BulePrism进阶教程-10. Additional Features

This section deals with some of the aspects of Blue Prism we have not yet looked at.
10.1. Safe Stop
When a process is running in Control Room you can stop the process by selecting the process session and clicking Stop Selection. This will stop the process immediately. The case currently being worked will not be completed and Blue Prism will mark it as an Exception at Clean Up.
Figure 143: Control Room Session Controls
If you right click a running process session you will see the following stop options; Immediate Stop and Request Stop.
Figure 144: Context Menu for Running Processes
Immediate Stop is the equivalent of Stop Selection. Request Stop will ask the process to stop where there is a configured safe stop with the process.
You can configure a safe stop within your process by using the inbuilt Environment function IsStopRequested() within a Decision stage.

Typically you would place this Decision stage prior to getting the next case from a Work Queue. This will allow the process to complete the current case before detecting a safe stop request and processing accordingly.

Figure 146: Process Checking for a Safe Stop Request
10.2. Collection Actions
We have seen how to create a Collection and how to use a loop to access each row. The special Internal - Collections Business Object has other actions that we have not used yet, most of which are self-explanatory.
 Add Row.
 Remove Row.
 Count Rows.
 Count Columns.
 Remove All Rows.
 Copy Rows. Copy Rows is used to generate a new Collection from a subset from another Collection
Key Point
 The inputs of the Internal – Work Queues actions ask for the name of the collection, rather than the collection itself. The data type of the “Collection Name” input is Text, not Collection.
10.3. Choice Stage
Like the Decision stage, the choice stage is based on expressions that result in either True or False. The difference is that a choice stage can evaluate a series of expressions rather than just one.
The choice stage looks a little like a Wait stage and works in a similar way, where each expression creates a separate branch. Expressions are evaluated in top-down order, and the first one found to be True takes the flow down that branch. The bottom Otherwise branch is taken if none of the expressions are True, much like the timeout end of a Wait stage.
Figure 147: Choice Stage Toolbar Button
Figure 148: Choice Stage
Figure 149: Choice Stage Properties
10.4. Logging
Blue Prism can log the details of stages used in Processes and Business Objects. By default, stages used in Process Studio are logged and those in Object Studio are not. This can easily be changed by modifying the properties of a stage, selection of stages or all stages.
Nearly all stage properties windows have a combo box with the stage logging options; Enabled, Disabled and Errors Only. Errors only will log the stage only if an error is thrown when the stage runs

Alternatively, the menu commands Edit > Selected Stages > and Edit > All Stages can be used to modify the stage logging of more than one stage at a time.

Figure 151: Logging Menu
Page information stages are not logged and Data Items are only logged when their values are used as inputs and outputs.
Key Points
 The decision as to which stages are logged and which are not should not be overlooked.
 Logs are particularly useful during a test phase as a means to investigate bugs.
 However a live Process running all day can put a vast amount of logs into the database, the maintenance and back up of which should be considered.
 The security or legal implications of storing sensitive data are also something to think about.
10.5. Log Viewer
The Log Viewer is used to inspect the log of a session, either as it is running or after it has finished. This is especially handy for reviewing the workings of a progress and tracking down problems.
The Log Viewer has a search function enabling you to look through the (often numerous) rows of a log and the visibility of columns can be configured to suit.
Figure 15
2: Log Viewer
10.6. System Manager
As the name suggests, System Manager is where Blue Prism’s own settings are kept. Some of the tasks that can be performed are as follows:
 Create and maintain user accounts, roles, and permissions.
 Retire resources, Processes, and Business Objects.
 View Process or Business Object change history.
 Manage web services.
 Manage work queues.

10.7. Process/Business Object Grouping
Processes and Business Objects can be arranged into groups in order to simplify and tidy the lists used in the Blue Prism application. Groupings have no effect on the Processes or Objects themselves. They are moved to and from groups by using “drag and drop” in System Manager. You can create groups by right clicking on either Processes or Objects in the Studio tab.

Figure 154: Process Grouping
10.8. Process and Object References
You can view what Processes and Business Object are using a particular Process or Business Object by finding references. To find references of a select Process or Business Object in Studio and click the hamburger icon at the top right and select Find References

Figure 155: Use the hamburger menu to Find References
This will return a list of where the Process/Business Object is used

10.9. Export and Import
A Process or Business Object can be exported as an XML file, and similarly an exported file can be imported into Blue Prism. This can be useful for backing up and moving work between databases.
A wizard is provided to guide the user through each step of the procedure.

Figure 157: Import Wizard
Exercise 10.7.1 Exporting and Importing
 From the main Blue Prism application window, select File > Export from the main menu.
 Experiment with exporting a Process as an XML file.
 Switch to a different database, if you like. Alternatively, you may simply imagine that you have done so. Choose File > Import and locate an XML file.
 Tip: Processes and Business Object names must be unique.
10.10. Release Manager – Packages and Releases
The above XML import/export is useful for one-off ad hoc migrations of specific Business Objects and Processes, but in the real world a Process might have several dependencies. For example, a Process might employ a range other Processes, Business Objects, and Work Queues.
To migrate all of these parts individually would be an error-prone task requiring careful attention to detail and conscientious use of checklists. For this reason, Blue Prism provides the Release Manager which allows users to create checklists known as Packages.
At various stages during the development cycle, a Release can be exported using the checklist provided in the Package. Two different releases produced on two different occasions could contain different versions of the Processes/Business Objects/work queues, etc., but because they have come from the same Package (i.e., the same checklist) they will contain the same items.

Figure 158: The Blue Prism Release Manager
Exercise 10.8.1 Creating a Package
 Go to Release Manager and click New Package.
 Complete the wizard, choosing a combination of items to include in the package. For this exercise, it is not important what items you pick.

Figure 159: Create a Package Wizard
Exercise 10.8.2 Exporting a Release
Now that a Package has been created, we can create a Release. The Release will be a snapshot of the state of each of the items in the Package at a particular moment in time.
 Select the Package you just created and click New Release.
 Choose a name for the release and provide some release notes (e.g., “Development complete. Process now ready for UAT.”).
 Choose a location to save the file; the file extension will be .bprelease
The Release file contains the details of all the items in the package and could be used to import the items into another database. Typically this would mean a new environment, e.g., exporting a Release from the Development environment and importing into a UAT environment.
Key Points
 Blue Prism creates different environments by using separate databases. Typically this would be three databases - Development, Test, and Live.
 Moving work from one database to another is done by exporting and importing.
 An exported file can also be attached to email and used as a basic back up.