[Notes]

[New Features]

• OpenBots Studio
  • Studio Experience Improvements
    • OB Studio Dark Mode
      • Added the ability to swap between the default light theme and a new dark theme through the Settings Manager.
    • New Icons
      • Replaced all icons with updated designs that accommodate both light and dark themes, and match the design of the Studio.
    • Support for splitting code segments into separate files
      • Users can now export highlighted code blocks into a new script, and have a Run Task command placed in its place.
      • Any variables utilized by the code block will be transferred into the new script, and have the necessary arguments created and mapped in the Run Task command to allow for execution without adjustment.
    • Update Variable/Argument Name Recurrences
      • Added the ability to rename variables and argument by right-clicking on them in the designated pane. Instances throughout the script will be updated with the new name.
    • Set variable/argument values during debugging while paused
      • Users can now set the values of variables and arguments while the script is paused or at a breakpoint during a debug execution.
    • Command Clipboard Support
      • Copy and pasting commands in the Studio will now utilize the clipboard, allowing for the importing and exporting of command blocks to text.
    • Deep Copy Undo/Redo
      • Copy and Paste operations can now be undone and redone using the standard hotkeys.
      • Variable and argument modifications can now be undone and redone using the standard hotkeys.
    • Pasting and Saving Improvements in Studio
      • Users can now paste into and save scripts that do not contain any commands.
    • Support Links
      • Added support links to the Studio under the Help option on the top bar.
    • Word Wrap for Show Message and Error Forms
      • Large text blocks will now wrap in the show message and error forms.
    • Log Refactor and Level Drop
      • All engine logs will now be “Debug” level and command logs (i.e. “Starting Loop”, “Element Not Yet Found…”) will be “Verbose”.
      • The log level will be displayed in the engine form’s logs right after the time (i.e. 1/1/2021 10:10:10 | Debug | Running Line…”)
      • The engine form will now turn gray when execution is cancelled.
• Library Feature
  • Added a new library feature that allows for the saving of snippets of code to be reused between projects to a centralized repository.
  • New scripts can be added to the library manually, or copy/pasted from the project pane.
  • Snippets can be imported into the current script by right-clicking them and selecting the provided option.
• OBBusinessException
  • The custom exception type OBBusinessException has been added to assist with reporting Business Exceptions.
• Base64 String Arguments
  • Out arguments will now be transmitted to the Server as a Base64 string to be utilized as an input to other processes.
  • When a Base64 input is provided it will be deserialized into the proper value as input.
• Project Dependency Verification
  • The Studio will now include a set of package hashes when publishing to allow for validation by the Agent that all packages align.
• Native Browser Firefox Support
  • The Native Messaging commands now support Firefox, and the OpenBots Web Automation extension has been released as a Firefox add-on.
• Recorder Enhancements
  • Web Element Recorder – Create OBAppInstance
    • The web element recorder will now create the OBAppInstance required for execution at the start of the sequence.
  • Enhancement – Recording Indicator/Pause
    • While recording a red border will be displayed on the screen.
    • By pressing F3 users can now pause recording for a brief period.
• New Commands
  • Desktop/Window Scrolling Commands
    • Added commands that allow for a page to be scrolled by either a fixed amount or percentage by selecting a scrollbar and orientation.
  • User Interaction Commands
    • Added a new set of user interaction commands that allow for developers to wait for certain actions from the user and replay the event, as necessary.
  • Additional Datatable Commands
    • Added commands to remove duplicate rows from a table, and perform a value lookup on a particular column.
  • Invoke Workflow Activity Command
    • By installing the activity package and providing the correct activity object, users will be able to invoke Workflow Foundations activities, and provide the proper inputs/outputs for execution.
  • XML Data Manipulation Commands
    • Added a set of commands that allow for the manipulation of XML in an identical manner to the JSON commands currently provided.
  • Resize Image Command
  • OpenBots Documents Commands
    • Official release of the Documents commands, allowing for the submission and manipulation of documents to the OpenBots Documents service.
  • Additional Native Browser Functionality to Match Selenium Commands
    • Added the following commands:
      • Native Browser Click Element – Double Left Click
      • Native Browser Wait for Element to Exist
      • Native Browser Set Option
  • Microsoft365 Commands
    • Added a set of Microsoft365 commands which support Outlook and SharePoint.
    • Further support will be added in v1.8 to accommodate other products in the Microsoft365 suite.
  • Reflection Desktop Terminal Commands
    • Added a set of commands supporting the Attachmate Reflection thick-client to the terminal commands.
  • User Suggested Excel Features
    • Added the following features:
      • Ability to execute a Macro with a single or multiple parameters.
      • Create Excel application instances for password-protected worksheets.
      • Check if a worksheet exists.
      • Retrieve a list of all sheet names in a workbook/application instance.
      • Delete a sheet by name or index from a workbook.
      • Ability to copy a sheet to a destination file.
      • Get and Set Cell/Range Color.
      • Find and Replace text.
• Command Improvements
  • Support for Transactions in database operations.
  • Support for Multiple Input Types in Surface Automation Commands
    • Users can now provide bitmap variables or a file path as input.
  • Amazon OCR support for surface automation
  • Send Keystrokes/Advanced Keystrokes to Specific Field
  • Database commands UI improvements
  • Invoke Click support for Desktop automation
    • Allows for the simulation of a click without the physical movement of the mouse.
  • Set Text commands will now utilize a dropdown to enable/disable the interpolation of hotkeys.
• OpenBots Agent
  • Project Dependency Verification
    • The Agent will utilize the provided dependency hashes in the project config to ensure that the installed dependencies align.
  • Attended Execution Logging Configuration
    • Users are now able to specify separate logging configuration values for Attended Execution
  • Agent Environment Detection
    • The OpenBots Agent will now transmit key information about its environment to the OpenBots Server, including remaining disk capacities, key installed applications, and system diagnostic information.
    • This will allow for the monitoring of Agents health from the Server and will allow users to identify Agents compatible with running Automations based on their available applications.
  • Show Status of the Attended Execution to the User
    • The status of the Attended execution will now be reported in the attended execution form, or through Windows notifications when running from the Server.
  • PowerShell Support
    • The Agent is now able to execute PowerShell automations.

• OpenBots Studio
  • Resolved an issue with establishing a connection to a database with some combinations of connection parameters.
  • Retrieving files from the server will no longer fail due to illegal characters in the file name.
  • Amazon OCR will now properly extract data from provided PDF documents.
  • Resolved an issue resulting in images being extracted with an incorrect resolution in some scenarios when using the Surface Automation recorder.
  • Project Arguments will now properly send the direction information to the Server during publish operations.
  • The Agent will now properly retrieve Agent-specific credential/asset values.
  • The encrypt text option in the SecureString command now supports variables as expected.
  • Exceptions will now be properly rethrown from inside switch statements.
  • The Native Browser Element Exists command will now properly wait for the specified timeout before returning.
  • The Stop Job Command will now function as expected when running inside of child-scripts.
  • The Debug Window will now scale properly when it’s size is adjusted.
  • Native Browser Attach Application will now properly wait for the specified timeout.
  • Python Execution will now work as expected when targeting a 32-bit installation.
  • The Add Queue Item command will now operate as expected when provided a name containing spaces.
  • Get Relative Image will now properly work with provided image files.
  • The Window commands will now properly identify sub-windows in applications.
  • Native Browser Set Option will now properly execute the intended action.
  • The Await Job Checkpoint command will now properly poll for incoming checkpoints.
• OpenBots Agent
  • Python Execution will now work as expected when targeting a 32-bit installation.
  • Resolved issues with execution due to insufficient permissions on some machine configurations.

• OpenBots Studio
  • CS-Script support is only currently valid for version 3.X. Please use the following command for the Agent installation.
    • choco install cs-script –version=3.30.3.0
• OpenBots Agent
  • Python execution may report an exception due to MAX_PATH exceptions on some machine configurations.