Application main menu

The main application menu consists of the following 10 features:

• Run process
• Process log 
• Virtual assistant
• Application settings
• Test Mode
• Step notification
• Mouse Movement
• Action parameters
• Action recorder
• Tools tips

Run process

Executes the selected process in one of several modes:

1. Run process / Test-Run process – runs the visible steps
2. Run in coffee break mode – runs the visible steps in the secure mode and locks the system once the execution is completed 
3. Assign to virtual assistant – schedules the selected process for immediate execution by the virtual assistant. This option requires a database connection
4. Run with temporary variables – runs the visible steps using variables used in the previous execution. This option is available only in the test mode
5. Start from selected row (available in "Test mode") - runs the visible steps from selected row. This option is available only in the test mode 

When running a process, all visible steps are executed. Reaching an empty row stops the execution. To test only the desired steps, use standard Excel functionality to hide or filter rows that should be ignored. Execution results appear in the tool tips

Notification popup

While a process is being executed, a notification popup appears at the bottom-right of the screen indicating the currently executed action-step. The popup is also used in several process-design steps to guide the user through the required actions.

Pause process

Use the ESC key on the keyboard to pause a process that is being executed. This action opens a dialog box that allows the user to stop the process completely or resume execution once ready to continue. Pausing is not available for scheduled processes. 

Process log 

Opens the process log window with a list of processes executed by the current user. This option requires a database connection.          

• Filter log by date
• Use ‘All events’ to show all events that occurred in Automation Dock, ‘Processes’ to show just executed processes, ‘Exceptions’ to show just processes which ran with errors and ‘Virtual assistant’ to show only Virtual assistant events
• If applicable, use button 1 to display a screen shot of the failed step
• Use button 2 to display the individual steps of the selected process
• Administrators can use impersonation to view processes of other users

Virtual assistant

Enables the Virtual Assistant (RPA-unassisted automation) mode allowing for execution of scheduled processes. This option requires a database connection.  

• Secure mode is enabled
• To exit the Virtual Assistant mode during the process execution, press CTRL-ALT-DELand re-login to Windows
  • Processes that are being executed will be stopped
• Application will execute the latest back-up version of the scheduled process
• Application will ignore process that are more than 60 minutes past their scheduled time and such processes will be executed on their next scheduled cycle
• Multiple systems can run in the virtual assistant mode. In such a case, scheduled processes are automatically assigned to the first available system
• The system must be turned on and unlocked!

Application settings

Opens the AutomationDock settings window. This window is divided into five tabs:

Licenses tab

This tab is used for managing the application license.

• Click the “Trial license” button to activate the 14-day free trial version. License key is not required for this option
• Click the “Full license” button to activate the full version of the license using a paid license key. To purchase a license key, please contact us at [email protected]  
• Additional license details including the license expiration date and the number of concurrent users (when using the concurrent-user license type) are found in this tab
• Administrators can access the impersonation button to select a user to impersonate

System database tab

This tab is used to connect to the AutomationDock central database file. This database is shared by all company users and enables the following features:

• Process log
• Virtual Assistant
• Backup & Restore
• Process Scheduler
• Process Dashboard
• User-defined functions   

There are three database connection modes available associated with the license type:

1. General database connection – database usage is optional and the database file location can be selected directly
2. Mandatory database connection (user) – database connection is mandatory to enable AutomationDock and an encrypted database key generated by the administrator must be entered
3. Mandatory database connection (administrator) – database connection is mandatory to enable AutomationDock and an encrypted database key is generated by selecting the database file. Administrators must distribute the database key to other users

Tesseract OCR tab

This tab is used to setup the OCR (optical character recognition) functionality by selecting the folder path of Tesseract OCR (usually “C:\Program Files\Tesseract-OCR”).

• Tesseract version 5.0 or higher is required to use OCR functionality. Free open-source Windows installation file can be downloaded at Tesseract download link

Browsers tab

This tab is intended for advanced users to update or enhance commands for the four supported browsers (Edge, Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer).

• The command value is used to open a browser
• The arguments value can be used to open a browser with additional parameters (for example enable the incognito mode)

User defined functions (UDF) tab

This tab is used to create and manage user defined functions. This option requires a database connection.

• Select an existing function using the drop down
• Available functions & buttons: Add, delete, update, validate UDF, import UDF
• To create a new UDF, enter function name, description, optional parameters and the function code
  • AutomationDock UDFs use Visual Basic (VB) code
  • To access parameters passed from AutomationDock, use the args() functionality
  • To return a value from the function, use the return functionality

Test Mode

Activating the test mode enables the following functionality:

• Process execution is slowed down by 0.4 seconds per step
• Automation items that are being used are highlighted
• Allows process execution with previously used variables
• Enables tool tips that display the definition of the currently selected column’s functionality

Note that the test mode is automatically disabled in the Virtual Assistant mode 

Step notification

This option displays the current step on the bottom of the screen. 

Mouse Movement

This option automatically places the mouse cursor in the position that is being automated.

Action parameters

Opens the supporting parameter window for the currently selected action-step. See the automation actions section for more parameter details.

Action recorder

Records the items clicked-on by the user and adds the corresponding steps.  

• Hold down the left CTRL key to record mouse clicks
  • Each mouse-click or CTRL key press resets the recorder timer to 9 seconds
• Recorder ends once the timer runs out or if the ESC key is pressed
• Release the CTRL key to pause recording
• The timer amount and recorder instructions are displayed in the notification popup
• To add related steps, start the recorded using the “Auto-include related steps” menu option

Tools tips

Tool tips display the outcome of process execution as well as potential warnings during process setup. When AutomationDock is in test mode, tool tips display the definition of the currently selected column’s functionality.