2024.10.5

Release date: 21 October 2024

What's New

New Autopilot™ features

You can now generate workflows from empty sequences (including the main sequence) by selecting the new Generate with Autopilot button. This creates a new annotation, where you can type in your instructions and select Generate to create your workflow.

Autopilot can also generate activity output variables which are then automatically used in subsequent activities (for example, Autopilot will use the output variable generated for a Create Event activity in the Event field of a Forward Event activity).

The new Autopilot panel makes the development process more accessible and efficient.

The panel allows you to use Autopilot™ to summarize your workflow and generate workflows from a centralized interface. The panel also improves error handling and troubleshooting by providing AI-based suggestions for resolving both low-code and coded workflow errors, including errors identified by Workflow Analyzer rules. Additionally, you can use Autopilot to search the entire UiPath documentation directly from the panel. To learn more, see The Autopilot Panel.

New Workflow Analyzer rules

Two new Workflow Analyzer rules are now available to help with migrating projects from the Windows - Legacy to the Windows compatibility.

Coded automations features

Workflow Analyer rules for code

We have introduced two new Workflow Analyzer rules:

• ST-DPB-010: Make sure that within any coded workflow or test case, only one method is marked with either the [Workflow] or [Test Case] attribute.
• ST-NMG-017: Ensures that a class name is distinct from the default namespace.
• Erratum - Added October 30, 2024: ST-REL-001: Ensures that the argument types of In/Out parameters are matching.

XML documentation file for your custom code and libraries

You can now access XML documentation files after you publish a project and enjoy the benefit of code documentation for your custom code and libraries. After the project is published, the XML files are generated alongside the DLL and PDB files in your project folder. You can also find them in the lib folder of the generated NUPKG file. Visit Working with Coded automations to learn more about publishing projects that contain coded automations.

Erratum - Added October 30, 2024: Modify arguments as properties for coded automations in libraries

You can now seamlessly adjust the properties of a coded automation reused as an invoked workflow through the properties present in the body of the activity. This applies when you export a coded automation to a library, install that library into another project, and invoke the coded automation within your current XAML workflow. In invoked workflow added as an activity, modify the available properties of the invoked coded automation as needed.

Additionally, inside the library project, you can also configure the layout of an activity from the Activity Properties window. Configuring the activity properties before exporting the coded automation involves editing options such as the Display Name, Tooltip, or Help Link.

For more information, visit Invoking coded automations using libraries.

Erratum - Added October 30, 2024: Declaring In/Out arguments using Output

You can now declare an In/Out argument by naming it Output. Naming any argument as Output treats it as an In/Out argument, even if it's only declared once in the method. For more information about using arguments in coded automations, visit Working with Input and Output arguments.

Test automation features

XBrowser Test Template

Streamline your testing processes of websites and web applications by using the XBrowser Test Template. This template allows you to test the same test data of a web application with multiple browsers, all into one single automation. Visit XBrowser Test Template for more information.

Generating low-code test cases using AI

You can now generate a fully automated low-code test case using natural language, with the help of Autopilot^TM. Visit Generating test cases using AI to check how to generate low-code test cases.

Improvements

Improved save to the cloud experience

We have made several improvements to the way in which you can manage cloud projects.

When a cloud project is edited in Studio Web, you can only open it in Studio in read-only mode (the project cannot be opened in edit mode both in Studio Web and Studio).

Studio now informs you every time you lose editing access (for example, when the project is edited by someone else or the cloud connection is lost), to avoid possible future conflicts when trying to save the project.

A message in the Project panel tells you that the project is locked for editing, and an Edit Here button lets you modify the project in Studio. The editing session then moves to the current Studio instance. You can also gain editing access to the project when you close the other instance of the project in Studio Web.

When a project is saved in a different location on your machine, you now have the option to either unlink the project from the cloud or use the new local path to the project.

When you open a project, Studio automatically detects if you manually moved the project to a different location on your machine, and your input is not needed.

If you manually copy the project to a different location on your machine, you now have the option to either unlink the project from the cloud or use the new local path to the project.

Lastly, local and cloud projects are now clearly labeled as such in the Studio Backstage.

State machine improvements

Building on the improvements announced for flowcharts, we are excited to bring you an updated state machine experience, which includes:

• New designs for the Start, State, and Final nodes.
• An infinite canvas Designer panel, with a new grid system to better position your activities.
• Improvements to the design and functionality of activities and connectors, complete with support for adding annotations.

Improved Expression Editor

We have improved the design and functionality of the Expression Editor. Some changes include:

• Fixing line spacing and text alignment.
• Improving the layout of the Fix and Use Variables buttons.
• Adding dedicated Undo and Redo buttons.

Coded automations improvements

• The following keyboard shortcuts now allow you to expand or reduce your current code selection as follows:
  • Ctrl + Shift + <Num+: Expand your current code selection to include the next larger syntax node. From the current line, you can expand to include the current block, then the current method, the current class, the namespace, and finally the entire file.
  • Ctrl + <Shift + Num-: Contract the current syntax node selection incrementally.
• You can now record your interactions with UI elements and translate them into coded automations.

Test automation improvements

AI-generated test data improvements

• When using Autopilot for generating test data, you can instruct it to introduce additional arguments, which will be included in the test case once you import the generated data set.
• Now, you initially offer a prompt instruction to Autopilot to get a primary test data set. This is a change from the previous behavior where Autopilot initially created a test data set that you were able to refine using prompt instructions.
• You can instruct Autopilot to generate a certain number of data variations.

Improved error messages for Postman integration

We've made improvements to the API Test Automation. Error messages from the Postman integration are now more clearly displayed in the user interface.

Converting text into code improvements

You can now turn text into code by selecting the Autopilot icon or by choosing the existent Generate Code action.

Installation and upgrade

• The UiPathStudio.msi installer no longer supports the Packages command line feature flag . This does not impact the installation process, as the feature flag was kept for backwards compatibility and had no real function.
• UiPathStudio.msi does not support direct upgrade from Studio 2018.4 or lower. Upgrading from such a version must be done through an intermediary upgrade to the latest 24.10 patch.

Other improvements

• Optimized compile times for complex projects including low-code and coded test cases, execution templates, and entities.
• You can now improve the alignment of flowchart nodes and connectors in the Designer panel by using the Auto arrange context menu option. You can choose to make your flowcharts more readable by arranging them either horizontally or vertically.
• Project validation is now faster.
• GIT integration in Studio now supports Schannel.
• The Dictionary Builder now supports complex expressions both in the Key and Value fields. You can also switch between the Expression Editor and the Dictionary Builder in activity properties that only used the Dictionary builder.
• You can now add a top level annotation to the main sequence of a project by right-clicking the Designer panel and selecting Annotations > Add Annotation. The main sequence is now hidden by default.
• We have improved the message you see in the Manage Packages window when you select an activities package that is not compatible with your project.
• The Project Dependencies Mass Update Tool now has an Install Missing Package option for updating dependencies which are already part of projects or installing dependencies in projects that do not contain them.
• To reduce the size of published packages, .git and .svn folders are now excluded from the resulting NUPKG file.

• Several performance improvements have been made to RAM usage.

Breaking Changes

Coded Automations

To avoid conflicts when you use connections from the same Orchestrator folders, you now need to use a different naming convention when establishing connections in coded automations. After you create the connection in Integration Service, call it in your coded automation using both the Orchestrator folder and subfolder name where the connection resides.

This doesn't change anything for your Integration Service connections. But, you must manually change the name of the connection that you have set in your coded automations. For instance, if you have an automation where you have a connection similar to this one: var myGmailConnection = connections.Gmail.My_Workspace_john_doe_gmail_com, where My_Workspace is the Orchestrator folder name, you now need to include the subfolder name where the connection was first made. So if the Gmail connection is in the My Gmail Workspace subfolder, you would change the connection name to: var myGmailConnection = connections.Gmail.My_Workspace_My_Gmail_Workspace_john_doe_gmail_com.

For more details on the new way to set up service connections in coded automations, visit Creating Connections for services in coded automations.

Studio Logs

Fatal severity logs appear as Trace logs in the Output panel and are filtered as Trace logs when clicking the Trace button in the panel’s header.

Bug Fixes

• While debugging a XAML workflow within a project that contained CS files, an 'Unexpected error during library compilation: Value cannot be null. (Parameter 'type')' error occurred, which caused the compilation to fail.
• A Root element is missing error occurred when publishing some background processes.
• Some projects with missing dependencies were incorrectly reported as published when using the Project Dependencies Mass Update Tool.
• Studio logged Bad IL format compilation errors when running some projects migrated from Windows - Legacy. These errors did not affect project execution.
• Unused dependencies were not correctly identified when analyzing some projects migrated from Windows - Legacy.
• Compilation failed for some projects where the combined length of user strings exceeded the allowed limit.
• Renaming a project caused invalid references in projects with XAML files referencing code assemblies.
• When creating custom activities using code, the UiPath.Workflow 6.0.0-20231211-03 package led to a version conflict with Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Common. The solution involved adding a previously missing dependency.
• Publishing some projects with missing dependencies in a GitHub CI/CD pipeline did not return validation errors.
• The ST-NMG-004 - Display Name Duplication rule incorrectly detected repetitive activities names.
• The Locals panel did not display any information when debugging some projects saved on a network drive.
• Elastic Robot Pools were not displayed in the Machine drop-down menu when configuring an Unattended Robot remote debugging connection.
• Studio incorrectly detected workflow changes when debugging some projects using Step Into.
• The Text Builder showed a non-functional Plus button in cross-platform projects.
• Multiple BC31424 and BC30652 validation errors occurred when trying to publish some projects created in earlier versions of Studio.
• Publishing some projects that contained a large number of test cases (200+) took longer than expected.
• Compiling some projects containing a large number of workflows (1000+) took longer than expected.

Known Issues

• Application tracking does not work for applications used in libraries.
• When working with coded workflows or test cases, an error can occur. If you attempt to create arguments of any type (including In, Out, and In/Out) with certain names such as result, newResult, codedWorkflow and isolated, you may encounter a compilation error.

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	v24.10.6
UiPath.System.Activities	v24.10.6
UiPath.Excel.Activities	v2.24.2
UiPath.Mail.Activities	v1.23.11
UiPath.Word.Activities	v1.20.2
UiPath.ComplexScenarios.Activities	v1.5.0
UiPath.Presentations.Activities	v1.14.1
UiPath.Testing.Activities	v24.10.3
UiPath.WebAPI.Activities	v1.21.1
UiPath.Form.Activities	v24.10.5
UiPath.Callout.Activities	v24.10.5