Robotic Process Automation module 2 notes vtu

MODULE-2
RPA Platforms
Agenda
1.Components of RPA,
2.RPA Platforms
3.About UiPath
4.The future of automation
5.Record and Play
6.Downloading and installing UiPath Studio
7.Learning Ui Path Studio
8.Task recorder
9.Step-by-step examples using the recorder.

COMPONENTS OF RPA
The following are the basic components of RPA:
Recorder
Development Studio
Plugin/Extension
Bot Runner
Control Center:

Recorder
 The recorder is the part of the development studio that developers use to configure the
Robots.
 It is like the macro recorder in Excel, the bot recorder in any platform, records steps.
 It records mouse and keyboard movements on the UI and this recording can be replayed
to do the same steps again and again.
 This enables rapid automation. This component has played a very big role in the
popularity of RPA

Development studio
 The development studio is used by developers to create Robot configuration or
train the Robots.
 Using the development studio, a set of instructions and decision-making logic
is coded for Robots to execute.
 Some platforms provide flow-charting capabilities such as Visio, so
it becomes very easy to plot steps in a process, whereas some other platforms
require coding.
 In most studios, in order to do commercial development, developers need to
have a fair amount of knowledge of programming,
Example, loops, if else, variable assignment, and so on.

Extensions and plugins
 Most platforms offer many plugins and extensions to ease the development
and running of bots.
 In many applications, such as Java SAP, it is not easy to individually
identify controls of the UI through traditional techniques.
 RPA vendors have developed plugins and extensions to help with these
issues.
Bot runner
 This is also referred to as the Robot, other components make it run.

Control center
 The objective of the control room is to provide Robot management capabilities.
 It monitors and controls a Robot’s operation in a network.
 It can be used to start/stop Robots, make schedules for them,
maintain and publish code, redeploy Robots to different tasks, and manage
licenses and credentials.

RPA Platforms
 RPA vendor market has been showing continual and steady growth.
 While the largest market is the US, followed by the UK, the market in Asia Pacific
Countries(APAC) is also showing considerable progress. Successful pilot projects
and increased customer satisfaction among the early adopters of RPA will encourage
new players to adopt this technology.
 There is growing demand for RPA, especially in industries that need large scale
deployments.
 The major markets for RPA are banking and finance, healthcare and
pharmaceuticals, telecom and media, and retail.

1. Automation Anywhere
Automation Anywhere helps to automate business processes for companies.
They focus on RPA, cognitive data (machine learning and natural language
processing), and business analytics. Their bots are capable of handling both
structured as well as unstructured data.
The system has three basic components:
2. A development client for the creation of a bot
3. A runtime environment for the deployment of a bot
4. A centralized command system for handling multiple bots, analyzing their
performance:

2. UiPath
 UiPath is an RPA technology vendor who designs and delivers software that helps automate
businesses.
 The RPA platform consists of three parts:
->UiPath Studio to design the processes
->UiPath Robot to automate tasks designed in UiPath Studio
->UiPath Orchestrator to run and manage the processes
3. Blue Prism
 Blue Prism aims to provide automation that enterprise can use according to their needs.
 Blue Prism aims to do this by providing automation that is scalable, configurable, and centrally managed.
 It sells its software through its partners, some of which are Accenture, Capgemini, Deloitte, Digital
Workforce Nordic, HPE, HCL, IBM, TCS, Tech Mahindra, and Wipro

3. WorkFusion
 Work Fusion offers automation that is based on RPA and machine learning.
 It delivers software as a solution for automating high volume data.
 Work Fusion enables man and machine to work in tandem while managing, optimizing, or
automating tasks.
5. KOFAX
 Kofax's RPA platform is capable of automating and delivering processes that are repetitive and
rule-based.
 It uses Robots for extracting and consolidating information.
 The software platform consists of a management console to deploy and manage bots, Robot
performance, and a monitoring system.
 This software can also group together high priority tasks that should be completed first by the
Robot during times of high workload. Kofax's software, however, doesn't have machine learning.

ABOUT Ui PATH
1. UiPath is an RPA vendor that provides software to help organizations automate their business processes. The
company aims to do away with repetitive and tedious tasks, allowing humans to engage in more creative and
inspiring activities.
2. UiPath was founded by Daniel Dines, who is the CEO. It has offices in London, Bucharest, Tokyo, Paris,
Singapore, Melbourne, Hong Kong, and Bangalore. With clients spread across the world, from North America to
the United Kingdom, Continental Europe to Asia Pacific countries, the company has shown remarkable growth
in the last year, both in terms of revenue and its workforce.
3. Today, its software is being widely used to automate business processes. However, the IT sector is also gradually
embracing UiPath's software. Major clients of UiPath in the industry include BFSI, Telecom and media,
healthcare, retail and consumer, and manufacturing.
4. With UiPath automation software, one can configure software Robots to mimic human action on the user

UiPath Studio
 UiPath Studio helps users with no coding skills to design Robotic processes in a visual
interface.
 It is a flowchart-based modeling tool. Thus, automation is faster and more convenient.
 Multiple people can contribute to the same workflow.
 The presence of a visual signal that points out errors in the model, and a recorder
that performs what the user executes, make modeling much easier.

2. UiPath Robot
 UiPath Robot runs the processes designed in UiPath Studio.
 It works in both attended (working only on human trigger) and unattended environments (self-
trigger and work on their own).
The following are types of Robots:
Attended: It operates on the same workstation as a human to help the user accomplish daily tasks. It
is usually triggered by user events. You cannot start a process from Orchestrator on these types of
Robots, and they cannot run under a locked screen.
Unattended: It can run unattended in virtual environments and can automate any number of
processes. In addition to the Attended Robot's capabilities, this Robot is responsible for remote
execution, monitoring, scheduling, and providing support for work queues.
Free: It is similar to Unattended Robots, but can be used only for development and testing purposes,
not in a production environment.

3. UiPath Orchestrator
 UiPath Orchestrator is a web-based platform that runs and manages Robots.
 It is capable of deploying multiple Robots, and monitoring and inspecting their activities.
 Orchestrator's main capabilities:
-It helps in creating and maintaining the connection between Robots
-It ensures the correct delivery of the packages to Robots
-It helps in managing the queues
-It helps in keeping track of the Robot identification
 It stores and indexes the logs to SQL or Elasticsearch
 Behind the scenes, Orchestrator Server uses:
-IIS Server
-SQL Server
-Elasticsearch
-Kibana

The Future of Automation
1.The buzzword today is the Fourth Industrial Revolution-the current age where technology is embedded
within societies and even the human body-be it Robotics, 3D printing, nanotechnology, Internet of Things,
or autonomous vehicles. This will fundamentally change the way we live, work, and interact with one
another.
2.Technological innovation has reached a stage where machines have now entered the realm of what was
once considered exclusively human. For these reasons, there is a wide section of people who fear this age of
Robots.
3. There are various advantages of automation today; there are also fears surrounding its advancement,
which are not completely unfounded. This time automation is capable of impacting a wide range of
disciplines. Thus, unlike in the past where only blue collar jobs were at risk of being replaced by machines,
this time even white collar jobs are believed to be at risk.

4. There are, of course, those jobs in the 5% category that run the risk of being completely automated. These are
the jobs that are routine, repetitive, and predictable. A few Examples: telemarketing, data entry operation,
clerical work, retail sales, cashiers, toll booth operators, and fast-foods.
5.However, like in the past, people should be able to find a way to adapt to the changes. With each generation,
humans become smarter, more adaptable to change, and also progressive.
6.Also, with automation mostly taking over routine and tedious tasks, humans are provided the opportunity to
make better use of their capabilities-be it reasoning, emotional intelligence, or their creativity.
7.What we can do is not fret over the inevitable rather prepare for it. One way of doing so is to start changing
the pattern of education. The next generation should be taught how to recognize and adapt to changes quickly.
An important aspect of their education should be to learn how to learn.

Record and Play
The facility of recording user steps on a computer and playing them back has made
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) highly successful.
UiPath stack
In order to make the UI Path platform fully operational at an enterprise level, there
are various components there are three basic components in UiPath:
1. UiPath Studio
2. UiPath Robot
3. UiPath Orchestrator

The UiPath platform is available in two variations:
1. Enterprise Edition: This edition is suitable for large companies starting their RPA projects and
looking to scale their Robot deployments in the future. It is integrated with UiPath Orchestrator (we
will discuss UiPath Orchestrator later). This version can be updated by visiting the UiPath website
and by downloading the newest version of the UiPath platform installer. Running the installer
automatically replaces all the old files without modifying any of your settings.
2. Community Edition: This is suitable for individual developers and small organizations with fewer
employees. The Community Edition is always up-to date, and it automatically updates itself as soon as
a new version is available
• The Community Edition can be used to learn UiPath free of cost.

UiPath Studio
 UiPath Studio is the development environment of UiPath. It is the primary tool to develop UiPath
Robots.
 It can be used to configure steps of a task or launch a full recorder to record a sequence of steps. The
recording facility in the Studio is a game-changing feature for RPA tools.
 Its simplicity lets even nontechnical business users design/record steps of a process. This studio lets the
user configure Robots, that is, develop steps to perform tasks visually.
 Most of the configuration and coding in UiPath is visual. By using the drag-drop facility from the
toolbox, you may write a whole sequence of workflows to perform a set of tasks by Robots.
 These steps look like a data flow diagram and are very easy to understand. It is one of the simplest visual
flow diagramming. The studio gives the same look and feel as a workflow. The designer.
 An activity or action includes clicking a button, writing and reading a file, and so on.

DOWNLOADING AND INSTALLING UIPATH STUDIO
UiPath Community Edition is free to use in academia, nonprofits, and small businesses
The UiPath Community Edition has the following features:
• Auto update
• No server integration
• Community forum for support
• Online self-learning
• No complex installation required Online activation
is mandatory

To get your Community Edition of UiPath Studio, type the following link in your Browser:
https://www.uipath.com/Community.
1. A Community Edition page opens. Click on Get Community Edition
2. On the next page, you must register yourself in order to download the Community Edition. So,
use the correct details and remember them because the same email will be used to activate the
software.
---Fill in the following details: First Name*, Last Name*, and Email*. Filling in
the
Twitter User field is not mandatory, but it is good to provide it:
---Click on REQUEST COMMUNITY EDITION.
3.You will be directed to a page that requests you to check your email for downloading the link.
Click on the link to download UiPath Studio.
You may also directly download UiPath Studio. Just click on the word here in download

4. Once the download is complete, open the downloaded file, UiPathtsudioSetup.Exe
5. The installation will then begin. Once the installation is complete, a welcome message will be
displayed. Click on the Start Free option.
6. Then, as requested, enter your Email Address once again and click on Activate. Please
remember to use the same email ID that you used to download the software. This email ID will
be bound to the computer. The activation will happen online. An offline activation option is not
available for the Community Edition.
7. A message will then be displayed on the screen informing you of the successful installation.
Close this window.

LEARNING Ui PATH STUDIO
 The UiPath Studio platform helps to design Robotic processes with a visual interface.
 Automation in UiPath Studio requires no or very little prior programming knowledge. It
is a Flowchart-based modeling tool. Thus, automation is faster and more convenient.
Projects
The main types of projects supported by UiPath Studio are as follows:
Sequence: This is suitable for simple actions or tasks. It enables you to go from one activity
to another, without interfering with your project.
-It consists of various activities.
-Creating sequences is also useful for debugging purposes.
-One activity from a particular sequence can easily be tracked.
-The Basic type of project can be started using the Blank option in the start tab and then
adding the sequence in the diagram from the toolbox.

Flowchart: This is suitable for dealing with more complex projects.
-It enables you to integrate decisions and connect activities.
To start this kind of project, choose the Flowchart - Simple Process option from the new project menu.
Assistant: This is suitable for developing attended or Front Office Robots: sometimes these Robots are
called assistants. To start this kind of project, choose the Assistant - Agent Process Improvement option
from the new project menu.
State machine: This is suitable for very large projects that use a finite number of states in their execution,
triggered by a condition.
- To start this kind of project, choose the Process - Transaction Business Process option from the new
project menu
 However, if you click on the New option in the DESIGN tab, you only get three options: Sequence
Flowchart State Machine
The preceding options selected from the DESIGN tab's New menu become part of an existing project
and are referred to as a diagram.

THE USER INTERFACE
 When you first open UiPath Studio, you are directed to the page.
 You can either open an old project or create a new one. Let us say we are making a new project.
 We click on Blank and name it. We will then be directed to a screen, which will display the
following:

The Ribbon
 This panel located at the top of the user interface and consists of four tabs:
1. START: This is used to start new projects or to open projects previously made.
2. DESIGN: This is to create new sequences, Flowcharts, or state machines, or to
manage variables:
3. EXECUTE: This is used to run projects or to stop them, and also to debug
Projects
4. SETUP: This panel is for deployment and configuration options; it has three tools
available:
-Publish: This is used to publish a project or create a shortcut for it and schedule tasks
-Setup Extensions: This is used to install extensions for Chrome, Firefox,
Java, and Silver light
-Reset Settings: This is used to reset all settings to defaults:

2.The Quick Access Toolbar
 This panel gives the user a shortcut to the most used commands.
 One can also add new commands to this panel. This is located above the Ribbon on the user interface.
 The Quick Access Toolbar has been circled in the following screenshot and is indicated by the arrow: can be
moved above or below the Ribbon. By default, there are two buttons available, Save and Run, which are also
available in the DESIGN tab of the Ribbon.
3.Designer panel
 This is the panel where one defines the steps and activities of the projects.
 It is where a developer does most of the things to record activities or manually drop activities on the canvas.
 In UiPath, this is equivalent to the code windows of Microsoft Visual Studio. When we develop a Robot, this is
the window where we will be organizing various activities in a flow or chain to accomplish a task.
 The project a user makes is clearly displayed on the Designer panel and the user has the option of making any
changes to it.

4. Properties panel
 The panel located on the right-hand side of the user interface is for viewing the properties of the
activities and for making any changes, if required.
 You need to select an activity first and then go to the Properties panel to view or change any of its
properties
5. Activities panel
 Located on the left-hand side of the user interface, this panel contains all the activities that can be used
in building the project.
 The activities can easily be used in making a project by simply dragging and dropping the required
activity into the required location in the Designer panel.
6. Project panel
 With the Project panel, you can view the details of your current project and open it in a
Windows Explorer window.

7. Output panel
 This panel displays the output of the log message or writes line activities. It also displays the output
during the debugging process.
 This panel also shows errors, warnings, information, and traces of the executed project. It is very helpful
during debugging. The desired level of detail can be changed in Execute | Options | Log activities
8. Library panel
 With this panel, you can reuse automation snippets. It is located on the extreme left-hand side of the
Designer panel:
9. Variable panel
 This allows the user to create variables and make changes to them. This is located below the Designer
panel.
 In UiPath Studio, variables are used to store multiple types of data ranging from words, numbers, arrays,
dates, times, and timetables.
 As the name suggests, the value of the variable can be changed.
 An important point to note is that variables can only be created if there is an activity in the Designer
panel.

Argument
 While variables pass data from one activity to another in a project, arguments are used for
passing data from one project to another.
 Like variables, they can be of various types-String, Integer, Boolean, Array, Generic,
and so on.
 Since arguments are used to transfer data between different workflows, they also have an
added property of direction. There are four types of direction:
• In
• Out
• In/Out
• Property
These depend on whether
we are giving or receiving
data to or from another
workflow

TASK RECORDER
 The task recorder is the main reason for RPA's success.
 With the task recorder, we can create a basic framework for automation. The user's actions on the screen are recorded
by the recorder and turned into a recording sequence in the current project.
 That's how Robots are able to mimic human actions.
 The recording is collection of execution steps that has to be taken, on the applications in the scope, in order to
accomplish a task.
 These steps can be recorded one by one (manually) by pointing it on the screen or many steps in a go that is,
automatically.

There are four types of recording in UiPath Studio:
Basic, Desktop ,Web ,Citrix.
Basic recorder: Basic recorder is used to record activities on the desktop. This type of recorder is
used for single activities and simple workflows. The action here is self-contained and not contained
in separate windows.
Desktop recorder: The desktop recorder, like the basic recorder, is used to record activities on the
desktop. However, it is used to record and automate multiple actions and complex workflows. Each
activity here is contained in an Attach Window component
-The Attach Window component is especially important to ensure that other windows of the same
application do not interfere in the workflow.

Web recorder: The web recorder, as the name suggests, is used to record actions on web
applications and browsers.
Citrix recorder: Citrix is used to record virtual machines, VNC, and Citrix environments. This
recording allows only keyboard, text, and image automation.
 Some actions are recordable while others are not:
Recordable actions: Left-click on buttons, check boxes, drop-down lists, and other GUI elements.
Text typing is also recordable.
Actions that cannot be recorded: Keyboard shortcuts, mouse hover, right-click. Modifier
keys such as Ctrl and Alt cannot be recorded.

 There are two types of recording:
 Automatic recording: This is for recording multiple actions in one go. This is a very good feature for
preparing a solid foundation for automating a task. It can be invoked with the Record icon available in
basic, desktop, and web recorders.
Example, hotkeys, right-click, double-click, and a few more.
 Manual recording: This type of recording is used to record each step one at a time and hence offers
more control over the recording.
 Also, it can record all actions that cannot be recorded using automatic recording such as keyboard
shortcuts, mouse hover, right-click, modifier keys, such as Ctrl and Alt, finding text from apps, and many
other activities.
 Citrix recorder can only record a single action (manual recording).
Shortcut keys:
F2 key: This pauses the recording for 3 seconds. The countdown menu is also shown on the screen.
Right-click: Exits the recording.
Esc key: Exits the recording. If one presses the Esc key again, then the recording will be saved.

Recordings
The functions of these recordings. The operations that can be completed with the help of recording
are as follows:
 Click (clicking a UI element: button, image, or icon)
 Type (typing any value into the available text field)
 Copy and paste
Basic Recorder
Recording. For example; Start App, Click, Type, Copy, and so on.

 Start App: This is used to start an application. When we left-click on this option, we are asked to point to an
application that we want to open. When we are done, we can click on the Save & Exit option.
 Click: Another option is Click, which is used to click on a UI element. This feature is used as a mouse input. That is,
it is used for clicking, checking, or selecting an item. When we click on this option, we are asked to indicate the
location of the UI element we want to click. We can change the type of click to right-click or double-click in the
Click Type property from the Properties panel.
 Type: Another option shown in the recording panel is Type. As the name suggests, it is used for typing something
inside the indicated element. All you need to do is to indicate the area where you want to type. Then, you need to type
your input in the popup that appears for typing
 After you are done typing, do not forget to press the Enter key. When the Enter key is pressed, the step is recorded.
 You can then click on Save & Exit to view the recording sequence.
 The recording sequence is shown in the following screenshot. You can change the text you have written (by changing
the value of the Type in the block). You can write the desired text in double quotes (“ “), or you can simply use a

Step-by-step examples using the recorder
We will illustrate two examples of using the UiPath recorder:
1. Emptying the trash folder in Gmail (web-based application)
2. Emptying Recycle Bin (Windows based application)

1. Emptying trash in Gmail
 This is an example of how we can empty a folder in Gmail with the help of a UiPath Robot, solely
on the basis of recording.
 To do this, we are going to record all the actions that have to be performed to empty this Trash folder
so that our Robot understands the sequence to be performed.
 The process flow of this simple activity in the following diagram:

 First and foremost, we begin with a blank project in UiPath Studio and then choose Web recorder from the
Recording drop-down list:
 To click on the Recording option and select the type of recording. We will use Web recording for this process
since we are working on a website.
 Just click on the Recording icon at the top of the page. From the four types of recording that appear,
choose Web recording. A Web Recording panel will appear, as shown in the above screenshot.
 Notice Open Browser between Record and Click; this is available with web recorder to record steps in
browser-based applications.
 Preparation: Open your favorite browser, navigate to https://gmail.com, and keep this browser open.

The following are the six steps in our process flow:
1. Open Browser: Although we have already opened Gmail in the browser, we did not record that
step. Here, we will note that step in the recorder using the Open Browser button in the
recorder. A drop-down menu will appear. Again, choose Open Browser from the drop-down
menu. It will ask to highlight the browser, highlight the already opened browser and click on the
top of the browser.
2. Go to gmail.com: You will be prompted to enter the URL of the website to navigate to. Type
https://gmail.comor gmail.com and press OK:

1. Sign In: Start recording by clicking on the Record icon of the recording panel. Go to the
already open Gmail and click on the Email or Phone field. UiPath will pop up a prompt
for typing the email:
 Type Email in the box provided by the UiPath recorder and press Enter. The Gmail
textbox will automatically fill up with your typed content. Click on the NEXT button
of the Gmail interface; it will also get recorded.
 Now, you have recorded an entry in the password field. For simplicity, you may the
password in the prompt provided by UiPath. Type your password in the text field of
the popup that appears.
 Then, click NEXT to log in to your account. Clicking on the NEXT button will also
get recorded.

Locate Trash Folder: In this step, we have to click on the search box of Gmail and type in:trash in the UiPath
prompt and hit Enter:
 Now, click on the Search button beside the search box. It will also get recorded automatically and the Trash folder will appear.

Click on Empty Trash now: Once you are done with clicking on the Trash action, You can see a link showing
Empty Trash now. Hover mouse on this link and it will get highlighted, click on it to delete all the messages in
the Trash folder:

Confirm: When you click on Empty Trash now, a confirmation dialog will appear asking
your permission for the action. Just confirm your action by clicking on the OK button.
 In the indicate anchor wizard, we have to indicate the adjacent button, that is, the Cancel
button, so that the recorder will identify that the button is adjacent to Cancel.
 Now recording is complete, press Esc to get to the recording dialog. Click on the Save & Exit
button.
 Then, in UiPath Studio, you can see a recording sequence in the Designer panel.
 Now run it by pressing the; F5 key; it should perform the same task again. You have created
your first Robot, which empties trash from your Gmail!

Emptying Recycle Bin
We are going to automate emptying the Recycle Bin. There are various steps that are involved. Let's map the process of how to empty
the Recycle Bin:

we need to do exactly the same steps in order to perform this task.
 Open UiPath Studio and choose a blank project.
 Since we are working in the recorder, and since we are working on the desktop and not a web application, we
are required to choose the desktop recorder:
Start the recorder and simply perform the following steps:
1. Go to the desktop by pressing the Windows + D keys.
2. Open Recycle Bin by clicking on Recycle Bin and then pressing Enter key.
3. Click on the Manage tab of the Recycle Bin folder.
4. Click on the Empty Recycle Bin button.
5. Confirm by clicking on the Yes button in the dialog box.
6. Close the Recycle Bin folder by pressing the cross button.
7. Press the Esc key and Save & Exit the recorder.

Now your recording is ready to view, let's examine each step recorded:
1. Go to the desktop by pressing Windows + D keys: This step is not recorded! Never mind, it is not
needed. Please note that the recorded steps attach themselves to an application, and execute
commands for that application, so the next step (Open Recycle Bin) will be executed on the desktop
whether you are there or not.
2. Open Recycle Bin by clicking on Recycle Bin and then pressing the Enter key-We can see the
recorded step in the following screenshot:

selecting the Recycle Bin is recorded, not the Enter key. We should manually add that step. Search for Send hot key in
the Activities window and insert it into the workflow just below the Select item 'list Desktop' step, as shown in the
following screenshot:

 selecting the Recycle Bin is recorded, not the Enter key. We should manually add that step.
Search for Send hot key in the Activities window and insert it into the workflow just below
the Select item 'list Desktop' step, as shown in the following screenshot:

Click on the Manage tab of the Recycle Bin folder: This is recorded as it is and so is the fourth step, click on the
Empty Recycle Bin button

 confirming by clicking on the Yes button on the dialog box is also recorded Smoothly:
In the last step, closing the Recycle Bin folder by pressing the cross button, you may have
to indicate an anchor. Save it and press F5 to run it. You see how easy it is to record steps
taken on a computer and automate them.

Robotic Process Automation module 2 notes vtu

Robotic Process Automation module 2 notes vtu

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Robotic Process Automation module 2 notes vtu