Task Bot package

Use the Run, Pause, and Stop actions in the Task Bot package to manage running one or more child bots from a parent bot or with a third-party software using an API.

Build smaller bots that automate a single task and run them from a parent bot. For example, build a Login child bot to enter the username and password into a web form and click submit. The Login child bot accepts credentials from the parent bot and returns a success message, and then the parent bot can call the subsequent CreateInvoice child bot. The Login child bot should also contain error handling logic in case the credentials are incorrect.

This practice of building smaller, self-contained bots enables a user to reuse the bot logic in a greater number of tasks, and makes error handling and troubleshooting easier. This also decreases the amount of time spent building and maintaining bots. As a result, an organization is able to rapidly scale their automation initiatives. The Login child bot from this example can be reused in any task that involves providing credentials to a login page on a website.

When you run a TaskBot that calls itself repeatedly until you choose to stop it, the bot runs infinitely and, as a result, encounters an error related to stack memory issues. We recommend that you create a parent and a child bot with different names and then run the child bot from the parent bot.

Note:

CSV/text file and Recorder sessions cannot be shared across bots. You can share Excel sessions across bots by using a session variable. See Example of sharing an Excel session between bots.
When you use a file type variable in the Run Task, ensure you have set the default value in the variable. Without default value, the bot displays an error on execution.

In addition, running child bots from a parent bot offers greater control over data in the following ways:

Users can configure the variables in the child bot to control the direction in which information can be exchanged by selecting from the following options:
- Use as input: The variable holds a value that the child bot accepts from a parent bot or third-party software.
- Use as output: The variable holds a value that the child bot passes to the parent bot or third-party software.
- Both: The value can be passed in both directions.
- Neither: The variable is confined to this bot; it cannot be shared across other bots.
See Create a variable
Other users can reuse child bots without viewing their contents.

The Task Bot package includes the following actions:


Action	Description
Pause	Temporarily pauses the running bot. Use the Pause action to modify data or to verify the status of a relevant component. When the bot reaches the Pause action during run time, a Resume button appears. You must click Resume for the bot to continue to the next action.
Run	Runs the selected task multiple times for a specified number of times or for a number of hours. The task can be repeated until the user chooses to stop it. You can save the output values to a dictionary variable, where each key in the dictionary is the variable name and corresponding value from the child bot. Or, you can map each dictionary key to a variable to store the corresponding value. Note: When you create a TaskBot with dependencies, ensure that the both the parent and child bot are in the same workspace (public or private). You cannot call a public bot from a private bot. To do so, you should first either check-out or clone the public bot into the private workspace and then check-in both the bots to the public workspace. See Using the Run action. For an example, see Example of using the Run action.
Stop	Stops the running bot. For example, use the Stop action to terminate the bot if a condition is met, such as if the bot encounters a file larger than 100 MB.

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