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 folder.
The Processes page enables you to deploy an uploaded package as a new process, manage previously created processes, keep all your processes up to date with the most recent package versions, and directly start a job using the desired process. This helps you distribute packages across all accounts in your organization and execute processes faster whether from the Processes or Jobs page.
In addition to executing processes from the Processes and Jobs pages, you can also configure any process to automatically start when the Robot agent is launched. As an administrator, this enables you to ensure that necessary processes are launched without delay or failure from the machine user, for example, to ensure adherence to company IT policies.
The table below contains field descriptions for the Processes page.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | The display name of the process. The process type is illustrated with an icon displayed alongside the version. The icon represents the type of that specific process version.
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| Package Name | The name of the package that was deployed. Not visible by default. To display the column, select it from the Columns menu. You can sort the processes list by Package Name. |
| Version | The number of the package version currently being used in a given process.
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| Job priority | The priority of the job. Click here for details about the job prioritization mechanism. You can sort and filter the processes list by Job priority. |
| Scope | The scope of a project, set at design time in Studio. The following options are available:
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| Execution type | The type of the process execution. Linked to the Attended Automation project setting in Studio:
The Unspecified value is displayed for packages published prior to the 2021.10.3 Studio version. Click here for details about the Attended Automation. |
| Compatibility | The compatible operating system for the underlying target framework of the automation project. |
| Entry point | The workflow file used to start the execution of the process. By default, the |
| Description | A custom description for the process. It is recommended that you populate this field, especially when dealing with multiple users and processes in Orchestrator. |
| Labels | The list of all labels associated with the process. |
| Properties | The list of all key-value pairs associated with the process. |
| Retention action | The retention policy outcome at the end of the retention duration. |
| Retention (days) | The duration of the retention policy. |
Runtime Arguments
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Entry Points
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There are cases when your automation projects consist of multiple workflows. For such projects, it is a good practice to hold your project's main workflow in the Main.xaml file. All other automation .xaml files included in the project should be linked to the Main.xaml through the Invoke Workflow File activity since in typical scenarios only the Main.xaml file is executed when you run a job, it being the default entry point of any automation project. Learn more about project organization and design principles in Studio.
You can change the entry point of an automation project, i.e. change its execution "gate" by changing the main .xaml file. Similarly, you can add multiple entry points for your RPA processes, which enables you to execute only a certain branch of your automation project.
You can change the main .xaml file or add multiple entry points in RPA processes in Studio by right-clicking a different .xaml file and setting it as main or adding it as an entry point.
Say you build a workflow that checks invoices. The invoice could be downloaded from cloud storage or it could be located on your device.
You design two workflows inside the project and set them both as entry points:
DownloadInvoiceFromStorage.xaml— workflow that downloads the invoice from an external storageGetInvoiceFromLocal.xaml— workflow that gets the invoice from your device.
At run time in Orchestrator, you select as an entry point the workflow that corresponds to your scenario. If the invoice is already on your local device, you set GetInvoiceFromLocal.xaml as an entry point. This starts the execution beginning with that step and continues with the invoice checking workflow (the Main.xaml file).
Note:
- For packages published before July 2020, Orchestrator cannot determine the main entry point, hence no entry point is selected by default. You need to select the entry point from the drop-down manually.
- If the process doesn't support multiple entry points, Orchestrator displays
Defaultin the Entry point drop-down, and the field is disabled.
In, Out, In/Out Arguments
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Designing your project in Studio to accept In or Out arguments enables you to use them in other third-party apps or Orchestrator. This means that any process you create can receive input arguments through the Orchestrator API or interface.
In Orchestrator, arguments and related information are displayed in multiple places: at the process level, job level, and trigger level in the dedicated arguments sections (Runtime Arguments or Arguments tab).
You can specify values for any input arguments. For more info on input and output arguments in Orchestrator, please visit this page.
1 - Select the entry point. Only enabled if multiple entry points are available. 2 - Filter the displayed arguments according to their direction (Input, Output, All). 3 - See arguments and related information for the.xaml set as the entry point.
Note: Default values provided for In arguments in Studio are not displayed in Orchestrator, at any level.
Background Vs Foreground Processes
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This section describes existing process types according to the user interface requirements. The process type is configured in Studio on the Project Settings window and illustrated accordingly in Orchestrator after publishing the project.
There are two types of processes, according to the user interface requirements:
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Background Process - Does not require a user interface, nor user intervention to get executed. For this reason, you can execute multiple such jobs in unattended mode on the same user simultaneously. Each execution requires an Unattended/NonProduction license. Unattended robots handle background processes in Session 0, under NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE, which has no UI and cannot interact with a user session.See AlsoSetting up a machine keyLearn more about background process automation in Studio.
- Foreground Process - Requires user interface as the execution needs the UI to be generated, or the process contains interactive activities, such as Click. You can only execute one such process on a user at a time.
Note: The same user can execute multiple background processes and a singular foreground at the same time.
The following table shows the UiPath® Robot version required to run foreground/background processes according to the robot credential considerations.
| Process type | Credential considerations | Robot version |
|---|---|---|
| Background | Robot with credentials | Any |
| Foreground | Robot with credentials | Any |
| Background | Robot without credentials | 2021.10+ |
| Foreground | Robot without credentials | Invalid configuration! Jobs cannot be executed. |
Process Compatibility
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When creating an automation project in Studio, developers must configure a compatibility attribute that impacts the underlying target framework of the automation project and the compatible operating system.
The following table shows the UiPath Robot version required to execute processes according to their target frameworks and OS compatibility considerations.
| Target framework | Operating system | Robot version |
|---|---|---|
| .NET Framework 4.6.1 | Windows - Legacy | Any |
| .NET 5.0+ | Windows | 2021.10+ |
| .NET 5.0+ | Cross-platform | 2021.10+ |
Version Management
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If a new version of a package is available in Orchestrator (you published a new version from Studio), it is indicated with the 
icon next to the process it is part of.
You may update processes to the latest available version individually, on the corresponding View Processes window, or you may update them in bulk, by selecting multiple of them and clicking the global Use Latest button.
If a package version associated with a process is no longer available in the configured NuGet repository, it is indicated with the 
icon.
If you are using the latest available version of a package in a specific process, the 
icon is displayed next to the process.
Used applications
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Windows applications that are used by the underlying Studio package are displayed in the Applications section, as relevant to the selected package version.
If the package uses applications that cannot be identified, an Unknown apps entry is displayed, suffixed by the number of unidentified apps, in parentheses.
If no applications can be retrieved, a No app(s) could be retrieved for this package message is displayed. This is most likely due to one of the following reasons:
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Your Studio version is older than 2023.2.
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Your Studio version is 2023.2, but a governance rule is in place, preventing this information from being logged.
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Your package was uploaded from an external feed. Only packages from internal feeds can provide this information.
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The package does not use any applications.
These details are also displayed in the Show release notes window for each package version.
Processes Permissions
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Creating a process:
- View permission on Packages;
- View and Create permissions on Processes.
Starting a job from the Processes page:
- Permissions for creating a process
- Create on Jobs
Read more about roles.
