There's a multitude of activities and packages available for (RPA) Developers. However, at some point it can come in handy to design custom activities or code snippets that you want to access again or share with teammembers, the business or even other organisations. We are taking a closer look at how activities can be built on your own, how they can be published and reused. Agenda The focus of our meetup is around the following topics: Why Custom Activities / Activity Builder?; Practical Example(s) and Helpful Activities Discussion & Comparison of Activities, Snippets and Workflows - and their Reusability; Publishing Custom Activities across Teams & Organisations; Discussion, Q&A. If you have any questions or inputs prior to the event, please contact Roman Tobler (Co-CEO & Owner @Routinuum GmbH & Chapter Leader UiPath "Zürich").

1. „UiPath Chapter Zurich“, Virtual MeetUp
Wednesday, 26 October 2022
RPA Community
„Custom Activities“

2. Agenda
• Why Custom Activities / Activity Builder?;
• Practical Examples and Helpful Activities;
• Discussion & Comparison of Activities, Snippets and Workflows –
and their Reusability;
• Publishing Custom Activities across Teams & Organisations;
• Discussion, Q&A
• Next Meetups Zurich Community:
• 7 December 2022 (German)
• 8 March 2023 (English)
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3. Roman Tobler
roman.tobler@routinuum.ch
Speakers / Hosts
Routinuum GmbH, Wallisellen (Switzerland)
www.routinuum.ch
Adrian Ackermann
adrian.ackermann@routinuum.ch

4. Definitions and Overview of Activities, Packages &
Dependencies;
The Need to Build Custom Activities & Libraries
Why Custom Activities?

5. UiPath Studio – Panel Overview
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6. Product & Activities «Lifecycle»
• Custom Activities can become obsolete
• i.e. «Get PDF Page Count», newly introduced in v3.2.2 (May’20 – 20.4
Release)
https://docs.uipath.com/activities/docs/release-notes-uipath-pdf-
activities#v322
• More features are developed and added frequently
(Major Releases: xx.4 / xx.10)
• However, this requires Software Updates (more tedious: «on premise setups»)
• UiPath Product Lifecycle
https://docs.uipath.com/overview-guide/docs/product-lifecycle
• UiPath Activities Lifecycle
https://docs.uipath.com/overview-guide/docs/activities-lifecycle
• UiPath Insider Preview Program
https://www.uipath.com/rpa/insider
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7. Why Custom Activities / Libraries?
• New capabilities & more efficient ways – less workarounds
• i.e. less «nested IF functions», proper code
• Effectivity: Using the right tools/toolset for the right purpose
• Reusability: Build something (only) once
• Maintainability: Easier to support and maintain
• i.e. same Login or UI Interactions in many UiPath Projects – update
once, centrally
(see also/later: «Project Dependencies Mass Update Tool»)
• Provide a set of helpful (internal) activities and integrations for
your colleagues (or even Citizen Developers)
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8. A Few Common Libraries / Ideas
• Config Management
• API, SQL or Data Service/Portal-based Config Calls
• See Community Meetups:
• Zurich (June ‘22) https://community.uipath.com/events/details/uipath-zurich-
presents-configuration-management-and-data-service-deep-dive/
• Johannesburg (Nov. ‘21)
https://community.uipath.com/events/details/uipath-johannesburg-presents-
uipath-configuration-management/
• Systems Login
• Standard Queries
• Mail-Sender
• Log Messaging / Event Log Generation / Support
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9. Object Repository
• UI Applications, UI Libraries
• UI «Descriptors»
• Reusability: Global Reuse
• Community Meetup (London) on «Object Repository»:
https://community.uipath.com/events/details/uipath-london-presents-object-repository/
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10. Management of Automation
• (Out of Scope: Governance, Roles & Responsibilities, …)
• Processes Overview
• Title, Description, Owner, …
• PDD, Recordings, Schedule, Test Cases, …
• Dependencies, Reusable Components, Mechanics
• Reusable Components Overview
• Development Best Practices & Governance
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11. Libraries («Library Activity»);
Activity Creator (for Visual Studio)
Practical Examples

12. About Libraries («Library Activity»)
• Official Documentation
https://docs.uipath.com/studio/docs/about-libraries
• How to create a basic Library:
https://docs.uipath.com/studio/docs/creating-basic-library
• Demonstration of building a library:
• Create, build and publish
• Settings
• In / Out Arguments
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13. The Activity Creator (for Visual Studio)
• Official Documentation:
https://docs.uipath.com/developer/docs/using-activity-creator
• Prerequisites:
• Visual Studio (Community) 2022 – (with .NET Desktop Development)
https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/
• UiPath Marketplace Feed (as package source)
https://gallery.uipath.com/api/v3/index.json
Instructions on adding package sources:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/nuget/consume-packages/install-use-packages-
visual-studio#package-sources
• .NET 6 [potentially install .NET Framework 4.6.1 – Activity Creator Compatibility]
https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/6.0
• (UiPath Studio)
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14. Simple Activity with the Activity Creator
• Before you start / initial setup:
• Add the UiPath Activity Creator Extension (to Visual Studio)
Open Visual Studio and click Extensions → Manage Extensions
• Search (Online) for “UiPath”
Download the UiPath Activity Creator extension
• Create a new project – based on “UiPath Standard Activity
package” (template)
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15. Experiences, Impressions or Questions
Discussion / Questions

16. Publishing Custom Activities across Teams &
Organisations (as shown in Practice Examples);
UiPath Marketplace;
Maintaining Dependencies
Publishing

17. UiPath Marketplace
• Link to the Marketplace: https://marketplace.uipath.com/
• Application as a Publisher («Become a Publisher»)
• Free or paid Activities/Packages can be published
https://docs.uipath.com/marketplace/docs/publishing-guidelines-how-to-submit
• Reviews by UiPath, Security & Certification Program
https://docs.uipath.com/marketplace/docs/certification-program-overview
• Content Quality, Malware Analysis, Security Best Practices Scans,
Functionality Testing (Source Code, Description & User Guide)
• Examples – Marketplace Listings of William Blech Sister:
https://marketplace.uipath.com/profile/bill-blech
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18. Dependencies «Mass Update»
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19. Feedback, Impressions and Questions?
Discussion, Questions & Remarks

20. Upcoming MeetUps
• Robot Success Factors of Bot-Human-Interactions
• 7 December 2022 (German)
• Conversational AI and Intelligent Automation – Druid & UiPath-
Integrations
• 8 March 2023 (English)
• Link to our Zurich Community on UiPath.com:
https://community.uipath.com/zurich/
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