States

Version Note

This tutorial was originally created for an earlier version of Brobot but has been updated for version 1.1.0 with the new annotation system.

Now we can define our states using the new annotation system. Each state is automatically registered with Brobot using the @State annotation.

Here are our 3 state classes:

Homepage State

@State(initial = true)
@Getter
@Slf4j
public class Homepage {
    
    private final StateImage harmony;
    
    public Homepage() {
        harmony = new StateImage.Builder()
                .addPattern("harmonyIcon")
                .build();
        log.info("Homepage state created");
    }
}

Harmony State

@State
@Getter
@Slf4j
public class Harmony {
    
    private final StateImage about;
    
    public Harmony() {
        about = new StateImage.Builder()
                .addPattern("aboutButton")
                .build();
        log.info("Harmony state created");
    }
}

About State

@State
@Getter
@Slf4j
public class About {
    
    private final StateImage aboutText;
    
    public About() {
        aboutText = new StateImage.Builder()
                .addPattern("aboutText")
                .build();
        log.info("About state created");
    }
}

Key Improvements with Annotations

Before (Manual Registration)

@Component
@Getter
public class Homepage {
    private State state = new State.Builder("homepage")
            .withImages(harmony)
            .build();
    
    public Homepage(AllStatesInProjectService stateService) {
        stateService.save(state);  // Manual registration
    }
}

After (Automatic Registration)

@State(initial = true)
@Getter
@Slf4j
public class Homepage {
    // No manual registration needed!
    // No State.Builder required!
}

Benefits

1. Automatic Registration: The @State annotation handles all registration
2. Less Boilerplate: No need for State.Builder or constructor injection
3. Clear Initial State: Use @State(initial = true) to mark the starting state
4. Better Focus: State classes focus on their UI elements, not framework setup
5. Standard Annotations: Use @Getter and @Slf4j for clean, consistent code

Best Practices

1. Always include these annotations:

   @State              // Brobot state registration
   @Getter             // Lombok getter generation
   @Slf4j              // Lombok logging

2. Mark your initial state:

   @State(initial = true)  // This is where the automation starts

3. Use descriptive names for your StateImage fields - they should match the UI elements they represent

4. Initialize StateImages in the constructor for clarity

With our states defined, we can now create transitions between them using the @Transition annotation.