Updates

Latest Update on Microsoft Power Automate Desktop - Jul 2021

Latest updates on Microsoft Power Automate Desktop – Jul 2021

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Latest Update on Microsoft Power Automate Desktop - Jul 2021

The latest Jul 2021 update of Microsoft Power Automate Desktop has been released! Today, we are going to highlight some of these new features. 

To check the software version that you have, go to the Console and click on Help, then About. 

How to check your Microsoft Power Automate Desktop software version

The version installed will be displayed as shown below. The latest available version (as of this writing) is 2.11.51.21196.

The version of Microsoft Power Automate Desktop currently installed

If you have an older version and would like to upgrade to the latest version to enjoy the new features, go to this link to download the software installer.

In this article, we will go through 6 changes that comes with this latest version of Microsoft Power Automate Desktop.

Table of contents

  1. Launch of the Machine Registration App
  2. Automatic detection of Windows proxy settings
  3. Ability to remove unused UI elements and images from a flow
  4. New action ‘Take screenshot of UI element’
  5. Enhancement of ‘Convert datetime to text’ action to display sample of output format
  6. Enhancement of ‘Set Variable’ action to support multi-line text inputs

Launch of the Machine Registration App

The Machine Registration App allows users to perform mass deployment of Power Automate Desktop – from installation to registration of machines. Some of the actions that can be executed silently with this app include:

  • Register machine
  • Add machine to a group
  • Change machine run environment
  • Get machine information and status

To access the app, please follow the steps below:

  • Open Start menu
  • Search for Command Prompt (or PowerShell) and then run it as the administrator
  • Change the directory to the Power Automate Desktop install folder, which by default is located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Power Automate Desktop
  • Access the help menu by running the following command: .\PAD.MachineRegistration.Silent.exe -help

Automatic detection of Windows proxy settings

For those who are using a corporate proxy server and have encountered difficulties logging in, good news. Power Automate Desktop is now able to automatically detect the Windows proxy settings configurations, thus allowing connections to the cloud services that it requires.

Furthermore, administrators are now able to set specify registry keys to configure how Power Automate Desktop interacts with a corporate proxy server, to specify whether to bypass a corporate proxy server and to authenticate to a corporate proxy server using the current user’s credentials.

Ability to remove unused UI elements and images from a flow

Previously, if you have any unused UI elements or images, you will need to manually check that they are not being used in the current desktop flow, before deleting them one by one. Now, the contextual menus have been enhanced such that you can easily remove all UI elements and images that are not used within the desktop flow with a single click.

"Removed unused UI elements" option in Microsoft Power Automate Desktop

For the uninitiated, as a best practice, it is generally recommended that we should remove all unused UI elements and images to keep the desktop flow clean, and to improve maintainability and readability. So, this new feature will come in handy during “housekeeping” by eliminating the manual and tedious process of checking and deleting each UI element or image one by one.

New action ‘Take screenshot of UI element’

This new action Take screenshot of UI element allows you to take a screenshot of a specific UI element in a window. Previously, there is only the option of Take screenshot which allows you to take a screenshot of either the foreground window or a specified screen. Furthermore, you can save the screenshot either in the clipboard or to a file on your machine.

"Take screenshot of UI element" action in Microsoft Power Automate Desktop

This feature can be very useful in certain scenarios. For example, when the UI element contains important information which we want to record or log for audit purposes.

Enhancement of ‘Convert datetime to text’ action to display sample of output format

The action Convert datetime to text has been enhanced to display a sample preview of the chosen datetime format, thus helping flow designers to visualize how the end result actually looks like. This is particularly helpful for users who might not be familiar with date formatting.

Sample preview of chosen datetime format in Microsoft Power Automate Desktop

Enhancement of ‘Set Variable’ action to support multi-line text inputs

The Set variable action now allows users to provide multi-line text inputs easily. For example, to enter a new line, users simply need to press the Enter key. Previously, pressing the Enter key is equivalent to clicking on the Save button.

Conclusion

The enhancements are not stopping here. Based on the 2021 Release Wave 2 Plan for the Microsoft Power Platform, there are a number of exciting new capabilities in the roadmap, including:

  • Availability of Log message action in desktop flows, enabling users to log custom messages
  • New integration module allowing users to work directly with the data stored in Microsoft Dataverse
  • Create data loss prevention policies that govern desktop flows, as well as actions and modules in Power Automate Desktop
  • Additional analytics capability in the form of admin reports for desktop flows across environments
  • Improved and further integration of desktop flows into Dynamics 365 applications
  • Availability of the 475+ API connectors as actions within desktop flows (currently only available in cloud flows)

Now that you have learnt some of the new features and enhancements made in Jul 2021, why not download this latest version of Microsoft Power Automate Desktop and starting automating?

If you’re interested, you can also check out previous Microsoft Power Automate Desktop updates: June 2021, May 2021, April 2021

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Latest update on Microsoft Power Automate Desktop - Jun 2021

Latest updates on Microsoft Power Automate Desktop – Jun 2021

parent 1 / / /
Latest update on Microsoft Power Automate Desktop - Jun 2021

The latest Jun 2021 update of Microsoft Power Automate Desktop has been released! Today, we are going to highlight some of these new features. 

To check the software version that you have, go to the Console and click on Help, then About. 

How to check your Microsoft Power Automate Desktop software version

The version installed will be displayed as shown below. The latest available version (as of this writing) is 2.10.36.21161.

If you have an older version and would like to upgrade to the latest version to enjoy the new features, go to this link to download the software installer.

In this article, we will go through 4 changes that comes with this latest version of Microsoft Power Automate Desktop.

Table of contents

  1. Run desktop flows from another desktop flow
  2. Auto-switching to image-based recorder for RDP and Citrix environments
  3. Enhancements in Windows-related actions
  4. Deprecation of action Create MODI OCR engine

Run desktop flows from another desktop flow

Previously, users can create subflows within a desktop flow (by default, each desktop flow will always have a Main flow), and trigger the required subflow using the Run subflow action. All the flow variables defined in the desktop flow is also accessible within the subflows.

Now, with the introduction of the new action Run desktop flow, users are able to run other desktop flows (or child desktop flows) from the current desktop flow (or parent desktop flow). Unlike the Run subflow action, you will need to make use of input and output variables in order to pass data from one desktop flow to another. Do note that while the child desktop flow is being triggered, the parent desktop flow will be paused.

You may be wondering why we even want to split the automation process into several desktop flows in the first place. Well, it is a best practice to design your flows in a modular manner. That means breaking down your complex process and segregating it into smaller, independent flows, each of which typically performs only one specific function or task. Doing this achieves multiple benefits including making your flow more readable and manageable, as well as promoting flow reusability.

Auto-switching to image-based recorder for RDP and Citrix environments

In the April 2021 update, we highlighted that the desktop recorder now supports image-based recording and optical character recognition (OCR). Guess what? The desktop recorder has been enhanced such that it will now intelligently detect a Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) or Citrix environment, and automatically switch to image recording mode. Nice!

Note: For the uninitiated, automating processes within RDP or Citrix environments using UI elements is not possible. Instead, you will need to rely on methods such as image recognition, text extraction with OCR or hotkeys.

Enhancements in Windows-related actions

The actions Set Windows environment variable and Delete Windows environment variable have been enhanced such that it will automatically retrieve the Windows environment variables and display them in a drop-down for ease of selection.

Set windows environment variable automatically retrieve the Windows environment variables and display them in a dropdown

Similarly, the actions Start service, Stop service, Pause service and Resume service have been enhanced such that it will automatically retrieve the Windows services and display them in a drop-down for ease of selection.

Start service with automatically retrieved Windows services in a dropdown

Finally, the actions If process, Wait for process and Terminate process have been enhanced such that it will automatically retrieve the Windows processes and display them in a drop down for ease of selection.

If process with Windows processes displayed in a dropdown

Deprecation of action Create MODI OCR engine

The ability to initialize and utilize the MODI OCR engine will be removed starting from the July release. Moving forward, the default OCR engine type will be Tesseract. Accordingly, it will also no longer be necessary for you to use the Create Tesseract OCR engine action (i.e. this action will also be deprecated) as you would directly initialize the Tesseract engine in the OCR related actions (i.e. Extract text with OCR), If text on screen (OCR), Wait for text on screen (OCR) and Move mouse to text on screen (OCR)) where the engine instance is used.

Extract text with OCR

Important: If your existing desktop flows use the MODI OCR engine, do replace it with the Tesseract OCR engine and perform the necessary testing (as the change in OCR engine might affect the behaviour of the actions) before deploying the desktop flow to a production environment. For more information, please refer to this blog post.

Conclusion

By the way, the enhancements are not stopping here. Based on the 2021 Release Wave 1 Plan for the Microsoft Power Platform, there are a number of exciting new capabilities in the roadmap, including:

  • Connect to desktop flows without the on-premises data gateway
  • Support UI automation with Citrix
  • Web automation to access cross-domain iFrames
  • Power Automate Desktop inclusion with Windows

Now that you have learnt some of the new features and enhancements made in Jun 2021, why not download this latest version of Microsoft Power Automate Desktop and start automating?

 

Learning Resources

https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/power-automate-desktop-june-2021-update/

 

Previous Updates

April 2021

May 2021

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Latest updates on Microsoft Power Automate Desktop – April 2021

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The latest April 2021 update of Microsoft Power Automate Desktop has been released! Today, we are going to highlight some of these new features. 

To check the software version that you have, go to the console and click on Help, then About. 

The version installed will be displayed as shown below. The latest available version (as of this writing) is 2.7.49.21099.

If you have an older version and would like to upgrade to the latest version to enjoy the new features, go to this link to download the software installer.

Table of contents

  1. Refresh button is available in console
  2. Save as new flow functionality is available in the flow designer
  3. The action copying mechanism has been improved
  4. Desktop recorder now supports image-based recording and optical character recognition
  5. Improved interaction with Java-based apps and applets
  6. Conclusion

Refresh button is available in console

A refresh button has now been added to the Power Automate Desktop console. When clicked, the flows inside My flows and Shared with me will be updated with the latest changes made from the web portal.

For example, if a colleague has shared a desktop flow with you from the web portal, you will longer need to logout of and login back to Power Automate Desktop in order to see the recently shared flow.

Save as new flow functionality is available in the flow designer

Previously, in the flow designer, you can only save the changes made to a flow by overwriting the original flow.

Now, a Save as option has been added, allowing you to save the changes under a new flow instead. 

This is a useful feature to have, especially since desktop flows currently do not support versioning. Hence, you might want to have different versions of the same flow saved. In this way, you have the ability to revert to an earlier version of your flow when required.

The action copying mechanism has been improved

Do you know you can copy and paste actions from one flow designer to another?

In fact, it is possible to copy the actions into a text editor (e.g. Notepad), and then paste these text into a flow designer.

Previously, when performing this action, all the stored UI elements and Images will be lost. And you will need to painstakingly re-create all the UI elements and Images. But not anymore, with the latest April 2021 updates. Wonderful!

Desktop recorder now supports image-based recording and optical character recognition

The desktop recorder now provides users with the option to record using image recognition, instead of using UI elements. To do so, make sure you turn the toggle on for Image recording.

When you start recording, the recorder will automatically capture actions such as Move mouse to image.

In fact, when you hover over the image icon, you can actually see the image that the action will be performed on.

Note that when Image recording is not being used, the recorder will use UI elements by default. Following is the recorded action for the same activity being performed.

While image recognition can be very useful in certain situations, as a general rule of thumb, it is recommended to use UI elements instead of images when interacting with applications. This will ensure the robustness and reliability of your desktop flows.

In addition, to extract text from images during the recording, perform a right click and select Extract text from image.

Use the cursor to define the text area when OCR extraction is required

Next, use the cursor to define the anchor area that is not expected to change. This will help to locate the image from the previous step.

An example of the recorded action can be seen below:

Improved interaction with Java-based apps and applets

Finally, the existing mechanism to support Java applications has been rebuilt and enhanced, providing greater visibility over UI elements that are needed to automate and interact with these applications. What this means is that you are now able to automate Java-based applications more easily and reliably.

Conclusion

By the way, the enhancements are not stopping here. Based on the 2021 Release Wave 1 Plan for the Microsoft Power Platform, there are a number of exciting new capabilities in the roadmap, including:

  • Connect to desktop flows without the on-premises data gateway
  • Support UI automation with Citrix
  • Web automation to access cross-domain iFrames
  • Power Automate Desktop inclusion with Windows

Now that you have learnt some of the new features and enhancements made in April 2021, why not download this latest version of Microsoft Power Automate Desktop and starting automating?

 

Tags

Robotic Process Automation, Microsoft Power Automate Desktop, Monthly Updates, April 2021

Learning Resources

https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/power-automate-desktop-april-2021-update/

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Microsoft Power Automate Desktop May 2021 update

Latest updates on Microsoft Power Automate Desktop – May 2021

parent 1 / / /
Microsoft Power Automate Desktop May 2021 update

The latest May 2021 update of Microsoft Power Automate Desktop has been released! Today, we are going to highlight some of these new features. 

To check the software version that you have, go to the Console and click on Help, then

The version installed will be displayed as shown below. The latest available version (as of this writing) is 2.9.29.21133.

If you have an older version and would like to upgrade to the latest version to enjoy the new features, go to this link to download the software installer.

Table of contents

  1. Software updates
  2. Additional options under the Help menu
  3. Raise new support requests
  4. Troubleshoot (preview)
  5. Enhancement to Launch new Browser actions
  6. Language support
  7. Conclusion

Software updates

Users can now be automatically notified whenever a new version of Power Automate Desktop is available in Microsoft’s download center. To enable the update notification, click on Settings and navigate to the General tab.

Then, select the checkbox Show update notifications. That’s it. When a new version is available for download, you will receive a notification that looks like this:

Alternatively, you can also click on the Check for updates button to see if there’s a new release.

Additional options under the Help menu

Besides Documentation and About, the following online resources have been added to the Help menu:

  • Support – See below.
  • Learn – Microsoft Learn is a free online academy where you can learn new skills at your own pace through the step-by-step guidance provided. At last count, there are 34 modules and learning paths related to Power Automate Desktop, so you should be able to find something useful no matter your level of expertise.
  • Community – This is the Power Automate Desktop forum board where you can post discussion and questions. There is a vibrant and growing online community of users, including practitioners and experts, whom you can seek guidance and advice. This is also a good starting point to look for solutions to problems or issues that you are facing, especially if you do not have access to (paid) support.
  • Blog – Get all the latest product updates here.
  • Troubleshoot (preview) – See below.

Raise new support requests

By clicking on Help, then Support, you will be redirected to the Power Platform portal. Thereafter, scroll down to the Ask for help section and click on Contact support.

You will be redirected to Power Platform admin center where you can create a new support request.

Do note that in order for you to perform the above steps, you need to have a security role that is enabled for creating support requests, as well as a valid support plan – Subscription Support, Professional Direct Support or Unified Support. To learn more, please go here.

Troubleshoot (preview)

The troubleshoot tool allows you to change the account which your machine’s cloud connectivity service (i.e. UIFlowService) is running as. By default, UIFlowService uses the virtual account NT SERVICE\UIFlowService. In the event your environment restricts the usage of this account, you can change the account using this tool. Do note that this account needs to be given the rights to “Logon as a service”.

In addition, the tool allows you to easily export all of your machine’s configuration and service logs to a single .zip file. This is useful as support may request for these machine logs when you raise a support request.

Enhancement to Launch new Browser actions

The Launch new Internet Explorer/Firefox/Chrome/Microsoft Edge actions have been enhanced to include a Timeout parameter which determines the maximum amount of time to wait for the browser to launch before the action fails. The default value is 60 seconds.

For this to work properly, do remember to also specify rules to execute when the action fails:

Language support

Finally, the UI of Power Automate Desktop has now been localized in 41 languages, while the Documentation is translated in 23 languages, reaching parity with Power Automate service supported languages.

Conclusion

By the way, the enhancements are not stopping here. Based on the 2021 Release Wave 1 Plan for the Microsoft Power Platform, there are a number of exciting new capabilities in the roadmap, including:

  • Connect to desktop flows without the on-premises data gateway
  • Support UI automation with Citrix
  • Web automation to access cross-domain iFrames
  • Power Automate Desktop inclusion with Windows

Now that you have learnt some of the new features and enhancements made in May 2021, why not download this latest version of Microsoft Power Automate Desktop and starting automating?

Tags

Robotic Process Automation, Microsoft Power Automate Desktop, Monthly Updates, May 2021

Learning Resources

https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/power-automate-desktop-may-2021-update/

Previous Updates

April 2021

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