Using Robotic Case Definition and Robot Activity Components

Note: Robotic Desktop Automation (RDA)/REST Service integration with the Pega Platform is not supported in a server deployment, such as Citrix or Terminal Server.

Robot Studio includes these components that are designed to help you integrate your automations with Pega applications.

Case definition component – Used to add case instances to a case type in Pega Platform applications. This could occur when working with robotic desktop (RDA) or robotic process (RPA) automations that integrate with Pega Platform applications.
Robot activity component – Used to invoke the following types of automations from a Pega application:
RDA integration – Attended automations that are invoked from a Pega application that run in a local browser and communicate with Robot Runtime through its REST API.
RPA integration – Unattended automations that are invoked from the Robot Manager that communicate across a network with the local Robot Runtime clients .

Note: The case definition component is only used to create case instances within Pega Platform applications. Most robots do not have this requirement. Make sure that any robots that use the case definition component have Pega Platform credentials that allow them to add a case.

These components let you import defined case types and select the fields that you will use in your automations. Case types represent the work in a Pega Platform application that follows a life cycle or path, to completion. Case instances, or cases, are specific occurrences of case types.

Some examples of case types include: open claim, open transaction dispute, onboard customer, open service ticket, ship order, and so on. A particular occurrence of opening a claim or a transaction dispute is a case instance.

For example, if you are creating a robot automation that helps an RDA user create a shipping order, you would do the following:

Add the case definition component to the Ship Order solution so that each time a shipment was triggered, a new case instance is created.
Configure an RPA solution that uses a robot Activity component to receive the shipping information and then automates the fulfillment and billing processes.
When the RPA robot finishes its work, the system sends the case to a human operator to complete the product packaging and mailing tasks.

Adding case definition and robot activity components

To use these components in an automation that integrates with Pega Platform applications, perform the following steps.

Add the case definition or robot activity component to your Global Container.
Add one case definition component for each case type you are adding or add one robot activity component for each automation that is triggered by a Pega application.

For both types of components, assign a Name and a ClassName. Enter the ClassName in this format: MyOrg-MyApp-Work-(activity description).

For the case definition component, you can set these properties using the Properties grid or from an automation. These properties do not apply to a robot activity component:

Property	Description
Pega Server URL	Enter the URL of the server to which you will be adding cases.
Username	Enter the user name you want to use to sign on to the Pega server.
Password	Enter the password you want to use to sign on to the Pega server.

Click the ellipsis (...) button on the Fields property. The Pega Server Connectivity window is displayed.

Note: The Pega Server Connectivity window does not use the Pega Server URL, Username, and Password values from the Property grid. The values on the Property grid are used by Runtime for authentication purposes when it adds a case.

Your entries into the Pega Server URL, Username, and Password fields on the Pega Server Connectivity dialog are used to retrieve the class fields that you use as you create your automation.

Use the fields on the Pega Server Connectivity window to define the Pega server from which you will retrieve the class fields.

Note that the values you enter into the Pega Server Connectivity window are only retained during the current Robot Studio session.

Property	Description
Pega Server URL	Enter the URL of the server from which you want to retrieve class fields. This field defaults to the Pega server you defined in the Robotics section of the StudioConfig.xml file.
Username	Enter the user name you want to use to sign on to the Pega server. The user you define using the Username and Password fields must be in an access group that contains the PegaRULES:PegaAPI role.
Password	Enter the password you want to use to sign on to the Pega server.

Note: Prior to the release of build 8.0 1058, the system stored server and credential information in the StudioConfig.xml file. While you can still define the default Pega server in the StudioConfig.xml file, in builds 8.0.1058 and later, you must enter valid credentials on the Pega Server Connectivity window before you can query the end-point to display and select the fields you will use in your automation.

Click the Get Case Information button. The system queries the named Pega server for the class fields using the user name and password you entered. The Selected Fields window is displayed.

On the Selected Fields window, select all of the fields that you will use in the automation. These fields will then appear as properties on the case definition or the robot activity component. Here is an example:

Example automations

Here is an example of how a case component would look in an automation:

Here is an example of how a robot activity component would look in an automation: