studiox
2023.10
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StudioX User Guide
Last updated Aug 7, 2024

Using the Data Manager

The Data Manager panel allows you to manage various types of data in your automation project. This data includes:

  • Variables - Store data of different types and pass it between activities in a project.
  • Arguments - Store data of different types and pass it between workflows and apps.
  • Resources - Excel resources and activities that add files, email accounts, applications, or browsers to the project.

  • The following resources from Orchestrator, provided that the Robot is connected to Orchestrator.

    • Processes - A process represents a package version linked to a particular folder. When you deploy a new process, it becomes available for all accounts that have access to that Orchestrator folder.
    • Assets - Assets usually represent shared variables or credentials that can be used in different automation projects. They allow you to store specific information so that the Robots can easily access it.
    • Queues - Container that enables you to hold an unlimited number of items. Queue items can store multiple types of data, such as invoice information or customer details, and enable you to create large automation projects underlined by complex logic.
  • Connections - Links between your automation and external applications.

Menu Options



  • Create - Contains the options to create a new Variable, Argument, and a new Excel resource.
  • Expand All - Expands all of the categories in the Data Manager.
  • Collapse All - Collapses all of the categories in the Data Manager.
  • Refresh - Refreshes the Data Manager and reloads the data into it. Categories can be refreshed independently. A loading icon is displayed next to each category while it is loading. Resources are disabled while they are loading and become available after the loading finishes.
  • Group items by scope - Groups your variables in the panel depending on the scope assigned to them.
  • Sync with active scope - When an active scope is in focus, for example, a Use Excel File activity is selected, it only displays the variables with the matching scope assigned to them.
  • Sort sections elements - Lets you sort data by selecting one of the available options: Default, Name A-Z, Name Z-A.
  • Data manager filters - Lets you select what data is visible in the panel.

Variables

Creating and Managing Variables

  1. In the Data Manager, select Create docs image > Variable.

  2. Indicate the name, data type, scope, and default value for the variable.

    The scope can be set to Main (available in the entire project) or to any container activity within the project. The default value is Main.

    Note: The scope of a variable determines the area in the workflow where it can be used. For example, having the scope set to Main allows the variable to be used in the entire project, while having a container activity set as a scope makes the variable available only within that container activity and the activities added inside.

Alternatively, you can create variables directly from the panel using the in-line option or from the Set Variable Value activity.



Creating variables in bulk

To create multiple variables at once, right-click Variables in the Data Manager, and then select Bulk Create Variables. In the Variables Panel window, click New and add the details for each variable you want to add.



Editing a variable

  1. Open the Data Manager panel.
  2. Expand the Variables node and then the node of the variable.

  3. Edit any of the following: name, data type, scope, default value.



Removing a variable

  1. Open the Data Manager panel.
  2. Expand the Variables node, then right-click a variable and select Delete Variable.

Alternatively, select the variable and press Delete on your keyboard.

Converting a variable to an argument

  1. Open the Data Manager panel.
  2. Under Variables, right-click a variable to open the context menu.
  3. Select Convert to Argument.

The newly converted argument can be found in the Arguments section of the panel.

Finding all the references to a variable

  1. Open the Data Manager panel.
  2. Under Variables, right-click a variable to open the context menu.

  3. Select Find References.

    The Find references panel opens and displays all references to the variable in the project.

Arguments

Creating and Managing Arguments

  1. In the Data Manager, select Create docs image > Argument.

  2. Indicate the name, direction, data type, whether it is required, and the default value.

    By default, all new arguments are of String type and have an In direction.

Alternatively, you can create arguments directly from the panel using the in-line option.



Creating arguments in bulk

To create multiple variables at once, right-click Arguments in the Data Manager, and then select Bulk Create Argument. In the Arguments window, click New and add the details for each argument you want to add.



Editing an argument

  1. Open the Data Manager panel.
  2. Expand the Arguments node and then the node of the argument.

  3. Edit any of the following: name, direction, data type, whether it is required, default value.



Removing arguments

  1. Open the Data Manager panel.
  2. Under Arguments, right-click an argument to open the context menu.
  3. Select Delete.

Alternatively, select the argument and press Delete on your keyboard.

Converting an argument to a variable

  1. Open the Data Manager panel.
  2. Under Arguments, right-click an argument to open the context menu.
  3. Select Convert to Variable.

The newly converted variable can be found in the Variables section of the panel.

Finding all the references to an argument

  1. Open the Data Manager panel.
  2. Under Arguments, right-click an argument to open the context menu.

  3. Select Find References.

    The Find references panel opens and displays all references to the argument in the project.

Copying and Pasting Arguments and Variables

You can copy and paste arguments or variables within the task. Right-click a variable or argument and select Copy. To paste it, right-click in the Data Manager panel and select Paste.

When a variable or argument with the same name already exists, a number is added to the duplicate's name. For example, if a variable with the name number already exists, the copied variable is renamed to number_1.

Alternatively, you can use the CTRL + C and CTRL + V keyboard shortcuts to copy and paste variables and arguments.

Managing Annotations on Variables and Arguments

You can add annotations to your variables and argument to provide context or just to better keep track of the purpose and contents of those variables or arguments.

To add an annotation:

  1. Open the Data Manager panel.
  2. Right-click an argument or variable to open the context menu.
  3. Select Add Annotation.

  4. Type in the text and click the pin icon.

    Note:
    • Pinned annotations are displayed under the variable or argument in the panel when expanded.
    • Arguments and variables with unpinned annotations have an icon displayed next to them.
    • The pinned status of annotations is saved when the project is closed or published as a template.


To edit or remove annotations, right-click an argument or variable and select either Edit Annotation or Remove Annotation.

Alternatively, you can edit pinned annotations by clicking them in the panel and changing the text.



Note: You can order variables and arguments freely by dragging and dropping them. This feature is disabled when you select the Group items by scope option.

Resources

In Windows - Legacy and Windows projects, you can expand the Resources node in the Data Manager to view and manage the following resources in the current project file:

Connecting to an Excel file (modern Excel activities)

To connect to an Excel file and use it with the default modern activities available in StudioX:

  1. At the top of the Data Manager panel, select Plus > Connect to a new Excel file.

  2. In the Manage resource window, provide the following information, and then click OK:

    • Select Excel file - Click Browse docs image next to the field, and then browse to and select the Excel file to add to the automation.
    • And give it a name for later - Enter a name by which to refer to the file in the automation project (by the default, the file name).

    • Save changes - Select this option if you want the file to be saved at the end of the automation. Otherwise, the file is returned to the initial state after project execution. This option is selected by default.

      When the option to save changes is disabled, the message save off is displayed next to the Excel resource entries in the Plus menu and in the Data Manager panel.

    • Read only - Select this option if you want to open the file in read-only mode. This allows you to perform data extraction operations if the file is locked for editing or has an edit password. This option is not selected by default.

    • Read formatting - Select the read formatting for the file:

      • Default - Use the default formatting returned by Excel.
      • RawValue - Use the raw values and ignore all formatting.
      • DisplayValue - Retrieve the values as displayed in Excel.
    • Scope - Select the scope of the resource. By default, the scope is set to the main container. To optimize performance, set the scope to the container closest to where the activities that use the resource are placed in the workflow.

Connecting to an Excel file (Workbook activities)

Note: Workbook activities are available only if the Developer filter is selected from the Activities panel.

In projects where you use multiple Workbook activities with the same large Excel file, you can achieve the best runtime performance by connecting to the Excel file from the Data Manager to add it as a resource. This ensures the file is loaded in the memory once for all activities at runtime. If you choose to provide the path to the Excel file in each Workbook activity, the file is loaded in the memory for each activity.

To add an Excel workbook as a resource:

  1. At the top of the Data Manager, select Plus > Connect to a new Workbook file. The Manage resource window is displayed.
  2. Configure the resource:
    • Select Excel file - Browse to and select the Excel file.
    • And give it a name for later - Enter the name by which to refer to the file in Workbook activities (by the default, the file name). This is the name of the option that will be available in the Plus menu of the Workbook property allowing you to reference the workbook file.
    • Password - Enter the password of the file, if applicable.
    • Scope - Select the scope of the resource. By default, the scope is set to the main container. To optimize performance, set the scope to the container closest to where the activities that use the resource are placed in the workflow.

After the resource is created, you can edit its configuration by right-clicking it in the Data Manager and selecting Configure. You can reference the resource in multiple Workbook activities by selecting the resource from the Plus menu.

Managing resources

To go to the activity where a resource is defined in the project, double-click the resource in the Data Manager.

To manage a resource from the Data Manager, right-click the resource and select one of the options in the context menu:

  • Open - Opens an Excel, PowerPoint, or Word file added as a resource.
  • Open file location - Opens the folder containing an Excel, PowerPoint, or Word file added as a resource.

    This option is not available when working with remote files (for example, SharePoint).

  • Configure - Opens the Manage resource window where you can edit the properties of an Excel resource.
  • Delete - Removes the resource from the project.

Processes, Assets, and Queues

The Data Manager displays Orchestrator resources (processes, assets, and queues) available in the currently selected Orchestrator folder. The panel displays resources from both classic and modern folders. Read more about folders.

If the Robot connected to Orchestrator is of type Standard, then the Data Manager panel can display only the Classic folder which has this Robot provisioned. If the Robot is of type Floating, then the panel displays all Classic and Modern folders that this Robot has access to. Read more about creating Robots in Orchestrator here.

To use a process, asset, or queue, drag-and-drop it from the Data Manager into the Designer panel. A set of activities is suggested depending on the resource type, and selecting one adds the activity to the project preconfigured to use the selected resource. For example, if you drag-and-drop a process, the Add Activity search bar is displayed with the suggested activities Invoke Process, Start Job, and Run Parallel Process. Selecting Invoke Process adds the activity with the folder path and process name fields configured with the data of the process.

You can manage the Orchestrator resources as follows:

  • Right-click any resource under Assets, Queues, and Processes to access the context menu where you have the option to open the resource in Orchestrator or copy the name and use it in activities that interact with such resources.

  • To update Orchestrator resources, click the Refresh button at the top of the Data Manager panel.

    Note:
    • When using a classic, manually provisioned robot, it must be granted View permissions for the corresponding resources (that is, Assets, Queues, and Processes) to appear in the panel. Read more about setting up Roles and permissions in Orchestrator.
    • If there are both classic and modern folders in Orchestrator and you are connected to Orchestrator using a robot from a modern folder (you signed in to your account or connected using a machine template key), the processes in the classic folders are not available in the Data Manager panel. To have access to the processes from a classic folder, connect to Orchestrator using a classic robot with a standard machine key connection.

Connections

Viewing the Connections Used in a Project

  1. Open the Data Manager panel.
  2. Expand the Connections node to view a list of connections used in the project.

  3. Expand the node of a connection to view a list of activities where it is used in the project. Additionally, you can further expand each activity to see more user-specific data associated with a connection (for example, the email folders and the cloud storage folders where emails and files are located).

    Note: Connections are displayed in the Data Manager for certain activities and are displayed only after you save the project.

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