Design your Bot

Once you have created a new Bot, you have access to the Flowchart tab. This is where you define the actions you want your Bot to perform. These actions are called Steps.

Sequences and Steps aren't set in stone. You can move Steps around the Flowchart by drag and drop, or you can delete them by pressing DEL.

To copy a Step in the Flowchart, press CTRL and drag the Step into the desired position, or use CTRL + C, CTRL + V.

Create a new Step

To create a new Step, follow the instructions below:

1. In the Flowchart tab, click on Add. This opens the Add dialog:

2. Choose what kind of Step you want to create. You can choose from the options below:

Create Placeholders

Placeholders help you to design a structure for your Bot. You can use drafts as a playground without having to consider automation yet. There is no need to create your workflow in a third-party program; you can map out the process directly in RPA Studio.

To add a Placeholder, enter a name for the Step into the text box and click on Create Placeholder, or press ENTER.

Alternatively, you can click on Create Placeholder and specify the Step name later, in the Flowchart.

Once you have mapped out your process, you can turn your Placeholder into a regular Step.

To do so, follow the steps below:

1. Click on Add within a Placeholder.

2. In the subsequent dialog, select the element that you want to use instead of the Placeholder:

   • Module tab: select a Module from which you want to create a Step. Then fill out the Step Values. Alternatively, you can replace a Placeholder by dragging a Module on it.

   • Logic tab: select a Logic element to add to your Bot.

   • Bot tab: select a Bot.

   • Scan tab: scan your application. RPA Studio automatically replaces the Placeholder with a Step from the Module you created during the scan. If you create multiple Modules during the scan, RPA Studio replaces the Placeholder with a Group that contains Steps from all Modules.

   • Record tab: add recorded Steps.

   Note that if you replace a disabled Placeholder, the subsequent Step is also disabled.

For a practical example of how to use Placeholders in process automation, see the First Steps tutorial: "Map out your process".

Create a Step from a Module

To create a Step from a Module, search for and select a Module in the Module tab.

Modules contain the technical information a Bot needs to navigate and interact with your application. For information on how to use Modules in Bots, see "Create Steps from Modules".

Add Logic element

To add a Logic element as a Step, select one of the following elements in the Logic tab:

• Group: Create a collection of Steps for your Bot. Groups help you to keep your Flowcharts structured and tidy.

• IF Statement: Define a statement and specify what the Bot should do if the statement is TRUE or FALSE.

• LOOP: Repeat one or more Steps a specified number of times.

• Conditional LOOP: Define a statement. Repeat one or more Steps, either for a specified number of times or until the statement is no longer TRUE.

• SWITCH Statement: Define a statement and several possible results. Specify what the Bot should do in each case.

Add a Bot to your Bot

To add an existing Bot to your Bot, select one of the Bots in the Bot tab.

You can only edit Bots - for instance add or delete Steps - in their own Flowcharts. When you edit a Bot that is part of another Bot, RPA Studio automatically updates the other Bot with the new information.

The only exception to this is the Bot name.

Scan your application and add the Module as a Step

Instead of scanning your application first and then creating a Step from the resulting Module, you can do both in one swoop.

To do so, click on the Scan tab and select the application that you want to scan.

You can then perform the scan as described in "Create Modules by scanning". RPA Studio automatically performs the following actions:

• It saves the created Modules in the folder that you specify.

• It creates Steps from the Modules in the Flowchart.

This is true for all scan types except the Salesforce Scan. If you access the Salesforce Scan via the Add dialog, RPA Studio saves the Modules in the specified folder, but does not create Steps from them.

Add recorded Steps

To add recorded Steps to a Bot, select the Record tab and click on Start Recorder.

The Recorder allows you to record an interaction with your application (see "Create a Bot by recording"). The recording process results in the following objects:

• Modules from the controls with which you interacted during the recording.

• Steps created from these Modules. The Steps follow the order of your recording.

  The Recorder also fills out the Step Values with the information you enter during the recording. For instance, if you click a particular button, the corresponding Bot Step automatically receives the required Value and ActionMode.

Customize the Add dialog

You can customize the Add dialog:

• Reorder the tabs.

• Hide tabs.

Reorder tabs

To reorder the tabs, follow the steps below:

1. Click Customize and reorder the tabs via drag and drop.

2. Click Save.

Hide tabs

To hide a tab, follow the steps below:

1. Click Customize and deselect the check boxes of the tabs that you want to hide. To show a hidden tab, select the respective check box.

2. Click Save.

In the subsequent dialog, click Reset to Default to set the Add dialog to its default view.

What's next?

Once you have designed your Bot, you can test it in RPA Studio.