeout: Stop flow with error

Step 3: Navigate and Execute ME2M

# Navigate to ME2M
Run VBScript: StartTransaction("ME2M")

# Wait for selection screen to load
Wait for UI Element: [ME2M plant field]
  Timeout: 15 seconds

# Fill parameters
Run VBScript: [FillME2MParameters.vbs with %PlantCode%, %StartDate%, %EndDate%]

# Check for popup before executing
Run VBScript: [CheckForPopup.vbs]
  Output: %PopupInfo%

Split Text: %PopupInfo% on "|" → %PopupParts%
If %PopupParts%[0] = "True"
  Stop Flow: "Unexpected popup on ME2M selection screen: " & %PopupParts%[1]
End

# Execute (F8)
Run VBScript: [PressF8.vbs]

# Wait for results
Wait for UI Element: [ALV Grid]
  Timeout: 60 seconds  # Reports can be slow

Step 4: Extract and Write to Excel

# Extract grid data
Run VBScript: [ExtractALVGrid.vbs]
  Output: %RawGridData%

# Parse into DataTable
[Split, loop, and build DataTable as shown earlier]

# Create Excel file with timestamp
Get Current Date and Time → %Now%
Format DateTime: %Now% as "yyyyMMdd_HHmmss" → %Timestamp%
Set Variable: %OutputFile% = %OutputFolder% & "ME2M_" & %PlantCode% & "_" & %Timestamp% & ".xlsx"

Launch Excel (New Document)
Write DataTable to Excel: %ExtractedData% starting at A1
  Include Column Headers: Yes
Save Excel As: %OutputFile%
Close Excel

Step 5: Wrap in Error Handling

Wrap steps 3 and 4 inside an On Block Error block with 2 retries and the session recovery subflow as the error handler. Add logging at the end that writes the output file path, row count extracted, and run timestamp to a CSV log file in the output folder.

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Common Mistakes & Troubleshooting

"Object variable or With block variable not set" in VBScript This almost always means GetObject("SAPGUI") failed — either SAP isn't running, or scripting isn't enabled. Add an On Error Resume Next check right after GetObject and output the error number. If it's non-zero, trigger your LaunchSAP subflow.

Grid data extraction returns empty strings for all cells The grid ID is wrong. Use SAP GUI's built-in script recorder (Tools > Script > Record and Playback) to capture a mouse click on the grid — this reveals the exact technical ID in the recorded script. Copy it directly into your VBScript.

Dates not being accepted on selection screens SAP selection screens validate date format strictly. Use the Technical Information popup on the date field to check if it expects MM/DD/YYYY or DD.MM.YYYY, then format your date variables accordingly in PAD before passing them to the VBScript.

Flow times out waiting for the ALV grid after F8 Some ME-series transactions scan millions of records and genuinely take 60-90 seconds. Increase your wait timeout. Better yet, apply more restrictive selection criteria (narrower date ranges, specific material groups) to make the query faster. Never run an extraction without at least one indexed selection field populated.

"Cannot attach to SAP GUI" in unattended mode Unattended flows run in an isolated Windows session. If SAP GUI was started in the interactive user session and your flow runs in the automation session, they can't see each other. Make sure your unattended flow launches SAP itself rather than relying on a pre-existing session. See Attended vs Unattended RPA: Choosing a Run Mode and Configuring Machines in Power Automate for the full context on session isolation.

Modal dialog appears but the dismiss VBScript does nothing SAP has multiple popup types. If sendVKey(0) doesn't work, try pressing the specific button. Also check whether the dialog is actually at wnd[1] — if there's already a wnd[1] from a previous operation that wasn't dismissed, your new popup could be at wnd[2]. Iterate through all open windows to find it.

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Summary & Next Steps

You now have the full picture for production SAP GUI automation with Power Automate Desktop. The key principles to carry forward:

• Use the SAP scripting COM API (findById, StartTransaction, GetCellValue) for reliable, position-independent interaction. Don't rely on coordinate-based clicking for anything in SAP.
• Know your technical IDs. Right-click any field and use Technical Information before you write a single line of script.
• Extract ALV grids through the API, not the screen. The grid object gives you all rows, not just the visible ones.
• Treat SAP modal dialogs as a first-class concern. Every execution path through a transaction can produce a popup; every one of them can freeze your flow.
• Session recovery is not optional for unattended flows. Build it as a subflow and call it before every critical operation block.

From here, consider these natural extensions:

• Trigger your extraction flow from a cloud flow on a schedule — connect it to Power Automate cloud using the patterns in Triggering Desktop Flows from Cloud Flows: Passing Inputs and Returning Outputs so stakeholders get their report automatically every morning without anyone pressing a button.
• Scale to multiple plants or systems by building a loop over a configuration table, running the same extraction subflow with different parameters each time.
• Add monitoring so you know immediately when a scheduled SAP extraction fails — covered in Monitoring and Troubleshooting Desktop Flow Runs at Scale.

SAP automation rewards the practitioner who takes the time to understand the system's architecture. The scripting API is powerful, the technical IDs are stable, and once your flow is built with proper error handling, it runs with minimal maintenance — freeing your analysts from that 45-minute morning ritual permanently.