Blue Prism Process Templates

Blue Prism
Process Templates
This module will introduce the concept of Blue Prism Process

Templates, how to use these templates, and why it is important to
use these templates when starting to build a new automated
Process in Blue Prism.
V1.00 (2020)
1. Process Templates 3. Process Template 2

Introduction (pg 2) Overview(pg 15)
Prerequisites (pg 3) How to use Process Template 2 (pg 15)
Availability (pg 3) Generic Main Page Features (pg 17 - 19)
Installing (pg 4) Example Main Pages (pg 20 - 27)
2. Process Template 1
Overview (pg 5)
Exception Handling (pg 5 - 7)
Template Pages (pg 8 - 14)
Training Exercise (pg 14)
© 2020 Blue Prism Limited. Any unauthorized use, such as distributing, copying or modifying is not permitted. “Blue Prism”, the “Blue Prism” logo and Prism device are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Blue Prism Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Blue Prism
Process Templates
1. Process Templates: Introduction
Blue Prism Process templates are provided in the form of a standard Blue Prism xml file, which can be imported into your
new environment. Blue Prism templates have been built inline with Blue Prism development best practices.
Templates are intended as a base framework for starting a new processes, the idea being that ‘save as’ is used to make a copy
of a diagram to work on.
Using a template as the basis of building a new process has the following benefits:
• Decrease Process development time
• Provide consistency across all Processes, allowing easier understanding and support
• Assist developers in keeping to best practice and to work within the Development Methodology of an organization
The Blue Prism process templates are provided as a generic starting point.
It is expected that these templates may need modification to create a template that fits the requirements and methodologies
of your organization.
The current available templates will be explored in the following sections.
© 2020 Blue Prism Limited. Any unauthorized use, such as distributing, copying or modifying is not permitted. “Blue Prism”, the “Blue Prism” logo and Prism device are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Blue Prism Limited. All Rights Reserved. 2
Blue Prism
Process Templates
1.1 Process Templates: Prerequisites
The following prerequisites have been identified for this training module:
• You have completed Blue Prism Foundation Training, including the Consolidation Exercise
• You have a login for your local Blue Prism training environment, and a valid Blue Prism license
1.2 Process Templates: Availability

All available Blue Prism Process templates can be download from the Blue Prism Portal:
Product -> Developer Jumpstart
Blue Prism
Portal
Blue Prism
Process Templates
1.3 Process Templates: Installing and making a copy of a Process template
• As process templates are provided through standard Blue Prism Process xml, the template file should be imported into
your environment using the standard File -> Import menu item.
• You only need to perform this import once!
• Once the template is available in your environment, open the Process template and then use the File -> Save As menu
item to save a copy of the process template, as your new Process name.
• Start making changes to the saved copy of the template, to suit your Process.
i Before moving onto the next slides, you should download ‘Process Template 1’ and ‘Process Template 2’, and then
import these into your local training environment. Viewing the templates in Blue Prism as the templates are
explained in the following slides, will help you to gain a better understanding.
Blue Prism
Process Templates
2 Process Template 1: Overview
Process Template 1 provides a solid base framework for building a basic Blue Prism Process, which:
• Loads work from a work source into a Blue Prism Work Queue
• Processes items contained in the Work Queue
• Process completes once all items originally loaded into the Work Queue have been attempted
2.1 Process Template 1: Exception Handling

This Process template has two main types of exception handling logic: functional (or component) retry Exception handling
within sub-pages; and top level Work Queue item Exception handling on the Main Page.
Main Page Exception Handling

There is an Exception Block on the Main Page called 'Work' within which all the ‘Work Step’ pages of the Process template are
called.
• If the Work Step pages all complete successfully, the Process flow goes to a 'Mark Item as Completed' page
• If there is an Exception within any of the Work Step pages that is not successfully handled by the retry logic within that
page, it will be caught by the recover stage in the ‘Work’ block on the Main Page and the process flow will go to the ‘Mark
Item as Exception’ page
• If an Exception occurs outside the ‘Work’ Exception block whist a case is not being worked, the Process will terminate
Blue Prism
Process Templates
Sub-Page Exception Handling
All Pages that call Business Object Action stages that interface with an application contain retry Exception Loops. These
retry loops have use Exception Blocks that contain Action Stages that perform a distinct function within a system.
The principle of these retry Exception loops is that Blue Prism will recover from an Exception, navigate back to a known
point in the application, and try to perform the function again.
Exception Data Item Configuration

Data Item Name Data Item Type Description
Retry Limit Local The initial value of this data item should be set to the maximum number of times you want the
process to recover and retry the function being performed.
This is usually left with the default initial value of 3, but may be increased if an application is
known to be very unreliable.
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Process Templates
Exception Process Flow Configuration
Stage Name Description
Retry? By default, this decision stage has been configured to retry System Exception and Internal exception types only.
If you have other exception types for which you do not want to recover, you will need to change this decision to
cater for the exception types you use.
Step 1a, Step 1b These note stages can be replaced by the main flow steps of the distinct function being performed in a target
system.
Note: your flow does not have to have the same number of stages as note stages.
Step 1c This note stage, after the blocks Resume stage, should be replaced by the logic that will recover the application
back to a known and working state ready to try and perform the function again.
Examples of how you might recover the application may be:

• Close any child windows and pop-up windows that may be displayed
• Navigate back to a Main Menu or root screen from which the function can be tried again
• Close and restart the system, logging back in
Note: If you are calling Component Objects or Sub-Processes from your process that already contain retry
exception handling, you will not need to repeat the retry logic within your process.
Blue Prism
Process Templates
2.2 Process Template 1: Template Pages
Each page within the process template will be explained below, with instructions on how each should be configured for your
needs.
This process template has a very basic Process Template Pages and Configuration.
Here we will give a description of how to configure each of the pages within the template:
❑ Main Page
The main page within the process does not do any system navigation or updates within the systems, but instead simply calls
sub-pages that do all the work that is required. This should leave the Main Page as a simple, high level view of what the
process does.
The main page contains some global Environment, Session, and queue related data items. It has the top level exception
handling of the process, to handle exceptions that bubble up from any sub-page whilst a case is being worked.
Main Page Data Item Configuration

Process Name Global The initial value of this data item should be set to be the name of the process you are creating.
The process name could be passed to objects or subprocesses that it calls, if they have process
specific actions to take.
Queue Name Global The initial value of this data item should be set to the main Work Queue being used by this
process.
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Process Templates
Stop After Time Session Variable The initial value should be set the time the process should stop running. It might be set to a
time before a system used by the process is no longer available, or a time when another
process needs to be started instead.
This session variable can be changed by a Blue Prism Controller at run time if there is an
operational reason that a running session should finish at a different time to the default.
Stop After Items Session Variable This data items allows the developer to configure the process to only work a pre-defined
number of cases. The template has the initial value set to 9999999999, which effectively
means that the process will work all items.
This session variable can be changed by a Blue Prism Controller at run time if here is an
operational reason to only work a set number of cases before completing.
Stop ASAP Session Variable This session variable can be changed from False to True by a Blue Prism Controller to stop the
process.
If set to True the process will stop cleanly, if a case is currently being worked it will be
completed before stopping.
Blue Prism
Process Templates
❑ Start Up Page Configuration
The Start Up page gets the process ready to be able to work cases. It does this by:
• Performing any configuration and/or verification that is required

• Starting and logging into the systems that the process uses
If there is any validation of the environment required by your process, it should be added to the Start Up page. Examples of
the validation to be added are:
• Check that the directory paths used by the process exist

• Check that any databases or web services used are available
• If objects require a specific resolution to run, call an action that ensures the resolution is correct
❑ Populate Queue Page Configuration
The Populate Queue page in the Template has been left Blank. A flow should be added to get work from whatever the work
source is for this process, and add it to the Work Queue.
Note: Examples of what might go in this page are given in the process, Process Examples - Adding work to a queue. This is
available in the Product -> Developer Jumpstart section of the Blue Prism Portal.
Blue Prism
Process Templates
❑ Work Step Pages Configuration
These pages should each be updated to contain the logic to work each Work Flow case, with each page containing logical
specific task groupings. For example, a process might have Work Step pages called ’01 - Get customer information’, ’02 -
Evaluate Customer’, ’03 - Update Customer’, ’04 - Add System Notes’.
• Rename the pages to state what the page does

• Each page should perform a distinct function
You can have as many or as few of these Work Step pages as your process requires. Feel free to delete some of the template
pages, or add additional pages as needed.
• Add or remove additional Work Step pages as required
Each Work Step page that calls Business Object actions should contain retry exception handling as described in the previous
Exception Handling section.
• Include retry exception handling if a system is being used by the sub page
Blue Prism
Process Templates
❑ Mark Item as Completed Page Configuration
This page should be updated to perform any actions that need to be done if the Work Queue item has been successfully
worked without an exception.
By default the page simply updates the status on the Work Queue item and marks it as completed.
If there are any additional actions that the process needs to perform upon completion, they should be added to this page.
❑ Mark Item as Exception Page Configuration
This page should be updated to perform any actions that need to be completed if the Work Queue item has been
marked as an exception.
By default the page flow take two main paths, one for System Exceptions, and the other for Business exceptions.
Mark Item as Exception Page - Data Item Configuration

Consecutive Local The initial value of this data item should be set to the maximum number of times you want the
Exception Limit process to try and work subsequent work queue items that have the same System Exception.
The default initial value is set to 3
Blue Prism
Process Templates
Mark Item as Exception Page – Page Flow Configuration
Tag Item The item is tagged with the current Exception Type.
This is required for the Blue Prism Performance Report to work, which expects all exception Work Queue items
to be tagged as either a ‘System Exception’ or ‘Business Exception’.
If you are using exception types other than just ‘System Exception’ and ‘Business Exception’, you will need to
change the logic of this tagging within your flow so that the item is only tagged as one of these two main types.
Retry Exception? This decision stage splits the flow of the page into Business Exception items which are simply marked as
exceptions, and System Exceptions items which may cause the process to terminate if the occur repeatedly.
If you are using any exception types other than ‘System Exception’ and ‘Business Exception’ this decision may
need to be altered to ensure that your exception types go down the correct process flow.
❑ Reset Global Data Page Configuration
Any Data Items that are global to the entire process and need to be reset before working a new case can be reset to their
initial value by the call to this page.
Simply move any global data items that need resetting for each case onto this page.
Blue Prism
Process Templates
❑ Close Down page Configuration
The Close Down page performs any tasks that need to be done before the process completes. By default these include:
• Cleanly exiting the applications being used
Any other actions that need to be performed before the process completes should be added to this page.
2.2 Process Template 1: Training Exercise
Using Process Template 1 as the base for your build, rebuild the Blue Prism Foundation Training Consolidation Exercise
Process. As a reminder, this process:
• Read order information from a csv and populates a Work Queue

• Launch and Log into Centrix Data Solutions
• Get next item from the Work Queue
• Validate the item
• Process the order through Centrix Data Solutions
• Extract the order confirmation number
• Update the item in the Work Queue to Complete or Exception
The PDF outlining the Consolidation Exercise is available in Section 11 of Foundation Training, on the Blue Prism University.
Blue Prism
Process Templates
3 Process Template 2: Overview
i All Blue Prism Process Templates follow a similar basic structure, however, ‘Process Template 1’ should be
understood before advancing to use Process Template 2.
Process Template 2 is a multi-purpose template designed to be modified into the foundation of numerous different styles of
process.
It offers the following in addition to the capabilities offered in Process Template 1:
• Variations to how the Main Page of the Process works

• Additional Sub-Pages that can be used in your Process
Using Process Template 1 should be mastered before moving onto using Process Template 2.
3.1 Process Template 2: How to use Process Template 2

This section describes how to use Process Template 2 to create a new process.
Process Template 2 contains many different example Main Pages, each called EXAMPLE Main Page, and with a description
of the page in brackets. These example main pages are aimed to fit many different scenarios for processes that you may want
to create.
Blue Prism
Process Templates
3.1 Process Template 2: How to use Process Template 2
To use the template to create a new process the modification procedure is as follows.
• Select most appropriate ‘example’ page

• Copy the contents of the selected ‘example’ page on to the Main page
• Delete all ‘example’ pages
• Save as
Note: The process you are creating may require logic from more than one of the Example Main Pages. If this is the case, you
will need to create your own unique main page by copying parts of different example pages into your Main Page.
Blue Prism
Process Templates
3.2 Process Template 2: Generic Main Page Features
This section describes features that are generic across all the example Main Pages provided in Process Template 2.
Features that are also common to Process Template 1 have not been described again here.
Exception Control Settings Data Items

Stop After Global The Main Page in Process Template 2 calls a page called Control Applications, which has the
Failure To aim of maintaining the target applications.
Control
Applications The initial value of this flag informs the Control Applications sub-page should throw an
exception if one of the target applications cannot be controlled. If set to False, the sub-page
will instead keep trying to control the applications.
Stop After Global This data item is used by the Mark Item As Exception subpage to indicate if the process should
Consecutive terminate after the Consecutive Exception Limit has been reached, or if only an alert email
Exceptions should be sent.
Consecutive Global This data item resided on the Mark Item As Exception page in Process Template 1, but has
Exception Limit been moved to the Main Page in Process Template 2.
The initial value of this data item should be set to the maximum number of times you want the
process to try and work subsequent work queue items that have the same System Exception.
The default initial value is set to 3.
Blue Prism
Process Templates
Differences to Process Template 1
This table outlines differences between the main pages in Process Template 2 to the Main Page in Process Template 1.
Sub Page - Load Queue This sub-page contains the logic to load new cases into a work queue.
In Process Template 1 this page was named ‘Populate Queue’ and it was called from the Start Up sub-
page.
Sub Page - Get Next Item This sub-page contains the logic to get the next case from the work queue.
In Process Template 1 there was not a separate page for this logic.
Sub Page – Control This sub-page contains which has the aim of maintaining the target applications.
Applications
Sub Page – Unpack Item This sub-page exists for you to place logic to cast the item data into data items for use within your
process.
Sub Page – Validate Item This sub-page exists for you to place logic that validates the Work Queue item data. You should ensure
that all the information required by your process has been provided and is in the correct format.
Blue Prism
Process Templates
Sub Page - Load Queue This logic catches an exception that is about to cause the process to terminate. The Notify Termination
sub-page is called to send an alert (i.e. an email) to the Blue Prism controllers.
Notes:
- This template logic may be improved to remove the risk of an infinite loop if there is an exception
thrown by the Notify Termination page.
- For processes that will be ruin on a high number of resource pcs this logic maybe improved to prevent
the same alert being sent from lots of different sessions.
Blue Prism
Process Templates
3.2 Process Template 2: Example Main Pages
This section describes each EXAMPLE Main Page provided in Process Template 2.
❑ Example Main Page (stop when no queue items available)
This is the most basic example Main Page, similar to the basic template provided in Process Template 1, but with the few
differences that were outlined in the previous section.
The Work Queue is only populated once by calling the ‘Load Queue’ sub-page on once, near the start of
the process flow.
❑ Example Main Page (stop after consecutive exceptions)
This Main Page is identical to the previous ‘stop when no queue items available’ example main page, but with the addition of
a note stage explaining that the ‘Stop After Consecutive Exceptions’ data item is set to True.
Blue Prism
Process Templates
❑ Example Main Page (perform additional steps after exception)
This sub-page contains additional process flow stages after an exception has been recovered by the
main ‘Work Item’ exception block.
The sub-pages should be amended to include any process logic that is

required before the Mark Item As Exception page is called.
Examples may be:
• A note needs to be added to an application only when an exception

occurs
• Some MI information needs to be added to a database only when an

exception occurs
Blue Prism
Process Templates
❑ Example Main Page (poll for work when queue is empty)
This Main Page contains logic to continuously work and load Work Queue items up until the process stops, rather than
simply loading work once at the start of the process and completing once work runs out.
If there are no more Work Queue items a subpage called ‘Poll’ is called.
The Poll sub-page will contain logic to:
• Call the Load Queue sub-page to attempt to get work
• Wait for a short period of time if there is no work found to load
• Perform any actions that need to be performed in applications if

there are no work, such as call the Control Applications sub-page to
keep the systems in a usable state
Blue Prism
Process Templates
❑ Example Main Page (sleep during downtime)
This Main Page contains logic to stop working Work Queue items for a pre-configured period of time, and then resuming
until the configured stop time.
An example of when this logic might be used is if a system owner does not wish for the process to do
any updates during a peak usage time period.
Additional Data Items

Downtime Start Local This time data item should be set to the time that the downtime period should start.
Downtime End Local This time data item should be set to the time that the downtime period should end.
Sleep Interval Local This number data item should be set to the number of seconds that the process should
periodically sleep before checking if the Downtime End time has passed.
Blue Prism
Process Templates
Once the Downtime Start time has passed the process enters
a loop that simply sleeps for short periods of time and checks
if the Downtime End time has passed.
Once the Downtime End time has passed, the process will
continue to process cases.
Note: If the downtime period is long, this process logic might be improved by calling the Close Down and Start Up pages
before and after the downtime period.
Blue Prism
Process Templates
❑ Example Main Page (work items from multiple start points)
This main page has a number of decision stages next to each Work Step sub-page. If the decision is true the Work Step page is
called, if the decision is false, the process will skip the page.
Reasons for wanting to skip Work Step pages may include:

• Different Work Queue items need working in different ways depending upon the work scenario that they fit.
• You want to enable the Work Queue item to be retried and worked again from the start of the process, skipping any
updates that have already been performed. This might occur if the Controller selects ‘Force Retry’ for a work queue item.
The expression within each of the ‘Do Step’ decision stages will need updating to
be the condition you require to go to the Work Step page.
The decisions could be based upon:

• The work queue status, which is used to store what work steps have already
been completed
• Work Queue tags, that identify the work type of the item
• Logic unique to your process
• Add or remove as many ‘Do Step’ decisions as you need for your process.
Blue Prism
Process Templates
❑ Example Main Page (complete items early)
This main page has decision stages in its flow to decide if the item has completed without needing to perform all the
remaining work steps.
Potential reasons for not performing all the Work Steps for an item might include:
• After reading information from the systems, the process finds that the item no longer needs to be processed because the
required system updates have already been done and are therefore not required again. The process skips all the update
steps and simply marks the item as complete rather than performing
• Some final steps are only required for some scenarios. For example, it be that an alert needs to be sent if specific case
scenario if found.
The expression within each of the ‘Complete?’ decision stages will need updating to be
the condition you require.
Add or remove as many ‘Complete?’ decisions as you need for your process.
Blue Prism
Process Templates
❑ Example Main Page (start only if work available)
For this Example Main Page the Load Queue has been moved to be the very first sub-page called by the process.
If there are no cases to work the process ends, without starting the any systems.
Blue Prism
Process Templates
Thank you!
That’s the end of your training.

Please complete the course evaluation
questionnaire.
Blue Prism
Process Templates
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Blue Prism

This module will introduce the concept of Blue Prism Process

1. Process Templates 3. Process Template 2

• Decrease Process development time

The current available templates will be explored in the following sections.

1.2 Process Templates: Availability

Product -> Developer Jumpstart

• You only need to perform this import once!

2.1 Process Template 1: Exception Handling

Main Page Exception Handling

Exception Data Item Configuration

Examples of how you might recover the application may be:

Main Page Data Item Configuration

Data Item Name Data Item Type Description

• Performing any configuration and/or verification that is required

• Check that the directory paths used by the process exist

❑ Populate Queue Page Configuration

• Rename the pages to state what the page does

• Add or remove additional Work Step pages as required

❑ Mark Item as Exception Page Configuration

Mark Item as Exception Page - Data Item Configuration

The default initial value is set to 3

❑ Reset Global Data Page Configuration

❑ Close Down page Configuration

• Cleanly exiting the applications being used

2.2 Process Template 1: Training Exercise

• Read order information from a csv and populates a Work Queue

It offers the following in addition to the capabilities offered in Process Template 1:

• Variations to how the Main Page of the Process works

3.1 Process Template 2: How to use Process Template 2

• Select most appropriate ‘example’ page

Exception Control Settings Data Items

The default initial value is set to 3.

Stage Name Description

Stage Name Description

❑ Example Main Page (stop when no queue items available)

❑ Example Main Page (stop after consecutive exceptions)

❑ Example Main Page (perform additional steps after exception)

The sub-pages should be amended to include any process logic that is

Examples may be:

• A note needs to be added to an application only when an exception

• Some MI information needs to be added to a database only when an

❑ Example Main Page (poll for work when queue is empty)

• Call the Load Queue sub-page to attempt to get work

• Wait for a short period of time if there is no work found to load

• Perform any actions that need to be performed in applications if

❑ Example Main Page (sleep during downtime)

Additional Data Items

❑ Example Main Page (work items from multiple start points)

Reasons for wanting to skip Work Step pages may include:

The decisions could be based upon:

❑ Example Main Page (complete items early)

❑ Example Main Page (start only if work available)

That’s the end of your training.

© Blue Prism Limited, 2001 - 2020

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