Workflow Manager Page

 

Content

Overview

Workflow Operations

Task Operations

Layout

 
 

 

 

 

Overview

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The Workflow Manager page provides tools to run and administer Workflows.

1. Workflow Manager Bar

Use this Query bar to find Tasks and Workflows:

Query Returns...
All Queued Tasks Tasks that have work pending for any User, i.e., Tasks that have not been filtered by the Administrator.
Unassigned Queued TasksAny Task with queued items that have not been assigned to a User, Role, or Department.
All Paused TasksAll Task Executions that are currently paused.
Recent Task HistoryThe last 100 Task Executions.
All TasksAll Tasks in the system.
All WorkflowsAll Workflows in the system.
2. Workflow Operations

Workflow Operations provide editing and information operations regarding the current Workflow.
3. Task Operations

Task Operations let you control the selected Task and provide editing and information operations regarding the selected Task.
4. Layout

Layout toggles between "Task Layout" and "Workflow Layout" to show alternate views of Tasks and Workflow Executions based on the retrieved Query results.
5. Workflow Executions Bar

This shows Workflow Definitions and their corresponding Workflow Executions (click to select). A red bubble shows the number of SDIs pending in the Worklflow. The number of items per Task are shown in the graphic. The count is also shown in the Task Layout.
6. Info Bar

Shows information concerning the current Workflow Definition, Execution, and Task.
7. Workflow

This is the Workflow Execution display area.

 

Workflow Operatons

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Operation Description
New Execution When a Workflow Definition is selected in the Workflow Executions Bar, this lets you create a new Workflow Execution. See Workflow Execution Types for details and examples.
Edit Execution When you are Working with a Workflow Execution, this lets you edit Execution details. This is useful for Auto Executions and Named Executions (see these sections for examples). Note that the "Edit Workflow Execution" dialog lets you change the status of the Workflow Execution. If you have a Workflow Setup Variable defined, you can edit that as well as shown below in the dropdown list:
Delete Execution This permanently deletes the Execution and cancels all queued SDIs and Tasks in the Workflow Execution. Any Tasks currently active or with Task execution history are retained.
Workflow Details This toggles to show and hide Workflow Detail tabs.
Workflow History This shows the history of Task Executions for the Workflow. Each Task has a tooltip that provides a summary of the Task Execution (below). Click "Task Summary" to run a Task Execution report that shows Execution summary details, Step history, textual notes, and more.
Edit Workflow Edit Workflow is available for Workflow Definitions and Workflow Executions to provide control over how the Workflow is edited:
OperationDescription
Edit Current Provisional Workflow This is available when the Status of the selected Workflow Definition is "Provisional". When editing a provisional workflow:
• A Task can be swapped with another Task. Its queued items are preserved.
•A Task with queued items can be removed, but those queued items will be lost.
•Task execution history is preserved, even if the Task is removed from the Workflow.
Change Workflow Status This lets you change the Status of the Workflow Definition. This effectively provides an "on/off switch" for a Workflow, regardless of the number of Executions that are Active on the Workflow. These Statuses are available:
StatusBehavior
Active Tasks can be executed and SDIs can be added to the Workflow.
SuspendedTasks cannot be executed and SDIs cannot be added to the Workflow.
CompleteThis applies only to Auto Execution Workflows only (see Auto Executions)
CancelledTasks cannot be executed and SDIs cannot be added to the Workflow.
Create New Version

Create New Variant

Create New Workflow

 Choosing any of these options makes a copy of the Workflow Definition, then lets you edit the copy. The Provisional new Workflow Definition will be one of the following:
• A new Version of the same Workflow Defintion.
•A new Variant (Version 1) of the same Workflow Definition.
•A new Workflow Definition.

Choosing one of these options enables "Create New Workflow Execution" (below).

Create New Workflow Execution When creating a new Workflow Execution (Named and Single Execution only), you have options regarding how to handle queue items in the Workflow Execution from which you are copying. These options are shown only if there are items in the queue:
• Leave the Queue items where they are and make the new Workflow Execution blank.
•Move the Queue items out of the old Workflow and into the new Workflow.
•Copy the Queue items so they will continue down through both the old Workflow and the new Workflow.
Copy Workflow Copy Workflow is available for Workflow Definitions to provide control over how the Workflow is copied. This creates a copy of the Workflow Definition, then lets you edit the copy. These options are similar to those in Edit Workflow (above).

 

Task Operatons

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Operation Description
Start Task For the selected Task, this creates a new Task Execution and runs that Execution.
Resume Task This is enabled only if the selected Task Execution is in a Paused state. It resumes the Task from the point at which it was paused.
Task Details This shows the details tab for the selected Task.
Manage Task This offers several features depending on the state of the Task Execution. For more information concernning Task Execution, see Workflow Task Conceptual Reference → Working with the Task Toolbar → Task Execution State.
For Task Executions that are in the "Paused" or "Incomplete" state:
OperationDescription
Resume Task Resume the Task and continue with the Execution.
Task SummaryView the (incomplete) Task Execution report.
Cancel TaskCancels execution of the selected Task.
Assign AnalystReassigns the Task to another User.
Assign DepartmentReassigns the Task to another Department.
For Queued items:

With regard to Queued items, the Queued tab lets you view and manage SDIs in the current Queue:

OperationDescription
Add Adds new SDIs to the Queue. You can define a lookup page for this purpose when defining the Task Queue in the Task Definition.
Move Moves Queue items from this Task to any Task on any Active Workflow (below).

This can be used by an Administrator to "fix" a Workflow that is in an incorrect state. For example, a Sample may need to be sent through a Task a second time. As another example, this is useful when using Workflows in an R&D experimental context. Copying a Workflow (experiment) and moving a Sample into it might be useful if the researcher must perform a special operation on that Sample.

DeleteDeletes items from the Queue.
Assign AnalystAssigns items in the Queue to Users.
Assign DepartmentAssigns items in the Queue to Departments.
For Queued Items that are in the "Wait" state:

If a Wait Time is set for the Queue using the "Based on a Timer" setting for the Queue's Wait Condition, the "Wait Time" is shown. "Move" and "Delete" functionality is similar to Queued Items. "Activate" removes the delay imposed by the timer (after issuing a confirmation).

Task History

Every time a Task is executed, a record of that execution is recorded in the Task History. From here you can click "Task Summary" to show the Execution report, or "Delete Execution" to delete the Execution record.
Edit Task When developing new Workflows and Tasks, this offers the convenience of being able to jump directly to the Task Designer to modify the Task.

 

Layout

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Layout is a toggle button that switches the view between "Task Layout" and "Workflow Layout".

Both buttons operate on Tasks that match the Query selected in the "Workflow Manager Bar".

 

"Workflow Layout" shows all Workflow Executions matching the selected Query grouped in the Workflow Executions Bar:

"Workflow Layout" offers these options in the Workflow Executions Bar:

1. "Refresh" reloads the Executions tree.
2. "Tree Options" lets you filter the view by the status of Workflows and Workflow Executions:
3. "Collapse Tree" collapses the Task tree to its group headers.
4. "Expand Tree" expands the Task tree

"Task Layout" shows Tasks matching the selected Query:

"Task Layout" offers these options for the Tasks retrieved by the Query:

1. "Group By" provides grouping options for the retrieved Tasks. You can group by Workflow, Workflow Exec (Execution), Created, Assigned Analyst, Queue Size, or Type.
2. "Refresh List" reloads the retrieved Tasks.
3. "Tile View" shows the retrieved Tasks as tiles with the Workflow Execution and queued SDIs.
4. "List View"shows the retrieved Tasks as a list with the Workflow Execution and queued SDIs.