Docker Platform

• Documentation

Container Images

• PowerShell
• .NET
• Node.js
• Java
• Python
• Photon OS

Hint: It is recommended to always include the PowerShell script as a standalone PS1 file in the UiPath workflow. On this way it can be tested very easily with PowerShell and then included in UiPath on the same way.

---

To combine PowerShell with UiPath we use a tiny test script which needs a parameter and delivers the result of a message box as string.

#-Begin-----------------------------------------------------------------
Param(
[String]$UserName
)
#-Sub Main--------------------------------------------------------------
Function Main {
Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms;
[String]$Result = [System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox]::Show("Hello $($UserName)", `
"Hello", [System.Windows.Forms.MessageBoxButtons]::OKCancel);
$Result;
}
#-Main------------------------------------------------------------------
Main;
#-End-------------------------------------------------------------------

Now the integration of this PowerShell script into a UiPath sequence. Here is one way to read the PowerShell script as text file into a UiPath variable. This variable is the command text for the UiPath activity Invoke PowerShell. It is necessary to set the IsScript flag of the PowerShell Invoke activity in this case. The parameter for the script must be defined also as parameter for the activity, with the same name. Set the TypeArgument property to string and the result of the script will be a collection of strings too, which are stored in the variable Result. With the Write Line activity this result is shown in the output window of UiPath. Here the workflow file of UiPath. On this way it is possible to combine PowerShell in UiPath seamlessly and to communicate directly from UiPath with the PowerShell script and vice versa.



On the other way it is also possible to call the PowerShell script directly, with its full file name, include the path. In this case it is necessary to disable the IsScript flag in the properties.

---

The following example shows how to get the version and architecture of the engine of Invoke PowerShell activity of UiPath.

#-Begin-----------------------------------------------------------------
"$($PSVersionTable.PSVersion) - $env:PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE"
#-End-------------------------------------------------------------------

The path to the PowerShell script is set to Environment.CurrentDirectory, this is the path to the current UiPath project directory. On this way you can store the script in same directory and with the publishing it is part of the package.


The result shows us the version and architecture of the PowerShell package, used by UiPath Studio, in the version 22.4.3 of the Windows compatibility mode.

More and more desktop applications are being replaced by web applications. Selenium is recommended for this kind of automation approaches. To use it you need the WebDriver language bindings and a web driver for the browser. Of course, this depends on the browser used. After obtaining the necessary components, a simple test can be carried out using this Java sample program.

• W3C Validator
  
  
• WhatIsMyBrowser
  • The latest web browser version numbers
• WhatIsMyIPAddress
  
  
• Chrome Browser (Offline Installer)
• Chrome WebDriver or from Storage
• Chrome Extensions
  
  
• Firefox Browser
• Firefox WebDriver
• Firefox Extensions
  
  
• Edge Browser (Offline Installer)
• Edge WebDriver or from Storage
  
  
• Selenium
  
  
• Katalon Automation Recorder
  • Katalon Automation Recorder Overview
  • Chrome Web Store
  • Firefox Add-ons
  • Microsoft Edge-Add-Ons
    
    
• Postman

• Appium Desktop
• Appium Client Library (Selenium Webdriver extension for Appium)
• Selenium WebDriver (Supporting browser automation)
• Selenium WebDriver Support (Supporting Selenium WebDriver)
• Newtonsoft JSON (JSON framework for .NET)
• Castle Core (DynamicProxy, Logging Abstractions and DictionaryAdapter)

• Total Commander
• APK Downloader

• Windows Application Driver
  Hint: To use this driver you need the Appium client libraries. These are the same as mobile device automation above.

In a few cases it is necessary to transfer table data from one system to another. Here a report how to import table data from a csv file in an SAP system. To export table data you can use transaction code SE16. This method doesn't work with a table which contains RAW data fields.

In a normal case you configure the SAP standard users like SAP* or DDIC once when you install the application server. But later, month ago, it could be possible that you forget the passwords of the standard users in the different clients of the application server. Here a program to set or copy the passwords of the standard users in the client 000 from client 001.

With ABAP it is possible to use ActiveX applications on the presentation server. Now a few examples to show some possibilities.

• How to use SAP GUI Scripting inside ABAP In current versions from SAP for Windows the security options don't allow the using of SAP GUI Scripting inside ABAP. Disable this security rules to try the source. This source shows the possibility to use SAP GUI Scripting inside ABAP
  
  
• Easy Way of ABAP ActiveX Connectivity
  
  
• How to use Visual Basic Script It is also possible to use Microsoft Visual Basic Script inside ABAP. This means you can execute scripts direct from ABAP. Here a source to execute VBScript from ABAP and here an alternative source to execute VBScript from ABAP.
  
  
• How to use Google translate With the Microsoft Internet Explorer it is possible to call web sites via COM. In the following code we call Google translate and send a text to translate it and get the result back. It translate from German to English language. Here the ABAP source to call Google translate.
  This program bases on a VBA code snippet from Jean Pierre Allain, thanks to Jean Pierre.
  
  
• How to use Microsoft Word spell and grammar checker The Microsoft Office applications are a quasi standard, installed on most of the business computers and it can be use via OLE. Now it is a small step to use the functionalities of the Office applications also in ABAP. In the following code we look at the spelling and grammar checker of Microsoft Word. You get any text you want from ABAP to Word, check it and it is returned in a corrected form. Here the ABAP source to use Words spell and grammar checker.
  
  
• How to call a Windows CHM help file with ABAP With this ABAP code it is possible to call each CHM help file on the presentation server and control them. You can switch between the tabs, open the content you want and close the file. Here the ABAP source to use CHM help files.
  
  
• How to control a client with AutoItX from SAP ABAP It is very easy to control a client system from SAP ABAP with AutoIt. Do not forget to register AutoItX on the client system via regsvr32.exe AutoItX.dll. Now you can use AutoIt from ABAP, look at the simple example, it calls notepad and type a text in it:
  
  

  Data: AutoIt Type OLE2_OBJECT,
  pid Type i.
  Create Object AutoIt 'AutoItX3.Control'.
  Call Method Of AutoIt 'Run' = pid
  Exporting #1 = 'notepad.exe'.
  Call Method Of AutoIt 'WinWaitActive'
  Exporting #1 = 'Unbenannt - Editor'.
  Call Method Of AutoIt 'Send'
  Exporting #1 = 'Hello from ABAP'.
  Free Object AutoIt.

It is not ordinary but very easy to use DLL calls in ABAP or script languages, e.g. VBScript. Yuri Popov programmed a module, called DynamicWrapperX. It is an ActiveX component, which allow to call each function in a DLL you want via COM. A great module. Here the module DynamicWrapperX.
Thanks to Yuri Popov for this module.
The library offers a lot of functions but I miss the possibility to set a string on an address. So I programmed a small extension library to do it. The library contains only one function, with the name StrPut. Here the DynamicWrapperX extension.

• How to call Windows API OutputDebugString with ABAP
  To view ABAP debug output on the presentation server you can use the Windows API function OutputDebugString. zDebug is an example, it is a small collection of ABAP procedures or classes to use an external debugger, e.g. like DebugView from Microsoft TechNet, to catch the debug output. Here the ABAP source to use Windows API debug functions.
  Important hint: These procedures only works with foreground jobs and online processes. They does not work with background jobs and batch processes.
  
  
• How to call each DLL function in ABAP
  With this module you can use DLL calls in ABAP, the SAP programming language, very easy too.
  And it is necessary to register DynamicWrapperX on the presentation server too, with regsvr32.exe dynwrapx.dll.
  Look at the ABAP source code to call a DLL function.
  Important hint: This method works only with foreground jobs and online processes. It works not with background jobs and batch processes.
  See also my thread in the SCN.

More and more is JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) the standard in data exchange. I extend the remote enabled function module RFC_READ_TABLE to deliver SAP table data also in JSON format. Here the extended function module of RFC_READ_TABLE with the possibility to export the content in JSON format. Here the corresponding post in the SAP Community.

Here an article about the using of ArchiveLink with miniSAP and the source code to use ArchiveLink with miniSAP.

VBA Code Snippet to Detect Information about SAP GUI Elements

In a few cases it is in business context not allowed to install additional analyze software or tools. So applications that are permissible and available must be used, e.g. like Microsoft Office applications. This makes things a bit more laborious, but not impossible. Here a Visual Basic for Application (VBA) example to detect a few information of the UI Elements of a session of the SAP GUI for Windows with SAP GUI Scripting. The result is written into a Microsoft Excel table.


With the access to this kind of information you can detect what you need, e.g. like ID, text, type, name or position, size, etc. On this way you can e.g. easily compare two versions of an UI, to find the differences. With the filter options in Excel the desired information can then be found very quickly. Here the corresponding post in the SAP Community. Here the source code of the modul class with a type definition and here the source code of the sheet.

---

Check the Existence of an SAP GUI Scripting Object Without Exception

Different SAP environments are not always identical. So it is possible that an GUI object is available in one environment, but not in another. Here a method how to check the existence of a GUI object. In a normal case, if an object not exists, you get an exception error in a messagebox and the script terminates immediately. With this method you can choose whether the script terminate or not. I think this method is a way to make scripting more robust for the work in different environments.
A sub procedure C checks the existence. It gets the SAP GUI Scripting command as string parameter and delivers it to the method Exe of the Check class. This method calls the method FindById and if it doesn't find an object, an exception is thrown. Now the class was destroyed and the destructor calls the method ErrCatch. This method opens a messagebox and sets a global flag. If the flag is set, with a positive answer of the messagebox, the script terminate immediately or runs again with a negative answer. The example code checks the objects of the logon screen.

---

How to read any table with SAP GUI Scripting and write it to a CSV file

You can do a lot of things with SAP GUI Scripting. Beside the simulation of user inputs you can automize a lot of other stuff. But therefore it is necessary to mix the possibilities e.g. with Visual Basic Scripting. In this source code shows how to read any SAP table from the ALV-Grid of the transaction code SE16 record by record and write it in a text file. The delimiter between each field is a semicolon.
If you want to process the records of the table inside your Visual Basic Scripting code, it is not in any case a benefit to work with a file. This source shows a way to read a table in an array - not a file.
With this examples it is very easy to export any table from SAP and import the data e.g. in Microsoft Excel to analyze or process it.

• Get all Used RFC Destinations from eCATT System Data Containers
• How to Create a .NET Core COM Library to use it with ABAP via SAP GUI for Windows OLE
• How to Determine all Dynpro Fields of a Development Class
• How to use Memory Mapped Files with ABAP/eCATT
• How to use eCATT Script via HTTP Request
• How to use Real Mobile Devices from Sauce Labs Cloud Device Farm with SAP eCATT
• Visual Selection of SAP Table Data with ABAP and PowerShell
• How to Control Native Android Apps with ABAP
• How eCATT Executes the Commands TCD and SAPGUI
• How to use eCATT Script from PowerShell
• How to Download all eCATT Scripts
• How To Export SAP Table Content to SQLite Data Containers

• Frontend Toolkit Bootstrap
• JavaScript Library jQuery
• Syntax Highlighter Prism

How to use UnRAR Library with PowerShell

RAR is a very good archive format to compress any type of files in archives. RARLAB offers a free library to unpack those kind of archive files. You can find the UnRAR library here. It is very easy possible to use this library with PowerShell. Therefore you need the definitions of constants, structures und functions as C# code. This code is read as here-string from a file, here the C# code. The following example script contains a function with the name UnpackRAR with the parameters filename and destination path. It reads the C# definition and sets, if necessary, a definition to decide which version (x86 or x64) of the library should be used. It opens the archive and extracts all contained files in the destination path. Here the PowerShell script example how to use the UnRAR library. On this way it is very easy now to extract RAR compressed archives with PowerShell.

---

How to use any Scripting Language with PowerShell

PowerShell script offers the possibility to start any scripting language interpreter with additional arguments and to catch the result. The following examples shows Python and AutoIt, try it with .\CallScriptFromPS.ps1 """Hello World""". Here the PowerShell script to call any scripting language interpreter, here the Python example script and here the AutoIt example script.

I put my memory stick in a strange computer and suddenly the virus scanner gives alarm. It detects that one of my programs is infected with a trojan. I programmed and compiled it and the virus scanner of my system means it is all okay. Now I look a little bit nearer and analyze this situation:

• 1. Step: I send my program to Virustotal and it gives me a report back. Several virus scanners found different viruses and trojans and mean my program is suspicious.
• 2. Step: I wrote a very easy program and compiled it and sent it to Virustotal again. I was surprised about the result. One virus scanner gave alarm (see the results).
• 3. Step: Then I compressed the program with UPX and sent it to Virustotal again. Now I was more surprised, three virus scanners found different viruses, and the virus scanner from the second step not (see the results).
• 4. Step: Then I protected the programs with Molebox and sent it to Virustool and checked it again. It came what I expected: more different viruses and trojans (see the results).

Virus scanners are necessary, but if the phobia of the scanner makes users feel insecure, it goes to far. To use security mechanism in our programs is also necessary and allowed. But the scan technic of the virus scanner uses the same mechanism as a virus or trojan and our programs protect against "scan attack". So the virus scanner thinks, oh, it defends my "scan attack", it is suspicious and brands the program. The user thinks, oho, it is a virus or trojan in the program and deletes it, great.
What can we do?

• Check each program with Virustotal and inform the user about the results.
• Create for each program a checksum e.g. SHA256 and publish it with the link and with the file.

OLEView is an OLE/COM viewer from Microsoft and a part of the Windows SDK. It is possible with a simple mouse click to view the type library of the COM library with this tool in IDL (Interface Definition Language). But something is to notice: You must use a version number for the COM library 1.0 and higher. If you use a version number 0.x, it is not possible to view the interface - you get an error. The COM library works with a version number 0.x perfect, but OLEView can not read the interface and store the IDL file. The COM viewer, also from Microsoft, shows the interface without any problems.