Robotics Process Automation (RPA) is useful when you want to execute a repetitive, or fairly easy process on your own computer. We make use of a bot to perform these functions. A bot needs to be “trained” in order to execute a process automatically on your computer. For this, we wrote a simple program that you can download.

1. Downloading the bot

The bot is a separate piece of software that needs to be downloaded to your PC, from where it will work. Follow these steps to get the latest version of our RPA / bot.

Click on the menu {{menus:home}} link on the left.
On the home page, scroll down until you find the RPA box.{{webparts:rpas}}
Click on the Download link. A popup will appear:{{popups:general/bots}}
Click on the green "Download version ..." button to download the bot. Please NOTE: Your browser will detect which operating system and architecture (32-bit or 64-bit) your PC makes use of, but it may get it wrong at times. If the displayed popup is incorrectly detecting your operating system, then click on the link that says "View the full list of downloads."
The bot will download. Once downloaded, move the bot to a location on your PC that you can easily access.
Open the bot by double clicking on the app.

2. The bot and anti-virus software

Once opened, your browser and / or anti-virus software may want to prevent the download or usage of the bot. Please allow the bot to proceed. As there are many browsers and anti-virus software applications, we have listed a few resources below to help you ensure your bot runs smoothly:

2.1 Microsoft Egde

Microsoft Edge may block the download of the RPA software. You will notice a yellow exclamation icon on the top right section of Edge's toolbar:

If you notice this, then follow these steps:

Click on the download icon:
Hover over the bot download until you see a drop-down menu icon appear:
Click on "Keep". The following popup will appear:
Click on "Show more". The following popup will appear:
Then click on "Keep anyway". You should now be able to open the downloaded RPA / bot or browse to the containing folder.

2.2 Windows defender

Windows might block the downloaded application when running for the first time. Click on "More info" and then "Run Anyway". An example of what you may expect is below:

2.3 Symantec

Click on "Allow this file" to allow the bot to download.

3. Bot setup

Once downloaded click on the bot and the bot will appear on your screen as the image below. Enter your same login details as used to set up your Automize account.

Check "Remember me" if you wish to remain signed in. Then proceed by clicking "Sign in". If the incorrect email address or password was entered, the fields will be blanked out, and you will have to re-enter these. Also note that if you are working on a VPN, then you may need to set your proxy server settings first.

3.1 Record settings

You can enable / disable various settings for when the Bot records a process:

These settings control what to record and include:

Keystrokes: Enable / disable the recording of key presses. It is highly recommended to keep this enabled / checked.
Mouse clicks: Enable / disable the recording of mouse clicks. It is highly recommended to keep this enabled / checked.
Mouse movement: Enable / disable the recording of mouse movements. It is highly recommended to keep this disabled / unchecked. This can also have an impact on performance during playback.
Mouse scrolling: Enable / disable the recording of use scrolls.
Screenshots: Enable / disable the taking of screenshots during recording.

3.2 Play settings

You can enable / disable various settings for when the Bot plays a process:

These settings control how the play back of a process happen and include:

Disable keyboard, except for Esc: Disable / enable the keyboard from being active during playback. If enabled, then only the "Escape" key can be used to stop a process.
Disable mouse: Disable / enable the mouse to prevent a user from interfering with a playback.
Show progress bar: Shows / hide the progress bar to show progress during the playback of a process.
Animate where possible: Enable / disable animations. Uncheck this to speed up performance.
Video record processes: Enable / disable the recording of all playbacks. This is useful for trying to find where a process "breaks".
Maximum waiting time: Set the maximum waiting time between steps.
Image recognition confidence: Set the % confidence image recognition requires when trying to find elements on screen. The higher this value is, the more robust a process is.
Default slow down factor: Set the default slow down factor when playing a process (only if chosen when playing back a process).

3.3 Enable settings

You can enable / disable various other settings:

These settings include:

Auto updates: Enable / disable auto update of the bot. It is highly recommended to keep this enabled / checked.
System debugging: Enable / disable the logging of all actions the bot perform, at all times. It is highly recommended to keep this enabled / checked, as it allows for easier error checking and bug fixing.
Microsoft OneDrive path: Sets a path for Microsoft OneDrive, to ensure that files are written to the correct path.
Alternative website: When a local copy of this website has been deployed, then this url can be set.

3.4 Proxy settings

If you are using a work PC, then you may also be on a VPN. For the bot to work, you will need to enter these. Click on the "File" menu option on your bot, to find the following interface:

Follow the steps below to input your proxy settings:

Enable / disable the "Use a proxy" setting.
Fill in the proxy server's IP address. Should you not know the proxy server's IP address, please read Where do I find the proxy's IP address, or contact IT support.
Fill in the same username and password you will use to log onto your company's network.
Click "Save" once you are done.

4. Record a process

On the bot interface, click on "Record" on the left hand side. The following interface will appear:

From here, you have 2 options:

1. Create a new process, or

2. Record onto / append an existing process.

4.1 Record a new process

On the "Record" interface of the bot, click on the " Process" button. The following popup will appear as shown below:

Enter a name for the new process and click "OK". The new process will appear in the list of processes (it will show with 0 steps). Select this process and then click "Start".

4.2 Record onto / append an existing process

Select the process from the list of existing processes. The "Start" button will become active, then click "Start".

4.3 Minimise the recording

Once you start recording a new process, or recording onto a process, you can choose to minimise the bot. This saves you from having to minimise the bot once you start recording.

4.4 Shortcuts

Several shortcuts have been added to make the recording of a process easier. This interface is automatically shown once you record a process. The following interface is what it looks like:

4.4.1 Stop the recording

You can stop the process by clicking on the "Stop" button found on the shortcuts interface.

4.4.2 Pause the recording (and resume later)

You can at any point during a recording, pause the recording, and resume it later. This allows you to do actions that are not required for a process.

4.4.3 Ask for a variable

If a variable is required during the process, which can only be supplied by the user, then the bot can stop the process, ask for the variable, and then continue.

4.4.4 Insert a decision

Insert a decision during the recording of a process. During the configuration of the process, you can specify the conditions.

4.4.5 Insert a loop

Insert a loop in the process. During configuration, you can close the loop. Please note that when an excel file is opened, a loop is automatically inserted.

4.4.6 Insert a notification

Insert a notification in the process. Notifications are useful to give the user feedback during playback, i.e. "Successfully logged in."

4.4.7 Launch an app

From the shortcuts interface, click on the "Launch an app" shortcut, and using the file browser, select the app. The app will open, and the bot will have recorded the step.

4.4.8 Open a file

The same as Launching an app, we can browse for a file and open it from the bot. The bot will only record the step of opening the file, bypassing all the clicks.

4.4.9 Open a folder

Open a folder directly, without having to record all the steps to get to a folder. Prevents having to click on folder after folder.

4.4.10 Open a website

Open a website directly, without having to open a browser and typing in the url.

4.4.11 Show a popup

Similar to a notification, you can interrupt the playback of a process to show a popup.

5. Add a task to a process

Back at the website, you need to add a task to the process. In order to do so, proceed with the following:

Go to the Processes Library, by clicking on the {{menus:library}} on the left menu
Scroll down the list until you find "Processes". Click on this block
On the next page, select the process you recorded
On the next page, click on the {{>icon name="kanban"}} Kanban board icon (top right)
This page is the Kanban board. To gain a better understanding of the kanban board, please read How to use Kanban boards. On the second column (not the backlog column, but the first step in the record process), click the {{>icon name="add"}} icon.
The following popup will show:{{popups:tasks/add}}
Complete the popup and click "Add"
The task you just created should be in the second column which is the first step of the process (the backlog column is not the first step in the process)
When a task is in the first step of the process, the bot will detect there is work to be done, and it will be listed on the bot's playlist

6. Play a process

To play a process, we need a piece of work to move through it, namely a task. In case there are no current tasks scheduled or lined up to be executed, the list will be empty, as shown below:

You can press "Start" even though no tasks are listed next to the processes. The bot will know when tasks are available and start executing the processes automatically.

6.1 Play a specific process

Select the process you wish to execute first, and click "Start".

6.2 Slow down the bot

Should you be experimenting with the bot, or with a new process, you can slow it down. Check the box that says "Slow down bot". Once you click "Start", the following popup will appear:

Enter how slow you want the bot to execute processes at. If you keep the default of 2, the bot will be 2 times as slow. Choose a value that you are comfortable with, but remember it is not recommend to go higher than 5. Entering 1 will keep the speed the same as recorded.

6.3 Stay awake

While the bot is "playing", or waiting for tasks to become available, it will keep your PC awake and prevent it from locking.

6.4 Scheduled tasks

We will discuss later how you can schedule tasks, that will be executed at programmed times.

7. Emergency stop the bot

At times, the bot may do something unexpected, for example, when a window or application takes longer to open than what the bot expected, it may proceed with the process. Although we have taken steps to ensure the bot behaves as expected, the unexpected can happen. Should this happens press "Esc" and the bot will stop. To troubleshoot, go to your kanban board to see where the bot went wrong and change the process.

8. Change a process

All processes are completely within your control. To view and / or change a process visually (on a process map), do the following:

Go to the Processes Library, by clicking on the {{menus:library}} on the left menu
Scroll down the list until you find "Processes". Click on this block
On the next page, select the process you recorded
On the next page, click on the {{>icon name="process"}} Process map icon (top right)
This page is the Process map. To gain a better understanding of the process map, please read How to use Process maps.
From here you can perform multiple actions.

8.1 Drag and drop activities

You can drag and drop the activities in the process.

8.2 Edit, copy, delete an activity

Hovering over an activity, the {{>icon name="menu"}} icon appears. Click on this icon. From here you can edit, copy, remove and perform many other actions.

8.3 Disable an activity

Hovering over an activity, the {{>icon name="menu"}} icon appears. Click on this icon. From the drop-down menu, select "Disable". The will disable the step, and when the bot runs the process, it will simply ignore this activity. This is a safer way than deleting an activity in a process. When you are absolutely sure an activity is not required, then delete it.

8.4 Connect activities in a process

This is done by dragging from a "circle" on an activity to another circle on a different activity.

8.5 Change the time delay between activities

By clicking on a connection, you can delay the time between two activities.

8.6 Delete a connection

By clicking on a connection, you can delete the connection between two activities.

9. Next steps

Repetitive processes do not all require the same information, so it should capable of using variables. To see what and how variables can be added to a process, please read Working with variables in RPAs.

For more information on how to add a loop to a process, please read Working with loops in RPAs.

For more information on how to add a condition (if statement) to a process, please read Working with conditions.

Working with the RPA Bot