The Monitoring tab in Appian RPA lets you track what robotic processes are doing in your environment. The tab includes three subsections:

• Actions - Set up automatic notifications for certain events in a robotic process or in the console
• Events - Track activity in the Appian RPA Console
• Queues - Set up or view prescribed sequences for use in one or more robotic processes

Actions

From this window, you can set up actions that will be triggered when a specified event occurs, for example sending an email when a particular robotic process starts running.

List of actions

This list shows which actions have been set up for the Appian RPA Console.

You can find the actions you have created and delete those actions that are no longer of interest to you, by clicking on the icon .

You can also enable or disable actions individually by using the switch button , available under the Active column for each action within the list.

Actions editor

With the Actions editor, you can create new actions or modify existing actions. It is possible to define different types of actions, described below.

Email

This action allows you to send an email associated to the execution of a robot.

• Action detail: the detail of this action is the email recipient.
• To event: the type of event that triggers the action, for example, a user login or a new execution.
• Depending on: conditional value to start the action, for example, a user's intervention or the failed execution of a robot.

Resource relaunch

This action allows you to relaunch a resource when a specified event occurs:

• Action detail: The resource or resources where the agent will be relaunched.
• To event: The type of the event that triggers the action, for example the end of a robot execution.
• Depending on: Conditional value to start the action.

Robot execution

This action allows you to perform a robot execution when a specified event occurs:

• Action detail: The detail of the action, which in this case is the robot to be launched (app03 in the picture above).
• To event: The type of event that triggers the action, for example the end of a robot execution.
• Depending on: Conditional value to start the action, in this case the robot and its result that will launch the execution (app02, FAILURE in the picture above).

Console restart

This action allows you to restart the console whenever a specific event is thrown:

• Action detail: the detail of the action. In this case, the only possible value is "restart."
• To event: the type of event triggering the action.
• Depending on: conditional value, or trigger, to get the action started.

Enable/disable the global robots execution

This action allows you to enable or disable globally the robots execution when a specific event is thrown:

• Action detail: depending on what is needed, enable or disable the robots execution, you must choose "enable" or "disable" accordingly.
• To event: the type of event triggering the action.
• Depending on: conditional value, or trigger, to get the action started.

Toggle the global robots' execution

This action allows you to toggle the global robots' execution, enabling it if it is disabled and disabling it if it is enabled:

• Action detail: the only possible value is "toggle."
• To event: the type of event triggering the action.
• Depending on: conditional value, or trigger, to get the action started.

Start a resource container

With this action, it is possible to start a container with the right permissions depending on the selected event.

• Action detail: the only possible value is "true".
• To event: the type of event triggering the action.
• Depending on: conditional value, or trigger, to get the action started.

Start the selected resource container

With this action, it is possible to start the selected container depending on the selected event.

• Action detail: you can select the name of the resource to start, with the possibility of selecting the same (provided the event triggering the action is related in a way with a resource).
• To event: the type of event triggering the action.
• Depending on: conditional value, or trigger, to get the action started.

Stop the selected resource container

With this action, it is possible to stop the selected resource container depending on the selected event.

• Action detail: you can select the name of the resource to stop, with the possibility of selecting the same.
• To event: the type of event triggering the action.
• Depending on: conditional value, or trigger, to get the action started.

Choose multiple triggers

When we are defining actions based on events, some of them can be configured with more than one trigger, whenever specific criterions are met.

ROBOT_END is one of these events, so we can define the following triggers:

• ROBOT_NAME: Enables to select the robot for which the action will be triggered.
• EXECUTION_RESULT: Enables to select the action to trigger when the execution reaches one of the available statuses.
• EXECUTION_RESULT_OK: Enables to trigger the action when some item is processed OK.
• EXECUTION_RESULT_HAS_WARN: Enables to trigger the action when some item is processed with warnings.
• EXECUTION_RESULT_ERROR_PRESENT: Enables to trigger the action if an ERROR is specified in the code of the robot.
• TAKE_TIME: It allows to select the number of hours after which a specific action must be launched for event ROBOT_SCHEDULE_WITHOUT_NODE. This time can be configured to one of the following values: 1h, 2h, 4h, 8h or 16h.

Events

From this window, you can manage the events and visualize the list of the latest events recorded.

List of events

This screen encompasses all the events recorded in chronological order, showing information about the time and type of action and the user who started it.

Description of the events

Here are descriptions of each event that can be triggered within the console.

Event	Description
API_FILE_INVOKED	This event is triggered when the FILE API is called. The FILE API should not be used because it was developed specifically for legacy systems not supporting REST API. It is strongly recommended to use the REST API whenever is possible.
API_INVOKED	This event is triggered when the main methods of the console's REST API are invoked.
BACKUP_END	This event is executed when the backup process of the console ends.
BACKUP_START	This event is executed when the backup process of the console starts.
COMMAND_ON_SESSION	This event is generated when a remote control command is received, either activating the microphone in the browser (only for Chrome) or using the mobile application.
CONSOLE_LIVE	This event is triggered when the console is started.
CONSOLE_LOW_FREE_HARD_DISK_SPACE	This event is triggered when the free disk space is under the threshold defined for the console in section Settings -> Configuration.
EXECUTION_NEEDLESS	This event is triggered when an execution is self-removed after it ends.
EXECUTION_ROBOT_FEATURE_DISABLED	This event is triggered when the execution of robots is disabled on the console.
EXECUTION_ROBOT_FEATURE_ENABLED	This event is triggered when the execution of robots is enabled on the console.
FORGOT_CREDENTIALS	This event is triggered when the user asks for an email to reset credentials.
LOGIN_FORM	This event is triggered when a user accesses the console from the access form.
LOGIN_FAILURE	this event will be triggered when a login attempt to the console is not successful.
LOGOUT	This event is triggered when a user logs out of the console.
NODE_CONTAINER_START	This event is triggered when a container is started.
NODE_CONTAINER_STOP	This event is triggered when a container is stopped.
NODE_DISABLED	This event is triggered when a resource is disabled.
NODE_ENABLED	This event is triggered when a resource is enabled. It occurs when it connects to the console and is "enabled". It also happens when a resource in the console switches from "disabled" to "enabled".
NODE_LIMIT_MEMORY	This event means a resource has reached its maximum specified memory.
NODE_LOCKED	This event means a resource is locked, that is, a user login is needed.
NODE_LOW_FREE_HARD_DISK_SPACE	This event is generated when the free disk space for the resource is under the threshold defined in resource detail page.
NODE_OFFLINE	This event is triggered when the console detects that a resource has gone offline.
NODE_ONLINE	This event is triggered when a specific agent instance is successfully registered. It happens when an agent is started on a resource and connects to the console.
NODE_UNLOCKED	This event means that a resource has been unlocked, that is, the user session has been unlocked.
REPORT_FINISHED	This event is triggered when a report generation is completed and it is available for download.
ROBOT_ABORTED	This event is triggered when a robot execution is aborted.
ROBOT_END	This event is triggered when a robot ends its execution.
ROBOT_EVENT	This event is specifically triggered by the robots through the platform API. It allows you to monitor specific situations notified by the robots to the platform.
ROBOT_EXECUTION_DISABLED	This event is triggered when you try to run a robot whose execution is disabled on setup, or that is out of its execution schedule.
ROBOT_SCHEDULE	This event is triggered when a robot is queued for execution.
ROBOT_SCHEDULE_WITHOUT_NODE	This event is generated when an execution has been enqueued for more than a specific amount of time without being executed.
ROBOT_START	This event is triggered when a robot starts its execution.
SCHEDULE	This event is meant to be generated at a specific configured time, being able to associate any action.

Queues

From this window, you can access all the functionality related to the use of queues in Appian RPA. In Appian RPA, a queue represents a set of items that are part of a common process and that will be processed by one or more robots.

The use of queues offers three main advantages:

• Ease to sequential processing of items by several different robots.
• Robustness and transparency when distributing workload between different instances of a single robot.
• A centralized point of visualization of the results of the processing of said items by all the robots involved.

You can create a queue through a robot that is responsible for this task. This can lead to two different operations:

• A robot is responsible for creating a queue to process its own workload and can even launch the necessary number of instances of itself to distribute the entire load.
• A robot is responsible for getting the items to be processed, creating a queue with them and launching the execution of so many instances of the robot that processes those items as needed. But the launcher robot does not process the items itself.

Queue list

In this list, you'll see all the existing queues in the system for which you have compatible permissions.

From here we can see the main attributes of each of the queues:

• Created at: Date and time of creation of the queue
• Name: Queue's name, established at the time of its creation
• State: Current state of the queue. It will be one of the following:
  • PENDING. When a queue is created, its status is set to Pending and it is waiting to be processed by a robot.
  • IN_PROCESS. The queue is being processed at this moment by at least one robot. That is, several robots can process the same queue simultaneously.
  • FINISHED. All the elements of the queue have been processed.
  • RESERVED. A robot has reserved a finished queue; no other robot can access the queue at this time. Normally this will be because an instance of a robot will be generating reports and / or sending notifications from a finished queue.
  • CLOSED. The processing of this queue has already been completed. It is kept in the list to allow consulting the queue history and its results.
• Queue Items: The number of items in the queue that are in each of the possible states for an item:
  • PENDING. These items are pending processing
  • IN_PROCESS. Items that are being processed by a robot at this time.
  • FINISHED_OK. Items whose processing has completed successfully
  • FINISHED_WARN. Items whose processing has ended with a warning.
• Description: Here we can describe in more detail the content of the queue and provide extra data of it.
• Created by: Name of the robot that created the queue and the number of the execution in which it was made.
• Last robotic process: Name of the process and their execution's id that are processing the queue at this time.
• Priority: The robots, when requesting a queue to process it, may demand access to the queues with the highest priority first.
• Actions: From here you can delete a queue and modify its permissions. Also, if the queue has an associated file, it can be accessed from this column.
• Permissions: The queues follow the same system of permissions as the rest of the platform.

Click a queue to view its Queue details page, where you have additional options.

Queue detail

From the queue detail page, we can perform almost the same actions as from the queues list:

• Load items from an Excel file
• Execute a robot using this queue
• Remove the queue
• If the queue has an associated file, we can access it and download it

When you click on a queue, you're brought to the Queue detail page, where you can view and modify some details:

• Id: The id is auto generated at the time of creation of the queue, that can be used to locate a specific queue from a robot. This field is read-only.
• Name: Name of the queue established at the time of its creation.
• Description: Here we can describe in more detail the content of the queue and provide extra data.
• Updated at: Last update moment of the queue. This field is read only.
• State: Defines the state in which the queue is located. This field is editable, allowing to put the queue, manually, in any of the states defined above.
• Priority: The robots, at the time of requesting a queue to process it, may demand access to the queues of highest priority first.
• Attempts: Number of retries that can be carried out in the processing of each item.
• Queue Items: The number of items in the queue that are in each of the states defined above.
• Created by: Name of the robot that created the queue and the number of the execution in which it was made. This field is read only.
• Created at: Date and time of the queue's creation. This field is read only.

Statistics

In this section you can see a summary of the statistics of processing times for each of the elements according to their state:

• Global: Total number of items, along with the average duration.
• Pending: Number of pending items and the estimated time to process them
• In process: Number of items currently being processed and their current processing time.
• Finished OK: Number of items whose status is FINISHED_OK and their processing time.
• Finished Warn: Number of items whose status is FINISHED_WARN and their processing time.

List of executions

In this section, you can see all the executions that have processed this item. The same item may be processed several times (by the same execution of a robot or by different executions) until it is managed correctly.

The execution's attributes are:

• Robotic process: Name of the robot
• Execution: Number of the execution
• Start: Execution's date and time
• Result: Execution's result
• Description: Information about the execution. The same description you can find in Robotic Processes.
• Output: Inventory of the output files of the process (which can be downloaded by the corresponding icon)
• Actions: If the executions are running or they have ended, it is possible to perform different actions upon them

Queue items

Toward the bottom of the page, you'll find the Queue Items list. To learn how to add items to a queue in Appian RPA, jump to the Item management section.

In this list you can see the main attributes of each of the items that make up the queue:

• Sel.: It is not exactly an attribute, but a box that allows you to select the item to include it in a group of massive modifications.
• Key: It is set at queue's creation time. Must be an attribute that identifies the item uniquely.
• Reference: It is the index corresponding to the order of introduction of the item in the queue. Reference 1 corresponds to the item that was first introduced.
• State: Defines the actual state of the item.
• Result: Indicates both the result and the subresult, if any, of the item process.
• Functional data: see below
• Remaining attempts: Indicates the number of retries that remain for the item.
• Priority: It shows the priority of the item, established at creation time, although it can be modified later. It can influence the order in which the items are processed by the robot. Can be one of the following:
  • HIGHEST
  • HIGHER
  • HIGH
  • NORMAL
  • LOW
  • LOWER
  • LOWEST
• Actions: Set of actions that can be carried out on the item.
  • Access the item detail using the icon .
  • Quickly modify some of the parameters of the item using the icon .
  • Permanently delete the item by clicking on the icon .
• Permission: tag of the item, used to associate it to the robots who uses it.

Queue item detail

Click on the detail icon to view and modify the item.

You can modify these attributes:

• Key
• Reference
• State
• Priority
• Remaining attempts
• Result

To access the full detail of the item of a queue, click on the icon .

Manage queues

You can manage process queues directly in the Appian RPA Console.

This allows you to create, query, modify, and delete both the process queues and the items contained in each of them.

Tools are also included to manage the queue's permissions that allow you to assign a queue to a robot (or a set of them) and vice versa.

Create a queue

We have two different ways to create a new queue:

• From the console
• Using the API from a robotic process

Creating a queue from the console

To create a new queue in the Appian RPA Console:

1. Go to Monitoring > Queues and click Create queue icon in the toolbar.
2. Enter a name and description for the new queue.
3. Click OK.
4. In Details, select the queue's State, Priority, and Attempts. Add necessary permissions and any functional data that should be visible in the queue list.
5. Click Save.

Creating a queue from a robotic process

A queue created from a robotic process using the Appian RPA API can lead to two different operations:

• A robotic process is responsible for creating a queue to process its own workload and can even launch the necessary number of instances of itself to distribute the entire load.
• A robotic process is responsible for getting the items to be processed, creating a queue with them and launching the execution of so many instances of the robot that processes those items as needed. But the launcher robot does not process the items itself.

Learn how create process queues using the Appian RPA API. For examples using the API to create process queues, see the Queues Robot tutorial.

Item management

Queues allow you to load a list of items to be processed by one or several robotic processes. From the console, you have a set of tools to monitor the status of both the queue and each of the items.

You can also manage this list of items, adding the new items from an Excel file, modifying the status of those items or even deleting them.

Add items

Just like creating a queue, you can use the API to add items, or you can use an Excel file in the console.

1. To add items from the console,click on the Load items from Excel file icon from the toolbar of Queue detail page.

2. Attach the excel file that contains the information for the queue.

The Excel file must have the following characteristics:

• The first row that contains data will be the one that defines the name of the columns (properties of the items).
• Each of the following rows will contain the data of each item.
• The first of the columns will be assumed as the key of the item.

When there are at least three rows without data, the import process will determine that there is no more data. In the case of having a different data source, a robotic process must be created that loads the items in the queue.

Item data

An item in a queue contains two sets of data that we can manage from the console.

Relative data to the state of the item in the queue

This data set tells us some useful information about the process status of each item. All the items of all the queues have this set of values, which are independent of the functional data that we can include.

This information is displayed in the Queue Items table.

Functional data of the item

The functional data of an item is a generic list of pairs of text strings in the key-value form. These pairs are totally dependent on each queue since the information stored is relative to the processed item and will modify according to the process involved.

The values of these functional data can be consulted and/or modified by the robotic processes during the processing of each item. We can also modify its values from the detail of the item in the console by hovering over the item and clicking the pencil icon.

Modify an item

To modify the status of an item:

1. Click on the Modify selected icon .
2. In the window, some of the data of the selected item can be modified.

Modify multiple items

In the same way that we can modify the data of an item, we can do it with a set of them. For example, we can modify all the items that are in a certain state.

1. Select the items you want to edit in the list.
2. Click on the Modify selected icon .
3. In the window, some of the data of the selected items can be modified.

Execute a robot using process queues

The items contained in a process queue can be consumed by one robotic process (or several, depending on their permissions). The queue system is designed so that the robots can request the next item to be processed. Several executions of the same robot can process the same list of items simultaneously.

Assign a process queue to a robotic process

To assign a queue to a robotic process, you'll need to configure the required permissions both in the queue and in the robot that is going to process its items.

Assign permissions either from the queue detail and from the queue list by clicking on the Permissions icon . Type in the permissions and click OK.

You can also assign permissions on the Queue detail page.

Once the permission is assigned in the process queue, assign the same permission in the corresponding robot.

When the queue and the robotic process share permissions, you can run the robotic process. We can do this from both from the console and the API.

Running the robot from the queues list

From the list of queues:

1. Click the Execute robotic process icon to launch the robot .
2. You're brought to the robot execution window with that pre-selected queue. Indicate the necessary values, such as a resource to be used, the number of simultaneous executions, etc.
3. When you're done, the robotic process will be launched and start consuming the items the way you've configured.

The complete example can be consulted in the Queues Robot tutorial.