Lesson 06 · Read Every Value Type

Four readouts, four value shapes, one node, one screenshot.

The problem

The dashboard shows Gold 12480, Energy 85%, Troops 3/5, Next Cycle 04:20. A real routine often needs several of these at once — and four separate Read Text nodes would capture four separate screenshots of the same screen, slowly, with the values possibly changing between shots.

Multi-region mode reads several rectangles from one captured frame.

What you will learn

• Multi-region Read Text: several areas, one node, one screenshot.
• The two structured types — Counter (x/y) and Time (mm:ss) — and the flat variables they produce.
• Comparing two variables in one expression.

Before you start

• Lesson 05 completed. OCR gate on.

The flow

Badges number the nodes in reading order, matching the Build it steps. Four readouts, four content types, one flow — the value type is a per-node setting, not a different node.

Build it

1. New flow; declare six nullable variables: gold (number?), energy (number?), troops_current, troops_max, cycle_hours, cycle_minutes (all number?).
2. Add a Read Text named 1. Read all four readouts in one node and switch on Read multiple regions. Add four regions:

Region (drawn on Live Preview)	What to read	Variable(s) produced
Gold readout	Number	gold
Energy readout	Percentage	energy
Troops readout	Counter (x/y)	troops_current, troops_max
Next Cycle readout	Time (mm:ss)	cycle_hours, cycle_minutes

Here is the node selected in the editor — the Properties panel shows the region list with each type:

3. Add an If, Expression mode: {{troops_current}} >= {{troops_max}}.
4. Three Stops: all slots busy (success) / slots available (success) / unreadable (failure).
5. Wire as diagrammed. Save, Auto Layout.

Why it works this way

One frame, many crops. The node captures a single screenshot and OCRs each rectangle from it. Cheaper than four nodes — and consistent: all four values come from the same instant, so a counter can never be newer than the timer next to it.

Structured types produce flat variables. Counter yields troops_current and troops_max, not a nested object — because {{name}} references resolve flat names everywhere (an If expression, a Click coordinate, a log line). The naming rule is simply <base>_<part>.

The comparison is two variables, not a variable and a constant — {{troops_current}} >= {{troops_max}} stays correct if the app ever shows 3/8 instead of 3/5. Prefer relationships over magic numbers when the screen offers both sides.

Run it

• Plain dashboard (3/5): → success · A troop slot is free.
• dashboard.html?troops=5/5: → success · All troop slots in use.

Run Test Node on the read first and look at the output: six variables, each correctly typed — energy is 85 (a number, % already stripped), cycle_minutes is 20.

Best practices

• One multi-region node per screen, not one node per value.
• Name by meaning (troops_current), never by position (value3).
• Per-region types: each rectangle gets exactly the type of its content.
• Compare relationships (current >= max) instead of constants where possible.
• Set a per-region Default only when a fallback is genuinely safe — otherwise let emptiness surface.

Common mistakes

Mistake	What happens	Fix
Four separate Read Text nodes	4× slower, values from different instants	One multi-region node
Referencing {{troops}}	Doesn't exist — the counter made troops_current/troops_max	Use the flat names
Counter type on the 85% readout	No x/y shape to parse → empty	Percentage type
Regions overlapping two readouts	Garbled reads	One tight rectangle per value

Troubleshooting

One region reads, another comes back empty. Each region parses independently. Test Node shows the per-region raw OCR — the empty one's rectangle is off or its type mismatches its content.

energy compares wrong. Check it's the Percentage type: it yields the number 85. Auto would yield the string "85%".

All four empty at once. That's a capture problem, not four coincidences: wrong screen in front, or OCR gate off.

Summary

• Multi-region OCR: one screenshot, many typed values, guaranteed consistency.
• Counter and Time produce flat _current/_max, _hours/_minutes variables.
• The screen often provides both sides of a comparison — use them.

Next

You can read anything the screen shows. Lesson 07 · Count With Variables makes the flow produce values of its own — counters, a loop, and your first per-run Flow Input.

Also see: Read Text (OCR) · Variables and Memory