How to know which previous actions are required to use another Excel VBO action

[MichelleBest]

Is there a document or guide somewhere that says, for instance, in order to use the Copy and Paste Worksheet Range action, you need to first create an instance, open both workbooks and then use Show before you place your Copy and Paste Worksheet Range action?

I've got the VBO user guide, but there isn't anything in there. Am I missing something obvious?

It would be helpful if the Preconditions on the Conditions tab said something about what else is required before you can use a particular action...


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Michelle
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[ewilson]

Hello @MichelleBest,

The only guide available is the user guide. Do you have the latest version? The guide was update a few days ago, but it still doesn't give you what you're looking for. In general, the common precursor actions are:

1. Create Instance (starts a new instance of Excel) or Open Instance (connects to an already running instance of Excel)
2. Create Workbook (creates a new Workbook) or Open Workbook (opens an existing Workbook)

The Show action is not required. It comes in handy sometimes, but it is not required.

When you're process is wrapping up, you'll want to call:

1. Close Instance, Close All Instances, Release Instance, or Exit.

Which one you call depends on your use case. Close Instance lets you specify that the workbook should be saved while closing. Close All Instances and Exit close Excel instance(s) without performing any saves. There are dedicated actions for saving changes as a separate step though.

Cheers,


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Eric Wilson
Director, Integrations and Enablement
Blue Prism Digital Exchange
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[MichelleBest]

Thanks Eric. I put the Show in there because the Page Information in the Excel VBO for Copy and Paste Worksheet Range, had a note to say that there may be issues that can be rectified by adding the Show action.

I'll get the latest user guide. Thanks again

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Michelle
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[MichelleBest]

Oh wow, that updated guide is much better! Thanks for the heads up

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Michelle
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[stepher]

Hello Eric,
I would add, one 'anecdotal' comment to your statement that the Show action is not required...  We created a "wrapper object" to standardize the before and after steps connected to "Worksheet to Collections."  We started getting errors, particularly for larger datasets.  I was not originally using the Show action, but added it to troubleshoot.  And, of course, in the vein of the the watched pot, it never occurred again.  We have left the Show action in the WO and have not had a problem since.

I am loathe to give credit where it is due, in this instance, but I saw this before in a few processes that were developed by a larger consultancy, unnamed but that sounds like "Detroit".  I was always bothered when I saw those steps in their processes, but not enough to "fix" them.  Perhaps, just perhaps, they actually had a reason for it.

The part of my mind that requires a rational explanation for all things likens this to the "wait for page to load" parameter connected to Internet Explorer.  That's the best I can come up with.

Thanks,
Red

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Robert "Red" Stephens
Application Developer, RPA
Sutter Health
Sacramento, CA
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[ewilson]

Thanks for the feedback @Robert Stephens. Yes, there are cases where it does become a necessity. As the documentation shows for that action it's kind of a catch all for when things aren't quite working right with Excel. It's sort of like the use of DoEvents in the good old days of Visual Basic 6. 😁

Cheers,
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Eric Wilson
Director, Integrations and Enablement
Blue Prism Digital Exchange
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