Release Notes

RPA.Assistant -library for attended robots

• Switching from RPA.Dialogs to RPA.Assistant enables you to build more complex UX flows directly from your Robot Framework code.
• Behind the library is Flet, which is a lot lighter dependency and has more flexibility.
• Get started with the new stuff using the Assistant template.

Also check out the migration Guide if you have been using RPA.Dialogs -library

Note: VSCode 1.75.0 has a major issue related to handling keybindings. Please keep to VSCode 1.74.3 until VSCode 1.75.1 is available.

Robot Framework Language Server

New features

• Code action: Surround with try..except.

• Code action: Surround with try..except..finally.

• Interactive Console: (Robot Framework 4 onwards): When a single keyword call is executed and it has a non-None return, its return value is printed.

• Interactive Console: Typing a variable in the Interactive Console shows that variable. #871

• Improve IF/WHILE/Run Keyword If snippet completions to make it a bit clearer that python expressions are expected.

• Building the model of the flow explorer no longer times out and a progress dialog is shown while building it.

• robot.libraries.blacklist can be used to blacklist libraries which should never appear in code-completion.

• Deprecated libraries:

  • robot.libraries.deprecated can be used to mark libraries as deprecated.
  • Keywords from deprecated libraries will not appear in the auto-import code-completion (so, they'll only be available if the Library is added to the Settings).
  • Libraries which start with *DEPRECATED* in its doc are also considered deprecated.
  • Keywords from libraries marked as deprecated will be shown as deprecated.

• Requesting completions right after Libraries without any additional name will show completions for all known (pre-loaded) libraries.

• Completions for variables are shown without having to enter $ nor ${.

Bugfixes

• Properly report about undefined variable in RETURN. #865

• References to variables used in Evaluate arguments are now properly collected.

• Don't show completion for the variable being currently defined in variable assign.

Robocorp Code

• If the TEMP folder being used in the environment is removed the extension properly deals with it.

• Inspector upgrades:

  • Browser Actions Recorder: Improvements in performance and other bug fixes.
  • Browser Actions Recorder: Auto-scroll for the keyword list.
  • Browser Actions Recorder: Code Editor no longer readonly (note: still indifferent to user changes as it will always update).
  • Browser Locator: Fixed buttons not displaying if no matches available.
  • Improved approach to close the browser and app window.

With this update to Automation Studio, we're bringing in changes to the editor layout. Both the left and right sidebars are now collapsible, with the latter automatically hiding when no elements are selected. Documentation fields for Tasks and User Keywords have been inlined, and rename/delete features moved to the left sidebar to improve consistency.

In the preferences menu, there is a new option to select a default browser for creating web locators and recording. Additionally, dozens of bugs reported by users or detected in internal testing have been fixed.

Features

• Improved editor layout with dynamic sidebars, inline documentation, and more consistent rename/delete features
• Allow selecting default browser for picking and recording
• Multiple new hotkeys and command palette items

Updates

• Tasks and User Keywords can be renamed and removed from the context menu in the left sidebar
• Use special variable syntax in conditionals by default
• Browser is not closed after picking or recording
• Further improvements in Web Recorder element detection
• Run view Back button disabled when run still in progress
• Improved naming and editing of Work Item sets
• Code editor automatically scrolls to active line
• Suite drop-down menu shown in Code view
• Web recording disabled when no Tasks are defined
• Upload Robot disabled when no Tasks are defined

Bugfixes

• Closing a project before opening finishes caused a critical error
• Removing a Suite could leave project in preparing state
• Upload Robot view sometimes incorrectly handled switching workspaces or users
• Unable to set Work Item values with partially duplicate keys
• Output Work Item sets not always updated after runs
• Variables inside strings in IF/WHILE conditionals parsed incorrectly
• Special variables in conditionals incorrectly reported as invalid syntax
• Could not drag Variable into FOR loop value
• Renaming a User Keyword argument would remove default value
• Default return value not always set when User Keyword dragged from sidebar
• Linking with Control Room did not work on macOS when application was closed
• Various small layout and styling issues

⚠️ Warning

Multiple breaking changes below!

• Library RPA.Cloud.Azure (#635):

  • robocloud_vault_name -> robocorp_vault_name
  • use_robocloud_vault -> use_robocorp_vault
  • Set Robocloud Vault -> Set Robocorp Vault

• Library RPA.Cloud.Google (#794; rpaframework-google 7.0.0):

  • RPA.Robocloud.Secrets -> RPA.Robocorp.Vault

• Library RPA.PDF (#785; rpaframework-pdf 7.0.1):

  • Keyword Find Text:
  • Supports additional parameter ignore_case, which if set to True, will make the search case insensitive. (switch it on if you experience a different behaviour)
  • Adds subtext: strategy in the passed locator which checks for a substring instead of the whole text to match.

• New related Portal example for parsing PDF invoices: https://github.com/robocorp/example-parse-pdf-invoice

• Library RPA.Browser.Selenium (#781): Ability to change the default search order of browsers, when using the Open Available Browser keyword, through the RPA_SELENIUM_BROWSER_ORDER env var.

A big bunch of updates and new features have been released in the VS Code extensions at a rate that even the release notes have been lagging behind.

The biggest features released since November 2022:

• New robot output

  • See the Robot Framework output while running the robot.

  • Command palette > View: Toggle Robot Output

    

• Flow Explorer now also in VS Code

  • Select a .robot file > Command Palette > Robot Framework: Open Robot Flow Explorer

• Documentation panel

  • See the keyword documentation in a static panel

  • Command palette > View: Toggle Robot Documentation

• Inspector / locators features

  • UX from Studio now in VS Code

  • Windows Locator improvements

  • Web Recorder Beta

• Conversion Accelerator

  • Improved UX to take in multiple robots at a time to enable analysis over source robots

  • Improvements to all conversions and support for AAv11

  • Still looking for more input robots to develop the tool further. Contact us.

• Quick fixes and code refactoring

  

Install the extensions from VS Code extensions panel by typing Robocorp or from marketplace links available here.

Detailed changelogs available: here & here

Added

• Allow using Vault from Control Room during development
• Library for reading Vault secrets in Robots
• Editor for creating, modifying, and deleting Suite variables

Changed

• Improved element detection and code generation for Web Recorder
• Invalid Variables hidden from auto-complete
• Errors in Visual editor highlighted more prominently
• Improved discoverability of Reveal in File System functionality
• Report Error renamed to Submit Issue to match other products
• Minor tweaks to Conditional builder
• Minor tweaks to Help menus
• Minor tweaks to Tasks sidebar

Fixed

• Unexpected error when running Robots with certain Windows configurations
• Flow view controls overlapping Run view
• Multi-line errors in in Run view not shown correctly
• Errors with multiple IF/ELSE IF branches not shown correctly
• Sidebar in Run view was not scrollable

• Library RPA.Browser.Selenium (#710): Fix bug with auto_close=${False} param when importing the library, which still had the browser closed at the end of the session. (now it’s left open if such parameter is set to False)

• New Intelligent Document Processing library RPA.DocumentAI, which is a convenient wrapper over the existing libraries:
  • RPA.Cloud.Google (needs rpaframework-google installed)
  • RPA.DocumentAI.Base64AI (moved from RPA.Base64AI)
  • RPA.DocumentAI.Nanonets (moved from RPA.Nanonets)

Provides the following generic keywords capable of working with all the engines above:

• Init Engine
• Switch Engine
• Predict
• Get Result

Portal example: GitHub | Portal

Warning

This is a breaking change! Two DocumentAI related libraries have moved, thus the importing location is changed now:

• RPA.Base64AI -> RPA.DocumentAI.Base64AI
• RPA.Nanonets -> RPA.DocumentAI.Nanonets

This update to Automation Studio fixes a critical bug that prevented running Robots on certain Windows machines, but also brings some quality of life improvements.

Features

• Variables returned from keywords and assigned in FOR loops can now be auto-completed

Updates

• Invalid environments for Robots are automatically removed and re-downloaded
• Reduced execution time for Robots within Automation Studio

Bugfixes

• Fatal errors when running are correctly shown instead of getting stuck in "Starting Robot" view
• Dragging multiple elements out of the tree correctly deletes all of them

Features

• New user guide for Automation Studio in Robocorp Docs
• Release notes now shown when an update is available
• File and folder picker for keywords that expect paths
• Images in the run results can be shown as full-size

Updates

• Upload to Control Room shows more information when replacing robots
• Improved scroll bars on Windows, and various related layout fixes
• User keyword arguments are now validated in case of invalid values
• Variable blocks supported in conditionals

Bugfixes

• Double spaces in tasks and user keywords behaved unexpectedly
• Errors in conditionals not always shown in run results
• FOR loop values and variables were sometimes mixed up
• IF statements sometimes moved a keyword into the conditional
• String literals sometimes incorrectly shown as Variables
• Double context menus for variables
• Wrong path shown in New Robot dialog when project name already exists
• Literals with hash sign highlighted as comment in code editor

• Library RPA.Browser.Selenium (#661): Downloads correctly Mac arm64 web drivers. (due to rpaframework-core 10.0.1)
• Library RPA.Cloud.AWS (#663): Add more options for List Files keyword.

• Library RPA.Browser.Selenium (#660): Ensure use_profile parameter is working as expected when set true. Affecting the Open Available Browser and Open Chrome Browser keywords.

• New library RPA.MSGraph (#176, #653): This library wraps the O365 package, giving robots the ability to access the Microsoft Graph API programmatically.

Thanks once again to Vinicius Marques, the winner of our Community Challenge, for contributing this library!!

• Library RPA.Robocorp.WorkItems (#655): Fix behaviour when releasing FAILED items with empty string code or message.
• Library RPA.Salesforce (#570): Added two new keywords: Set Domain and Get Domain. Enhanced documentation around the different ways to set a domain.

Robot Framework Language Server v1.2.0 & Robocorp Code v0.38.0. Improved log messages, ability to open documentation to a separate panel, Setup & Teardown shown in the Flow Explorer. Gen1 conversion tooling (Blue Prism, UiPath, A360) now available via command palette.

• Library RPA.Email.Exchange (#641): Add support for OAuth2 auto token refresh in Vault with vault_name and vault_token_key parameters during library import.

New Intelligent Document Processing capabilities via integrated providers Base64.ai, Nanonets, and updates to Google libraries. New libraries RPA.Base64AI and RPA.Nanonets. RPA.Cloud.AWS breaking backwards compatibility (major version bump). RPA.Cloud.Google adds Document AI support. RPA.Excel.Files adds read_only mode.

Push Robot updates from Automation Studio direct to Control Room. Linking to Control Room. Support for multiple .robot files within the same project. Allow navigating back when jumping to user keywords. Stop an in-progress run from the UI. Plus various UX and bugfixes.

Robot Framework Language Server v1.1.3 & Robocorp Code v0.37.0. Robot Flow Explorer now also in VS Code. Updated UX for the Robocorp Code sidebar.