Interrogate and automate applications that run on the Microsoft Edge browser by using the legacy Edge extension with the Universal Web Adapter in Pega Robotic Automation. legacy Edge extension was added to Robot Studio in build 19.1.40. For best results and additional Edge support, install build 19.1.105 or later.

The legacy Edge extension is backwards compatible; the newer versions of the extension work with older versions of Pega Robot Studio 19.1. To see when versions of the legacy extension were released, see the Pega Robotic Automation build notes.

Installing the legacy extension

Use the Setup wizard for Robot Studio and Robot Runtime to install the legacy Edge extension. To update users from the command line, use the command line installation with the INST_Edge=1 parameter to install the extension. For more information, see the installation instructions.

If you install Robot Studio or Robot Runtime without the legacy Edge extension and later want to install the extension, use the web installer utility. This utility is located in the Robot Studio or Robot Runtime installation folder. The following is an example of the command you enter to install the extension and update the messaging host for Edge.

OpenSpan.WebExtensionInstaller.exe Edge -i

Enabling the legacy extension

After installing the legacy Edge extension, the first time any user starts Robot Runtime, that user must decide whether to enable or uninstall the legacy extension. In Edge, the name of the legacy extension is Pega Robotic Automation for browsers. Automation developers, of course, would enable the legacy extension. Automation end users must enable the legacy extension so Robot Runtime can automate the browser. If automation end users do not enable the legacy extension, you must perform a manual process to recover and re-install the extension. For more information, contact Pega Support.

Automating Edge with the legacy extension

Keep in mind the following considerations as you use Robot Studio to interrogate and automate Microsoft Edge.

Turn off automatic updating

Best practice is to turn off automatic updates of your browsers. Only deploy new browser versions after you have had time to smoke test your automations.

Automating dialogs in Edge

To automate the File Open, File Save as, and Print dialogs in Edge in applications that use the Universal Web Adapter, use Pega Robot Studio version 19.1.98 or later. You can also automate Edge permission dialogs such as the Allow multiple files to be downloaded and Allow website to use your location dialogs. For more information, see Automating dialogs in Chrome and Edge.

Automating multiple adapters

You can include multiple concurrent adapters. For more information, see Using multiple Chrome or Edge adapters within a Robot Studio solution.

Automating tables in Edge

You can interrogate rows of data and cells within those rows. Use cloning to work with tables. For more information, see Interrogating HTML tables with the Universal Web Adapter.

Running Robot Runtime and Edge in administrator mode

If you plan to run Robot Runtime in administrator mode, you must also run Edge in administrator mode. For example, if the target application that you are automating is running with elevated privileges, then you must run Robot Runtime with similar privileges. To ensure that Edge runs with elevated privileges, in the AdditionalArguments property of the Universal Web Adapter in Robot Studio, add the following parameter:  --do-not-de-elevate

Automating applications that are running in Internet Explorer compatibility mode

The following additional considerations apply when you interrogate Microsoft Edge running in Internet Explorer (IE) compatibility mode. Microsoft designed Internet Explorer mode for situations where you need Internet Explorer 11 to retain compatibility with legacy websites and applications, but also need a modern browser for more modern websites and applications. To automate Microsoft Edge running in IE compatibility mode, use Pega Robotic Automation 19.1.86 or later.

• Interrogate and then stop each Edge adapter before you begin interrogating another Edge adapter. Attempting to interrogate two different Edge adapters simultaneously results in errors.
• Shut down all Edge processes before you interrogate IE compatibility-mode pages.
• When you run an automation that contains a Universal Web Adapter with IE compatibility-mode pages, shut down all Edge processes before you start Robot Runtime.
• The controls that you interrogate on an IE compatibility-mode page generate legacy web automation controls and match rules.
• To have access to the properties, methods, and events of a frame or top-level Windows form in your automation, use non-global webpages.
• When you use multiple Universal Web Adapters with Edge and IE compatibility-mode pages, ensure that the Edge Configuration properties for each Edge adapter are the same.

Using Microsoft Group Policy to control Edge policies when using the legacy extension

If you use a Microsoft Group Policy Object (GPO) to control Edge policies, and you enable the Configure native messaging block list setting in the Native Messaging section to block all extensions, perform the following steps to provide Robot Studio and Robot Runtime with the access they need to function correctly.

1. Start the Microsoft Local Group Policy Editor.
2. Select Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Edge > Native Messaging.
3. In the Control which native messaging hosts users can use setting, add the following messaging-host executable so that messaging host is not blocked:

openspan.translators.web.messaginghost

4. Save your changes and close the Local Group Policy Editor.

Also, if you enable the Control which extensions cannot be installed setting in the Extensions section to block all extensions, add the Extension ID to the Allow specific extensions to be installed setting so that the extension can be installed.