How to access the VBO API documentation without using Internet Explorer

[AP.Philippa]

Hi all,

Our company recently has blocked the usage of Internet Explorer. Initially this seemed to be no problem as we have already made the switch to Edge Chrome. However, recently we have noticed that we are no longer to view the VBO API documantion of our VBO's. This is quite a bummer as our team regularly uses this feature in BP.

Therefore does anybody know if and how we could view our VBO documenation without using Internet Explorer?

Thanks in advance!

With kind regards,

Arthur Philippa

[steven.boggs]

Hi Arthur,

This has been reported as an issue to our developers, who have filed a fix request to tentatively address this in an upcoming v7.x release of Blue Prism (and are also considering it as a candidate for the next 6.10.x release). The fix would be to utilize the default browser associated with the O/S setting instead of Internet Explorer.

For users of previous versions of Blue Prism, there are tentative plans to potentially upload the context-sensitive VBO help topics to our Online Help.

DISCLAIMER: Information about upcoming features, functionality, or fixes is shared for informational purposes only and not as a binding commitment. The development, release, and timing of features or functionality is subject to change and therefore should not be relied upon.

As a workaround, the VBO documentation can still be accessed in IE (and the COM error prevented) if IE is still installed, even if the use of it as a standalone browser has been disabled per Microsoft's recommendation here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/edge-ie-disable-ie11#disable-internet-explorer-11-as-a-standalone-browser

[ewilson]

Hi @AP.Philippa,

If IE has been completed removed from your systems, you might try the following utility available on the DX. This is an executable that can generate a PDF or RTF file based on VBOs in a .bprelease file. No need for Internet Explorer. It's not a perfect solution as it requires that you add the VBOs to a .bprelease file, and if you make changes to a VBOs documentation you'll have to rebuild the .bprelease and re-run the utility to get the updated documentation. However, until the product team addresses the issue of IE being a requirement it gives you an option.

https://digitalexchange.blueprism.com/dx/entry/9648/solution/blue-prism-object-api-documentation-generation-tool-2

Cheers,
Eric​

[AP.Philippa]

Hi @ewilson and @steven.boggs,

Thanks for your responses! ​Just got the message that Blue Prism V7.1.2 has been released. Do you know if this update contains a fix for the VBO documentation problem or should we wait for the next major version release of V7.2?

Anyway I will share both suggested workarrounds with our IT department.

Thanks!

With kind regards,

Arthur Philippa
​​​​

[ewilson]

@AP.Philippa,

No, this issue is not fixed in v7.1.2. At least not according to the release notes. :frowning_face:

Cheers,
Eric​

[PvD_SE]

Is there any reason why the BP default IE for help texts wasn't changed to the system default browser a long time ago?

Happy coding!
---------------
Paul
Sweden

[ewilson]

Hi @PvD_SE,

​I'm not the Product Manager, but I imagine it came down to competing priorities. When comparing that against other items in their backlog that was likely viewed as having a lower impact overall, since you can still get to the descriptions of each action and variable within studio. 🤷‍:male_sign:

Cheers,
Eric