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AspectJ Usage Guide for Brobot

Overview

This guide explains how to use the AspectJ enhancements in the Brobot framework. AspectJ provides powerful cross-cutting features without modifying existing code, including error recovery, performance monitoring, visual feedback, and more.

Quick Start
Available Aspects
Examples
Best Practices
Troubleshooting

Quick Start

1. Enable AspectJ in Your Application

@SpringBootApplication
@EnableAspectJAutoProxy
public class YourApplication {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SpringApplication.run(YourApplication.class, args);
    }
}

2. Add Configuration Properties

Create or update application.properties:

# Enable core aspects
brobot.aspects.sikuli.enabled=true
brobot.aspects.action-lifecycle.enabled=true
brobot.aspects.performance.enabled=true
brobot.aspects.state-transition.enabled=true

# Enable optional aspects
brobot.aspects.error-recovery.enabled=true
brobot.aspects.dataset.enabled=true
brobot.aspects.multi-monitor.enabled=true
brobot.aspects.visual-feedback.enabled=true

3. Use Annotations (Optional)

@Recoverable(maxRetries = 3, delay = 1000)
public ActionResult clickLoginButton() {
    return action.perform(clickOptions, loginButton);
}

@Monitored(threshold = 5000, trackMemory = true)
@CollectData(category = "login_automation")
public void performLogin(String username, String password) {
    // Your automation code
}

Available Aspects

1. SikuliInterceptionAspect

Purpose: Intercepts all Sikuli method calls for error handling and mock mode.

Benefits:

Automatic error translation
Mock mode without code changes
Performance metrics for Sikuli operations

Configuration:

brobot.aspects.sikuli.enabled=true
brobot.aspects.sikuli.performance-warning-threshold=5000

2. ActionLifecycleAspect

Purpose: Manages action execution lifecycle (pre/post tasks).

Benefits:

Automatic timing and logging
Screenshot capture
Pause point management

Configuration:

brobot.aspects.action-lifecycle.enabled=true
brobot.aspects.action-lifecycle.capture-before-screenshot=false
brobot.aspects.action-lifecycle.capture-after-screenshot=true
brobot.action.pre-pause=0
brobot.action.post-pause=0

3. PerformanceMonitoringAspect

Purpose: Tracks performance metrics for all operations.

Benefits:

Method-level performance tracking
Automatic slow operation detection
Performance trend analysis

Configuration:

brobot.aspects.performance.enabled=true
brobot.aspects.performance.alert-threshold=10000
brobot.aspects.performance.report-interval=300

Using @Monitored:

@Monitored(threshold = 3000, tags = {"critical", "ui"})
public void criticalOperation() {
    // Operation that should complete within 3 seconds
}

4. StateTransitionAspect

Purpose: Tracks and visualizes state machine transitions.

Benefits:

State transition graph building
Success rate tracking
DOT file visualization generation

Configuration:

brobot.aspects.state-transition.enabled=true
brobot.aspects.state-transition.generate-visualizations=true
brobot.aspects.state-transition.visualization-dir=./state-visualizations

5. ErrorRecoveryAspect

Purpose: Provides automatic retry logic with sophisticated policies.

Benefits:

Configurable retry strategies
Circuit breaker pattern
Fallback methods

Configuration:

brobot.aspects.error-recovery.enabled=true
brobot.aspects.error-recovery.default-retry-count=3
brobot.aspects.error-recovery.default-retry-delay=1000

Using @Recoverable:

@Recoverable(
    maxRetries = 5,
    delay = 2000,
    backoff = 2.0,
    retryOn = {NetworkException.class},
    fallbackMethod = "loginFallback"
)
public boolean login(String username, String password) {
    // Login logic that might fail
}

public boolean loginFallback(String username, String password) {
    // Alternative login approach
}

6. DatasetCollectionAspect

Purpose: Automatically collects datasets for ML training.

Benefits:

Automatic data capture
Configurable sampling
Multiple output formats

Configuration:

brobot.aspects.dataset.enabled=true
brobot.aspects.dataset.output-dir=./ml-datasets
brobot.aspects.dataset.batch-size=100

Using @CollectData:

@CollectData(
    category = "button_clicks",
    captureScreenshots = true,
    samplingRate = 0.1,
    labels = {"success", "ui_automation"}
)
public ActionResult clickButton(StateObject button) {
    return action.perform(clickOptions, button);
}

7. MultiMonitorRoutingAspect

Purpose: Routes actions to appropriate monitors in multi-monitor setups.

Benefits:

Automatic monitor selection
Load balancing
Failover support

Configuration:

brobot.aspects.multi-monitor.enabled=true
brobot.aspects.multi-monitor.default-monitor=0
brobot.aspects.multi-monitor.enable-load-balancing=true

8. VisualFeedbackAspect

Purpose: Provides visual highlighting during automation execution.

Benefits:

Search region highlighting
Match visualization
Action flow display

Configuration:

brobot.aspects.visual-feedback.enabled=true
brobot.aspects.visual-feedback.highlight-duration=2
brobot.aspects.visual-feedback.highlight-color=YELLOW
brobot.aspects.visual-feedback.show-action-flow=true

Examples

@Component
public class LoginAutomation {
    
    @Autowired
    private Action action;
    
    @Recoverable(maxRetries = 3, delay = 2000, backoff = 1.5)
    @Monitored(threshold = 10000, tags = {"login", "critical"})
    @CollectData(category = "login_success_rate")
    public boolean performLogin(String username, String password) {
        // Find and click username field
        ActionResult usernameResult = action.perform(
            new ClickOptions(), 
            new ObjectCollection.Builder()
                .withStateObjects(usernameField)
                .build()
        );
        
        if (!usernameResult.isSuccess()) {
            throw new RuntimeException("Username field not found");
        }
        
        // Type username
        action.perform(new TypeOptions(username), emptyCollection);
        
        // Similar for password and login button...
        
        return true;
    }
}

Example 2: Performance-Monitored Search

@Component
public class SearchAutomation {
    
    @Monitored(
        name = "ProductSearch",
        threshold = 3000,
        trackMemory = true,
        tags = {"search", "performance-critical"}
    )
    public List<Match> findProducts(String productImage) {
        FindOptions options = new FindOptions.Builder()
            .setSimilarity(0.8)
            .setSearchRegion(productArea)
            .build();
            
        ActionResult result = action.perform(options, 
            new ObjectCollection.Builder()
                .withImages(productImage)
                .build()
        );
        
        return result.getMatchList();
    }
}

Example 3: Multi-Monitor Automation

@Component
public class MultiMonitorDemo {
    
    // This will automatically route to the appropriate monitor
    public void demonstrateMultiMonitor() {
        // Click on left monitor
        ObjectCollection leftButton = new ObjectCollection.Builder()
            .withStateObjects(buttonOnLeftMonitor)
            .build();
        action.perform(clickOptions, leftButton);
        
        // Click on right monitor - aspect handles routing
        ObjectCollection rightButton = new ObjectCollection.Builder()
            .withStateObjects(buttonOnRightMonitor)
            .build();
        action.perform(clickOptions, rightButton);
    }
}

Best Practices

1. Selective Aspect Usage

Not all aspects need to be enabled. Choose based on your needs:

Development: Enable visual feedback and verbose logging
Testing: Enable performance monitoring and dataset collection
Production: Enable error recovery and minimal logging

2. Performance Considerations

# Production settings
brobot.aspects.performance.enabled=true
brobot.aspects.performance.report-interval=3600  # Report hourly
brobot.aspects.visual-feedback.enabled=false     # Disable visual feedback
brobot.aspects.dataset.sampling-rate=0.01        # Sample only 1%

3. Error Recovery Patterns

// Use specific exception types for better control
@Recoverable(
    retryOn = {FindFailed.class, StaleElementException.class},
    skipOn = {IllegalArgumentException.class},
    strategy = RecoveryStrategy.EXPONENTIAL_BACKOFF
)
public void robustAutomation() {
    // Your code
}

// Combine with circuit breaker for critical operations
@Recoverable(maxRetries = 5, timeout = 30000)
@Monitored(threshold = 5000)
public void criticalOperation() {
    // Your code
}

4. Dataset Collection Strategy

// Collect data only for successful operations
@CollectData(
    category = "successful_clicks",
    onlySuccess = true,
    samplingRate = 0.2,
    maxSamples = 10000
)
public ActionResult performClick(StateObject target) {
    // Your code
}

Troubleshooting

Aspects Not Working

Check if AspectJ is enabled:

@EnableAspectJAutoProxy  // Required on main class

Verify aspect configuration:
```
brobot.aspects.*.enabled=true
```

Check logs for aspect initialization:

grep "Aspect initialized" application.log

Performance Impact

If you notice performance degradation:

Disable verbose logging:

logging.level.io.github.jspinak.brobot.aspects=WARN

Reduce monitoring scope:

brobot.aspects.performance.exclude-patterns=.*toString,.*hashCode

Use sampling:

@Monitored(samplingRate = 0.1)  // Monitor only 10% of calls

Memory Issues

For memory-intensive operations:

Limit data collection:

brobot.aspects.dataset.max-queue-size=100
brobot.aspects.dataset.batch-size=20

Disable memory tracking:

brobot.aspects.performance.track-memory=false

Compile-Time Weaving

For better performance, use compile-time weaving:

Add AspectJ Maven plugin:

<plugin>
    <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
    <artifactId>aspectj-maven-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>1.14.0</version>
    <configuration>
        <complianceLevel>21</complianceLevel>
        <source>21</source>
        <target>21</target>
    </configuration>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <goals>
                <goal>compile</goal>
            </goals>
        </execution>
    </executions>
</plugin>

Build with AspectJ compiler:
```
mvn clean compile
```

Conclusion

AspectJ integration in Brobot provides powerful cross-cutting features that enhance automation reliability, observability, and maintainability. By using these aspects appropriately, you can build more robust automation solutions with less code and better insights into system behavior.

Overview​

Table of Contents​

Quick Start​

1. Enable AspectJ in Your Application​

2. Add Configuration Properties​

3. Use Annotations (Optional)​

Available Aspects​

1. SikuliInterceptionAspect​

2. ActionLifecycleAspect​

3. PerformanceMonitoringAspect​

4. StateTransitionAspect​

5. ErrorRecoveryAspect​

6. DatasetCollectionAspect​

7. MultiMonitorRoutingAspect​

8. VisualFeedbackAspect​

Examples​

Example 1: Resilient Login with Retry​

Example 2: Performance-Monitored Search​

Example 3: Multi-Monitor Automation​

Best Practices​

1. Selective Aspect Usage​

2. Performance Considerations​

3. Error Recovery Patterns​

4. Dataset Collection Strategy​

Troubleshooting​

Aspects Not Working​

Performance Impact​

Memory Issues​

Compile-Time Weaving​

Conclusion​

Overview

Table of Contents

Quick Start

1. Enable AspectJ in Your Application

2. Add Configuration Properties

3. Use Annotations (Optional)

Available Aspects

1. SikuliInterceptionAspect

2. ActionLifecycleAspect

3. PerformanceMonitoringAspect

4. StateTransitionAspect

5. ErrorRecoveryAspect

6. DatasetCollectionAspect

7. MultiMonitorRoutingAspect

8. VisualFeedbackAspect

Examples

Example 1: Resilient Login with Retry

Example 2: Performance-Monitored Search

Example 3: Multi-Monitor Automation

Best Practices

1. Selective Aspect Usage

2. Performance Considerations

3. Error Recovery Patterns

4. Dataset Collection Strategy

Troubleshooting

Aspects Not Working

Performance Impact

Memory Issues

Compile-Time Weaving

Conclusion