Creating and managing a robot folder

A robot folder is a container that holds one or more robots. You can use robot folders for two main purposes:

  • To contain and organize individual robots on the Robots dashboard

  • To standardize user access to a group of robots

For information about creating robots, see Creating and managing a robot.

Using folders to organize individual robots

As your organization's collection of robots grows, keeping them well organized using only the Robots dashboard can become difficult. Just like Windows folders, robot folders provide an additional level of organization that you can use to group and contain related robots.

You are not required to use folders. You can locate your organization's robots solely on the Robots dashboard, or you can contain some or all of them in folders.

Only a single level of robot folders is supported. You cannot create a folder inside a folder. Folders are segregated by robot type, with a different set of folders for ACL robots, HighBond robots, and Workflow robots. You are limited to a maximum of 100 folders for each robot type.

Using folders to standardize access to groups of robots

In addition to basic organization, robot folders allow you to standardize access to groups of robots. Once a robot is contained in a folder, you assign access permissions to the robot at the folder level, not at the robot level. Folder-level permissions automatically cascade to all the robots in the folder.

This cascading behavior means that for a group of robots you can add collaborators, and configure their permissions, in a single place. You then locate any robot that requires a particular set of collaborators and permissions in the appropriately configured folder.

For more information about how permissions work in Robots, see Robots app permissions.

Benefits of cascading permissions

Cascading folder-level permissions to the robots in the folder has these benefits:

  • Maintain access permissions in one place Maintain collaborators and permissions for a group of robots in one place, rather than in multiple individual robots

  • Reduce error Reduce the chance for error by setting up collaborators and permissions once, rather than multiple times

  • Reduce labor Reduce labor when onboarding a new Robots user by adding them as a collaborator at the folder level only, rather than in multiple individual robots

How moving a robot affects access permissions

Note

To move a robot, you must be an owner of the robot. To move a robot to a folder, you must be an owner of the folder.

Two rules govern how access permissions are assigned when you move a robot:

  • Robots inherit folder collaborators and permissions

    When you move a robot to a folder, the robot inherits the folder access permissions (folder access permissions cascade). The list of robot collaborators, and their specific roles, is changed to match the folder list. Individual collaborators are added or removed, and collaborator roles updated, as required.

    If you are moving the robot from the Robots dashboard, you can no longer maintain collaborators and permissions at the robot level.

    The same permissions behavior applies if you create a new robot from within a folder. The folder collaborators and permissions cascade to the new robot.

  • Robots retain folder collaborators and permissions

    When you move a robot from a folder to the Robots dashboard, no change is made to the robot collaborators and their permissions. The collaborators and permissions do not revert to their former state prior to the robot being moved to the folder. You can now maintain collaborators and permissions at the robot level if you need to make any updates.

The table below illustrates how moving a robot between the Robots dashboard and different folders affects collaborators for the robot.

Sequence of moves Maintain collaborators at the robot level Who can see and access the robot

Folder 1 collaborators

(Robots role: User)

Folder 2 collaborators

(Robots role: User)

Robots Admins

(global access)
1

Robot on the dashboard
2

Move robot to Folder 1
3

Move robot to Folder 2
4

Move robot to the dashboard

Performing actions on robot folders

The robot folders that you have permission to work with appear on the dashboard in Robots. You can create, edit, or delete a robot folder, or manage collaborators for a robot folder, as required. Your assigned role for each folder controls which of these actions you can perform on the folder.

For information about roles and permitted actions, see Robot and robot folder access.

Naming robot folders

On the dashboard in Robots, robot folders appear above individual robots. The default sort order for folders is alphabetical by name. A consistent naming convention helps organize the collection of folders. For example:

  • Using a prefix with each folder name allows you to easily insert future folders at appropriate points in the sort order. For example: A_01, A_02, B_01, B_02, and so on.
  • Using the prefix xxx_ with less frequently accessed folders positions them lower in the sort order.
  • Using the prefix zzz_ with folders that are not currently used positions them at the bottom of the sort order.

Create a robot folder

  1. Open the Robots app.
  2. From the dashboard in Robots, select the tab for the type of robot that you want to organize with folders:
    • ACL Robots
    • HighBond Robots
    • Workflow Robots

    Workflow Robots only appears if you are a System Admin with a Professional subscription.

  3. Click Add folder and enter a name for the folder.

    Note

    Do not use currency symbols anywhere in the folder name, for example: $ , € . Folder names are limited to 250 characters.

  4. Click Add folder to create the folder.

    The folder is created and added to the dashboard. If you open the folder, you see the message No robots in this folder because the folder is initially empty.

    Note

    If the message Folder already exists appears, you need to specify a different name for the folder. Another folder with the same name already exists.

    If you are not a collaborator with permissions for the existing folder, the folder is not visible to you.

Rename a robot folder

  1. Open the Robots app.
  2. From the dashboard in Robots, select the tab for the appropriate robot type.
  3. Locate the folder that you want to rename and click in the upper-right corner of the folder.
  4. Click Rename.
  5. Update the folder name and click Rename folder.

    The folder is renamed.

    Note

    If the message Folder already exists appears, you need to specify a different name for the folder. Another folder with the same name already exists.

    If you are not a collaborator with permissions for the existing folder, the folder is not visible to you.

Manage collaborators for a robot folder

Note

To manage collaborators for a robot folder, you must be an owner of the folder.

Robots Admins are automatically a collaborator for every robot folder, with the role of owner. This automatic assignment cannot be changed from inside a folder.

Collaborators are Diligent One users with permission to access a particular folder. If a user has not been added as a collaborator for a folder, the folder is invisible to the user.

The activities that a collaborator can perform in a folder depend on their assigned role:

  • An Owner can control the folder and manage other folder collaborators, in addition to having all Editor permissions.

  • An Editor can rename the folder, in addition to having all Reviewer permissions.

  • A Reviewer can access the folder and the robots it contains.

For detailed information about robot folder roles and associated folder permissions, see Robots app permissions.

Robot folder owners can manage collaborators for ACL robot and HighBond robot folders. Because access to Workflow robots is restricted to the System Admin user type with a Professional subscription, the list of collaborators in a Workflow robot folder is read-only.

  1. Open the Robots app.
  2. From the dashboard in Robots, select the tab for the appropriate robot type.
  3. Click the robot folder that you want to manage collaborators for.
  4. In the side panel, under Folder details, click Add collaborators or Manage.

    The Collaborators side panel opens.

  5. To manage the collaborators, do any of the following:
    • Add to add a user to the folder, click Add collaborators and select the user.

      By default, the user is added as a Reviewer, the role with the least permissions. If necessary, update the user's role.

    • Update to change a user's role, select a new role from the dropdown list beside the user's name.
    • Remove to remove a user, click the X next to the dropdown list.

      Tip

      Use the search bar to filter the names in the list.

  6. When you are finished, click the X in the upper-right corner of the Collaborators side panel.

Move a robot to or from a robot folder

Note

To move a robot, you must be an owner of the robot. To move a robot to a folder, you must be an owner of the folder.

You have the following options for moving a robot:

  • From the Robots dashboard to a folder

  • From a folder to the Robots dashboard

  • Between folders

Moving a robot has implications for the robot collaborators. For more information, see How moving a robot affects access permissions.

  1. Open the Robots app.
  2. From the dashboard in Robots, select the tab for the type of robot that you want to move:
    • ACL Robots
    • HighBond Robots
    • Workflow Robots

    Workflow Robots only appears if you are a System Admin with a Professional subscription.

    Robots and folders are segregated by robot type. You can only move robots within the same robot type.

  3. If the robot is currently in a folder, click the folder to open it.

  4. Locate the robot that you want to move and click in the upper-right corner of the robot.
  5. Click Move to folder.

    The Move robot to folder dialog box appears.

  6. Select a destination folder, or the Robots dashboard, and click Move here.

    The robot is moved to the destination that you selected.

  7. If the message Robot already exists appears, rename the robot and click Rename and move.

    The robot is moved to the destination that you selected.

    Tip

    If you prefer to keep the name of the current robot, the other option is to rename the robot in the destination before you move the current robot.

Delete a robot folder

Caution

Once you confirm the deletion of a robot folder, the deletion of all robots in the folder, and any content the robots contain, is permanent. You cannot recover the deleted robots or any of their content.

When you delete a robot folder, you delete all the content contained in the folder, in both development mode and production mode:

  • all robots
  • all script versions
  • configured tasks
  • task run history
  • all result and working data – tables, files, and logs

Note

To delete a folder, you must be an owner of the folder.

  1. Open the Robots app.
  2. From the dashboard in Robots, select the tab for the appropriate robot type.
  3. Locate the robot folder that you want to delete and click in the upper-right corner of the folder.
  4. Click Delete.
  5. Type the exact name of the folder that you want to delete and click Delete folder.

    Result The folder is deleted and all content that the folder contains is also deleted.

  6. If the Deleting... indicator continues to display, manually reload the page.