Welcome to Kofax RPA > Robot Building > Reference to Automation Device

Reference to Automation Device

Before editing a Robot , provide a device reference by clicking Add Add Device Automation reference button in the Required Devices field on the Action tab of the Call Robot step in the Basic Engine Robot . In the Add Device window, select Static Reference, Dynamic Reference, or Trigger Reference.

Note that "local" reference is always available by default whether any other references are provided or not. local reference is used for accessing websites in the built-in browser and working with Excel spreadsheets in the built-in Excel driver.

Note When automating terminal computers, do not install the Desktop Automation Agent and do not provide Automation Device reference.

Static reference

Static reference implies that you created one or more Automation Device mappings to choose from. The robot automates the devices associated with the selected mapping. Mapping information is required for automating Windows devices and it is not required for automating terminals, working with built-in browser and Built-in Excel Driver. If you change the mapping, click Refresh in Design Studio to renew the connection. Use static reference when using Local Desktop Automation.

Dynamic reference

This type of reference helps you connect to automation devices in Single User Mode, such as by using the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) connection. Specify a mapping name to use in the Connect to Device step. All other connection parameters are specified within the Robot workflow. Once the Dynamic Reference connection was used by the robot in the Call Robot step and device is connected, the connection stays alive and you can use this reference (and this device) in the next Call Robot steps in your robot.

Important You can only connect to the same device once during the execution of a workflow. For example, if you want to connect to a device in a loop, make sure your robot skips the connection step in the loop when connection is already established.

Notes

Note the following when specifying references to automation devices:

  • The number of devices specified in the Basic Engine Robot and the Robot must match.

  • The devices names that you set in the Robot may differ from those in the Basic Engine Robot.

  • A static device in a Robot is a device to which the connection is already established. If a dynamic mapping is specified for a Call Robot step in the Required Devices property of the Basic Engine Robot, and the device has previously been connected to, this dynamic mapping can be passed to a static device. In other words, if the device is previously connected using the dynamic mapping, in the Devices pane in the Robot, you can select to use a static device and reuse the connection established with the dynamic mapping. This is convenient when you need to reuse this Robot in different Basic Engine Robots.