Blue Prism 6.6: September 2019

Blue Prism can now be deployed and used on devices that enforce Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) compliant algorithms. A number of changes have been made to ensure that Blue Prism adheres to the required standards. The Blue Prism application server, interactive client, and runtime resources now check to see if the security policy to use FIPS compliant algorithms for encryption, hashing, and signing is enabled on the device and where it is enabled:

• Non-FIPS compliant encryption schemes cannot be selected in the Encryption Scheme and Work Queue system settings on the interactive client.
• Non-FIPS compliant encryption schemes cannot be selected when configuring an encryption scheme for application servers. Application servers that are already configured with a non-FIPS compliant encryption scheme will not run and log an error.
• Any AutomateC commands that call user configured schemes that are not FIPS compliant cannot be run.
• Advisory messages now display when attempting to log into interactive clients or start a runtime resources that reference a database with a non-FIPS compliant encryption scheme. It is still possible to log into such devices but processes and objects that reference a non-FIPS compliant encryption scheme will not run until the scheme is updated.

The following updates have been made to the Data Gateways functionality:

• Data from work queue snapshots can now be sent to Data Gateways by selecting the new option in System > Data Gateways > Settings. A new option (Send work queue analysis snapshot data to data gateways) has also been added to the configuration wizard so the snapshot work queue data can be included in the output sent to specified Data Gateways endpoints.
• If published dashboard data is configured to be sent to Data Gateways and a published dashboard is subsequently deleted or renamed, a message displays advising users that the change may not be automatically reflected in existing the Data Gateways settings. The dashboard is ignored if the Data Gateways settings are not updated to reflect the changes.
• Session log data that is sent to Data Gateways now includes the name and ID of the resource on which the session is running.
• Stage end times for Page, Action, and Process stages are now included in session log data sent to Data Gateways. In order for this information to be captured, data for all stage types is sent to the Data Gateways engine when a stage ends – previously data would be sent when a stage started.
• The Data Gateways file output has been updated so it no longer contains duplicate metadata that is not required.
• The ability to select and delete multiple Data Gateway outputs has been added to System > Data Gateways > Configuration.

An updated version of the Data Gateways user guide has been published to reflect the latest updates and changes.

A number of changes have been implemented to improve database management:

• The format in which objects and processes are stored has been optimized to reduce their size in the database. All new objects and processes created in version 6.6 will utilize the new format and pre-existing objects and processes will be updated to the new format when they are opened in version 6.6.

Objects and processes exported from version 6.6 cannot be used in previous versions of Blue Prism.

• The default Stage logging settings have been updated for a number of stage types. The default settings for stage types are now:
  • Enabled – The default setting for Decision, Choice, Exception, and Note stages
  • Disabled – The default setting for Recover and Resume stages
  • Errors only – The default setting for all other stages
• The visibility of logging levels has been improved in a number of areas to allow users to make informed decisions about the levels applied to maximize database space and improve performance:
  • When importing an object or process, information about the configured logging levels is displayed.
  • The resources list in Resources > Management now includes and can be sorted by logging level.

The Blue Prism license activation process has been updated for scenarios where users are prompted to activate the license key.

A change has been made to now include the relevant Post Completion Delay and Scheduled Sessions data when exporting or importing a release. The following conditions apply:

• When importing schedules that were exported prior to this release and therefore do not include this data, the Post Completion Delay setting is applied with a value of 0.
• Scheduled Session data that has been exported without the associated processes and resources must be imported into an environment where any referenced processes and resources already exist in order to work as expected.

A new status for schedules, Completed with Exceptions, has been introduced to highlight any schedule that has completed with one or more failed tasks. Such schedules are marked with a purple flag in the Recent Activities screen in Control Room.

Blue Prism is now compatible with web pages and applications presented in Firefox version 52. Blue Prism is compatible with Firefox versions 52 to 68, see Notices for details.

Support has been added for invasive automation techniques when working with 64-bit target applications.

The Show Next Holiday Dates check box has been added to the Public Holidays section of the System > Calendar screen. When the check box is selected for a calendar, the date of the next instance of each holiday is displayed.

A new AutomateC command is available that returns a list of sessions running on a resource. The /resourcestatus command can produce results for a specific resource or all the resources to which the specified user has access. A further variable can be used to return only those resources that started during a specified time period. Further information can be found in the in-product help.

It is no longer possible to create published dashboards with the same name as existing ones. During an upgrade to 6.6, published dashboards that have duplicate names are renamed with a numbered suffix.

Data Gateways configurations that are set up to include published dashboard data must be manually assessed to ensure the required data is still being sent to the associated outputs. See the Upgrade Notices.

Creating and importing processes and objects is now audited at the server rather than at the client.

The Status column in Session Management can now be filtered to show sessions with a status of Stopping. As a Stopping status is included in the license count of concurrent sessions, this improves the visibility of how many sessions are in use.

The dynamic action naming functionality, where stages are automatically named according to the selected action, no longer causes excessive memory usage on clients with large volumes of actions.

An issue where Blue Prism freezes when interacting with Internet Explorer when in User Interface Automation mode (UIA), either when attempting to highlight an element, or when used in a wait stage, has now been addressed.

The speed of processes running on a runtime resource that interact with User Interface Automation (UIA) elements has been improved.

When consuming web services exposed by the Blue Prism platform, Blue Prism now uses the Transport Layer Security (TLS) version determined by the operating system on which it is running rather. Previously, only version 1.2 could be used which could prevent compatibility with older applications.

When performing a database upgrade, if the user does not have View Server State permission, they are no longer presented with the options to migrate session log data. This is default functionality and an error message no longer displays if the user performing the upgrade does not have the required permission.

Blue Prism was unable to interact with Chrome or Firefox when processes launched a locally installed application followed by a browser-based application. This issue only occurred if a spy mode setting had been used prior to using the browser automation mode. This issue has now been resolved.

The following issues affecting the Resources panel of Control Room have been resolved:

• An intermittent error no longer occurs when moving multiple runtime resources within the Resources pane.
• Performance has been enhanced when running Blue Prism with large numbers of resources.

Schedule logs can now be successfully exported if the associated session data has been deleted.

The time taken to populate the version history for an object or process has been improved.

An issue that incorrectly prevented users from viewing errors in Process Studio has been resolved. This affected users if they did not have the Configuration Design Controls permission enabled on their user role. The issue only occurred in Blue Prism version 6.5 when the process validation check boxes on the Design Control screen in the audit settings were not selected.

An issue in Process Studio where an exception handled in a sub-process would cause the process to stop, regardless of whether the Break on Exceptions option in the Debug menu was selected, has been addressed.

The following attributes can now be used to identify and automate browser-based application elements in the Application Modeler:

• Web Height
• Web Width
• Web X
• Web Y

These attributes can be used with all spy modes except from User Interface Automation (UIA) mode.

To improve performance when opening a objects and processes in Studio, calls to the server are now suspended whilst validation is completed.

An issue that intermittently produced an error when adding or removing work queue tags in quick succession, has been resolved.

Testing a .NET Remoting connection to a server that the client is already connected to, no longer causes a timeout.

An intermittent issue where clicking Test Connection in the Connection Configuration window started a data monitor has been fixed.

An issue that prevented certificates stored in LocalMachine/CurrentUser from being selected in a SOAP web service object has been addressed.

As part of this fix, users are now informed if a selected certificate is not valid.

The date format used when querying session logs has been standardized to ensure such queries are correctly evaluated for all locales.

An issue that prevented schedule expiry dates from being saved has been addressed.

If dashboards fail to load when viewing the interactive client homepage, a message now displays to inform users that the dashboards are not currently available.

The validation for duplicate environment variable names is no longer case sensitive. Previously, entering a duplicate name containing characters in a different letter case resulted in an error.

Data Items which get their value from an environment variable now display the initial value within the Studio interface. It is no longer necessary to open the Data Item to view this value.

An issue that allowed objects and processes being edited by a user to be unlocked by a user who did not have the appropriate permissions has been resolved.

When renaming a duplicate page in a process, the new name is now displayed in the page properties box.

Changing the Type of a nested collection (Collection Properties > Fields) now correctly updates the collection's hierarchy when viewed in another stage. Previously, the changes to the hierarchy were not updated when viewed from other stages.

The View Process option is no longer available on the shortcut menu for Page Reference stages.

Changing the Exposure setting of a Password Data Item from Environment to None now correctly removes the initial value.

A warning is now displayed when attempting to run the AutomateC.exe /createqueue command to create a queue that already exists.

An issue that produced an error when clicking in the Current Values window of a collection that had no rows defined has been addressed. The error only occurred if the related process had already modified the collection using the Collections > Add Row action.

Error handling has been improved on the database installer to ensure compatibility with all languages.

The Today filter in the Created column in Queue Management now correctly displays only those items that were created on the current day.

The runtime error displayed when attempting to work a queue that is locked by another resource now displays the name of the queue and the resource by which it is locked.

The telnet command, availability, now returns a string rather than a number.

Blue Prism licenses are no longer removed from sessions with a status of Stopping. Licenses are now only made available if the session has completely stopped ensuring that each session completes all necessary operations before the license is removed.

An issue that prevented the scheduler from running when using Blue Prism version 6.5 with Turkish regional locale settings has been addressed. This issue also affected schedules created using Blue Prism version 6.5 with Turkish regional locale settings.

Any schedules that were created using Blue Prism version 6.5 on a Turkish operating system will need to be deleted and recreated after upgrading to this release. For more information, see Upgrade notices.

The time taken to launch an instance of Blue Prism running a high number of resources has been improved.

When starting a process on a runtime resource, the process name is now displayed on the Resource Log window.

A change has been implemented to ensure that, where a value is present in a credential's Additional Properties, this is indicated by string of dots in the Value field of the Credentials Details dialog.

Importing an unretired process into a database that already contains a retired version of that process no longer unretires the existing process. This applies if the process has been imported individually or as part of a release.

The Back button is no longer available when a release import is in progress.

Clicking the reset button in Object and Process Studio now refreshes the content of any web API definition referenced by the object or process, ensuring changes to those definitions are captured.

It is no longer possible to import a release via the command line when using the NHS edition of Blue Prism as Release Management functionality is not included with this license type.

Additional validation has been added to the following actions to ensure that the specified queue exists before attempting to perform the action:

• Get Pending Items
• Get Next Item
• Get Report Data
• Is Item In Queue

The Get Worksheet actions no longer use the clipboard when retrieving data from worksheets. This ensures that errors do not occur when using multiple resources on the same machine where simultaneous access to the clipboard might be required. This change affects the following actions:

• Get Worksheet As Collection
• Get Worksheet As Collection (Fast)
• Get Worksheet Names
• Get Worksheet Name
• Get Worksheet Position

This also addresses the following issue where unicode characters were not being successfully copied from Excel worksheets to data collections when using the GetWorkSheetAsCollection action.

The default data type for the Value input of the Start stage in the Append Field (Number) action has been changed from Text to Number. The corresponding data item now also defaults to Number.