Hello guys,

I've installed yesterday AutoMate Premium 11.0.0.42 to test it.

I really like the new design of the functions, how they are shown, loops, ifs, etc. and also I couldn't not notice some of the new actions (Automate/Automate schedule) used to run a job, inside a job. Haven't tested it yet.There is still a lot to explore, but so far, I've encounterred this two issues.

Should we try to build up a topic and gather all the error/changes/improvements that we are experiencing?

 

This is what I found so far - for testing, I used a working job build in AM 10.7.0.3:

1. Running job from TaskBuilder:

There is a step: If %filename% <> 0, then..

This simple "If" fails. In the variable %Filename% is stored "name.pdf"

This is what Automate gives as an error:

Error 1: Expression evaluation failed: "Type mismatch".

I replaced 0 with "0" in the code and then I get another error, which has nothing to to with my If.

Error 2: Expression evaluation failed: "Variable or function "%anotherFunction%" does not exist".

After doing this, TaskBuilder does not respond anymore to mouse control, only keyboard.

The only way to close the TB is from End process from task manager.

Anyway I used also len(%filename%) <> 0, but still, is doesn't work and Task Builder freezing I still find it a issue.

Has anyone else started testing the new Automate? Have you experienced any issues so far?

 

Task Steps: (Right click, Select All, Copy to copy to the clipboard. Steps can then be pasted into the AutoMate Task Builder)
<AMIF EXPRESSION="%Filename% &amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; 0" />

Edited: 03/23/2017 at 02:58 AM by DorelPureca

Hi Dorel,

The If condition is intended to be used with numeric values. To have it compare a string value, you need to use double quotes, or any other function that denotes an string. In the current release of 11, 11.0.0.43, the task fails with a "type mismatch" error.

However if you add quotes to the number, then it will be considered as a string, not a numeric value.

Below are example steps to demonstrate this.


Task Steps: (Right click, Select All, Copy to copy to the clipboard. Steps can then be pasted into the AutoMate Task Builder)
<AMVARIABLE NAME="Filename" VALUE="name.pdf" /> <AMIF EXPRESSION="%Filename% &lt;&gt; &quot;0&quot;" /> <AMSHOWDIALOG MESSAGE="Not Equal" /> <AMIF ACTIVITY="end" />

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Justin Aucoin | Support Analyst
AutoMate | Division of HelpSystems
HelpSystems, LLC | T: +1.213.738.1700 | F: +1.213.738.7665

I've also just installed 11.0.0.43 in our DEV tier alongside our existing 10.5.0.56 working installation. Backed up 10, restored in 11.

Are you sure, during the Restore, v10 and v11 aren't confused about the Task Service HTTP connection port? I shutdown the AutoMate 10 Windows service and restarted AutoMate 11 service and I see in the Output that "Preferences file updated with Task Service HTTP connection port changed to 10011."

If I'm going to install v11 alongside v10, and use a v10 backup to get started in v11, the one thing that shouldn't be affected is the port number for the Task Service. They need to be different or else I start to have problems. I know after the Restore I can manually go back in and reset the port number, but that's going to cause anyone running the two versions some issues.

Secondly, it looks like v11 isn't handling the use of literal % the same as v10. I have an Oracle SQL statement that is doing a LIKE and must use % to indicate the wildcard starting/ending positions. It works just fine in v10, but returns "Unhandled script error: Expecting an expression." error when it tries to run the SQL statement.

delete from igpmgr9.avt_igp_logs
where owner = 'IGPMGR9'
and name like '%%AVT_ESP%%';

Do we need to use some escape character now? And shouldn't the v11 migration logic handle that?

Hello Craig,

Would it be possible to set-up a GoToAssist session where we can take a closer look at this issue? If this is possible please send an email over to AutoMate.Support@helpsystems.com with a list of your availability.

Note: Please reference this forum thread in your email.


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Ricardo Castaneda | Principal Support Analyst
AutoMate | Division of HelpSystems
HelpSystems, LLC | T: +1.213.738.1700

Our first impressions of version 11 are that it is not ready for prime time, should have been kept in beta longer.

1. During the setup, imported all of our tasks from version 10.5. Folders, triggers and tasks all showed up fine in the task administrator, but produced an error every time we tried to open a task. After a support call, it seemed as though it did not properly convert the task files to version 11. The only was to correct this was to manually open each of the 150 task files and save it at which point it prompted that it was saving to a new version. After the save, the task files open fine in administrator.

2. We rely heavily on AutoMate to run SQL commands a part of the tasks. All of our jobs are created using the predefined SQL connection strings. In version 11, the jobs all failed due to SQL connect issues. After a support call it seems that this is indeed a bug that they were able to replicate on their end. The jobs would connect fine if creating the connect string as a step in the task. A ticket has been created for this.

3. All of our jobs utilize email. As with the SQL issue above, when the utilizing the system settings for email, the email will fail but if we configure the exact same settings in the step it will send fine. A ticket has also been opened for this as they were able to reproduce on their end.

To us, SQL and Email are two huge items that one would have thought would have been tested before releasing a version for production use. It is disappointing that AutoMate would be release with such glaring issues. We count on AutoMate to be rock steady and run our business processes. It has lived up to our expectations in the past, but this version is definitely something that we are just going to put on the shelf.

Hi Dan.  I agree version 11 is not ready.  We installed 11 on a machine that has 10 and are having issues with settings being retained on reboot.  System Settings; Execution; Disable Windows Foreground timeout specifically.  I can enable this option in both 10 and 11 but after a restart it is disabled.  Also, and this is quite weird.. I was not able to turn off 'Task Triggering' from the task service in the menu bar.  I had to disable any scheduled tasks at the script level to keep them from running.  I ended up uninstalling 11 from the machine.  I hope this ends the quirkiness I am seeing with my scripts.  And I only have 3 of them running on the machine; two are simple maintenance scripts.

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Hello,

I would suggest that you open Cases at AutoMate.Support@helpsystems.com with any issue you are facing.

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Ricardo Castaneda | Principal Support Analyst
AutoMate | Division of HelpSystems
HelpSystems, LLC | T: +1.213.738.1700

I waited a few months hoping these issues would be solved by then, but I also have the problem like Dan Sheffield reported with the SQL connection issues. For most jobs with SQL I need to create a new connection string, so a lot of manual work.
I use versie 11.0.1.17

Hi Edward,

The predefined connection string issue is fixed in 11.0.1.17.  What exactly is the issue you're running into?

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Devin Cannon | Support Analyst
AutoMate | Division of HelpSystems
HelpSystems, LLC | T: +1.213.738.1700 | F: +1.213.738.7665

hi, im trying to create a AD user using variables and it gives me same error

Hi Fernando,

Please provide that task you have built so far for further review.

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Ricardo Castaneda | Principal Support Analyst
AutoMate | Division of HelpSystems
HelpSystems, LLC | T: +1.213.738.1700