Automation with Data

Video: Using Data in Web RPA

Variables

A recording which uses one set of inputs may not be that useful unless it can be used with different data each time it runs.

One way to have the automation use different data is to manually edit the actions and replace the data with new information.

This is not ideal.

Another option is to use Variables.

These are simply containers which can hold data - names, addresses, dates and so on and can have different data each time the process run.

Using the Variables panel it is possible to create input variables. These will request data to be entered at the start of the flow so that it can be used during the automated process.

The video shows a manual edit replacing the email address and then uses 2 input variables to gather exhibition and description text to be used in the flow.

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Video: Excel Data in RPA

A better way to utilise a recording and leave it to run itself is to point it at a data source which can automatically serve up the required data without any manual intervention.

Microsoft Excel lends itself ideally to storing, defining and then serving data to an RPA process.

The video shows a simple 2 columns sheet with exhibition & description text. each row being a single record to be input to the form.

The flow requires to know where the .XLSX file is and then a For Loop is used around the form to ensure that the data is placed correctly.

In the exhibition and description steps the syntax is changed to reflect the names of the columns in Excel.

Note

The exhibition & description input variables have been deleted otherwise they would be requested at the start of the flow.

The other fields could be completed in a similar way by adding their data in the .XLSX file and amending the steps.