2023.10.0

Release date: 25 October 2023

What's New

Coded automations

If you prefer to code when building automations, you can now achieve this using coded automations! Coded automations provide enhanced flexibility, maintainability, and collaboration for more complex automations. Some of the key benefits that you can leverage with coded automations are:

• Enhanced productivity – If you’re familiar with coding or scripting you can leverage your skills and increase your productivity. Working within a familiar coding environment allows you to develop more efficient automations.
• Complexity management – Coded automations provide a flexible solution for managing complex automation scenarios. By using code, you can implement custom logic, manage exceptions, and create reusable functions. As part of developing custom logic, you can easily create custom coded activity packages, also known as services. Visit Registering custom services to learn how to create your first service and start using it in your coded automations.
• Hybrid automation – You can use coded automations alongside low-code automations. This promotes seamless integration between the two approaches, enabling you to create flexible automation solutions.
• Improved performance – Coded automations empower you to optimize your automation workflows to enhance performance. By using code, you can implement specific algorithms to make your automation executions faster.
• Readability – Coded automations allow you to create structured code, resulting in code readability. If you organize your code and document it, you can easily maintain it and share it with other collaborators.

Types of coded automations

You can choose from three types of coded automations:

• Coded workflows - Coded workflows are the same as low-code workflows, the only difference being that you build them using separate interfaces: workflows have a visual design interface, while coded workflows have a code-based interface.
• Coded test cases - Coded test cases automate and validate application behavior in a structured manner. They are similar to low-code test cases and allow for flexible automation using code.
• Code source files - Coded source files serve as containers for custom classes or methods that you can use within Coded workflows or test cases. They are not entry points and cannot be executed independently; instead, they function within the context of a project.

Write code directly in UiPath Studio

Build your coded automations using the IDE built-in Studio! Its interface consists of a dedicated code editor, file tabs, and breadcrumbs for easy navigation. This layout enables you to manage your files, explore project structures, edit your code, version projects, run, and publish your automations. Furthermore, you can customize the font size and display settings of the code editor, so it resembles your favorite code-editing techniques! Visit Studio IDE to understand how to leverage the built-in IDE.

Onboarded services

With this release, the services available to use inside coded automations are the following:

• System.Activities
• UiAutomation.Activities
• Testing.Activities

Visit the APIs sections of the onboarded services to learn how to use their corresponding APIs.

Search activities from all official packages in Windows projects

The ability to search from all available activities packages without needing to install a package in advance introduced with Studio 2023.4 for cross-platform projects has now been expanded to include the Windows compatibility. You can now search for activities that are installed and those that are available to install, giving you more flexibility to choose the right activities for your project.

Automatically generated activity outputs in Windows projects

Studio's ability to automatically generate variables from activity outputs introduced with Studio 2023.4.0 is now also available in Windows projects for activities that use the design experience available in cross-platform projects.

Updated user interface

Studio's user interface has a refreshed look in both the light and the dark theme. The updated design provides a cleaner, more focused experience across backstage view and various windows, icons, and dialog boxes.

Use local files in activity properties with IResource input

A new folder navigation button now lets you use local files in activity properties that require the IResource data type as an input in Windows projects. Selecting the button opens a window where you can browse to the local file. To store the path to the local file in the activity property, the IResource data type is transformed into an ILocalResource data type.

Better handling of large files in Workbook activities

You can now add Excel files as Workbook resources from the Data Manager in Studio projects where you use Workbook activities. This enables a file to be loaded in the memory once and not be reloaded for each Workbook activity, which improves the runtime performance when you use multiple activities with the same file, especially when processing large files.

To further optimize performance, you can configure the scope of the resource to ensure it remains in the memory only for as long as it's needed.

After an Excel file is added as a resource, you can reference it from Workbook activities by selecting the resource from the Plus menu instead of providing the workbook file path.

Convert cross-platform projects to Windows

To take advantage of activities that are only available in Windows projects, you can now convert cross-platform projects to the Windows compatibility. This makes it easy to enhance a Studio Web cross-platform project with desktop automation in Studio. For example, you can seamlessly integrate desktop UI Automation or Excel activities into an existing cloud workflow. To learn more, see Designing Cross-platform Projects.

A new way of adding Integration Service activities to projects

You no longer need to install separate packages for the Integration Service activities you use in your projects, making it easier and quicker to add activities for multiple connectors to your workflows. You now add most Integration Service activities solely from the Available category of the Activities panel or Add activity search bar.

When you first add an Integration Service activity to a project, a single UiPath Integration Service Activities package is installed in the project and you then add other Integration Service activities from the Available category without having to install additional packages.

The activities already added to workflows are automatically updated when a new version is available, so you'll always use the latest version.

Most Integration Service activities support this feature, with support to be extended to all activities in the near future.

More details about connections in the Data Manager

The Data Manager now displays more details associated with connections used in a project. You can now expand each activity under the Connections node to see user-specific data associated with a connection (for example, the folders where emails and files are located).

New Test Automation features

Transforming manual tests in coded test cases

You can now easily transform manual tests from Test Manager into coded test cases, from the Test Explorer panel. This enhancement streamlines your testing processes and provides a more comprehensive approach to your automation needs. Visit Transforming manual tests into coded test cases to learn how to use the feature.

Built-in SAP Testing Project template

The SAP Testing Project template is now built-in Studio, and you can find it on the Start tab in Studio Backstage View. Use this template to ease the process of automating your SAP operations.

Improvements

Activity fields improvements

It’s now easier to define the data received or generated by an activity. The Arguments option has been moved under the Use Variable option and is only visible if an argument has been created. The Ask when run, Paste from clipboard, and Copy to Clipboard options have been consolidated under Runtime options.

Access variable, argument, and constant properties from the Use Variable window

In Windows and cross-platform projects, you can now access the properties of variables, arguments, and constants from the variable selection window (for example, when selecting Plus > Use Variable on the right side of activity input and output fields). For more information, see Designing Automations.

Process source control information

When publishing a process under source control, you now have access to its source control information. This information is visible in Automation Ops - Source Control and includes details about the repository URL, repository commit, repository branch, Automation Hub idea URL, and repository type (GIT, TFS, or SVN).

Installation and upgrade

• If you are installing the attended robot in user mode and your environment is configured to use SSO with Azure Active Directory, you can now enable automatically signing in to your account during installation.
• When you run the UiPathStudio.msi installer on a machine with not enough disk space to perform the installation, an error message is now displayed informing you how much disk space is required and available.
• To prevent potential issues during installation and upgrade, the UiPathStudio.msi installer now prompts you to remove any files found in the installation folder on fresh installations, and automatically closes open UiPath applications when updating an existing installation.

Other improvements

• Activity validation is now faster and uses less RAM and CPU resources.
• We have optimized the loading time when creating or opening a project.
• The Invoke Workflow File activity now supports variables and arguments for workflow file names in Windows and cross-platform projects.
• When expanding an activity package in the Activities panel, individual activities now appear before other nodes. In addition, expanding an activity package no longer expands other collapsed categories.
• While debugging, a spinning icon now lets you see when items in the Locals panel are loading.

Bug Fixes

• An error occurred when publishing a library that contained a Send Mail activity inside a Microsoft Office 365 Scope activity.
• Some activities packages were marked as "found empty" in the Project panel when installed in Windows libraries. The affected packages include:
  • Microsoft.VisualBasic
  • System.IO.FileSystem.AccessControl
  • System.Security.AccessControl
  • System.Security.Cryptography.Xml
  • Systen.Security.Principal.Windows
  • System.Text.Encoding.CodePages
  • System.Text.RegularExpressions
• Connections from shared folders did not appear in Windows and cross-platform projects.
• Changing the list of items property while the For Each activity was in focus within a flowchart resulted in unexpected changes in the flowchart hierarchy.
• Some references and namespaces were not resolved correctly when converting a project from Windows - Legacy to Windows.
• A failed to convert string to wide form: Wrong parameter error occurred when trying to read Windows Credential Manager proxy server credentials stored in GIT configuration files.
• Studio became unresponsive when validating a Windows project that contained a large number of workflows and libraries migrated from Windows - Legacy.
• The Studio CLI failed to publish the Test Automation Template.
• Using the Project Dependencies Mass Update Tool to update the version of a library added as a project dependency did not work as expected.
• Publishing a project that contained Integration Service connections from the command line did not include connection and user-level information needed to allow configuring package requirements in Orchestrator.
• The Auto-hide panel option did not work as expected when moving the focus away from the Project or Activities panel.
• Opening a Studio Web project in Studio took longer than expected.
• A No path has been provided. (Parameter 'paths') error occurred when resolving a merge command conflict in projects connected to GIT.
• Selecting Remove Unused Variables from the Design ribbon tab in a flowchart workflow did not remove unused variables.
• A You must add a reference to assembly 'UiPath.Platform’ compilation error occurred when publishing a library.
• You could not navigate inside the Welcome to Studio window using the Tab key after launching Studio.
• In some projects, selecting Remove Unused Variables also removed variables that were used in the workflow.
• The Ctrl + Alt + F keyboard shortcut did not set the focus to the search box in the Activities panel.
• Validation error icons did not appear when using incompatible arguments or variables in activity fields in Windows and cross-platform projects.
• Publishing a Windows or cross-platform project that contained a recursively invoked workflow was not possible.
• UI objects added to the Object Repository in a Windows - Legacy library created in Studio 2020.10 were deleted when converting the project to the Windows compatibility.
• UI libraries added as dependencies in some projects were removed from the project dependencies when publishing even though elements from the libraries were used in the project.
• The .settings folder was not packaged in the NUPKG file when publishing a project or library if the folder was marked as hidden.
• Opening some projects that had online feeds disabled on machines that were using a firewall took longer than expected.
• The Import Arguments button disappeared when adding an Invoke Workflow File activity to a workflow from a Snippets folder.
• An Assembly with same name is already loaded error occurred when publishing some libraries.
• A System.ArgumentNullException: Value cannot be null error occurred when opening some projects connected to GIT.
• When creating a Windows - Legacy process, the Learn More link in the New Blank Process window did not work.
• The Universal search bar did not work as expected after a previous search was cancelled.
• A System.InvalidOperationException: Executor is busy error occurred in some projects when using debugging actions.
• A CustomError 4006: A different version of the product is already advertised on this machine. error occurred when trying to install Studio on a machine where Studio previously failed to install.
• A System.Exception: Could not retrieve the result of the job execution error occurred when you used the Read Range activity to read a Google Sheets range and set the Has headers activity option to True.
• Erratum - added October 22, 2024: A Collection was modified; enumeration operation may not execute. error occurred when opening some projects from a shared drive.

Known Issues

• Editing trigger activity properties during debugging may lead to execution errors within the context of attended automation.
• The option Connect to a new Workbook file is not available in the Studio profile Data Manager if the Developer filter is not selected in the StudioX profile Activities panel.

Upcoming Deprecations

Starting with Studio 2024.4, the modern design experience will be the only design experience available for new projects. The classic design experience, which includes the activities, wizards, and recorders that were available by default in Studio v2021.4 and older releases, will no longer be an option at the project level or as a global setting. UI Automation and Excel classic activities however will still be available under the Classic category and can be added to a project from the Activities panel or the Add activity search bar. Check the Deprecation Timeline for the latest updates regarding upcoming deprecations.

Activity package versions

The following activity packages and versions are included in the UiPathStudio.msi installer and can be found in the local feed.

Activity package	Version
UiPath.UIAutomation.Activities	v23.10.3
UiPath.System.Activities	v23.10.2
UiPath.Excel.Activities	v2.22.2
UiPath.Mail.Activities	v1.21.1
UiPath.Word.Activities	v1.18.1
UiPath.ComplexScenarios.Activities	v1.5.0
UiPath.Presentations.Activities	v1.12.2
UiPath.Testing.Activities	v23.10.0
UiPath.WebAPI.Activities	v1.18.0
UiPath.Form.Activities	v23.10.3
UiPath.Callout.Activities	v23.10.3