Executing and Debugging Processes

Studio allows you to test an RPA scenario before publishing the project. To do this, you can run the process with the built-in robot and track its execution step by step.

You can start a process with the following commands:

1. Playback — executes the operation while ignoring breakpoints and skips element skipping . The process runs faster than during debugging but records fewer logs.

2. Debug — executes the operation with all breakpoints and skips enabled. During debugging, the most detailed information about the robot’s actions is displayed.

Both commands are available on the Quick Access toolbar and in the Home menu tab. The Debug button is also available in the Debug tab.

Console

The run/debug command starts a robot instance to immediately execute the current process. You can track its execution in the Console panel. If debugging is selected, more detailed information will be displayed, showing all actions performed by the robot.

The Console has two display modes: text and grid (default). You can switch between them using the Grid/Text options:

The DEBUG, INFO, ERROR, NETWORK, and TEST filters control the collection of messages of the corresponding type. Above the filters, there are the following buttons:

• Follow console — console text will always focus on the last received message.
• Cleanup console — clears console output.
• Starting from version 1.25.7, the Text wrapping button has been added to the Console — long logs are now automatically wrapped for easier reading.

Messages in the Console can be copied or opened for viewing in a dialog window. Both commands are available in the context menu of the selected message. You can also copy messages with Ctrl + C, including multiple selected messages.

Additional Console settings can be accessed by right-clicking the table headers to open the context menu. For example, the Show Column Chooser command controls which columns are displayed in the Console table.

For example, the Number column displays the ID automatically assigned to an element during the process. This column is hidden by default and can be added to the Console table only by checking the corresponding box. The auto-numbering of elements is managed in the Studio settings.

Debugger

Debugger configuration is set up in File > Settings > General > Debugger. See descriptions of its parameters here.

ℹ️ New in version 1.25.7: When debug mode is active, the status bar is highlighted in orange.

Before starting debugging, specify the type of robot that will perform it. To do this, on the Debug tab, set the Robot Edition parameter to the required value, for example Enterprise.

If you need to start debugging from an arbitrary point, select the starting element, open its context menu, and use the Run from Element command.

Errors During Debugging

If the execution of any element ends with an error, the default behavior is to stop the entire process. However, you can configure a pause on exception. To do this, enable Pause on Exception in the Debugger settings.

As a result, the process will pause each time an exception is detected. This allows you to analyze and fix the issue, then manually re-run the element without restarting the whole process.

⚠️ If an error occurs, you can continue from the error point by clicking Repeat step().

Skipping an Element

⚠️ Limitation: The skip is ignored if the .ltw file is closed during debugging.

The skip feature is a built-in tool that lets you disable a specific element during debugging. To set a skip, click the skip icon in the header of the desired element:

As a result, the element will not be executed when debugging the scenario—the robot will skip it.

Pause

Starting from Primo Studio RPA version 1.24.6, a Pause button has been added for all process types. This lets you stop process execution at any moment, providing better control over its run.

Breakpoint

A breakpoint is one of the most important tools for a developer. Breakpoints are set wherever you need to pause the debugger’s execution — for example, to view the current state of variables in the Output panel.

To add a breakpoint, click the breakpoint icon in the header of the desired element. When the debugger reaches an element with a breakpoint, execution will pause.

To resume debugging, select one of the following commands on the Debug menu tab:

• Step over — moves to the next element and pauses again.
• Continue — continues execution until the next breakpoint.

To forcibly stop the process, use the Stop button .

See how to set a breakpoint in a process with of the Pure code type

Output Panel

Provides the ability to view the values of all output variables obtained during debugging. To make it available, you need to:

1. Set a breakpoint in the desired location.
2. In the debugger settings, enable the Show Output parameter.
3. Start debugging.
4. In the left part of the screen, where the Project and Elements panels are located, go to the Output tab.

Note: When debugging is not running/completed, there is no output data or breakpoint, the panel is not displayed.

The values of the output variables can be viewed in detail by clicking one of the two buttons:

• to view data in tabular form;
• to view data in Text/JSON/XML formats.

If the value of the data is too large and does not fit completely into the output, click the Best Fit (all columns) button.

Variable Editing

To change the current value of a variable, right-click on it in the Output panel and select the Change value item.

This functionality can be useful when a pause on exception occurs, allowing you to quickly correct the value and resume debugging the process (the Step over button).

Watch Panel

You can also work with variables and expressions in the Watch panel. In terms of functionality, it corresponds to the Watch panel of classic development environments.

In the table of the panel, the calculated expression, data type of the calculation result, and the result itself are indicated:

Watch Management:

1. Creation. To create a new watch, click the icon in the upper left corner of the panel. After that, enter the text of the calculated expression in the window:

1. View Value. To view the result of the calculation, click the icon in the Value column. The displayed result can be copied using the key combination Ctrl + C or the context menu command.

2. Update Result. You can update the result of the calculation using the icon in the row with the corresponding watch. The update request will be executed correctly only if the process debugging is running.

3. Editing. You can change the calculated expression in the table cell or in a special window that opens by double-clicking on the watch row.

4. Deletion. To delete a watch, select the row in the table and click the icon or the Delete key.

Executing C# Code in the Watch Panel

Since version 1.24.10, support for executing C# code in the Immediate tab has appeared in the Watch panel. This panel is used during debugging to check the data available at a certain stage of program execution. It allows you to calculate the values of variables and arguments.

To use this feature, enter a C# expression, variable name, or argument in the Watch panel (the Immediate tab) and press Enter.

It is important to note that the Immediate tab does not work without a running project, as its use is directly related to the current state of program execution.

Slow Execution

To debug fast processes, you can introduce artificial pauses between actions. The Slow execution button on the Debug tab is responsible for creating a pause. In the drop-down list of this button, you can select the duration of the pause in seconds.

Pauses can also be set in the general properties of elements: in the Pause before (ms) and Pause after (ms) parameters.

Component Highlighting

The robot can highlight visual components of applications before interacting with them. To do this, use the Highlight components button on the Debug tab.