Activities

Assign value to variable

Description

This activity lets you create and modify variables. They store the set value and can be used in other activities.

General usage of this activity:

1. Set the name and value. For example, we have a variable named login_message and its value is some text like You have successfully logged in.
2. Use this variable in other activities. For example, use it with ‘Save the previous step result’ in different activities.

Parameters

Let us review its parameters.

Variable name is pretty self-explanatory. You can name variables as you see fit, but there are some restrictions and things to remember:

• The first symbol in the name must be a Latin character or underscore (_).
• The rest of the name can include any Latin letter, digit, or underscore.
• It is not possible to use JavaScript reserved words.
• Avoid using the $ symbol at the beginning and at the end of the name. Such names are reserved for ElectroNeek platform internal variables.
• Variable names are case-sensitive.
• All the variables declared in this block are global. This means that a variable can be used in any other .neek files.

In this example message is the name of the variable.

There is also a dropdown list that lets you choose the variable that is handled by the selected block.

For example, we have these two variables: message and message2.

Currently, the lower block (containing message) is selected, and this is what we see. These parameters are set for the message variable.

What if we change the Variable name from message to message2 in this list? This is what will happen.

Basically, we have redefined the message2 variable. It can be seen in the output if we try to display the result in the console using the ‘Console log’ activity. This could come in handy in some situations.

Now let us move to the Variable value parameter. Similar to many other activities, it offers a few options:

1. Set a value lets you input the value manually. In this case, the type is automatically switched between Text and Number based on the input. Examples: Some text, 122.
2. Calculate a value lets you use JS to define a specific value. Example: some_variable * 2, someArray.length.
3. Save the previous step result lets you set the variable value using the result or output of the previous activity block.

If you check the Is Global box, the variable created in this .neek file can be accessed from other files in the same project. In other words, the scope of the variable is global. Otherwise — if the checkbox is not selected —, the assigned variable is only available for the current .neek file, which means the scope of the variable is local.

📘

Note

When you click on "Is Global", the "Output Data" option appears. Activate this parameter if you want to include the value of this variable in the output data of this workflow, so you can send it to SaaS Orchestrator and use it in another applications.

Click "Check selected variables" to see the Output tab. Learn more about this process in this article.

⬅️

Back to the top

If... then

Description

This activity allows you to apply various business logic to algorithms and perform certain actions depending on the conditions you set.

The conditions can be set either using JavaScript syntax or using a visual editor. We will describe it in more detail in the following section of this article.

Parameters

There are two modes of working with the "Condition" parameter in the "If...then" activity:

• Basic
• Advanced

Basic

This mode involves using the visual editor to set simple conditions.

When you click on the "Edit condition" button you will see such a window:

At the top of the window there is a working area consisting of three parts: data component - operator - data component.

At the bottom of the window are available elements - data and operators.

Data can be a boolean type - true or false, explicit data - text or number, and a variable. Operators define a condition for comparing components.

Suppose that the condition should be: "If the variable price is greater than 1000, then". Let's set this condition using the visual constructor. To do this:

1. Drag and drop the "Variable" block into the left-hand data component. After dragging it, you will be able to set the name of the variable. In our case it will be price. If you want to change the variable name, click on the pencil icon.
2. Next, drag and drop the "Number" block into the right-hand data component. You can set or change the value of the component similar to the first action. Set the number to 1000.
   Now drag the "Greater" block to complete the condition.
3. This way, the condition will look like this:

Click Save. The "If...then" block will appear ready to work on the canvas.

In the toolbar on the right you will also see the specified condition.

Advanced

It allows you to manually write code in JavaScript syntax to create a condition within the "If...then" activity.

Similar to the example above, we set the same condition - whether the value of the price variable is greater than 1000 using JavaScript code.

This is what a complete algorithm with a condition might look like. Here we have some variable with a value assigned to it. We apply the "If...then" check to it (if the price is greater than 1000) and output the result to the console.

Here are more examples of setting conditions using JavaScript:

price > 10 //checks if a number is greater than 10

(milk_price \< 10) && (bread_price > 15) //checks if both conditions are met

ocr_data.includes('Total') // checks if data returned by an ocr engine has the word "Total"

number_in_system === user_input // checks if some number in system is of the same data type as the user input and if they are equal in values

number_in_system == user_input // checks if the values are the same if one of the variable is automatically converted to the type of the other variable

⬅️

Back to the top

Do-while loop

Description

This activity is used for repetitive operations and follows the structure of the while loop in programming.

It differs in structure from the other activities. The "Do-while loop" activity itself is not a standard single activity block. By default, the "Do-while loop" consists of five connected blocks: "Assign value to variable", "If...then", two "TODO" blocks, and another "Assign value to variable" block.

The arrangement of the blocks reproduces the structure of the cycle. The first "Assign value to variable" block allows you to set a variable-counter, which allows you to keep track of loop iterations. The next block - "If...then" - allows you to set the condition of the loop.

The "TODO" blocks indicate the body of the loop (after the "Yes" branch) and the exit from the loop (after the "No" branch) and do nothing on their own. They are placed to show that you can specify a sequence of actions instead.

This is what the default action looks like:

Example

To make the activity ready to work, a little adjustment is needed. Let's see how this can be done, using a simple example — we'll output the iteration numbers to the console (let's say we want to iterate the loop 4 times).

Let's start with the variable-counter. Loops are integrally connected to iterations, which need to be counted somehow. In standard while loops, this is done with a variable-counter. In general, the counter and loop condition can be set in different ways.

Among them, we can find situations where the counter initially takes a large value and then decreases. In our case, we'll set the counter to one because we just want to iterate through 4 loop actions and display the iteration number. Therefore, let's set up the first block "Set Variable Value" as follows (shown in the image below):

Next, set the loop condition. Since we want to iterate four times, the condition can look like counter <= 4 or counter < 5 (the counter variable is integer).

Now let's set how the counter will change. Since we make four consecutive iterations, the counter will increase by one. In other cases the counter change may be different.

At this point, we already have an actually ready-to-go workflow. It only remains to replace the "TODO" blocks with activity blocks. Let's take the "Console log" activity and fill in the parameters as shown in the images below:

⬅️

Back to the top

Subprogram

Description

This activity makes it possible to run another workflow file (.neek format) from the current workflow.

This activity is convenient for reusing the existing workflows. This eliminates the necessity to recreate them manually. It also lets you achieve modularity while developing bots: every single subprogram can be edited separately as well as added or removed from the workflow at any time.

This is how a complete example would look like. There are some actions at the beginning of the workflow. As soon as they are complete, a subprogram is launched. Based on the result of its work, the workflow execution will continue according to the set scenario: it can either have one branch or an additional branch that is chosen in case the subprogram was not executed properly.

Parameters

The only parameter here is Path to file. It lets you specify the path to the workflow file that needs to be executed. It is required.

There are two kinds of paths:

• Absolute path. It is used when the required workflow file is placed in the home directory or in any other place different from the directory that contains the current workflow (higher in the hierarchy).
• Relative path. It is used when the required file is in the same directory as the workflow file (or in a child directory).

The Open in a view tab button lets you view the workflow file you are going to set as a subprogram in a separate Studio Pro tab.

Interaction between subprograms and variables

All variables in ElectroNeek are global. This means that the scope of such variables is the entire program (including different workflows opened in different tabs). Thus, if you set 5 as a value of the variable x in one bot, you can set the variable y=x in the second bot, and get 5 as the value of y.

The use of global variables allows you not to pass or return values explicitly. Nevertheless, this possibility exists. You can use the arrows connecting the blocks in the canvas to pass variables into and out of a subprogram.

In order for an activity within a subprogram to use a variable value, you need to set the "Save the previous step result" parameter for that activity.

To return the value of a variable from a subprogram is also quite simple. To do this, make sure that the last action in the subprogram returns a value and create a "Save value to variable" block with the "Save the previous step result" parameter in the main program.

⬅️

Back to the top

Delay

Description

Waits a specified amount of time before executing the next step.

Parameters

Delay, sec

Amount of time in seconds. In case the number is not an integer, the comma must be used as a separator, for example, 0,25.

Comment

Contains an annotation to the activity.

Usage Examples

This activity is used in projects where there is a clear time separation between actions. For instance, you might want to use the 'Delay' activity for checking email messages, say, every three minutes.

This activity also can be used as a fail-safe option when automating interaction with the interface. However, it is not recommended to overuse the activity since usually it is difficult to predict how much time a certain interface element takes to load. Wait for element will be better solution.

⬅️

Back to the top

Log

Description

Writes the information to a text file.

Parameters

Path

1. Set a value: enables you to directly pick the desired path.
2. Save the previous step result: takes the previous activity result as a path.
3. Calculate a value: enables you to use available variables and methods to form a path.

Text

1. Set a value: enables you to directly provide a text to be written.
2. Save the previous step result: chooses the previous activity result as a text to write.
3. Calculate a value: enables you to use available variables and methods to form an output string. For example, new Date().toString("HH_mm_ss")+" Testing function \n"

Comment

Contains an annotation to the activity.

Usage Examples

The activity is suitable when you need to monitor robot execution by writing the corresponding results to a text file. This file may be used to analyze the execution flow after the program has stopped.

⬅️

Back to the top

Console log

Description

Prints a text to the Studio Pro console.

Below is an example of using a variable and outputting a dynamic value to the console.

📘

Note

You can register the logs from this activity in Orchestrator SaaS if you activate the "Collect execution logs automatically" parameter. For more information, check this article.

Parameters

Message

1. Set a value: enables you to specify the text to be printed.
2. Save the previous step result: chooses the previous activity result as the text.
3. Calculate a value: enables you to use available variables and methods to form the text.

Details

1. Set a value: enables you to specify the text which will be displayed after clicking the "Details" button in the console.
2. Save the previous step result: chooses the previous activity result as the text.
3. Calculate a value: enables you to use available variables and methods to form the text.

Type

Enables you to specify the message type. The color indication of the text changes according to its type.

Comment

Contains an annotation to the activity.

Usage Example

Console Log activity is useful for debugging your workflow. It’s very convenient to use it at the ‘Error’ branch of activities to see where the actual error occurs.

⬅️

Back to the top

Open application

Description

This activity is used to open desktop applications.

Parameters

Application Name / Location

In this parameter, click on the dropdown menu to select the app you would like to open with this workflow. You can start typing for the list of available software to appear and choose one. Otherwise, you can use the "Pick up from filesystem" button and click on the application you want to open.

Launch parameters

It is used to pass additional command line arguments when launching a program. Command line arguments are extra commands that can be used to modify how the program executes or to enable specific functions. Keep in mind that each program has its own list of possible parameters. Make sure you know what parameter should be used for the specific application you have selected. The screenshot below, it is displayed an example of notepad.exe.

Comment

Enter any description or remark on the activity.

⬅️

Back to the top

TODO

Description

A block with a text for descriptive purposes only. It does not influence execution in any way.

Parameters

Comment

Text that will be displayed on the block.

Usage Examples

The function serves as a comment block.

You can use it as a dummy for the activities or subprograms that will be added later.

⬅️

Back to the top