The Desktop screen is a window through which we see a virtual world, and to automate tasks in the virtual world, you need Citrix Automation. In this article on UiPath Citrix Automation, you will go through how to automate tasks in a virtual environment with the help of one of the popular tool in the RPA industry i.e UiPath.
So, let us get started.
What is RPA?
The word Robotic Process Automation has mainly three terms which you need to understand: Robotic, Process & Automation. So, let us look into each of them:
- Robotic are entities which mimic human actions are called Robots.
- A process is a sequence of steps which lead to meaningful activity. For example, the process of making tea or your favorite dish etc.
- Automation is any process which is done by a robot without human intervention.
So, when we summarize all these terms together, then mimicking human actions to perform a sequence of steps, leading to a meaningful activity, without any human intervention is also known as Robotic Process Automation.
Now, that you have an understanding of what is RPA, next in this article on UiPath Citrix Automation, you will know what are virtual machines.
What is Virtual Machine?
A Virtual Machine in simple words is a guest Operating System that runs on another operating system i.e. the host, through a Virtual Machine Manager like Oracle Virtual box, VMware. In real-world scenarios, you mostly have servers on the cloud, and whenever you wish to access the server, you can use a Remote Desktop Connection.
The above image will give a pictorial understanding of what are virtual machines. As you can see, there is a host operating system on which a Virtual machine Manager and a Guest Operating system are running. Now, that you have an understanding of what are virtual machines, next in this article on UiPath Citrix Automation, let me tell you what is Citrix automation and how are tasks automated in these virtual machines.
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What is Citrix Automation?
Consider a scenario wherein you have to access a server on your computer. Now, when you try to access the server, it is not the main server that you are accessing, but you get an image of the screen of the server. Now, what happens is, whenever you click on something, that image or pixel is sent to the server. Then in the server, it is exactly clicked over there. To automate these kinds of tasks you can implement Citrix technology with UiPath. UiPath aims to provide this automation with the help of recorders.
So, now let us look into the various types of recorders in UiPath .
There are mainly four types of recorders in UiPath.
- Basic: This recorder generates a full selector for each and every activity.
- Desktop: This type of recorder is suitable for all types of Desktop apps.
- Web: This type of recorder is designed for recording in web apps and browsers.
- Citrix: This type of recorder is used to record virtualized environments
So, since UiPath can’t access the VM’s interface directly, it accesses the VM’s streamed image, through Citrix using OCR Technology.
You may also go through the recording of UiPath Citrix Automation where our certified experts of Uipath online training have explained the concepts in depth.
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Hands-On: Automating Task on a Desktop Application
Consider a scenario where you want to open a Notepad in the virtual environment and want to type something in it. How will you automate this task?
Well, follow the below steps to do so:
Step 1: Open the UiPath Studio and create a Blank Project. Inside the Blank Project, drag a Sequence inside which the automation would be designed.
Step 2: Now, go to the Ribbon Tab in UiPath and choose the Recording option. In the recording option, choose the Citrix Recorder. This will open your Citrix Recording tab. Refer below.
- The first step is to click on the icon of Notepad. To do that, choose the Click Image option from the Recording Tab, and drag your mouse near the icon. Then click on OK, in the dialog box that opens up. This step will open the Notepad. Refer below.
- Now, you have to type something in Notepad. To do that, choose the Type option from the Recording Tab and then drag the mouse over the area you want to enter text.
- In the dialog box, that opens up, mention your text and press Enter. This will enter your text into Notepad.
- Once the text is entered, the next step is to close the Notepad. To do that, click again on Click Image from the Recording Tab and mention the region across the cross button.
- After that, click on OK, in the dialog box that opens up, and again choose Click Image to save the file. Refer below.
- Now, to save this automation, choose the Save & Exit option from the Recording Tab and this will redirect you to the UiPath Dashboard. Now, execute this automation by clicking on the Run option from the Ribbon Tab.
The designed automation will open the Notepad in a virtual environment, type the text and close the file without saving.
Now, that you know how to use Citrix Automation, let me take you through another hands-on, in which we will perform Image & Text automation in an application.
Hands-On: Image & Text Automation
Problem Statement: Consider an application is running in a virtual environment. Now, once we enter the account number, amount, choose transaction type, a transaction ID is automatically generated. Out task is to, display the Transaction ID in a message box once the transaction is successfully completed.
Follow the below steps to execute the automation:
Step 1: Open the UiPath Studio and create a Blank Project. Inside the Blank Project, drag a Sequence inside which the automation would be designed.
Step 2: Now, go to the Ribbon Tab in UiPath and choose the Recording option. In the recording option, choose the Citrix Recorder. This will open your Recording tab. Refer below.
Step 3: Now, switch to your virtual environments. Our first step is to enter details in the Account Number, Amount and Deposit Notes. To do that follow the below steps.
- Choose the Click Image option from the Recording Tab, and drag your mouse near the Account Number. Then indicate a point on the screen where you want to click. Here, I want to click in the text box available after Account Number. Then click on OK. This step will put your cursor in the text box before the Accounts.
- Now, to enter text into this text box, use the Type option from the Recording Tab and enter the text. After that press on Enter.
Now, similarly, implement the above two steps for Amount and Deposit Notes.
- Next, you have to choose the radio button for the Transaction Type. To do that, choose the Click Text option from the Recording Tab, and select the region around Cheque. Once it is done, in the Screen Scraper Wizard, match the text to Cheque by typing in the Search text area. After that, click on Finish. This will select the radio button beside Cheque.
- Now, once you have entered all the details, your next step is to save the transaction. To do that, again choose the Click Image activity from the Recording Tab and drag your mouse over the option Save. Then click on OK, in the dialog box that opens up. This will save your transaction and generate a transaction ID.
- Next, to read the Transaction ID, you have to choose the Screen Scraping option from the Recording Tab and choose Scrape Relative.
- Then select the Transaction ID, and indicate on the screen, from where you want to store the text. Refer below.
- In the Screen Scraper Wizard that opens up click on Finish. Then save your automation, by clicking on the Save & Exit option from the Recording tab. This will redirect you to the UiPath Dashboard.
- Now, in the variable section, you will see that there is a variable automatically being created. Well, you have to use this variable, to display the output. Refer below.
- To display the output, drag a Message Box into the Sequence and mention the variable in the Message Box.
- Now, execute your automation by clicking on the Run option from the Ribbon Tab. You will see that details are getting filled automatically and a Transaction ID is being displayed in a message box.
So, folks, that’s an end to this article on UiPath Citrix Automation. I hope you enjoyed reading this article on UiPath Citrix Automation and learned how to automate tasks in virtual environments. If you wish to further learn about Robotic Process Automation and build your career as an RPA Developer, then you can check out our course on Robotic Process Automation Using UiPath. This course will let you enhance your knowledge on RPA and will give you an extensive hands-on experience in UiPath.
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