Coded Workflow/Source Files - XML tags visibility in assigns

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1

Hi!

Huge fan of the coded workflows/source files.
I’m trying my best to create classes that are easy to use by other developers that are not so used to C#.

One idea I had was to use XML tags ( Recommended XML documentation tags - C# reference | Microsoft Learn) to remind those who uses these classes that certain properties have to adhere to a certain structure.
Let’s say I have a property that should only be of a string length less than 50 characters.

    public class MySpecificClass
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// This property should not exceed 50 characters
        /// </summary>
        public string myProperty { get; set; }
    }

This tells the IDE to display the summary text when trying to do display that information with that property:

This image shows a code snippet implementing a class in C# with a public string property and a summary comment indicating the property's length restriction, accompanied by IntelliSense displaying the property's description. (Captioned by AI)
This image shows a code snippet implementing a class in C# with a public string property and a summary comment indicating the property's length restriction, accompanied by IntelliSense displaying the property's description. (Captioned by AI)573×259 21.8 KB

However this information is lost when using Assigns in regular workflows.

The image shows a programming flow diagram where an instance of 'MySpecificClass' is assigned to 'myObject', followed by an incomplete assignment to 'myObject.myProperty', indicated by error messages. (Captioned by AI)
The image shows a programming flow diagram where an instance of 'MySpecificClass' is assigned to 'myObject', followed by an incomplete assignment to 'myObject.myProperty', indicated by error messages. (Captioned by AI)561×281 11.8 KB

Anyone have any experience with this?
Is it because the language for the project has been set to VB.net?

2

Hey,

Well spotted.
I used these too but never noticed they weren’t appearing in the intellisense.

I decompiled some code and saw that the code comments are stripped out in the .dll files Studio is creating when compiling the code, so its nothing to do with the projects being VB.NET or C#, but rather an oversight on the way Studio is building them as I am pretty confident the intellisense would display them otherwise as it usually does.

Tagging in @AlvinStanescu from UiPath to see if this is something he is aware of, it might be an easy fix on their end.

It will likely need to be in a new release of Studio however so won’t be any quick fix.

3

If you use c# project, it will appear.

I had the same question too.
check this link.

How can I get tooltip from coded source file in sequence? - Help / Activities - UiPath Community Forum

4

Really?

Thats even stranger then.
I decompiled the classes I made and the code comments were removed in it, that suggests if the project is C# the comments arent removed. I’ll have to test that.

5

Good luck and happy automation

6

Can confirm this works when the project is in C#

7

What versions did you guys test on?

I just made a library in a C# format, and tried it in a C# project, the code comments arent there and the decompiled code shows the comments taken out.

8

I’m on Studio version 2024.10.8
Using UiPath.System.Activities = 24.10.7

The image shows a development environment interface where a string property assignment 'myProperty' in an object 'myObject' triggers an error due to character length restrictions. (Captioned by AI)
The image shows a development environment interface where a string property assignment 'myProperty' in an object 'myObject' triggers an error due to character length restrictions. (Captioned by AI)524×254 12.1 KB

9

Aha, I think I see the issue.
It works within the same project in C#, publishing a library still has the issue.

So to summarise.

Libraries never work once published, projects can work when the classes are used internally, but only in a C# project. Sorry for any confusion from above, I was testing coded source files made in libraries that are then published.

10

No, that should work as well:

Here’s my Library, with just one Coded Source File:

The image shows a screenshot of UiPath Studio with a C# class file open, displaying a namespace, class, and a string property in the code editor. (Captioned by AI)
The image shows a screenshot of UiPath Studio with a C# class file open, displaying a namespace, class, and a string property in the code editor. (Captioned by AI)957×410 35.8 KB

And here’s my C# process:

The image shows a user interface of UiPath Studio featuring a project setup with a sequence of flowchart activities, including variable assignments and a warning indicator in the project workspace. (Captioned by AI)
The image shows a user interface of UiPath Studio featuring a project setup with a sequence of flowchart activities, including variable assignments and a warning indicator in the project workspace. (Captioned by AI)971×530 39.2 KB

11

That did not work on mine.

I will test with a later version of Studio as soon as I can to confirm that this was partially fixed between the different versions then.
23.10 was the first release that coded workflows were GA, so it wouldnt surprise me if this was partially fixed later and we just missed or cannot find release notes on it.

1 Like
12

Ok, some more testing results.

In the latest Studio version libraries do publish the code comments with the .dll files it generates, so they are available for other projects. This behaviour doesnt work in 23.10 so must have been added inbetween, which is nice.

VB projects still do not display the code comments in the coded source file is in the same project.

So looks like one open issue there.

13

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