Configure the Run-time Settings Tab

The capabilities described on this page are included in Appian's standard capability tier. Usage limits may apply.

Tip: The Run-time Settings tab is only available in the Appian Designer. You must be using Appian 23.3 or later and RPA 9.3 or later to see this tab.

On the Run-time Settings tab of the robotic task configuration, you can configure the following settings:

Execution settings
Automatic Process Clean-Up

Execution settings

In this section, you can choose how this robotic task behaves when executions are launched consecutively from an Appian process model. Options include:

Run setup and cleanup for each execution: Each consecutive robotic task execution includes the actions specified in the setup and Cleanup sections.
Skip setup and cleanup for consecutive executions: Setup actions only occur at the start of the first execution, and cleanup actions only occur at the end of the final execution.

If the robotic task doesn't require a robot to be reset before the next execution occurs, you can choose Skip setup and cleanup for consecutive executions. This option speeds up each execution, and the compounded time savings can make the overall set of consecutive executions much faster.

Learn more about the Setup and Cleanup sections.

In some scenarios, Setup and Cleanup sections are still run even if you choose to skip them for consecutive executions. These sections run when the:

Next execution is for a different robotic task
Execution runs into an unexpected exception
Robot does not have any further pending executions to pick up

Note: RPA does not automatically detect changes to robotic tasks during active executions. If you make any updates to your robotic task, simply stop and restart the executions to ensure your changes take effect.

Certain components of the robotic task configuration may behave differently when setup and cleanup are skipped:

Variables: When setup and cleanup are skipped, any robotic task variable that isn't a parameter is reset to the value it had at the end of the last setup. Any robotic task variable that is a parameter will be set to the value defined as part of the execution request. When you choose to skip setup and cleanup, avoid updating any variables used in the Setup section.
Credentials: If you use credentials in a Setup section, the credentials are reserved and won't be released until the Cleanup section successfully completes. This means that if the robotic task executes consecutively and the configuration is set to Skip setup and cleanup, then the credentials won't be released until the final execution's Cleanup section completes. Credentials used in the main section are released at the end of that specific execution.

Tip: If you choose to skip setup and cleanup for consecutive executions, be sure to design the robotic task workflow in the main section so it executes reliably in this manner. For example, if the robotic task is meant to submit a form multiple times with different data, be sure to add an action toward the end of the workflow for the robotic task to navigate back to the starting form. This way, each consecutive execution occurs smoothly and predictably.

Automatic Process Clean-Up

Every robotic task execution creates metadata or artifacts to help you evaluate how it performed. Over time, this data accumulates and can consume disk space to the point of negatively impacting performance. To keep your environment performing its best, you can configure when to delete this information. If you need certain information for auditing purposes, we recommend maintaining an Appian database table with the information you might need, such as the item processed, status of the process, and duration.

Delete completed or cancelled executions including artifacts (days): Number of days after which robotic task executions (including artifacts) are removed in order to free disk space. The execution data is removed altogether, so it won't appear in the list of executions.
Delete only artifacts (days): Number of days after which artifacts generated by executions are removed in order to free disk space. The list of artifacts affected by this option are inbound (parameterized robotic task variables), images, files of results, and video.

Note: To trigger the automatic clean-up process, you must enter a value of 1 or higher. Setting the value to 0 will not activate the clean-up process.

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