Add and apply transformations

Transformations can be used in the Recording Service to:

  • Remove sensitive data that has been captured by the Recorder.

    For example, if it is recorded in the log that a user has opened a document called PO-BankOfAmerica.pdf or BillGatesSalary.xls, it is best to replace these with redacted strings like opening PO-XXX.pdf and opening XXXsalary.xls respectively. To do so, you will need to configure transformations as regular expressions and apply them to selected logs.

  • Combine the names of several similar events to a common name.

    If you notice similar unique strings like opening PO-BankOfAmerica and opening PO-CitiBank, you can use transformations to convert these events to a common type, for example, opening new PO. This new event can then be marked as either a start event or end event in the Task Definition editor.

Transformations complement the Obfuscate user data function.

Transformations can greatly affect the result of the automatic task definition in Process Intelligence, and they cannot be undone.

Prerequisites

Complete the following steps before applying transformations in production environments:

  1. Record a representative sample of logs for creating and testing regular expressions.

    To do this:

    1. Open the Recording Service website and clickRecorders in the navigation menu.
    2. Select a Recorder instance.
    3. Make sure the correct template is assigned to this instance.
    4. Click Start.

  2. Examine the data that may appear in logs and select texts that should remain confidential.

    To do this:

    1. Click Logs in the navigation menu.

    2. Select the log and click its LogID.

      A window with information about the selected log displays.

      This window shows all the events recorded in the current log. The selected event is highlighted and the associated screenshot is displayed, provided that you had enabled screenshot recording. The path to the application name or URL is displayed below the screenshot.

      Inspect all event names and text in the URL, for example, titles, names, addresses, and other fragments of texts that should remain confidential.

  3. Prepare regular expressions and replacement strings.

    Examples:

    What to look for

    Regular expression to replace

    Replacement string

    John

    (J|j)ohn.*

    FIRST_NAME

    [email protected]

    [email protected]

    \w+.\w+@blueprism\.(com)

    [email protected]

    Customer: John Doe

    Customer:[\s+\w+]+

    Customer: Customer's Name

  4. Add transformations and apply them to one or two logs to make sure the changes are correct. For more information, see Add transformations and Post-recording transformation.

  5. Once you are satisfied with the changes, apply transformations to all recorded logs, or add them to the template to transform data on the fly.

Add transformations

To add a transformation:

  1. Click Transformations in the navigation menu.
  2. Click Add Transformation.
  3. Specify the transformation parameters:
    • Regular expression–To search for a text string, enter a regular expression using Regex syntax.
    • Replacement – To replace instances of the text string in logs with another string, enter the replacement string.
    • Case insensitive – By default, the search is case sensitive. If this option is selected, the search will be case insensitive.

If you edit or delete a transformation, the changes will apply to all templates that include this transformation.

Apply transformations

On-the-fly transformation

To apply transformations while recording data to logs, add transformations to a template and assign it to a Recorder instance.

  1. Click Templates in the navigation menu.
  2. Click a template name or create a new one.
  3. Click Transformations and then Add item.
  4. In the next window, select the required transformations and click Add.

  5. Assign the transformation to a Recorder instance.

    1. Click Recorders in the navigation menu to assign the template to a Recorder instance.

      The list of connected recorders displays.

    2. Mark the recorder instance on which you want to set up a template and start recording.

    3. Click Set Template.

      The list of available templates displays.

    4. Click the template you want to use, and then click Select.

    5. The recording runs automatically when the Start recording when assigned to Recorder option is enabled in the template. If this doesn't happen, click Start to run the recording.

Post-recording transformation

You can apply transformations to recorded logs. To do this:

  1. Click Logs in the navigation menu.
  2. Select the required logs.
  3. Click Apply transformation.
  4. In the next window, select the transformation and click Apply to selected logs.

If you cancel a running transformation, the transformed portion cannot be undone.