Note: You are looking at a static snapshot of documentation related to Robot Framework automations. The most recent documentation is at https://robocorp.com/docs

Maintaining the robot

The robot is humming in production, completing tasks with inhuman speed and accuracy. Now that everything is perfect, you never need to touch the robot again, right? Well, it depends.

"Change is the only constant in life." - Heraclitus, back in the day

Again, as an analyst, having some general knowledge about the maintenance of robots helps you with the technical and business feasibility assessments.

Changes, changes everywhere!

  • A new required field is added to a form that the robot is using. We need to teach the robot to fill that field!

  • The application starts to slow down, causing the impatient robot to fail when the button is not there yet! Teaching the robot some patience is required!

  • A new step is added to the current process. The robot needs guidance on how to complete it!

  • A bug is discovered in the robot: it does not process the complete Excel file. Time to iron out those bugs! 🐞

  • A new employee steps in and needs to be notified of failed runs instead of the previous colleague. Time to change the settings!

Prepare yourself

Some changes could require modifications or additions to the robot. You want to make sure:

  • The changes are appropriately documented (Process Definition Document is kept up-to-date).
  • Someone is available to implement those changes (in-house, external).
  • The changes are tested before launching the updated robot to production.
  • The code is in version control (for easy change tracking).
  • The robot is monitored closely to verify the changes work as expected.