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Table of Contents
1. Recording
2. Variables
3. Files / Folders
4. Moved Icons/Menus
5. Create Exe Feature
6. Internet
7. Scripting
8. Tasks
9. If Condition
10. Loop
11. Web Recorder
12. Remote Deployment & Deployment Manager
13. Visualize Technology
14. Workflow Designer
15. Get Text
16. Manage Windows Control
17. Report Designer
18. Triggers
19. Error Handling
20. Terminal Emulator
21. Others
22.
More Questions?
1. Recording
You can easily create new task using SMART task recorder.
Click 'RECORD'; perform the activities on your computer
that you want to record, click 'STOP' and then 'SAVE' the
recorded activities to a task. You can play back your recorded
actions by using the 'RUN' button and selecting the task
that you saved. For further details refer to the Help file.
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No. Automation Anywhere's
SMART Automation Technology
automatically adjust to changes of window size and location.
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You can switch back and forth between various applications
while recording.
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Auto
Login allows scheduled tasks to run in stealth mode when
computer is locked. When you schedule a task you can enable
Auto Login capability.
To
enable the task to run in stealth mode when computer is
locked go to Properties->Security-> Run this task in stealth
mode option. This will hide the execution.
If
you want to lock mouse and keyboard just select ‘Disable
mouse and keyboard for this task’ option from the same location.
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Yes.
Automation Anywhere offers unique Auto Login technology.
Auto Login allows scheduled tasks to run even when computer
is locked. When you schedule a task you can enable Auto
Login capability. If Auto Login in enabled, and if computer
is locked, Automation Anywhere will unlock the computer,
run the task and lock it back.
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Yes.
Hold the Escape Key for 2-3 seconds.
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Yes. Press ‘Pause’ on your keyboard. This will temporarily
stop the execution of the task. Click on the ‘Resume’ button
that will appear at the bottom right hand corner of your
screen to continue playing the task from where it was paused.
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One of the distinguishing features of Automation Anywhere
is its ability to run tasks in background. Advanced technologies
like Web recorder, Object recorder and hundreds of powerful
actions allow you to run many of your tasks in background.
Few tasks like task recorded with standard recorder requires
control of mouse and keyboard and therefore cannot run in
background. Few other obvious exceptions include commands
that requires screen, like taking screenshots or comparing
images on the screen, but a vast majority of actions allow
the task to run in the background.
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Yes.
Automation Anywhere supports all the remote access software.
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You
can run the same task with different files of the same program.
By default the task will only run on the specific file(s)
it was recorded on. However you can check ‘Enable this task
to run with other similar files and windows 'option under
the Properties> General tab. Now for example if you recorded
a task on abc.xls, you can run this task on def.xls, xyz.xls
or any other *.xls files
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Yes
it is possible to password protect a task. While saving
the task click on the Password Protection checkbox and specify
the password. Alternatively, you can password protect a
saved task by going into the Security tab in the main screen
of Automation Anywhere.
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2. Variables
You can use Variable inside different commands like
‘Insert Keystroke’, ‘Open Program/File’, ‘Files/Folders’.
In all the commands variable names are specified by
enclosing the variable names in between the $ sign.
For e.g. $Password$
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Yes, you can use a variable in any Task.
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List
variable can have many different text values. When I
use the list variable which value will be executed?
Every time a task comes across a list variable during
the playback, the next text value in the sequence of
the list variable is used. If the list variable reaches
the last text value then its subsequent reference will
return the first text value.
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Yes, you can store any special character as a text
value in a variable.
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I have
to run a task that needs to use a different value for
a variable in every repeat. How do I do that with your
Automation Software?
Automation Anywhere provides "Loop – End Loop" commands.
You can place your repetitive task inside a Loop – End
Loop block. You can use a List variable inside it for
data that keeps on changing with each loop.
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What
are these System Variables $CurrentDirectory$, $FolderName$
and $FileName$?
Consider a command in the task -
"Loop for Folders in a <folder>".
Here the <folder> is the specified folder on which the
Loop is going to be executed. Its full path is available
at execution time by the System Variable "$CurrentDirectory$"
If 'n' is the number of folders in the specified folders,
the loop will be executed 'n' times. Each time the $FolderName$
variable will have the next folder's name inside the
specified folder.
Now if the task is like
"Loop for Files in a <folder>".
Then $FileName$ will represent the next file's name
inside the specified folder.
Outside the loop $CurrentDirectory$, $FolderName$ and
$FileName$ will have no data in them.
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3. Files
/ Folders
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If I use a Files / Folders
command like "Delete Files 'c:\MyPrgs\*.*' ", will this
delete all the files in the subfolders too?
No, this command will delete all the files in the
current folder only. In the above example it will delete
all the files in 'c:\MyPrgs' directory only.
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Can I get all the
file names in a folder to perform some operation on
it?
Yes, you can use the "Loop for Files in a <folder>"command.
Here $FileName$ will have next File name inside the
specified folder in each Loop execution. You can use
this System variable to perform any operation inside
the Loop - End Loop block.
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Can I provide value
for file/folder name when the task runs?
Yes. Automation Anywhere has a 'Prompt' command to
provide value at run time. You can provide value for
any window, prompt for file/folder and even prompt for
yes/no as well.
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4. Moved Icons/Menus
No, the SMART Automation Technology built into Automation
Anywhere provides a powerful feature that lets you use
your original task. You can check an option from Tools
> Options > “Move Icons/Menus”. When you select this
to play a task under this mode it opens the same program
that was opened while recording even if the menus have
moved.
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- Will my
task play correctly even if files, program shortcut
icons in the Quick Launch and the Desktop have moved?
Apart from a few exceptions, opening of most of the
files and shortcut icons from both Quick Launch and
Desktop will be played back even if the icons have moved
from their original location. Note that, the ‘Move Icons/Menus’
should be checked in Tools > Options menu for this feature
to be enabled.
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5. Create Exe Feature
This feature is available only in Automation Anywhere
Premier version. For more information about Automation
Anywhere versions check
Automation Software.
To create exe right click on any task and click on
'Create Exe' menu.
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No, even if you uninstall your Automation Anywhere
program the Exe will work. The Exe is independent of
Automation Anywhere.
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I
have set most of the properties like email notification,
speed, etc for a task. If I create an Exe and delete
the task, will the Exe retain all these properties?
The created Exe will retain all the properties set
at that time. Once the Exe is created, it is independent
of Automation Anywhere and its task. So it will retain
all its properties.
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6. Internet
When you want to confirm that a task has completed
running, you can use E-mail Notification. An e-mail
will be sent to the addressed specified in the field
associated with it regarding the status of the Task
that was run.
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This Button will open up the Options user interface
that allows you to set the outgoing mail server and
its port number. Every mail that you send or receive
requires the mail server. You have to obtain this information
from your Internet E-mail provider or you may obtain
it from the configuration section of your E-mail program.
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Does
your Automation Software provide any facility to send
an email?
Yes Automation Anywhere provides a command ‘Send
mail’. You can use this command to send e-mails to anyone.
Note that this command will get information about the
e-mail Server and its port number from the Mail Setting
in the Options Menu every time the Task is run.
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7. Scripting
Yes. Not only you can integrate disparate scripts
like VBScripts & JScripts within an Automation Anywhere
task but you can use in-built automation services like
repeat, notification, etc., on VBScript & JScripts as
well. For more information about Automation Anywhere
check
Automation Software
Automation Anywhere Editor has a command “Run Script”.
You can use this command to Run your VBScript or JScript
files from Automation Anywhere. You can even pass arguments
to your VBScript and JScript files as you might have
been doing it to run it through command prompt.
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You can use the 'If Script Successful' subcommand
inside the 'If command'. This command will Run the Script
and will execute the 'If - End If' block only if the
Script ran successfully.
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8. Tasks
Yes, you can create a new Task in which you can use ‘Run Task’ command to run your individual tasks.
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You can use the 'If Task Successful' subcommand inside
the 'If command'. This command will run the Task and
will execute the 'If - End If' block only if the Task
ran successfully.
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9. If Condition
Yes. There are number of conditions in IF Command.
One of them is “If Window Exists”.
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Yes, you can use If Condition (If Application Running)
to see if any application is running or not. You and
specify the exe name that you want to test in the If
condition. For e.g. consider the following script
If Application Running ('F:\WINNT\system32\calc.exe')
Comments: Add your commands when the Calculate program is running
End If
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10. Loop
A loop command allows repeated execution of a group
of commands when these commands are placed inside the
'Loop – End Loop' block. The number of the times these
commands will be executed will depend on the type of
Loop command selected.
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I want to do
particular action on all the folders inside a folder.
How do I do that using your Automation Software?
You can use the Loop command (Start Loop “Each folder
in ‘<folder>’) in Automation Anywhere. If there are
‘n’ folders in the specified folder then this loop will
be executed ‘n’ times. You can get each folder’s name
using the $FolderName$ System Variable inside this loop
block.
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Can I get all
the file names inside a folder using the Loop command?
Yes, you can get the file name using the System variable
$FileName$ inside a specified folder by using the Loop
command " Start Loop ‘Each File in ‘<folder>’ ".
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11. Web Recorder
Web Recorder reliably and accurately records and
automates web based tasks. Automation Anywhere Web Recorder
understands all the web controls. You can open or close
browser, import data from the web, download files, copy
data, check for broken links and much more.
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Extracting structured data from the internet automatically
with the help of scripts is web data extraction. Automation
Anywhere has a powerful web recorder that makes it easy
to record a web data extraction task instead of writing
an automation script from scratch.
To extract data you can do it 2 ways.
1. Click on the web recorder and specify URL. Navigate
to the page where you want to extract data. Click on
Extract Table button on bottom bar and point at the
data. Specify the filename where you want to extract
data and stop recording. Save this task. Now when you
run this task, Automation Anywhere will open this website,
go to the desired page and extract data into file.
2. The other option to extract data is to use the
Task Editor. In the task editor click on Web Recorder
-> Extract Table. Enter the URL and click launch. Click
on the Capture button to capture the table you want
to extract from the webpage. Select the file you want
the table to be saved in and click Save. Automation
Anywhere will extract the table in the specified table.
You can also schedule this task to run at a pre-defined
time.
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To check for broken links with Web Recorder in the
Task Editor click on Web Recorder -> Find Broken Links.
Enter the URL and specify if you want the entire website
to be checked or just the specified webpage. Enter the
path of the file to save the results and click Save.
Automation Anywhere will check for broken links as specified.
You can schedule to run this task at pre-defined time.
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Extracting unstructured data from the internet is
possible with Automation Anywhere. Automation Anywhere
as a screen scraping software is both flexible enough
to suit any kind of web technology or page format and
is also non-intrusive.
To extract data with Web Recorder in the Task Editor
click on Web Recorder -> Extract Data. Enter the website
URL and click launch. Click on the capture button to
capture the unstructured data. Data can be captured
before a certain keyword or after a certain keyword.
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To capture image links, radio buttons, text boxes,
check boxes and other web controls Automation Anywhere
Web Recorder -> Manage Web Controls allows capture of
web controls and assign them Variables.
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12. Remote Deployment & Deployment Manager
Automation Anywhere provides two ways to deploy a
task by directly clicking on the Deploy button or by
using the Deployment Manager.
Clicking on the Deploy button deploys the selected
task whereas going through the Deployment Manager you
can deploy any task on your task list or deploy once
again an already deployed task, get the status of tasks
deployed, schedule a time to deploy tasks and even cleanup
tasks from remote machines.
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13. Visualize Technology
Automation Anywhere Premier has an in-built Visualize
Technology that allows for pictorial and storyboard
views of the created task. Visualize Technology is used
in the different views in Task Editor, to capture images
on demand with SnapPoint and Image Recognition with
the IF command.
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In Automation Anywhere Premier when a task is
recorded the images of all mouse clicks and keystrokes
are captured automatically. But when a task is created
in Task Editor the images need to be captured on demand.
SnapPoint allows you to capture images on demand; just
enable SnapPoint and set it at across lines of code
you want the images to be captured.
On the other hand if you have upgraded Automation
Anywhere from 3.5 to a higher version of Premier
then for all the tasks that you have images need to
be captured. SnapPoint is a useful tool for capturing
images.
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Image Recognition is another feature of the Visualize
Technology available in Automation Anywhere Premier.
Using the Visualize Technology, Image Recognition allows
the recognition and comparison of images from file or
window.
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14. Workflow Designer
Workflow Designer is a intuitive graphical view of
automating IT business processes. Automation Anywhere
Premier shows a graphical representation of conditional
logic, task initiation and branching based on variables
defined.
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Workflow Designer is an intuitive graphical representation
of a task.
'Open Workflow Designer (Shortcut Ctrl+K). Drag-n-drop the objects from the Toolkit to design an entire business process.
Workflow Designer provides four objects to design
a Workflow:
- Start
- Run Task
- Condition (IF)
- End
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Running a workflow is very easy. Just click on the
Run button in the Workflow Designer. The other option
is to click on the workflow in 'MyWorkflow' file in
the Task List and click Run.
On running the workflow through the Workflow Designer,
it highlights the part of the workflow that is being
carried out. Once, the workflow has completed running,
it highlights the complete path taken.
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15. Get Text
- How do Get Text in Automation
Anywhere?
Get Text command lets you work with
windows controls. It allows to extract a value from
windows controls that cannot be selected and copied
using standard clipboard operations.
To Get Text go to Task Editor and click on Get Text.
Select the window from which you need to get text and
click on capture and select the text you want copied.
You can also assign the value to a variable.
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16. Manage Windows Control
- How to use and manage
Windows Controls to get checkbox or radio button status
in Automation Anywhere?
Manage Windows Controls
command allows you to work with windows controls like
checkboxes and radio buttons. With this command you
can find out if the radio button or check box is checked
or not. Automation Anywhere supports only Standard Windows
checkboxes and radio buttons.
Click on Manage Windows Control in Task Editor and
select the appropriate radio button. Select the window
to capture the check box or radio button. The value
captured can be assigned to a variable.
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Yes. A task recorded using MWC works effortlessly
in the background.
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We capture standard windows control using MWC. Client
controls and Java are not supported by MWC. In such
cases, controls are not highlighted.
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17. Report Designer
- What is Report Designer?
Report Designer is a graphical representation of tasks
and workflows. Automation Anywhere features Task Run
(i.e. whether they were successful or not), Task Timeline(i.e.
run, created, modified and deleted), Workflow Run, Workflow
Timeline, ROI and Visual Logs.
Reports can be generated by day, week, month as well
as all time. You can also generate a report for a custom
date range.
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Yes. You can print a report generated by Report Designer
directly from Automation Anywhere. Just click on the
Print logo in the top left corner of the graph.
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18. Triggers
- Can I execute a task based
on availability or non-availability of any file, folder,
performance or service?
Yes, it is possible
to execute a task with Triggers, based on availability
or non-availability of any file, folder, performance
or service. There are triggers based on Window (open
or close), File (create, delete, renamed or modified),
Performance (CPU usage, free disk space, process count)
and Process and Services.
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Yes. Automation Anywhere has a functionality that
can perform any task when a new email arrives. You need
to set the ‘Email Message Trigger’ on the task.
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19. Error Handling
20. Terminal Emulator
- Can I execute DOS commands
on remote terminal?
Yes, using Terminal Emulator
command you can perform such activities. Terminal service
must be on at remote side and policy service must be
set to classic. You can upload any file on FTP, Start/Stop
services and execute DOS commands can on remote terminal.
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21. Others
If your scheduled tasks don't run, follow the simple
checklist to fix the problem.
- Ensure that you have provided the username/password:
For security reasons Windows XP requires your Windows
XP username & password to run scheduled task. For
more information on what to do if you don't have
password read Why username/password? On any other
Windows operating system, if your account requires
a password to log on, then you need to provide that
password while scheduling the task, otherwise you
don't need to provide a password.
- If you have multiple account ensure that
you have provided the correct username/password:
If you have multiple accounts on same computer like
one domain account and one local account, please
make sure the username that you have provided is
the same username you have used to login to the
computer. The tasks will not work if you scheduled
the task using one user Account and now you are
logged into another user Account. Automation Anywhere
automatically fills the username that you are logged
in as.
- Check Status in Control Panel->Scheduled
Tasks window: Please go to Control Panel->Scheduled
Tasks window. Select the task that corresponds to
your task (it start with your task name) and right-click
and select ‘Run’. See if it runs. If it does not
run please see what the 'Status' column shows.
- Schedule Calculator Application: If your
task still doesn't run go to Control Panel->Scheduled
Tasks. Click on Add Scheduled Task. From the list
of applications, please select Calculator as shown
below. If the calculator does not run then your
scheduler service is not installed correctly on
your computer.
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Select the command that you do not want to play.
Right-click and select 'Disable'. Save the task and
run it. while playing the task will not play the commands
that are disabled. You can enable the commands again
by right-click and selecting 'Enable'.
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I want
to copy a command and use it at many places. Do I need
to create the command every time?
No. You can use the 'Duplicate' function by Right
click on command and select 'Duplicate'. This command
Duplicates the currently selected command. You can then
just move the newly created command using the Up and
Down Arrow key.
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I have
created a keystroke that contains complex sequence of
keys that I use repeatedly in many of my Tasks. Do I
need to copy the Keystroke every time I need to create
a new Task?
No. You can right click on that Keystroke and click
on 'Convert To Variable'. You can then save the keystroke
as a variable.
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I have
recorded a Task that can be repeated as it is; only
one text has to be replaced every time. I need to enter
this text while playing. How do I do that in your automation
software?
Open the Task in the Editor
Right click on the Keystroke which you have to enter
every time.
Click on the "Convert to Prompt" in the popup menu.
Enter the message that should be displayed which running.
Save the Task.
While Running, a dialog box will appear that will ask
you to input the text that you wanted to enter. Once
you click ok then entered text will be typed.
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Can I edit
multiple commands at time? Is it possible to replace
all commands' windows title by new window title?
Yes. Bulk Edit is available for commands like keystrokes
and delay. Select multiple commands of keystrokes or
delay and right click on it. Select ‘Bulk Edit’ option;
specify the new details for the selected commands.
To replace the window title, select any command that
has a window in it; right click and select ‘Change Window
Title’ option. You can replace particular command’s
window title or you can change all commands windows
title in a task.
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What happens
to a triggered or scheduled task if a high priority
task is already running?
In the above case currently running high priority
task will continue and all other task will be in queue.
Automation Anywhere features advanced task-queuing
technology. This technology ensures that every task
will complete based on its priority, regardless of how
many other tasks interrupt the running task.
The order of execution is decided by the priority
(high, medium and low). If two tasks in a queue have
the same priority, the precedence is decided by the
category (triggered, scheduled and manual) of the tasks.
Thus, if the two tasks have the same priority, a triggered
task has higher precedence, followed by scheduled tasks,
then manual tasks.
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22.
More Questions?
You can
get more information about Automation Anywhere from
Automation Software
You can
see Automation Anywhere
Examples &
Tutorials
To contact
us please
open a support case and
we will be glad to answer any questions.
Do you have
tasks that you would like to automate, but don't know
how?
Ask our Automation Expert.
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