Editing Workflows

• Editing invokes a separate dedicated diagram editor in which to define/change the workflow logic
• A workflow definition has two diagram states, a draft diagram and a published diagram.
• Edits are always made to the draft which can then be published later as a separate operation.
• If there are no current draft edits, the edit command will copy the published as the new draft.
• New or Cloned Workflows always start life with a default draft diagram and no published diagram
• When you edit a workflow diagram it will be locked by you to prevent others from updating it.
• When you do not have a lock, you can view the workflow diagram in read only mode.

 

The "Edit" Command

The edit command is used to invoke the diagram editor. This is where a workflow designer spends the majority of their time defining the business logic of the workflow. This article describes the mechanics of invoking the editor but does not expand on its use for defining the workflow logic. 

You can edit any workflow definition that is not being edited by another user (red lock).  If the workflow definition is not locked by the current user then it will become locked when the Edit option is chosen.

For an introduction to using diagram editor see this article, Diagram Editor

To edit a workflow definition, locate its entry on the "Active" or "Inactive" tab and click the pop up menu at its right hand end 

 

• Popup menu for "Complaint Handling" workflow definition (1).

 

Select the "Edit" option from the resulting popup menu

 

• Pick the "Edit" option (2).

 

A busy indicator may appear briefly whilst the diagram is loaded and then the main workflow definition management screen is replaced by the diagram editor :

 

• The toolbar indicates that the draft diagram is being shown for edit (3).
• The  workflow properties shape confirms the name of the workflow definition that was chosen for edit (4).
• Workflow logic edits are performed on the main canvas (5).
• Pressing save commits the latest edits to the draft diagram (6).
• Pressing Back closes the diagram editor and returns the user to the main workflow management page (7).

 

Valid/Invalid Draft Edits

When a draft edit is saved (6),  the diagram editor performs an automatic validity check. When the user presses "Back" (7) and returns to the management screen a workflow with valid draft edits will be represented by a "Draft Icon "

• Draft Icon indicates the latest edits are valid (8).

 

If the validity check finds errors these will be listed in the diagram editor at save time. But if the user presses "Back" (7), and returns to the management screen, before the errors are resolved the workflow will be represented by an "Invalid Icon" (9).

• Invalid Icon indicates the latest edits have errors (9).

As you might expect it is not possible to publish a workflow with invalid draft edits

 

Publishing/Discarding the latest Draft Edits

A draft workflow diagram can be edited and saved as many times as you like but agents will not see the changes to the workflow on tickets until it has been published.

Publishing is deliberately designed to be a separate operation so that ongoing updates/edits to the workflow do not necessarily need to be thoroughly completed before being saved.

Often however, recent saved changes may wish to be published straight away, especially for small edits like renaming an activity.

 

Publishing Draft Edits

After returning to the Workflow Definition management page the latest edits to the current user's locked workflow can be published using the "Publish Draft and Unlock" command from its popup menu

To publish the latest draft edits you must still own the lock. Locate its entry on the "Active" or "Inactive" tab and click the pop up menu at its right hand end

 

• Popup menu for "Complaint Handling" workflow definition (1).
• The draft icon indicates that new draft edits are available for publishing (2).

 

 Select the "Publish Draft" option from the resulting popup menu

 

• Pick the "Publish Draft" option (3).

 

A warning popup modal dialog will appear, confirming that you wish to continue and overwrite the published workflow with the latest edits :

 

• Clicking on Yes or No to dismiss the dialog (4).

Clicking "No" will dismiss the dialog and leave the state of the workflow definition and its diagrams unchanged.

Clicking "Yes" will dismiss the dialog. A busy status indicator will appear whilst the edits are published and the lock is removed. Then the list is refreshed with the entry's icons updated to reflect the new state of the workflow definition :

 

• The user no longer has a lock on the workflow definition (5).
• The icon has changed to show there are no longer any draft edits (6).
• The Last Saved At value is no empty because there are no longer any draft edits (7).

Obtaining editing again will lock and create a new draft from the latest published copy and the edit cycle can begin again

Publishing Draft Edits for Inactive Workflow Definitions

When you choose to publish a draft workflow definition which is in the Inactive tab, the displayed dialog with give an additional option which allows you to make the workflow definition active at the same time as publishing it.  Active workflow definitions can be used on tickets to help the agents know how to process the ticket.  Inactive workflow definitions cannot.

Choose the "Publish Draft" option from the menu of an Inactive workflow definition.  The warning dialog will be displayed.

The dialog shows an extra check box (1) which is selected by default which indicates that the workflow will be activated as well as published.  Click 'Yes' or 'No' to dismiss the dialog.

Clicking 'Yes' with the checkbox selected will

• Publish the draft workflow definition and overwrite any existing published workflow definition
• Activate the workflow so it can be used on tickets
• Redisplay the Workflow list, but it will have switched to the Active list.

Clicking 'Yes' with the checkbox deselected will

• Publish the draft workflow definition and overwrite any existing published workflow definition
• Redisplay the Inactive workflow list

 

Discarding Draft Edits

Sometimes edits are started in good faith but subsequent events nullify the reason for the change. In this case it is often more convenient to discard any existing edits and revert to the last published definition.

To discard all the latest draft edits, you must still own the lock. Locate its entry on the "Active" or "Inactive" tab and click the pop up menu at its right hand end

 

• Popup menu for "Complaint Handling" workflow definition (1).
• The draft icon indicates that new draft edits are available that can be discarded, if so desired (2).

 

Select the "Discard Draft" option from the resulting popup menu :

 

• Pick the "Discard Draft" option (3).

 

A warning popup modal dialog will appear, confirming that you wish to continue and discard the edits and revert to the published state :

 

• Clicking on Yes or No to dismiss the dialog (4).

Clicking "No" will dismiss the dialog and leave the state of the workflow definition and its diagrams unchanged.

Clicking "Yes" will dismiss the dialog. A busy status indicator may appear whilst the edits are discarded and the lock is removed. Then the list is refreshed with the entry's icons updated to reflect the new state of the workflow definition :

 

• The user no longer has a lock on the workflow definition (5).
• The icon has changed to show there are no longer any draft edits (6).
• The Last Saved At value is no empty because there are no longer any draft edits (7).

 

A Fuller Testing Lifecycle

The Edit Draft and Publish approach is the simplest form of controlled update offered by Flowset. There is a more sophisticated testing cycle available too. This approach is described fully in a separate article Workflow Change Management

 

 

The "View (Read Only)" Command

To View a workflow definition choose the "View (Read Only)" option.  This option will be available if the current user does not have the workflow definition locked.  This includes workflows that are locked by another user.

The steps to "View (Read Only)" a workflow diagram are very similar to edit "Edit"; locate its entry on the "Active" or "Inactive" tab and click the pop up menu at its right hand end

 

• Popup menu for "New Employee Onboarding" workflow definition (1).
• The red lock indicates it is owned by a different workflow designer (2).
• The "Customer Service - Close Account" workflow definition is not locked by anyone. Therefore its menu would also offer "View (Read Only)". (3).

 

Select the "View (Read Only)" option from the resulting popup menu

 

• Pick the "View (Read ONly)" option (4).

 

A busy indicator may appear briefly whilst the diagram is loaded and then the main management screen is replaced by the diagram editor :

 

• The toolbar indicates that the draft diagram is being shown for viewing (5).
• The workflow properties shape confirms the  workflow definition that was chosen for viewing (6).
• The stencil sidebar has been removed. Existing shapes can be examined but not changed (7).
• There is no longer a save or validate button since they are not applicable for read-only diagrams (8).
• Pressing Back closes the diagram editor and returns the user to the main workflow management page (9).
• The background of the page is watermarked 'READONLY' (10) to indicate that the workflow definition is being viewed and cannot be edited.