Development Guideline and framework

Here's an answer you can provide on the forum addressing both questions:

Hi there,

Welcome to the Automation Anywhere (AA) community! It's great to see you're getting started with bot development. Let me share some best practices and recommended guidelines that can help streamline your bot development process.

1. Recommended Bot Development Framework

When developing bots in Automation Anywhere, the following framework is generally recommended:

• Modular Development Approach:

  • Structure your bot using smaller, reusable modules or tasks. This helps in managing and updating the bot efficiently.
  • Create separate tasks for login, data extraction, processing, and error handling.

• Use Bot Store Assets:

  • Explore the Automation Anywhere Bot Store for pre-built bots and reusable assets. You can leverage these components to speed up development.

• Naming Conventions:

  • Follow a consistent naming convention for bots, tasks, and variables (e.g., ProcessName_Task_Action). This enhances clarity and makes maintenance easier.

• Version Control:

  • Use version control (e.g., Git, Automation Anywhere Control Room) to manage changes and track updates in your bot code. This is especially important when working in a team environment.

• Error Handling and Exception Management:

  • Implement robust error handling using Try-Catch blocks and define specific recovery actions for common issues.
  • Log all errors and actions performed by the bot for better traceability and debugging.

2. Development and Review Checklist

Here’s a recommended checklist for developing and reviewing automation code:

Development Checklist

• Requirements Understanding: Ensure you have a clear understanding of the process and requirements before starting development.
• Environment Setup: Confirm that your development environment (Control Room, Bot Agent, A360 setup) is properly configured.
• Modular Design: Break down complex processes into smaller, reusable task bots.
• Error Handling: Include Try-Catch blocks and define recovery actions.
• Logging: Implement detailed logging (use Log to File action) for every significant action and exception.
• Credential Management: Use the Credential Vault for securely handling sensitive information (e.g., passwords, API keys).
• Test Data: Use test data to validate your bot’s functionality in a development environment before moving to production.

Review Checklist

• Code Review: Conduct a peer review of the bot code to check for errors and ensure best practices are followed.
• Testing: Perform unit testing for each module, followed by end-to-end testing of the entire bot workflow.
• Compliance Check: Ensure the bot adheres to the organization’s compliance and security guidelines.
• Performance Optimization: Verify that the bot is optimized for performance (e.g., avoid unnecessary loops, reduce hard-coded values).
• Documentation: Update documentation with detailed explanations of the bot’s logic, task structure, and configuration.

I hope these guidelines help you get started with a solid development framework. Feel free to ask if you have any more questions or need further assistance.

Happy automating testing!

Thank you catherinewilliam for sharing your feedback. Since I'm on A360, could you suggest a repository that would serve as a good starting template? I'm looking for a reusable development framework that we can start with and then customize as needed. I noticed a few options on the Store but wasn't sure which one is the recommended framework by AA.