Creating bots with IBM RPA with Automation Anywhere Bot Creator

In IBM® Robotic Process Automation with Automation Anywhere you use Bot Creator to create bots to automate tasks.

To create a bot, complete the following steps:
  1. Record a task.
    Because a bot is typically used to automate repetitive user tasks, it is usually based on a recorded task that mimics a user's interactions with a user interface. In IBM RPA with Automation Anywhere, bots are implemented as tasks and the steps in the task are represented by a set of commands.

    If your task doesn't have a user interface, you can create the bot directly in the Workbench editor. For more information, see Creating an automated task. (Note that the Automation Anywhere documentation also refers to the Workbench editor as the Task editor.)

  2. Complete the bot implementation.
    You usually need to add steps to the recorded task so that the bot can run it automatically. For example, you might need to include a step for logging in to an application, opening other applications that are used in the task, or retrieving data with an API call to an external service. To add a step, use the commands provided in the Workbench editor.
    Tip: Consider replacing hardcoded strings in commands with variables and using MetaBots or workflows to simplify the bot flow. If your bot retrieves payloads from REST APIs, consider using the JSON MetaBot for these steps. For guidance on when to use a bot, MetaBot, or workflow, see Bots, MetaBots, and workflows. To make the bot more robust, add an Error Handling command. If you have IBM RPA with Automation Anywhere Enterprise installed, you can also enable variable tracking so that you can analyze how your bots are performing.
  3. Test the bot.
    It is good practice to incrementally develop and test your bot, especially if the user task involves many steps. If your bot contains variable tracking, you can also test the data that the bot processed.
  4. Upload the bot to Control Room.
    When you're sure that the bot runs in your environment without errors, you can upload it to Control Room. From here, an administrator can schedule and run the production-level bot on one or more bot runners.
For information about how to get started with bot creation, see Creating your first bot. For guidelines and standards on bot development, see the Development Design, Guidelines & Coding Standards chapter in the Architecture and Implementation Guide, which you can find in the docs folder of the IBM RPA with Automation Anywhere client installer directory.