Making changes to BP VBO's

[PvD_SE]

Hi,

In several postings, the answer provided suggests editing an existing BP VBO action or adding new actions (published pages) to it. Last example I found was here, but there are many more similar proposals. In my limited view of BP, but extensive view on development in general, it seems like a very bad idea to add or change third party supplied code (such as BP VBO's in this case), as these are likely to be replaced at the next upgrade or any temporary fix supplied by BP, thus effectively removing your fix.

My questions:

• What happens with changes made to BP VBO's when BP is upgraded?
• Should we make changes to BP VBO's?
  • If not, why is this recommended regularly?

Happy coding!
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Paul
Sweden

[Denis__Dennehy]

Hi Paul,  good to be messaging with you in the Community!

The recommendation I have always given to customers is to never change the BP VBOs that they have installed and are using.   The 1st reason for this is that it adds  complexity to upgrades (as per your first question).     If there is a new version of a VBO with bug fixes to existing actions  that you have already amended the cost and risk of upgrading to that new version is increased.   The 2nd reason is you will invalidate our support for the VBO (if it is a BP supported rather than community supported one) if you start amending it and making it your own.

The strong recommendation is therefore to create a separate VBO with your additional actions.  Hence back when I was leading RPA delivery personally we would have actions called things like Excel - Extended Actions which have the attach/detach etc. core actions of the original VBO and the additional ones we wanted.   

If the application is one where the API does not allow multiple connections at once or doing so has performance issues then the correct method would be to make a full copy of the original VBO with a different name and add to that.

I remember one customer where the Blue Prism VBOs were a total mess of hacking around making undocumented changes and It took me a lot of wasted time to sort it out so once bitten twice shy!

[PvD_SE]

Hi Dennis,

Thanks for your clear and swift answer and explanation to all my questions, confirming what I assumed to be the case. I will continue refusing to tweak BP VBO's.

Given the fact that such amendments are regularly suggested on this very forum, I would appreciate BP to warn against this every time it is suggested. I will keep track and post my view whenever I see it, but I still hope BP beats me to it. 

Happy coding!
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Paul
Sweden

[ewilson]

Hello @PvD_SE,

I’m in complete agreement with @Denis__Dennehy. If you feel the need to customize someone else’s published VBO, go ahead a make a copy of it and add your changes to the copy.

If it’s an official Blue Prism, or DX Community Developer, asset and you feel your change/enhancement would benefit the broader Blue Prism community, please share your changes with us via the DX Ideas page so we may incorporate them into the official VBO.

Cheers,
Eric
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