Character encoding used by the Robots Agent

The Robots Agent can work with either non-Unicode or Unicode character encoding of data. It can work with only one type of character encoding at a time, so you need to decide which encoding to specify. You can switch the type of encoding later, if required.

  • On-premise Robots Agent specify the encoding when you install the on-premise Robots Agent
  • Cloud-based Robots Agent specify the encoding in the Settings page in Robots (requires the Manage Agent permission)

Note

Non-Unicode or Unicode character encoding of data is a consideration only when you are using ACL scripts in ACL robots. Python/HCL scripts in HighBond robots and Workflow robots do not use a Robots Agent, and they use the Unicode/UTF-8 character encoding by default.

What are non-Unicode and Unicode?

Non-Unicode and Unicode character encodings are two different methods that computer operating systems can use to interpret and display alphanumeric characters and symbols.

  • Non-Unicode supports a maximum of 256 different characters, and is typically used for English-language data, or data that uses one of the Western European languages
  • Unicode an industry-standard method of character encoding that supports most of the world's languages.

For more information, see Diligent Unicode products.

Which encoding should I use for the Robots Agent?

You need to use the type of encoding that matches the edition of Analytics being used in your company. Analytics and Robots cannot interact if the encodings are mismatched.

Switch the encoding used by the Robots Agent

Note

If you switch from a non-Unicode to a Unicode Robots Agent you may need to make adjustments to the scripts that are running in Robots. For more information, see Converting analytic scripts to Unicode.

On-premise Robots Agent

Uninstall and reinstall the Robots Agent. During the reinstallation, specify the type of encoding you want.

For more information, see Installing or upgrading an on-premise Robots Agent.

Cloud-based Robots Agent

Note

You must have the Manage Agent permission to switch the encoding.

  1. From the Launchpad home page (www.highbond.com), select the Robots app to open it.

    If you are already in Diligent One, you can use the left-hand navigation menu to switch to the Robots app.

  2. In the upper-right corner, click Settings.
  3. Under Global Settings, click Agent management.
  4. Click > Switch to Unicode or > Switch to non-Unicode.
  5. Click the confirmation prompt to confirm the change.

    Result the flag on the agent updates to indicate which encoding is currently in use.