Exploring the workflow designer
This topic provides an overview of the workflow designer interface, and describes how to access it. The following topics are included:
Opening the workflow designer
Service catalog administrators can access the workflow designer by creating a new workflow or modifying an existing workflow from the following locations in the application:
- Workflows page
- Workflows tab in the Service Options panel (for more details on service creation, see Adding and updating services).
The workflow designer interface
The workflow designer consists of the palette, the canvas, and the configuration panel. The palette contains building blocks (activities) which can be arranged on the canvas to define fulfillment workflows.
The following image describes the workflow designer interface:
| Annotation | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Palette | Contains tabs to manage process elements and search options for process elements. |
| 2 | Process Elements | Contains process elements that you selected from the Manage Palette tab. |
| 3 | Favorites | Contains process elements that you marked as favorite in the Manage Palette tab. |
| 4 | Recent | Contains elements that you used recently to create a business process. |
| 5 | Manage Palette | Contains a list of all process elements that workflow designer offers. You can mark these elements as favorites or select only those that you want Innovation Studio to display on the Process elements tab. |
| 6 | Process Tool bar | Contains tools for common operations such as zoom, clear canvas, and adjust canvas grid. |
| 7 | Process Information | Contains information about the process such as process name and parameters and permissions assigned to the process. |
| 8 | JSON | Shows JSON of the process definition. It is for troubleshooting. |
| 9 | Element Information | Shows properties of the selected element that is used in the process design. |
| 10 | Process Validation | Shows warnings if the process is invalid for any reason. |
| 11 | Canvas | Is the area where process elements are placed to design the process. |
Enabling and disabling workflows
The following image shows the Properties pane when a workflow is saved in an enabled state. When you save a workflow without any validation errors the workflow automatically saves in an enabled state.
When you save an incomplete or invalid workflow, the workflow status is toggled to a disabled state. For example, if you are building a worfklow and need to find additional information, you can save the workflow while it is still in progress. Because the workflow is incomplete, the workflow automatically saves in a disabled state.
You cannot publish a service if the workflow attached to the service is is in a disabled state. However, in some cases, a background process might introduce an error in a workflow that was already attached to a published service, and set the workflow to a disabled state. When a workflow is in a disabled state when a request is submitted, the request will trigger an error.
You can toggle the workflow status to an enabled state after you complete the workflow and resolve any validation issues.
Workflow designer videos
Note
The videos on this page show an older version of Catalog. The previous product name was MyIT Service Broker. Although there might be minor changes in the UI, the overall functionality remains the same.
The following video (2:51) explains the interface.
Customizing the palette
The following video (2:30) shows how to set favorites and customize the palette.
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