Integrating an Application into a Project

Integrating an application into a project

To integrate an application with a Studio project, you add an adapter component for the specific application type. Pega Robot Studio provides base templates for Windows and web adapters as well as a variety of adapters for Text applications. Add an application adapter for each primary application you want to integrate and/or automate. The term primary is used in this case to identify the application that initially runs and may also spawn other related processes / applications. For example, suppose you want to create a project that automates three Windows applications:

Application A is run by a single executable process and all functionality for the application is controlled by the single process.
Application B is run by an executable and it automatically loads another "target" application which you want to use in the project..
Application C is run by a single executable process and then spawns additional "child" processes some or all of which you want to use in the project.

In this case you would add a Windows application adapter for Application A, another Windows application adapter for the "loader" Application B, and a third Windows application adapter for Application C. Using the Windows application adapter properties, you would define how Studio integrates with the primary applications and the target/spawned applications and processes.

A requirement for integrating an application in the project is that both the Studio workstation you use to build the project and Runtime workstations which will run the project must have access to the application.

The following outlines the initial steps required to integrate an application. Begin by adding the correct adapter for the application.

In Solution Explorer highlight the project and select the Add New Item option from the Project menu. The Add New Item window is displayed.
Select the template for the adapter corresponding to your application type:

Windows Application – Windows based applications including Java applications, Remedy, Oracle Forms 6i, and SAP GUI
Web Application – Web-based applications including Siebel, Oracle Forms 10, and Java applets
Text Adapter – Host based applications accessed through specific emulators
Name the adapter. Use a name relevant to the application. Note that naming the adapter does not identify the application for interrogation purposes.

When naming project items, components, and controls, use a unique name within the project. For example, if you have an adapter named Google and an automation named Google, you will receive an error. This also applies when naming components and controls. As a general rule, do not name components using property names. For example, if you rename a button on a Windows form Text, you will receive a build error as the form containing the button has a property named Text.

Click OK to close the Add New Item window. The adapter is added to Solution Explorer and opens in the Designer.
Open the Properties Grid window for the application. The design properties for the adapter display.
Set adapter properties specific to the type of application you are integrating. See the following topics:

Keep in mind...

Set the HookChildProcesses property if additional processes are spawned by the application and you want to interrogate targets from the processes. For more information, see Using HookChildProcesses.
For Windows applications, set the Target Path if you want to interrogate an application that will be launched from the primary application as identified in the Path property. For more information, see Using TargetPath Property.
Set the Arguments property for any command line arguments for the application, or to set the Java class name for Java applications. For more information, see Setting the Classpath for Java Applications.