Workflow Designer screen features

The Workflow Designer is used to combine and arrange activities into workflow templates. The Designer uses an interactive, graphical interface that allows activities to be added, moved, and resized through simple drag-and-drop manipulation. An activity’s output(s) can be routed to other activities in a similar fashion.

WorkCycle user interface (Workflow Designer)

The appearance of the Workflow Designer depends on the WorkCycle version and configuration. Your Workflow Designer can differ slightly from this illustration.

Main areas of the Workflow Designer include:

Menus

The WorkCycle menu bar accesses all menus and commands.

Canvas

The Canvas area is the workspace where you assemble activities into workflow templates. To start building a workflow template, drag an activity from the Activity panel to the Canvas area. To insert an activity into a displayed workflow template, drag the activity to the Canvas area and drop it over a connecting line in the workflow.

Activities

The Activities panel displays a list of available activity groups and the activities within each group. To expand or collapse a group, click the or button next to the group name.

Some activities displayed in the Activities panel in this guide may not be present in all installations of WorkCycle, or they might be included in different activity groups than shown here.
When you create and save some types of WorkCycle activities, new activity groups are created automatically. For example, saving a SQL activity creates a new SQL activity group if it does not exist.
The drop-down list at the top of the Activities panel is reserved for future use.

Options

When you click an activity in the Canvas area, the Options panel displays the activity’s required parameters, if any, and their current values. This example shows the options and some values for the Email User activity:

If you set the Field Type to Text, you can enter a string in the Value field. Alternately, a window might open where you browse to a file or folder.
If you set the Field Type to Field, you select the Value field from a list of available output field names from other activities.

Required parameters vary for different activities. The values for a given parameter can be set differently in different workflow templates. If the activity is used more than once in a workflow template, each instance can have unique required parameter settings.

Output

The Output panel displays information about the output of the currently selected activity.

The Output Field displays the activity’s default output name. For some activities, you can modify this string; the new value applies only to the instance of the activity where you make the change.
The Field-Prefix field is used to enter a string that will be added to the beginning of an activity’s output name. This field can be blank but editable, or empty and read-only.
The name of the activity is shown in the Activity field. This field is read-only.

Menus and commands

The following tables list WorkCycle’s menus and commands. Commands marked as Reserved might be absent from your version of WorkCycle.

Italicized commands, if present, are reserved for future use.

File menu

Command/Subcommand	Function	Shortcut Key
New	Clears the Canvas area and makes the Designer ready for creation of another workflow template.	CTRL+N
New Client Side Workflow	Reserved
New Client Side Event	Reserved
Open	Opens the Workflow window, which provides a list of available workflow templates.	CTRL+O
Delete	Removes the workflow template displayed on the screen from the list of available templates. When you select Delete, a message requests confirmation. If you select Yes, the workflow template is erased and will no longer be available.	CTRL+D
Export Image	Opens the Save As… window, where you can save a graphic image of the Workflow template in one of several popular common file formats.
Connection	Opens a sub menu that allows you to view the current server and database connection, or to select a new database connection. Note: The database connections must already exist. You can create database connections using the Manage Connections window, which can be accessed by selecting Options > Manage Connections.
Connection > Connections	Reserved
Connection > Current Connection	Shows the server and database to which the Workflow Designer is currently connected. Note: If you have multiple database connections, those connections are displayed above or below the current connection. You can change connections by choosing a new connection from the list.
Connection > connection_name(s)	Multiple database connections are listed in this sub-menu by connection name, for example, Default, MyDb, Test, etc. To change the database connection, select the desired name.
Save	Saves the currently displayed workflow template.	CTRL+S
Save As…	Opens the Save As… window, where you can save the currently displayed workflow template under a different name.
Import	Loads an exported (.XML) workflow that was saved by another user. Note: The workflow itself retains the original name under which it was saved, regardless of the .XML filename. When you attempt to import the .XML file, the original workflow name cannot already exist among your saved workflows.
Export	Saves the currently displayed workflow template as an .XML file that can be loaded by another user. Note: The workflow itself retains the original name under which it was saved, regardless of the name you assign during export. When the file is imported, the original workflow name cannot already exist among the user’s saved workflows.
Exit	Quits the Workflow Designer.

Command/Subcommand

Function

Shortcut Key

New

Clears the Canvas area and makes the Designer ready for creation of another workflow template.

CTRL+N

New Client Side Workflow

Reserved

New Client Side Event

Reserved

Open

Opens the Workflow window, which provides a list of available workflow templates.

CTRL+O

Delete

Removes the workflow template displayed on the screen from the list of available templates. When you select Delete, a message requests confirmation. If you select Yes, the workflow template is erased and will no longer be available.

CTRL+D

Export Image

Opens the Save As… window, where you can save a graphic image of the Workflow template in one of several popular common file formats.

Connection

Opens a sub menu that allows you to view the current server and database connection, or to select a new database connection.

Note: The database connections must already exist. You can create database connections using the Manage Connections window, which can be accessed by selecting Options > Manage Connections.

Connection > Connections

Reserved

Connection > Current Connection

Shows the server and database to which the Workflow Designer is currently connected.

Note: If you have multiple database connections, those connections are displayed above or below the current connection. You can change connections by choosing a new connection from the list.

Connection > connection_name(s)

Multiple database connections are listed in this sub-menu by connection name, for example, Default, MyDb, Test, etc. To change the database connection, select the desired name.

Save

Saves the currently displayed workflow template.

CTRL+S

Save As…

Opens the Save As… window, where you can save the currently displayed workflow template under a different name.

Import

Loads an exported (.XML) workflow that was saved by another user.

Note: The workflow itself retains the original name under which it was saved, regardless of the .XML filename. When you attempt to import the .XML file, the original workflow name cannot already exist among your saved workflows.

Export

Saves the currently displayed workflow template as an .XML file that can be loaded by another user.

Note: The workflow itself retains the original name under which it was saved, regardless of the name you assign during export. When the file is imported, the original workflow name cannot already exist among the user’s saved workflows.

Exit

Quits the Workflow Designer.

Edit menu

Command/Subcommand	Function	Shortcut Key
Undo	Rolls back the last operation performed on the Canvas area.	CTRL+Z
Redo	Re-applies the last rolled-back operation.	CTRL+Y
Properties	Reserved.

Command/Subcommand

Function

Shortcut Key

Undo

Rolls back the last operation performed on the Canvas area.

CTRL+Z

Redo

Re-applies the last rolled-back operation.

CTRL+Y

Properties

Reserved.

View menu

Command/Subcommand	Function	Shortcut Key
Refresh Layout	Rearranges and redraws the currently displayed Workflow template.
Zoom > Zoom In	Magnifies the size of the currently displayed Workflow template.	CTRL +
Zoom > Zoom Out	Reduces the size of the currently displayed Workflow template.	CTRL + -
Zoom > Zoom to Fit	Magnifies or reduces the size of the currently displayed Workflow template to fit the Designer Canvas.
Activities	Hides and displays the Activities panel at the right of the Canvas. Selecting this option sets a check box next to the option. Selecting it again clears the check box.
Options	Hides and displays the Options and Output panels at the bottom of the Designer window. Selecting this option sets a check box next to the option. Selecting it again clears the check box.

Command/Subcommand

Function

Shortcut Key

Refresh Layout

Rearranges and redraws the currently displayed Workflow template.

Zoom > Zoom In

Magnifies the size of the currently displayed Workflow template.

CTRL +

Zoom > Zoom Out

Reduces the size of the currently displayed Workflow template.

CTRL + -

Zoom > Zoom to Fit

Magnifies or reduces the size of the currently displayed Workflow template to fit the Designer Canvas.

Activities

Hides and displays the Activities panel at the right of the Canvas. Selecting this option sets a check box next to the option. Selecting it again clears the check box.

Options

Hides and displays the Options and Output panels at the bottom of the Designer window. Selecting this option sets a check box next to the option. Selecting it again clears the check box.

Options menu

Command/Subcommand	Function
Refresh Plugins	If you modify available plugins in the WorkCycle.NET\Plugins folder, clicking the Refresh Plugins command will reload the plugins.
Manage Connections	Opens the Manage Connections window, which lets you define a new connection to a server and database, or modify or delete an existing database connection.
Manage Activities	Opens the Manage Activities window, which lets you define global parameters for an activity. Note: Global parameters are used only by some activities.
Manage Workflow Launching	Opens the WorkflowLaunching window, which lets you define and update parameters for WorkCycle’s File Monitor and Workflow Timer service functions.
Create Activity from this Workflow	Reserved.
Add Database Connection as Activity	Opens the Manage Connections window, which lets you define a database connection as an activity. The new activity will be added to the Activities list under the Database group.
Load Client Side Library	Reserved.
Use Full Path on Load	Reserved.
Query Builder	Opens the QueryBuilder window, which lets you define an activity as a SQL query. The new activity is added to the Activities list under the SQL Query group.
Edit Scripts	Allows Python Scripts to be created, modified, or imported. This is an advanced topic.
EDI Transaction Table	Reserved.
View Stats	Displays the Stats window, which contains metrics for the running workflows.
Manage Task Templates	Displays a window containing setup parameters for the tasking system.

Command/Subcommand

Function

Refresh Plugins

If you modify available plugins in the WorkCycle.NET\Plugins folder, clicking the Refresh Plugins command will reload the plugins.

Manage Connections

Opens the Manage Connections window, which lets you define a new connection to a server and database, or modify or delete an existing database connection.

Manage Activities

Opens the Manage Activities window, which lets you define global parameters for an activity.

Note: Global parameters are used only by some activities.

Manage Workflow Launching

Opens the WorkflowLaunching window, which lets you define and update parameters for WorkCycle’s File Monitor and Workflow Timer service functions.

Create Activity from this Workflow

Reserved.

Add Database Connection as Activity

Opens the Manage Connections window, which lets you define a database connection as an activity. The new activity will be added to the Activities list under the Database group.

Load Client Side Library

Reserved.

Use Full Path on Load

Reserved.

Query Builder

Opens the QueryBuilder window, which lets you define an activity as a SQL query. The new activity is added to the Activities list under the SQL Query group.

Edit Scripts

Allows Python Scripts to be created, modified, or imported. This is an advanced topic.

EDI Transaction Table

Reserved.

View Stats

Displays the Stats window, which contains metrics for the running workflows.

Manage Task Templates

Displays a window containing setup parameters for the tasking system.

Administrative menu

Command/Subcommand	Function
Manage Server Connection	Used to change the database connection on a local server installation.
Delete Workflow Data	Deletes workflow data between user-specified dates. This is the data associated with a workflow. Once a workflow has run, the data is no longer needed and can be purged. Note: Do not attempt to clear WorkCycle data while the Workflow service is running.

Command/Subcommand

Function

Manage Server Connection

Used to change the database connection on a local server installation.

Delete Workflow Data

Deletes workflow data between user-specified dates. This is the data associated with a workflow. Once a workflow has run, the data is no longer needed and can be purged.

Note: Do not attempt to clear WorkCycle data while the Workflow service is running.

Test menu

Command/Subcommand	Function
Run	Opens the Run Workflow window, where you can enter a value to be passed to the workflow template’s Start activity. You can then step through execution of the workflow.
Run Unattended	Opens the Run Workflow window, where you can enter a value to be passed to the workflow template’s Start activity. When you launch the workflow, the workflow completes automatically.
Run now on server	Inserts a record into the workflow table and starts the current workflow.
Run remote	Executes a Workflow via Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) on the server, rather than on your local machine.

Command/Subcommand

Function

Run

Opens the Run Workflow window, where you can enter a value to be passed to the workflow template’s Start activity. You can then step through execution of the workflow.

Run Unattended

Opens the Run Workflow window, where you can enter a value to be passed to the workflow template’s Start activity. When you launch the workflow, the workflow completes automatically.

Run now on server

Inserts a record into the workflow table and starts the current workflow.

Run remote

Executes a Workflow via Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) on the server, rather than on your local machine.

Help and Custom menus

The Help > About option displays version and copyright information about WorkCycle.

The Custom menu lists customer-specific workflows.