IBM Robotic Process Automation Studio

The IBM Robotic Process Automation Studio tool, previously known as WDG Automation Studio, is the tool used to develop, run, test and publish bots on the platform, requiring no previous experience with programming languages in general.

It also features modules that allow the user to create:

  • Flowcharts (BPMN);

    • The IBM Robotic Process Automation Studio features a modern and minimalistic layout, while also maintaining all the features that made its predecessor great at developing bots. Its design displays information directly and harmonically arranged, as it will be demonstrated on the following topics.

    Files

    The IBM Robotic Process Automation Studio supports editing different files, currently supporting WAL and BPMN formats, which allow for the creation of bots and process flow diagrams, respectively. It also supports XLSX and XLS formats, available on the workbook editing module, and the availability of the PDF viewer feature. This module and feature will be covered later on.

    Creating WAL and BPMN files is very intuitive, as seen below. After opening the tool, click the “New” shortcut, below “Get Started”, and then on the “New” button, available on the “Home” tab. That speeds up the process of creating files.

    Open WAL File

    New Buttons and Tabs Arrangements

    In this new layout, the usability around tabs and buttons was improved making them more accessible and giving them more prominence, while also making it easier to search for the desired content and speeding up the bot development.

    IBM Robotic Process Automation Studio

    Home

    On the “Home” tab you can find the essential buttons concerning the execution and file manipulation, such as: new file, create variables, create subroutines, create assets, create rule sets, etc. All of which are arranged on the interface to make them easy to locate and to speed up the bot building process.

    Essential buttons on the Home tab of IBM Robotic Process Automation Studio

    View

    On the “View” tab you can find buttons that assist on the bot development, such as: tools, properties, outputs, variables, assets, routines, etc.

    The View tab

    This view uses panels, that count as an additional IBM Robotic Process Automation Studio window on the window list on the operating system when they’re floating. Therefore, it is possible to keep track of the script execution and manage the stored information separately.

    Managing the View tab panels

    PDF Viewer

    It is important to point out that, in this new layout, the assets are arranged in a list format, which will be the starting point to work with the PDF viewer. This new feature becomes available when importing a PDF file using file assets. To use it, on the “Assets” panel, right-click on the PDF file asset and in “Preview”, then a new PDF Viewer tab will open In this viewer, you can get information about the open PDF file or find words in the file, in addition to many other features to allow for better PDF viewing experience.

    PDF Viewer starting point

    Tools

    On the “Tools” tab, there are tools that assist on the process of building, testing and debugging scripts. On this tab, there are the following features: Artificial Intelligence, Testing, PDF and Image Handling and Options. The Options window allows the user to change the IBM Robotic Process Automation Studio language and themes (Dark, Blue or Light are the available themes).

    The Tools tab

    Not only that, the user can also alter the debugging step by step delay and can also set up SAP and Terminal credentials.

    Debug setting from the Tools tab

    Help

    On the “Help” tab, there are buttons that point the user to information regarding the IBM Robotic Process Automation Studio, such as Studio logs, Agent and Vault, information about the current version and Help. This last option redirects the user to the docs website, which holds information about each command and the Release Notes. Not only that, there is also the “Reset layout” button, which restores the new IBM Robotic Process Automation Studio panels to the default layout.

    The Help tab

    In addition to that, on the “Home” tab, you may also find buttons to the “Create Workbook”, “Create Report” and “Create Text File” modules. These, in turn, will be described on the following topics.

    Create BPMN File

    The BPMN (acronym for Business Process Model and Notation) is a standard notation developed from a series of standard icons to build business process diagrams. With this file, we can use the IBM Robotic Process Automation “Workflow” feature to increase the business process and the bot’s values.

    Creating a BPMN-based workflow

    This IBM Robotic Process Automation Studio module allows for the creation of BPMN files in a simpler and more productive way, providing all the tools to arrange and structure the creation of a business process.

    BPMN File Manipulation Tabs

    "Shapes" Menu

    In this menu, there are shapes that can be used to create a process, and this version of IBM Robotic Process Automation Studio offers support for activities, gateways and transitions. In addition, it offers libraries of shapes such as Base, for example, not mentioning quick shapes and shapes that can be enabled on the library.

    The Shapes menu

    "Home" Tab

    On this tab, there are options to manipulate the BPMN file, and there are many buttons that allow the user to create variables for existing process tasks and to edit these tasks and activities execution conditions. There are also the pointer, connector and pan tools, this last one allows the user to drag the screen in which the process is being built.

    The Workflow Validate button allows the user to validate the workflow process as soon as it is finished, to check if it conforms to all the process flow standards.

    The Home tab for BPMN file manipulation

    "Design" Tab

    On this tab it is possible to better structure a flowchart. The design tools provide tools for page setup, such as size and orientation, and layout settings, such as the angle of each connector or the entire layout of the process.

    The Design tab for BPMN file manipulation

    Page Setup:

    Page Setup on the Design tab

    Options:

    Options on the Design tab

    Layout:

    Layout on the Design tab

    "View" Tab

    On this tab there are items that will assist the user on a better business flow visualization, simplifying changes and process content queries.

    The View tab for BPMN file manipulation

    There is also a very important option for building process flowchart: the “Properties” of each element of the process flowchart.

    According to each inserted element, it is possible to identify its ID, its description and, if it is a transition, the condition assigned to it.

    Properties of an element

    The conditions create specific contexts for each activity created in a process. These conditions can be assigned to the process which the bot will execute and, because of that, they play a very important role in the entire automation process that use a Workflow.

    Conditions of an element

    Create Workbook

    The Create Workbook module allows the user to create workbooks without leaving the Studio. With that, the bot development process using workbooks becomes even easier, focusing on a single tool to complete the job.

    Creating a workbook

    This is a very intuitive module, allowing the user to create and edit worksheets easily. This becomes even more evident when creating new sheets, which become available on tabs right below the page, and provides tools for editing, adding, deleting, saving changes, and many different actions.

    Creating new sheets of a Workbook

    After creating a worksheet, it becomes available for importing as an asset to be used by a bot automatization routine or it can also be saved on the computer, if necessary, without the need to use a third party software such as Excel. This operation will take place when saving the created file, shown as follows.

    Importing your worksheet

    Create Report

    The Create Report module allows the user to customize the way data is displayed on the process he is currently working on.

    After creating a “.wal” file, the user is given the option to Create reports, with the main goal of creating reports with historical and quantitative analysis about a group of available information from a Database or data table and JSON files, for example. Besides that, it is possible to create reports from scratch, modeling data as needed or using pre-defined template.

    The supported report types are as follows: Empty Report, Table Report, Vertical Report, Label Report and Template Report.

    Creating a report

    After defining its type, it is necessary to define the data source that makes up the historical and quantitative analysis of the specified data. One of the ways to choose the data source that will populate the report is, after choosing the report type, specify which will be this data source.

    Specifying a data source

    The other way to do that is, after opening the report sheet, whether it is properly formatted or not, click on the “Add Data Source” button and specify which data source will be used.

    Adding a data source from the interface

    Report Handling

    After creating a report, many different tabs are provided that handle every aspect of the report, such as:

  • Home: contains all the options regarding the creation and formatting of data and text;

    • Report handling

    There are also two new commands that simplify the report handling in the New IBM Robotic Process Automation Studio. Learn more about them in the following sections.

    Specific Commands for Report Handling

    Export Report Command (exportReport):

    The Export Report (exportReport) command allows the report asset to be exported to a directory on the machine in which the report is being handled. Moreover, it makes possible to customize the report as follows: adding watermarks (image or text), set the watermark color, and specify a password to the exported file.

    The Export Report command

    Print Report (printReport) Command:

    The Print Report command (printReport) prints the specified report on the printer that was previously defined, and adds the special characteristics to the printed report, such as watermarks.

    The Print Report commandu

    Create Text File

    The Create Text File module carries many advantages, such as: independence from a third-party software for text file handling, making the entire process of editing, formatting and preparing documents with professional quality faster and more effective.

    Another great advantage is the possibility of editing a text document while building your script, saving a lot of precious time in operations where the text asset is essential.

    After opening a “.wal” file on the IBM Robotic Process Automation Studio, the user can click the “Create text file” button to access this module.

    Creating a text file from the ribbon

    Text File Handling

    In order to handle text files, the following tabs are provided: File, Home, Insert, Page Layout, References, Mail Merge, Review, View, Tools, Help.

    Handling text files

    "File" Tab:

    On this tab, there are options for saving and printing the text file, undo or redo changes, as well as encrypting and showing document properties.

    The File tab

    As it was mentioned before, one of the main advantages of this module is the possibility of editing the text document while building your script. Because of that, when saving a text file, it is possible to save it as an asset, importing it to the bot routine, or save it on the user’s machine.

    Saving an edited text file and importing it or saving it at the same time

    "Home" Tab:

    On this tab, there are options that assist on the text file handling, such as copying, pasting, and many other options to format text: choosing the font, paragraph options and styles.

    The Home tab

    "Insert" Tab:

    On this tab, there are options specific for inserting elements in the document, such as page breaks, tables, pictures, bookmarks, hyperlinks, symbols etc.

    The Insert tab

    "Page Layout" Tab:

    On this tab, there are options for setting up the page layout, such as margins, page orientation, breaks, size etc.

    The Page Layout tab

    "References" Tab:

    On this tab, there are options that reference tables or document captions in a simpler, faster and automatically.

    The References tab

    “Mail Merge” Tab:

    On this tab, there are options that allow for adding, changing and previewing information on a mail merge.

    The Mail Merge tab

    "Review" Tab:

    On this tab, there are options for reviewing the document, such as: spelling, permissions, comments, tracking changes and reviewing document changes.

    The Review tab

    "View" Tab:

    On this tab, there are options that enable some of the panels such as toolbox, properties, outputs and error list, and also allows to preview the text in different formats, while also allowing to measure it. It allows for analysing the current text document.

    The View tab

    To explore what's new, install or update your IBM Robotic Process Automation and check the What's New section for this release.