Rapid Automation

The Automic term Rapid Automation refers to a generic technology that includes and processes various agent solutions in conjunction with the Automation Engine. Rapid Automation Agents make the functions of a Rapid Automation solution accessible.

Automic offers several Rapid Automation solutions, including: 

If you are interested in using a Rapid Automation solution, please contact our Support Team.

RA Solutions

Each RA solution has its own individual function but there are some similarities in all Rapid Automation solutions. The corresponding RA agent requires specific settings. Therefore, an RA solution includes a template for the Agent object that should be used. Connection data can be specified in one or several Connection objects defined for that particular RA solution. The RA solution also includes the required object templates. The same is true for Job objects. Each RA solution includes one or several job types that can be used to call the relevant functions.

The contents of agent, Connection and Job objects depend on the particular RA solution.

RA solutions are supplied as JAR files and can be loaded to the AE database by using the AE DB Load utility. The AE DB Load utility reads the JAR file and creates the following objects in system client 0000:

The utility AE.DB Load automatically enters the new templates into the variable UC_OBJECT_TEMPLATE.

Object type

Structure of the name
RA Solution The name of the RA Solution.
Agent The AGENT.name of the RA Solution.
Connection The CONN.name of the RA Solution.technical name of the connection.
Job The JOBS.name of the RA Solution.technical name of the job type.

The utility AE.DB Load can also be used to load later versions of an RA solution. The former version is automatically replaced in the AE database.

If any of the RA-specific pages is missing in the Automic Web Interface after you have loaded a solution, log out and in again to get them displayed.

You can delete an RA solution from the AE system by deleting the corresponding RA solution object in client 0000 (folder: RA_SOLUTIONS). The object including its entries is not moved to the Recycle Bin but is completely removed from the AE database.

For RA agent documentation, see the Automic Hosted Documentation.

RA Agents

An RA agent can only connect to one RA solution. If you intend to use several RA solutions, you need a separate RA agent for each solution.

An Agent object must be created in system client 0000 before the RA agent is put into operation. Use the supplied agent template for this purpose. An Agent object contains the Connection objects that should be used for logging into applications, databases, etc. Create these Connection objects by using the supplied templates.

When the RA agent starts, it checks whether the RA solution has already been stored locally. If not, it requests the RA solution's JAR file from the Automation Engine. The RA agent unpacks it in the folder "cache" (the path has been specified in the RA agent's UCXJCITX.INI file, parameter cache_directory=). The name of the created subfolder is the RA solution object's latest modification date. While starting, the system checks whether this time stamp complies with the AE database's time stamp. If they differ from each other because a later version has been loaded to the AE database, the RA agent retrieves the JAR file and replaces the local RA solution.

RA Jobs

RA jobs include object type-specific pages.

Note: Login object are not supported for most RA jobs. Login data is stored in either the Agent or Connection object. For more information, see the Agent Guides on the Automic Hosted Documentation site.

Setting and Reading Job Attributes

For attributes that are also available in other Job objects (such as the archive keys or cost centers), you can set or read the same job name (see Attributes for All Job Types) via script using :PUT_ATT and GET_ATT. You can also change these attributes with the Automation Engine DB Change utility. For more information, see Changing Rapid Automation Job Attributes.

Job attributes are documented for most agents in the Agent Guides on the Automic Hosted Documentation site. Additionally, you can retrieve the attribute names including their values by running the following command in the AE database (replace the JOBNAME by the job's actual object name):

select OCV_VName,ocv_value from OCV,oh where OCV_OH_Idnr=OH_Idnr and oh_name='JOBNAME'

Note: You can also use a SQLI-type VARA object to run this command.