Understanding User Interface Components Part2
This chapter is a continuation of the previous one and will talk about further user interface components of UiPath in detail.
The Activities Panel
This panel is on the left side of UiPath studio and has all the small tasks or activities. These tasks or activities can be easily added to the current project by drag and drop. It also provides a search box for quick access. Expand all and collapse all options gives user flexibility to show and hide all the activities at once.
With the help of Show Activities list, we can even show or hide Favorite, Recent, Available and Compatibility folders of activity. Similar to other panels on the interface it also has the options of Float, Dock, Auto Hide and Dock as document.
The following screen shot will give an insight of The Quick Access Toolbar −
In the above screen shot you can notice the activity panel.
The Library Panel
The library panel permits us to reuse automation. We have some Samples as well as Snippets in library panel which can be reused. It also provides a search box for finding the items faster.
Expand all and Collapse all options gives user flexibility to show and hide at once. Like other panels on the interface it also has the options of Float, Dock, Auto Hide and Dock as document. When we start UiPath, the library pane is collapsed and we need to click on it to get all the options.
The following screen shots give an insight of it −
Now after clicking Library icon we will get the complete library panel as follows −
The Project Panel
The project panel permits us to view the contents of the current project. We can also explore the files in current project folder with the help of one click on file explorer option in project panel. It has quick navigation link to the team tab so that we can connect to the source control.
Like other panels on the interface it also has the options of Float, Dock, Auto Hide and Dock as document. When we start UiPath, the Project pane is collapsed and we need to click on it to get all the options.
The following screen shot gives an insight of the Project panel −
Now after clicking Library icon we will get the complete library panel as follows −
The Properties Panel
The properties panel is at the right side of UiPath studio. It enables us to view and change the properties of a selected activity or task. In other words, we can say that handling of configuration like setting the output of a particular activity or task is done in the properties panel.
Similar to other panels on the interface it also has the options of Float, Dock, Auto Hide and Dock as document.
The following screen shot will give an insight of the Property panel −
The Outline Panel
The Outline Panel is just below the properties panel in right side of UiPath studio. As the name suggests, it provides the project hierarchy along with all the variables and nodes. We can also highlight any activity or task in this panel by selecting that activity or task in the Designer panel. We can also select any specific activity or task in this panel itself.
The following diagram will give an insight of the outline panel −
The Output Panel
The Output Panel is at left side in the bottom of UiPath studio. It provides us the following features and functionalities −
It displays the output of the Log Messages or Write Line activities/tasks.
Exceptions, if any, for the packages will be displayed in the Output panel.
With the help of buttons in this panel header we can show or hide messages having different log levels.
We can see more information from the displayed message by double-clicking it.
It enables us to copy the information also.
Other main functionality of this panel is to show the logs, on debugging, for when an activity or task starts executing and until it ends.
Logs and other data can be erased from this panel by using Clear All button. It can display 2000 lines at a time.
The following screen shot will give an insight about the Output Panel −
The Locals Panel
We can see The Locals Panel only while debugging. It shows all the variables that are in the scope of the currently running activity or task. We can also track the usage of variables during execution and can see their values while they change as well.
The following screen shot will give insight about The Locals Panel −
The Context Menu
Basically, the Context Menu enables us to perform various operation on our workflow despite it is a sequence or a flowchart. To make Context Menu appear, we need to right click an activity or task inside our workflow.
The following screen shot shows various fields in The Context Menu −
Descriptions of Context Menu Fields
Context menu contains various fields that are explained as below −
View Parent − Displays the parent of the selected activity or task. The condition is that the activity must be a child activity.
Cut − Cuts the selected activity and puts it onto the clipboard just like MS-Word.
Copy − Copies the selected activity and put it onto the clipboard as like MS-Word.
Paste − Inserts the content of the clipboard at the current location.
Delete − Deletes the target activity or task.
Annotations − Allows to insert, add, edit, delete, hide and show annotations to the activities in the workflow.
Copy as image − Makes a screenshot of the content displayed in the Designer panel.
Save as image − Makes a screenshot of the content displayed in the Designer panel along with giving a prompt to the user for saving it.
Create variable − Creates a variable in the Variable panel.
Remove Sequence − Removes the selected sequence activity.
Surround with Try and Catch − Inserts the selected activity or task in a Try Catch block.
Extract as Workflow − Creates a new workflow which contains the selected activity or task along with the intention of breaking down a large project into smaller one.
Open Workflow − Opens the workflow which has been created after selecting the option Extract as workflow.
Enable Activity (Ctrl+E) − Enables the previously disabled activity.
Disable Activity (Ctrl + D) − Disables a selected activity and places that activity inside a comment out activity.
Toggle Breakpoint − Marks the selected activity or task as a breakpoint for debugging.
Help − Provides help to the user from UiPath studio.
