About Common Scenarios
To help speed up automation design, StudioX comes with common scenarios, reusable pieces of automation that you can add to any project. A common scenario represents one or more activities that are grouped together in a logical order to automate a task or part of a task.
Common scenarios are context-sensitive, which means the available options depend on where exactly you are in your automation. For example, in a Use Desktop Outlook App activity, the available common scenarios are related to Outlook tasks, such as Download email attachments. For a list of available common scenarios, see Common Scenarios Descriptions.
To use a common scenario in a project:
- Click the Add activity
icon in the Designer panel where you want to add the scenario.
The Add Activity search bar appears with a list of relevant activities and common scenarios at the top. - Click the common scenario you want to add.
The activities in the scenario are added to the Designer panel. - If needed, configure the added activities.
Common Scenarios Descriptions
The following tables describe the common scenarios available in StudioX and any configuration they may require. The common scenarios are listed based on the activity where you can add them.
Anywhere In the Automation
Common Scenario | What It Does | What You Need to Configure |
---|---|---|
Add date to folder file names | Prompts for the folder that contains the file names to update, adds a Write Cell activity that enters today's date in a cell in the Project Notebook, and a For Each File in Folder activity that iterates through the selected folder. Inside For Each File in Folder, another Write Cell activity copies the name of the current file in the iteration to the Project Notebook, and a Move File activity adds the current date to the name using a formula in the Project Notebook. | - |
Delete folder and subfolders | Prompts for the folder to delete and adds a Delete Folder activity configured to delete even if the folder contains files or subfolders. | - |
Use Excel File
If not added inside a Use Excel File activity, the following common scenarios can be used with the Project Notebook.
Common Scenario | What It Does | What You Need to Configure |
---|---|---|
Merge ranges | Adds an Append Range activity that copies all the values in a range and appends them to another range, and a Delete Rows activity that removes all duplicate rows from the destination after the data is appended. | - In Append Range, select the source and destination ranges. - In Delete Rows, select the destination range. |
Repeat actions for rows in Excel range | Adds a For Each Excel Row activity. | - Select the range to use. - Add the activities to repeat inside For Each Excel Row. |
Use Application/Browser
Common Scenario | What It Does | What You Need to Configure |
---|---|---|
Fill form from Excel | Adds a For Each Excel Row activity that contains three Type Into activities configured to copy the data from the first, second, and third columns in the selected range, and pastes it into three indicated fields in the target application or web page. By default, the range A1:C3 from the Scratchpad sheet of the Project Notebook is used. | - Make sure the range from the Scratchpad sheet of the Project Notebook contains the data to enter in the form (by default A1:C3 ). You can add another file in a parent Use Excel File activity and/or select another range for For Each Excel Row.- Indicate the target element for each Type Into activity. - Add or remove Type Into activities depending on the number of fields on the form. |
Use Desktop Outlook App
Common Scenario | What It Does | What You Need to Configure |
---|---|---|
Repeat actions for emails | Adds a For Each Email activity. | - Select the folder or messages to use. - Add the activities to repeat inside For Each Email. |
Send email | Adds a Send Email activity. | Configure the Send Email activity. |
Download email attachments | Prompts for a folder where to save the attachments, adds a Save Email Attachments activity, then a For Each File in Folder containing a Write Line activity configured to display the file names in the Output panel. | - |
Email folder backup | Prompts for a folder on the computer where to save emails, adds a For Each Email with a Save Email activity inside it. | Select the folder to back up from For Each Email. The Inbox is selected by default. |
Create contacts details database | Adds a For Each Email activity configured to use the emails from the Inbox, Write Cell and Append Range activities inside For Each Email to copy the senders from each email to a new Contacts sheet in the Project Notebook, and a Delete Rows activity to remove duplicates. | - |
Copy email details to Excel | Adds a series of Write Cell activities that add the email fields as column headers in a new sheet named Emails in the Project Notebook. Then adds a For Each Email activity that contains a series of Write Cell activities that copy the fields of each email to the Scratchpad sheet, and an Append Range activity to copy all the fields to the Emails sheet. | In For Each Email, select the folder from which to get the emails. The Inbox is selected by default. |
Email all files in a folder | Prompts for a folder to select and adds a Send Email activity configured to use the files in the selected folder as attachments. The current Outlook account is added by default to the To field. | Edit the default values added to the fields of the activity to customize the email, for example add one or more recipients, or edit the Subject and Body. |
For Each Email
Common Scenario | What It Does | What You Need to Configure |
---|---|---|
Reply to email | Adds a Reply to Email activity to reply to the current mail in the iteration, a Mark Email as Read/Unread activity, and a Move Email activity to move the email to another folder. | - In Reply to Email, edit the email body. - In Move Email, select a folder where to move the email. |
Forward email | Adds a Forward Email activity to forward the current mail in the iteration, a Mark Email as Read/Unread activity, and a Move Email activity to move the email to another folder. | - Configure the Forward Email activity. - In Move Email, select a folder where to move the email. |
Move email | Adds a Move Email activity to move the current email in the iteration to another folder. | In Move Email, select a folder where to move the email. |
Save and process email attachments | Prompts for a folder where to save the attachments, adds a Save Email Attachments activity and a For Each File in Folder activity where to add activities to repeat for each attachment. | Add activities to repeat for each attachment inside For Each File in Folder. |
For Each File in Folder
Common Scenario | What It Does | What You Need to Configure |
---|---|---|
Try open file as Excel | Adds an If activity that checks if the current file in the iteration has the .xlsx extension. The Then branch contains a Use Excel File activity that adds the current file to the project if the condition is met. | - |
Add date to file and move to subfolder | Adds a Create Folder activity that creates a subfolder named Processed in the current folder, a Write Cell activity to copy the name of the current file in the iteration to the Project Notebook, and a Move File activity that moves the current file to the subfolder and adds the current date to the name using a formula in the Project Notebook. | - |
Group files by type | Adds a Write Cell activity to copy the name of the current file in the iteration to the Project Notebook, a Create Folder activity that creates a subfolder in the current folder named with the extension of the current file using a formula in the Project Notebook, and a Move File activity that moves the current file to the subfolder. | - |
Group files by size | Adds an If activity that checks if the current file in the iteration is smaller than 100KB. The Then branch contains a Create Folder activity that creates a new folder with the title set to 100 K and a Move File activity that moves the current file in the iteration to the newly created folder. The Else branch contains an If activity that checks if the current file is smaller than 1000KB. Both the Then and Else branches contain a Create Folder and Move File activity. | |
Group files by creation date | Adds a Write Cell activity to copy the creation date of the current file in the iteration to the Project Notebook, a Create Folder activity that creates a subfolder in the current folder named with the creation date of the current file using a formula in the Project Notebook, and a Move File activity that moves the current file to the subfolder. | - |
Copy file info to Excel | Adds a series of Write Cell activities that copy the name, full path, size, and creation date of the current file in the iteration to the Scratchpad sheet and an Append Range activity to copy all the fields to the Files sheet. | - |
Updated about a year ago