IBM's CoScripter automates the mundane

IBM has released a free online tool that records step-by-step processes used on the web and then automatically runs those processes, doing away with the need to repeat the actions.

Automated scripting tools are not new. IBM says that the tool, CoScripter, which was produced by its Almaden Research Center, is very easy to use.

It is targeted at business users and is available on alphaWorks, an IBM online community for early adopters, as a download for Firefox.

Web users who do repetitive tasks, such as going to a website multiple times each day to check updated information, can capture their actions as a script, which will carry out the same processes for them.

The tool uses a technique called "programming by demonstration" to capture the steps of a process by watching people do it and recording those steps in a script. The scripts are integrated with a wiki, so they can be shared with other users.