Robots release notes

Robots Agent configuration setting not working correctly

After an upgrade of the Unicode edition of the Robots Agent to version 18.0, a configuration setting was not working correctly. By default, Analytics result logs should be uploaded upon robot task failure. After the upgrade, result logs were no longer uploaded upon task failure.

The latest release of the 18.0 Robots Agent installer resolves this issue.

Any customers experiencing the issue can fix it by adding the AllowUploadsOnFailure property to the Robots Agent configuration file (Agent.exe.config). Add this line, with the value set to true:

<add key="AllowUploadsOnFailure" value="true"></add>

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Sharing of Analytics data tables enhanced

Sharing and linking of Analytics data tables in ACL robots is now significantly more flexible.

• Control which tables are shared In a source ACL robot, you now have the option of specifying which data tables are shared. You can also specify which consumer robots have access to the shared tables. Put another way, you can share a subset of tables with a subset of robots.

  This granular control of table sharing, called "manual sharing", makes balancing data security with data availability much easier to achieve.

• Previous table-sharing method The previous table-sharing method is still available: all data tables in a source ACL robot can be shared with all other ACL robots. The previous method is now called "auto-sharing".

• Linked tables global view The new Linked tables global view, available from the Robots dashboard, provides a central location to view all shared tables that are currently linked to by one or more consumer robots. You no longer have to drill down into individual robots to discover linking information, making management of table sharing and linking in Robots much easier.

• Improved warning messages A new system of warning messages alerts you to the impact of unsharing or deleting a shared data table, or switching between auto-sharing and manual table sharing. These warning messages appear at key locations in the table-sharing workflow, providing visibility into the impact of actions before you perform them.

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Maximum number of robots increased

Your Diligent One account now supports the creation of up to 1000 robots in the Robots app. The previous limit was 500 robots.

Increasing the limit improves scalability for organizations with large data automation and analysis programs, including those migrating automation programs from Analytics Exchange (AX) to Robots.

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Limit robot creation to Robots Admins

A new configuration option in Robots allows you to tighten the security associated with robot creation. When the option is enabled, only Robots Admins can create robots.

To further increase security, only Launchpad System Admins with a Professional subscription can set the robot creation option.

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New version of Robots Agent

Version 18.0 of the on-premise Robots Agent has been released.

If your organization uses an on-premise agent, you must upgrade to the new version if you want to use analytic scripts that include any of the updates to ACLScript in Analytics 18.0. For information about Analytics 18.0 updates, see Analytics and ACLScript release notes.

Learn more

New Robots Agent configuration setting

The new AllowUploadsOnFailure configuration setting allows you to specify whether an Analytics result log is uploaded when a robot task fails.

The new setting gives you more precise control over the security of result logs.

Learn more

Phased upgrade of the version of Python used by Robots now complete

On 26 Oct 2024, Robots support for Python 3.8 and older versions of associated libraries ended. Python 3.11 is now the only option for running scripts in Robots.

To avoid possible disruption of your automated processes, you should verify that all scheduled production scripts run in the Robots Python 3.11 environment, and produce correct output.

Production or development scripts that have not been transitioned to Python 3.11 may still run, but cannot be guaranteed to run. Or they may run, but produce incorrect output.

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Access working files directly in the Robots script editor The new Working data panel in the script editor provides direct access to all stored working files in a robot, and allows you to upload additional working files. The file functionality is identical to the existing Working data tab, but with the added convenience of easy access without needing to leave the script editor.

The Working data panel also includes labor-saving features that automatically produce the HCL load_working_file() method with a specific file name prefilled.

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Robots upgrade to Python 3.11

Diligent is upgrading the version of Python used by Robots, as the Python Software Foundation has announced that Python 3.8 is officially end-of-life on 14 Oct 2024.

This upgrade is being done in phases. The changes from Jul 12, 2024 are as follows:

HighBond robots and Workflow robots: 

• In the Robots home page, a table appears listing all the robots with an activated script containing Python code that will soon become obsolete.
• A warning icon appears on the robot with an activated script containing Python code that will soon become obsolete. This icon disappears once you upgrade the robot to the latest package and activate the script.

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Robots upgrade to Python 3.11

Diligent is upgrading the version of Python used by Robots, as the Python Software Foundation has announced that Python 3.8 is officially end-of-life on 14 Oct 2024.

This upgrade is being done in phases. For more information about the upgrade schedule, see the release notes of Apr 2024 and Dec 2023.

The changes from Jul 4, 2024 are as follows:

HighBond robots and Workflow robots

• You cannot downgrade scripts to Python 3.8 when opened in the Robots script editor.

• You cannot upload, commit, or activate scripts that are incompatible with Python 3.11 (HCL 3.0.*). This rule also applies to uploading and activating scripts through APIs or toolkits.

You are advised to thoroughly review the script, make essential modifications to ensure seamless compatibility, and verify the output before committing.

During this transitional phase, Highbond/Workflow Robots will support both Python 3.8 and 3.11 for executing scheduled Robots scripts until Oct 14th, 2024.

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New roles in Robots

We've added two new roles to the Robots app:

• Developer A developer can work with a robot in development mode and commit new script versions.
• Read-only A read-only user can work with a robot in production mode and view the task runs.

These roles will help streamline access control and improve collaboration within the app.

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Enhanced script editor interface for improved usability

We've reorganized the buttons and icons in the script editor. Now, it's much easier to distinguish between buttons like Manage Variables or Ask AI and icons specific to cells such as add, run, or delete.

The realignment provides clearer visual cues, helping you navigate the script editor with ease.

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Robots upgrade to Python 3.11

Diligent is upgrading the version of Python used by Robots, as the Python Software Foundation has announced that Python 3.8 is officially end-of-life on 14 Oct 2024.

This upgrade is being done in phases. For more information about the upgrade schedule, see the release notes of Dec 2023.

The changes from Apr 4, 2024 are as follows:

• HighBond robots and Workflow robots

  • Newly created scripts run in the latest Python version with the corresponding libraries (Python 3.11, Pandas 2.2.0, and Requests 2.31.0). No other option exists.
  • When opened in the Robots script editor, scripts created before the Python upgrade (Python 3.8, Pandas 1.2.4, and Requests 2.26.0) default to running in the latest Python version with the corresponding libraries (Python 3.11, Pandas 2.2.0, and Requests 2.31.0).

    The script editor provides an option for manually downgrading existing scripts to run in Python 3.8, until the end of Jun 2024.

• Note regarding HighBond robot scripts upgraded to Python 3.11 after Dec 2023

  • If you have opened the scripts and committed them in Python 3.11 after Dec 2023 but before Apr 4, 2024, then the Python version of those scripts is Python 3.11, Pandas 1.2.4, and Requests 2.26.0.
  • After Apr 4, 2024, when opened in the Robots script editor, these scripts default to running in the latest Python version with the corresponding libraries (Python 3.11, Pandas 2.2.0, and Requests 2.31.0).

    The script editor provides an option for manually downgrading existing scripts to run in Python 3.11, Pandas 1.2.4, and Requests 2.26.0, until the end of Jun 2024.

  Learn more

New AI Script Assistant in Robots

We have added a chat-based artificial intelligence utility to the Robots script editor.

The AI Script Assistant is a major addition to the scripting tools available in Robots. The Script Assistant can significantly accelerate your script development and debugging work by providing information about Python, HighBond Command Language (HCL), and the HighBond API, including code snippets.

As you interact with the AI Script Assistant, the conversational history is preserved and used as context to make subsequent answers more relevant. Chat sessions and context are saved with scripts (segregated by user) and available for future use.

Data you enter in the AI Script Assistant is fully secure. It is never exposed outside the Diligent One Platform, or used by Diligent when training the model underlying the artificial intelligence capability.

Phased rollout

We're conducting a phased rollout of the AI Script Assistant in Robots. Initially, the capability is available to organizations using the Diligent One Platform in these AWS regions:

• North America (US)

• Europe (Germany)

• Asia Pacific (Tokyo)

• Asia Pacific (Singapore)

English-only initially

We're also taking a phased approach to language support.

Currently, the AI Script Assistant supports questions and responses in English. Using languages other than English is not yet officially supported and gives inconsistent results.

Learn more

Introducing search bars in user lookup fields

We've added a search bar to the user lookup fields in the following pages.

From the Robots home page:

• Settings > User management
• Folders > Open any folder > Manage Collaborators
• Robots > Open any robot > Manage Collaborators
• Robots > Open any robot > Tasks > Create or edit an existing task > Notify the Humans > Send notifications on failure

These search bars facilitate easy user lookup, particularly beneficial when managing a large number of users within the organization.

Scalability improvements in Robots The addition of pagination and lazy loading to user lists in Robots significantly improves speed and performance. This global improvement means that Robots can scale more easily to support user numbers into the thousands.

Paginated user lists

In the following areas, lists of currently assigned users, sorted alphabetically, are now segmented into sequenced pages:

• User management and role assignment

• Robots folder collaborators

• Robot collaborators

• Automated notifications in robot tasks

Lazy-loaded user lists

(Load user names as you scroll)

In the following areas, lists of users available to be assigned, sorted alphabetically, are now progressively loaded as you scroll down a list:

• Robots folder add collaborators

• Robot add collaborators

Robots upgrade to Python 3.11

Diligent is upgrading the version of Python used by Robots. Based on the schedule below, the cloud-based Robots Agent will be upgraded from Python 3.8.x to Python 3.11.x. During the transition period, both versions of Python will be supported by Robots.

One or more of your Python/HCL scripts could potentially be impacted by the upgrade to Python 3.11. If your organization uses HighBond robots or Workflow robots, familiarize yourself with the implications of the upgrade. To avoid disruptions to scheduled robot tasks, test compatibility of all production scripts with Python 3.11. Learn more

The Python Software Foundation has announced that Python 3.8 is officially end-of-life on 14 Oct 2024.

Upgrade schedule

• Mid-Dec 2023, HighBond robots and End of Q1 2024, Workflow robots

  • Newly created scripts run in Python 3.11. No other option exists.

  • Scheduled scripts, created before the Python upgrade, continue to run in Python 3.8, as long as the scripts are not edited.

  • When opened in the Robots script editor, scripts created before the Python upgrade default to running in Python 3.11. For a limited period of time, the script editor provides an option for manually downgrading existing scripts to run in Python 3.8.

• End of Q2 2024, HighBond robots and Workflow robots

  • When opened in the Robots script editor, scripts created before the Python upgrade can no longer be manually downgraded to run in Python 3.8.

• 14 Oct 2024, HighBond robots and Workflow robots

  • All scripts, including unedited scripts in scheduled tasks, run in Python 3.11. No other option exists.

  • Python 3.8 is officially end-of-life. See Status of Python versions.

Skipped and Cancelled statuses added to task notification The automated email notification sent when a robot task fails has been expanded to include tasks that do not run because they are skipped or manually canceled.

With this enhancement, the notification, if enabled, is now triggered if a task does not run for any reason. The email indicates the reason the task did not run: failed, skipped, or canceled.

Previously, the notification was triggered only by a Failed status.

Learn more

New version of Robots Agent Version 17.0 of the on-premise Robots Agent has been released.

If your organization uses an on-premise agent, you must upgrade to the new version if you want to use analytic scripts that include any of the updates to ACLScript in Analytics 17.0. For information about Analytics 17.0 updates, see Analytics and ACLScript release notes.

Learn more

We have released a set of Python/HCL scripts that allow you to automate the process of deleting old task runs in Robots. If you have one or more robots that run frequently, the number of saved task runs can build up quickly. Automating the deletion of old task runs saves you the labor of continual manual deletion, preserves server space if your organization uses an on-premise Robots Agent, and keeps the Robots interface free of clutter.

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Alignment of Robots-initiated methods for uploading ACL scripts The two Robots-initiated methods for uploading an ACL script now work the same way. To simplify user interaction, uploading an ACL script to a robot for the first time now uses the same dialog box that appears when you upload a script from the Script versions tab.

Using ACL Analytics to upload scripts to Robots remains the primary method for uploading and committing scripts, and includes the benefit of automatic script validation.

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Multi-select for deleting working files In HighBond robots and Workflow robots, you can now delete multiple working files in a single operation. Previously, you had to delete files one at a time from the Working data tab.

The ability to multi-select and delete was already added to ACL robots.

Prod and Dev buttons redesigned In response to user feedback, we have made additional changes to the buttons that you use to switch back and forth between production mode and development mode in Robots.

To improve usability, the full terms Production and Development are now used for the button labels, and the buttons are larger. We have also added a helpful tooltip that briefly explains the two modes, and provides a link to the Robots documentation for more detailed information.

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Multi-select for deleting working tables or files In ACL robots, you can now delete multiple Analytics data tables, or non-Analytics related files, in a single operation. Previously, you had to delete tables or files one at a time from the Input/Output tab.

The ability to multi-select and delete is initially available in ACL robots only. Similar functionality will soon be added for HighBond robots and Workflow robots.

Overwrite identically named files You can now overwrite identically named files when manually uploading files to the Input/Output tab in an ACL robot.

Previously, overwriting during the manual upload of files was not supported in ACL robots, which was inconvenient. You had to first delete the old version of the file from the Input/Output tab, and then upload the new version.

This enhancement standardizes the method for uploading and overwriting working files across all robot types.

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New method for uploading ACL scripts to Robots You can now initiate an upload of ACL scripts to Robots from within Robots, without needing to open Analytics.

This new method is intended as a convenience feature. It bypasses the syntax validation of scripts performed when you upload from Analytics, so you should use it only for uploading minor script updates of previously validated scripts.

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Additional keyboard shortcuts New keyboard shortcuts have been added to the Robots script editor.

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Copy a robot task You can now copy a robot task from development mode to production mode, which saves time and effort. Previously, you had to manually recreate a development task in production mode.

You can also copy a task within development mode, or within production mode. Copying a task from production mode to development mode is not supported.

When you copy a task, some task configurations are copied and some are not:

• Copied Script selection, script input parameter values

• Not copied Task schedule, user notifications

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Specify the order of ACL scripts in a robot task You can now drag ACL scripts in the Task Designer to specify the order in which they run in a task.

Previously, script order was alphanumeric by name, which meant that you had to incorporate an ordering scheme in your script naming.

The new script ordering capability also applies to tasks in HighBond robots and Workflow robots. However, these robot types currently support only one script per robot.

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Copy Python/HCL scripts between robots Copying a Python/HCL script between HighBond robots or Workflow robots is now easier. Instead of copying and pasting script code, you can download an entire script from a source robot as a *.json file and upload it to a destination robot. Any variable definitions and values associated with the script are also included in the *.json file.

An additional benefit of this new feature is that it gives Diligent a convenient way to distribute prepared scripts to customers.

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Dev mod toggle updated The toggle that you use to switch between production mode and development mode in Robots has been redesigned to be more intuitive.

Instead of a toggle, you now use a Prod button and a Dev button to switch between the two modes. The buttons clearly indicate which mode is active.

Previously, the Dev mode toggle was either enabled or disabled. A disabled Dev mode toggle implied that you were in production mode, but did not make the current state explicit.

New features improve Robots feature parity and ease of use at scale

We've added new features to Robots that increase the degree of feature parity with Analytics Exchange (AX), and make Robots easier to use at scale:

• Global views

• Task sequences

• Folders

As we approach the end of support date for AX (Jan 1, 2023), these new features support AX customers migrating to Robots and replicating their current AX data automation workflows.

The features also significantly enhance the overall user experience in Robots for everyone.

Global views Two new global views, available from the Robots dashboard, provide a central location to view and access all tasks and task runs in your organization's Robots instance. You no longer have to drill down into individual robots to view the tasks in a robot, or to check the status of task runs. With a single click, you can also go directly from a global view to the details screen for a task or a task run.

Global views make Robots easier to use at scale, and greatly increase the overall convenience of navigating in the app. Learn more

Robots Agent 16.1.1 released to address export to Excel defects in version 16.1

We have released a new version of Robots Agent that fixes two defects that can occur when exporting to Excel using version 16.1 (details below).

Any customers who have installed version 16.1.0 of Robots Agent should upgrade to version 16.1.1.

Learn more

Truncated data when exporting to Excel (*.xlsx)

Exporting a computed field that concatenates two physical fields was not working correctly in version 16.1. If values in the first concatenated field contained trailing spaces, the values in the second concatenated field were not exported.

This issue has now been resolved, and concatenated fields export correctly to Excel.

Export to Excel syntax error causes export failure

A missing quotation mark in the EXPORT command syntax was causing the export to fail in version 16.1 without any error capture. This issue has now been resolved and an error message is logged.

Task sequences A new feature called "task sequence" allows you to execute a group of robot tasks sequentially. Successful completion of one task automatically starts the next task in the sequence. You can link tasks from multiple robots, and from any type of robot, in the same sequence.

Task sequences are equivalent to analytic chains in Analytics Exchange (AX). Learn more

New version of Robots Agent Version 16.1 of the on-premise Robots Agent has been released.

If your organization uses an on-premise agent, you must upgrade to the new version if you want to use analytic scripts that include any of the updates to ACLScript in Analytics 16.1. For information about Analytics 16.1 updates, see Analytics and ACLScript release notes.

Learn more

Robots Agent 16.1

(introduced in 16.0)

Option to exclude Microsoft Access Database Engine when installing Robots Agent

When you perform an installation of Robots Agent 16.1 you have the option to exclude Microsoft Access Database Engine.

• Exclude the Database Engine if you use the Robots Agent with only the current generation of Excel file (*.xlsx), and you do not use older Excel files (*.xls), or Microsoft Access files (*.mdb). The Database Engine can cause compatibility issues with other, newer Microsoft Office products. So exclude the Database Engine if you do not need it.
• Include the Database Engine if you need the Robots Agent to import from, or export to, older Excel files (*.xls), or Microsoft Access files (*.mdb).

Folders You can now create folders to contain and organize individual robots on the Robots dashboard. Folders impose order on large collections of robots. Folders also support standardized user access to related groups of robots. You assign robot access permissions at the folder level and the permissions automatically cascade to all the robots in the folder.

Both of these features of folders make Robots easier to use at scale. Learn more

Save Python/HCL script output to a log file A new option is available with Python/HCL scripts in Robots: Save script output to the task run log file. When you select this option for a script version, running a task with that version of the script saves any script output to the log file that accompanies each task run.

The saved output in the log file can be useful to review when you are developing and troubleshooting scripts.

Learn more

HCL suppresses metadata fields when saving to Results tables If a data analysis workflow round-trips data from Results to Robots and back to Results, metadata fields in an HCL dataframe are automatically suppressed and not saved back to Results.

Previously, the fields were not suppressed, which caused saving data to Results to fail. Learn more

New version of Robots Agent Version 16.0 of the on-premise Robots Agent has been released.

If your organization uses an on-premise agent, you must upgrade to the new version if you want to use analytic scripts that include any of the updates to ACLScript in Analytics 16.0. For information about Analytics 16.0 updates, see Analytics and ACLScript release notes.

Learn more

Analytics–Robots Agent version alignment made less restrictive The version of Analytics that you use to create scripts that run in Robots no longer needs to be identical to your organization's installed version of an on-premise Robots Agent.

Previously, scripts failed in Robots if the versions of Analytics and the Robots Agent were unaligned. The scripts failed even if the ACLScript functionality they contained was fully supported by the Robots Agent. The requirement for aligned versions was overly restrictive and has now been removed.

Scripts will still fail in Robots if they contain new ACLScript functionality unsupported by an older Robots Agent.

Option to retain or delete temporary analytic job folder on robot task failure The way the KeepJobFolder configuration setting for an on-premise Robots Agent works has been clarified and fixed. The setting now allows you to specify whether the temporary analytic job folder is kept or not when a robot task fails.

The setting has no effect when a robot task succeeds. Upon success, the temporary job folder is automatically deleted.

Previously the setting was intended to control retention or deletion of the temporary job folder for all robot tasks, regardless of failure or success. However, it was not working as designed.

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New data storage and data management capabilities in HighBond and Workflow robots

HighBond robots and Workflow robots now have the ability to store and manage data files, which greatly extends the automation possibilities of these robot types.

HighBond robots and Workflow robots support native, cloud-based scripting in the HighBond platform using Python and HighBond Command Language, our custom Python library.

New data storage and data management functionality:

• Session files (Previously released) When you run a Python/HCL script interactively in the HighBond script editor any files created or loaded by the script are listed in the new Session files panel. Before you save a new version of a script, you can download files from the panel and review their format and content to verify that they meet your expectations.

  Session files are temporary and are deleted as soon as you exit the script editor.

• Permanently saved working files (Released) You can save files generated by a Python/HCL script to the new Working data tab in the robot. Like the Input/Output tab in an ACL robot, the Working data tab provides a central location for storing data that you can use as input for subsequent scripts, or for preserving historical information.

• Permanently saved result files (Released) You can save files generated by a Python/HCL script as result files within individual robot task runs.

• Uploaded external files (Released) You can upload external files such as Excel and CSV to the Working data tab for use as input for Python/HCL scripts.

Learn more

New data storage and data management capabilities in HighBond and Workflow robots

We have begun to roll out new data storage and data management capabilities in HighBond robots and Workflow robots. These two robot types support native, cloud-based scripting in the HighBond platform using Python and HighBond Command Language, our custom Python library.

New data storage and data management functionality is being released on a phased basis:

• Session files (Released) When you run a Python/HCL script interactively in the HighBond script editor any files created by the script are listed in the new Session files panel. Before you save a new version of a script, you can download files from the panel and review their format and content to verify that they meet your expectations.

  Session files are temporary and are deleted as soon as you exit the script editor.

• Permanently saved working files (Not released yet) You will be able to save files generated by a Python/HCL script to the new Working data tab in the robot. Like the Input/Output tab in ACL robots, the Working data tab will provide a central location for storing data that you can use as input for subsequent scripts.

• Uploaded external files (Not released yet) You will be able to upload external files such as Excel and CSV to the Working data tab for use as input for Python/HCL scripts.

• Permanently saved result files (Not released yet, HighBond robots only) You will be able to save files generated by a Python/HCL script as result files within individual robot task runs.

New robot types available on GovCloud HighBond robots and Workflow robots are now available on the AWS GovCloud infrastructure. Previously they were only available in commercial AWS environments.

The new robot types provide native, cloud-based scripting using Python and HighBond Command Language (HCL), our new custom Python library for domain-focused data analysis and HighBond automation.

• HighBond robots support full-scale data analysis

• Workflow robots support automating portions of your HighBond workflow with custom-built automation or Diligent toolkits

Learn more

Robots user interface enhancements Several enhancements make navigating and using Robots easier and more intuitive.

• New page header A new page header with breadcrumb-style links makes it easier to move quickly between different areas of Robots. The breadcrumb is especially helpful in the Robots script editor where it gives better insight into your current location, and makes it obvious how to move from the editor to the Script versions tab or the Robots dashboard.

  The new page header is consistent with the new page header design being implemented across all HighBond apps.

• Robots script editor Several enhancements make the Robots script editor easier and more intuitive to use:

  • Script title The script title now uses the comment text from the saved script version instead of the robot name. This change makes it easier to see at a glance which version of a script you are working with. As well, the script version number has been repositioned to be more prominent.

  • Keyboard shortcuts Keyboard shortcuts have been added to the script editor. You can access a list of shortcuts by clicking the Keyboard shortcut icon in the title bar, or by pressing Ctrl+/.

  • Variables and Commit buttons repositioned The Variables and Commit buttons have been moved from the page header to the tool bar to make it clearer that they represent actions you can perform while working in the script editor.

  • Commit button renamed The Commit button has been renamed Save and commit to make it clearer what the button does.

• Resource Center The Resource Center has been added to Robots, aligning it with the rest of the apps in HighBond. The Resource Center provides periodic in-app notifications and various other forms of support to keep you informed as Robots and HighBond continue to evolve.

  Access the Resource Center using the Help and Support icon in the title bar.

Variables window The Variables window in the Robots script editor has been redesigned to be easier and more intuitive to use. The relation between HCL variables and robot task inputs is now more obvious. Tooltips now provide more extensive guidance.  Learn more

HCL password variable The maximum length of an HCL password variable in HighBond robots and Workflow robots has been increased from 245 characters to 8 KB. The longer length accommodates the longer authentication strings that are often associated with cloud computing.

HighBond robots released HighBond robots for cloud-based scripting are now available in the Robots app in HighBond. The release of this new type of robot is the next phase in our rollout of major new capabilities in Robots, which began on May 1, 2021.

HighBond robots allow you to develop data analysis scripts that combine the full power of Python and all its supported libraries with HighBond Command Language (HCL), our new custom Python library for domain-focused data analysis and HighBond automation.

Learn more

Major new capabilities in Robots We are beginning a phased introduction of major new capabilities in Robots. Our plan is to roll out the capabilities over a number of months, with completion expected some time in the final quarter of 2021. The first of the new capabilities have now been released.

Released

• Cloud-based scripting (Released)

  • Use Python as well as HighBond Command Language (HCL), our new custom Python library, to write scripts directly in Robots.
  • With cloud-based scripting we're adding two new robot types: Workflow robots, followed by HighBond robots.
  • The existing robot type, now called an ACL robot, continues to support data analysis and data automation using ACLScript and scripts uploaded from Analytics.

• Workflow robots (Released, customizable event-based triggering not yet available)

  • Event-based Workflow robots allow System Admins with a Professional subscription type to automate portions of their organization's HighBond workflow.

Not yet released

• HighBond robots (Not released)

  • HighBond robots will support domain-focused data analysis.

Learn more

SOX Storyboard toolkit We've added a pre-configured SOX Storyboard toolkit that helps monitor the progress of your SOX programs in HighBond.

The toolkit delivers quick time-to-value and provides greater visibility into SOX programs through out-of-the-box storyboards that display various visualizations from your environment. This is highly helpful to executives as the visibility of progress can provide assurance and instill confidence in the effectiveness of your SOX program.

Learn more

Customers who use an on-premise agent must upgrade to the new version if they want to use analytic scripts that include any of the updates to ACLScript in Analytics 15.0.

Version 15.0 of the Robots Agent is also required if you want to implement the new multi-agent capability.

Learn more

Customers who upgrade from version 14.x of the Robots Agent to version 15 Check the status of the UploadLogsWhenFailed configuration setting in the Robots Agent configuration file on the server (C:\Program Files (x86)\ACL Software\Robots Agent\agent\Agent.exe.config).

If UploadLogsWhenFailed is set to false, and your intention is that logs for failed tasks should not be uploaded to the Robots app in the cloud, you need to re-specify the upload prohibition using a new configuration setting in Robots.

In the Agent management screen in Robots, set Permitted file uploads to File uploads not permitted.

Although UploadLogsWhenFailed currently still appears in the configuration file, the setting no longer has any effect.

Learn more

Robots Agent cluster for increased processing capacity and load-balancing Customers with ACL Robotics Enterprise Edition can now create a Robots Agent cluster by installing additional instances of the Robots Agent on additional Windows servers. A multi-agent cluster increases task processing capacity by automatically balancing the processing demand across multiple agents.

This capability significantly increases the scalability of Robots as an enterprise-level data automation and analysis solution.

Learn more

More flexible directory structure You can now configure separate base folders for these Robots Agent items:

• temporary analytic job folders
• Analytics data tables folders
• Analytics result tables folders

Separately configurable base folders allows you to optimize hardware resources when implementing an on-premise Robots Agent. For example, you can locate temporary analytic job folders on a fast, high performance drive. For data table folders, you can specify a more economical, cold storage location appropriate for large files that are accessed only periodically.

Learn more

Improved control of file security A new global configuration setting in Robots gives you three options for controlling the upload of files from the Robots Agent to the Robots app in the cloud:

• Upload only non-Analytics result files, such as Excel, and logs (existing behavior in version 14.2 of the Robots Agent)
• Upload Analytics result tables, non-Analytics result files, and logs (new option)
• Prohibit the upload of any file from the Robots Agent to the Robots app. (new option)

Learn more

Data segregation enforced Robot tasks are prevented from accessing data in other robots, or from outputting data to other robots. Tasks can only interact with data in the robot in which they are located, or with data located outside the Robots Agent directory structure. In a script, any command that attempts to traverse a robot boundary will cause the script to fail.

Strict data segregation allows different departments in your organization to use the same instance of Robots while ensuring that employees see only data that they are entitled to see.

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Configuration setting removed The UploadLogsWhenFailed configuration setting has been removed from the Robots Agent configuration file (Agent.exe.config). The uploading of Analytics logs from the Robots Agent to the Robots app is now controlled by the new file uploads configuration setting in Robots.

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4 new pre-built analysis robots We’ve added 4 new analysis robots to our pre-built robot offering:

• T&E Analysis for Concur Robot

• User Access Controls Testing Analysis Robot

• P2P Analysis for SAP ERP Robot

• P2P Analysis for Oracle eBS Robot

You can implement these analysis robots in conjunction with the corresponding data integration robots.

The overall approach is to implement the data integration robot(s), and share the tables created from this robot to any analysis robots using Robots' shared tables feature.

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Content - Pre-built Robots

• Active Directory Data Integration Robot

• User Access Controls Testing Analysis Robot

Field length limitations for Member field in AD Group and MemberOf field in AD User tables Using Analytics or Robots Agent v15, the fields Member in the Group table and MemberOf in the User table are limited to a maximum length of 2000 characters (4000 in Unicode) in the Active Directory Data Integration robot. This may result in significant truncation of data contained in these fields and impact the results of analytic UA04AD_NonAdmin_Privilege, which analyzes the membership of groups in the Group table. Groups for which possible truncation occurred are flagged by the analytic.

Using previous versions of Analytics or Robots Agent, these fields are imported with a maximum length of 12,000 (24,000 in Unicode), which reduces the risk of truncation but does not entirely eliminate it.

Content - Pre-built Robots

• All Data Integration Robots

Use Sample Data Parameter The intended behavior of leaving the "Use Sample Data?" parameter blank is to skip the use of sample data and use production data instead. Leaving the parameter blank returns an error message.

Workaround: Select False in the dropdown list for this parameter to skip the use of sample data and use production data instead.

Content - Pre-built Robots

• Unicode analysis robots running with Robots Agent 14.2

Six new pre-built data integration robots We’ve added 6 new data integration robots to our pre-built robot offering.

• Active Directory Data Integration Robot
• Oracle eBS Data Integration Robot
• Salesforce CRM Data Integration Robot
• SAP ERP Data Integration Robot
• Concur TnE Data Integration Robot
• UNIX Data Integration Robot

You can implement these data integration robots by themselves, combine them with related analysis robots, or use them as the basis for building your own analysis robots.

The overall approach is to implement the Data Integration Robot, and share the tables created from this robot to any analysis robots using Robots' shared tables feature. Get content

Two new COVID-19 toolkits We have released two new COVID-19 toolkits that are free to all customers and easier to install.

• Aggregated regulatory feed and U.S. bill list: High-quality, public data from the WHO, CDC, and U.S. government, right in HighBond.
• Assessment questionnaires: Employee self-reporting, work-from-home capabilities, and return-to-office site preparedness surveys.

COVID-19 toolkit We've released the first phase of our COVID-19 toolkit. This toolkit is available for free to all customers. It includes a pandemic risk and response management framework and enterprise risk, a data analytics package with COVID-19 infection data from Johns Hopkins University, and more.

New version of Robots Agent Version 14.2.0 of the on-premise Robots Agent has been released.

Customers who use an on-premise agent must upgrade to the new version if they want to schedule analytic scripts that include any of the updates to ACLScript in Analytics 14.2.  Learn more

Display auxiliary scripts Any auxiliary scripts in a script version are now displayed in the Scripts tab in production mode.

Displaying both analytic scripts and auxiliary scripts provides a more complete picture of the production version of a set of scripts.

Delimited file import Characters were being omitted from the import of a delimited file if the file contained a delimiter character at the end of the line (end of the record). The issue has now been resolved. (AN-7700)

Making this fix required reverting an earlier fix: "Empty last field in *.csv and *.dat files correctly imported" (AN-6859). The defect addressed by the earlier fix is now present again in Robots Agent 14.1.2. It will be addressed in a future version of Robots Agent.

Sharing tables allows you to import a data set once and use it in multiple locations, instead of importing the same data set multiple times. It also lets you maintain a single master copy of a table. Learn more

New version of Robots Agent Version 14.1.0 of the on-premise Robots Agent has been released.

Customers who use an on-premise agent must upgrade to the new version if they want to schedule analytic scripts that include any of the updates to ACLScript in Analytics 14.1.  Learn more

• Automatic assignment of Robots Admin A Launchpad System Admin with a Professional subscription is now automatically a Robots Admin. This automatic assignment cannot be changed in Robots.

  Other users can still be manually assigned as a Robots Admin in Robots.

• Robots Admins have access to every robot Robots Admins are now automatically a collaborator for every robot, with the role of owner. This change ensures that at least one user has a global view and maintenance capability for all robots.

  Previously, Robots Admins had to be assigned to each robot just like a regular user.

• Robots Agent management The ability to manage the Robots Agent can now be assigned more flexibly with the addition of the Manage Agent? setting. If required, IT staff can be given the ability to manage the agent, while being prevented from seeing any data in Robots.
• Subscription change As a result of the security changes, users with an Oversight subscription can no longer be Robots Admins. A Professional subscription is required to be a Robots Admin.

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If you have specified a logo for your organization in Launchpad, the logo now displays in the footer of all system email notifications, which helps users identify that the notifications are from a legitimate source. Learn more

• Iterative script development supported by version history and a testing environment. Learn more
• Scheduled tasks configured in the cloud but run from the security of a local Windows server, close to your data source and within the protective boundaries of your network. Learn more
• Simple yet powerful user management for controlling how users interact with robots and tasks. Learn more