Robots

This section is available for users with the following roles: Administrator, Viewer, Project Administrator, Developer, API, DAS Client, VCS Service User, and Kapplets Service User.

The Robots section lists robots uploaded to the Management Console repository and helps you manage robots in the repository on a per project basis.

To run in a schedule, robots need to be uploaded to the Management Console repository from Design Studio using the Upload function or directly from Management Console using the "Upload a robot" button. When the robot is uploaded, it is copied into the repository. Thus, if changes are later made to the robot in Design Studio, it needs to be uploaded again. Schedules that the robot is associated with will use the new version of the robot the next time they run.

Each robot belongs to a project. Within a given project, you cannot have two different robots with the same name in the repository. Different projects can contain robots with the same name. In Design Studio, you can assign tags to your robots that can be the same and can be used to filter the list in Management Console.

At the top of the Robots section, in the Projects drop-down list, you can select the project with robots to display. You can change the way the information for each robot is presented as follows:

• Filter the list of robots in the table by typing a robot name or a tag name in the Filter text field. See Filtering for more information.
• Select the table columns to display for a robot using the menu icon on the right.
• Refresh the displayed information by clicking the refresh icon on the right.
• Reset the custom column settings by clicking the reset icon on the right.
• Select the number of items to display per page and navigate among pages by using the navigation menu in the bottom right corner.

By default, the following table columns are displayed for each robot.

Upload Robot

1. To add a robot to the Management Console, click the plus sign in the upper left corner.

   The "Upload robot" dialog box appears.

   An alternative way of uploading a robot is to use the Upload function in Design Studio. This works in exactly the same way, except that Design Studio also uploads the necessary types and snippets. If your Management Console repository contains multiple projects, you are prompted to choose the project to upload the robot.

2. Click the paper clip sign to select a robot file to upload, select the file on your computer, and then click Open.

   • If you are uploading a robot with the same name as an existing one, select Override if exists to replace the existing robot.

   • Select the folder to upload the robot. By default, all files are stored in the Root folder.

   • In the Commit message field, you may add a description for the commit.

3. Click Submit.

   The robot appears in the table.

   Once a robot is uploaded to Management Console, it can be executed in several different ways: Directly using the "Run now" option, as part of a schedule, through the Java/.NET API or as REST services. See "Actions on Robots" below.

   To execute a robot as part of a Kapplet, see Kapplets.

Adding missing snippets and types for Robot

When a Robot is uploaded, the data in the "Name," "Required types," and/or "Snippets used" columns may appear in red. This means that some of the snippets and/or types that the Robot needs for running are not uploaded. To do so, point to the red text in either of the table columns and the upload menu will appear. On the right side of that menu, click the upload sign, and the upload dialog box for types or snippets opens.

Actions on Robots

When you click the context menu for a robot, the following actions are listed:

• Run now: Starts immediate execution of the robot on RoboServer. This feature is not available for robots that take input.
• Set folder: Adds the selected robot to a folder in the Management Console.
• Create schedule: Opens a wizard for schedule creation. If any robot added this way requires input, you need to add it later.
• API: Opens a window with a sample Java or C# code for executing the robot on RoboServer.
• REST: Opens a window that enables you to invoke the robot as a REST service.

  When you start a robot through the Java/.NET API or as a REST service and a Management Console does not have enough slots to run it, a message appears that no slots are available. The robot is not queued. Therefore, when you start a robot using API, create a way to schedule robots such that they can always run when enough slots are available. For example, you can keep a count of the number of running robots and start a new robot only when enough slots are available, or you can have loops that attempt to run a robot and if the lack of slots prevents it from running, the loop should wait and try again.

• SOAP: Opens a window that enables you to invoke the robot with SOAP.
• Add/edit password access for robot: Opens a dialog box where you can create or edit the access token for a robot. The token corresponds to the particular version of a robot. Here, you can also edit a description of the token and assign a password entry to the token from the list of available password entries. You can assign password entries to the token directly on the Password entries tab in the Password store.
• Get resource access token: Opens a dialog box where you can copy the access token for this robot. For example, you can use this access token to allow the robot access to the Password store or Robot File System.
• Map to user: Available for robots with triggers in a Robot. Enables you to select a user to map the robot to.
• Map to label: Enables you to select a label to map the robot to. You can type a new label here or select an existing one.
• Suspend triggers: Available for robots with triggers in a Robot. Click to disable triggers in the robot.
• Activate triggers: Available for robots with triggers in a Robot. Click to enable triggers in the suspended robot.
• Download: Downloads a copy of the robot from the repository and saves it to your file system.
• Generate documentation: Generates an overview of the robot including the actions that it performs.
• Open in Design Studio: Opens the robot in Design Studio.
• View robot runs: Shows logged information on the robot runs as also appears in the Log view.
• View robot errors: Shows logged information on the robot errors as also appears in the Log view.

To remove a robot from the repository, select it in the table and click the bin icon in the upper left corner. You are prompted to confirm the deletion. The robot is automatically removed from any schedules used to run it. If you do not have a copy of the robot in the file system, it is irrevocably lost.