DLL/Method Invocation Mapping

Updated by Luka Koczorowski

DLL/Method Invocation Mapping to Power Automate Desktop

DLL invocation currently is not available in Power Automate Desktop. One solution is for these Activities to instead map to Flows within PAD by creating a mapping as described below. If there is no mapping then a TODO comment will be put as a placeholder.

Using Rules Dashboard

Custom Actions Rules dashboard is currently mostly read-only. The only available functionality is to enable rules or bulk delete rules.

Using CSV

  1. Export CSV

To start using the CSV Rules sheet, the user must export the Rules table to CSV. To do so, from the Rules dashboard, click Advanced -> Export Rules to CSV

The following columns will be auto-populated by Blueprint's Rule Generator:

  • Column A ("ScopeId") = Scope for Rule. Blank implies Instance level
  • Column B ("SourceActionType") = DLL_CALL
  • Column C ("TargetActionType") = EXTERNAL_FLOW
  • Column E ("SourceObjectName")  = DLL Namespace
  • Column G ("SourceActionName")= DLL Method Name
  • Column N ("SourceParameterName") = Name of Parameter
  • Column O ("SourceParameterType") = Type of Parameter. Input or Output
  • Column P ("SourceParameterDataType") = Data Type of Parameter
  • Column R ("TargetParameterName") = Same as SourceParameterName
  • Column S ("TargetParameterType") = Type of Parameter. Input or Output
  • Column T ("TargetParameterDataType") = Data Type of Parameter
  • Column Y ("IsActive") = FALSE

  1. Configure Rules
Scenario 1) Map to New Flow

When mapping to a new flow, the only column that needs to be filled in by the user is O ("SourceParameterType") which can have one of two values: Input or Output. In some scenarios where a parameter is both an Input and Output, the row needs to be duplicated with one defined as the Input and the other as the Output. Finally, set Column Y ("IsActive") to TRUE to enable the Rule

Scenario 2) Map to Existing Flow

To map to an existing flow, the following columns must be defined by the user

  • Column K ("TargetActionId")= GUID of existing flow. Read How to find Flow GUID
  • Column L ("TargetActionName") = Name of flow
  • Column R ("TargetParameterName") = Typically matches Column N ("SourceParameterName")
  • Column Y ("IsActive") = Set to TRUE to enable Rule
Scenario 3) Map to PAD actions or Scripts

Read: Map Custom Actions or DLL calls to Inline Script

  1. Import Rules CSV

To import rules, from the Rules dashboard, click Advanced -> Import Rules From CSV

  1. Download RPA Framework Mapping sheet from RPA Dashboard

The following columns will be auto-populated:

A row will exist for every parameter. For example, a call to Custom.Activity.Add(NumOne, NumTwo) will create two rows, one for parameter NumOne, and another for parameter NumTwo
  1. For a successful mapping, the following columns must be filled in:
  • Column J ("TargetActionId")  = GUID of PAD Flow
  • Column K ("TargetActionName")= Name of PAD Flow
  • Column Q ("TargetParameterType")= INPUT or OUTPUT

The Target Flow does not need to be a complete Flow. It can be a simple stub however, the Flow signature must match what was entered in the Mapping sheet
To map a DLL call to a inline script, read how to Map Custom Actions or DLL calls to Inline Script
  1. Upload Completed Framework Mapping Sheet using UiPath as your Source and PAD as your Target

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