User Interface

Automation Builder provides a graphical user interface (UI) for arranging and connecting tasks on a canvas to create a flow-based automation. To access, select Automation Studio from the IAP home screen and then select Automations in the left navigation bar to launch the Automation Builder UI.

Figure: Automation Studio

The main view in Automation Builder displays a list of all automations deployed across the system. From this page, you can click the plus (+) icon button to create a new automation.

Figure: Viewing and creating automations

Note: For more information on this view, see the Automation Studio Overview guide.

Automation Builder Canvas

This section provides a quick walk-through of the Automation Builder canvas. Below is a sample canvas, along with a reference table that highlights the various controls, menus and functions.

Figure: Automation Builder canvas

Label	UI Element	Function
1	Collection view	List view for seeing multiple automations.
2	Search bar	Search for available automations in the system.
3	Transition toolbar	Functions (from left to right) include Transition selector (T key), Transition binding, Transition action.
4	Automation title bar	Buttons (from left to right) for Settings, Start Job, Clone, Delete.
5	Search Canvas tool	Allows user to search the canvas using various criteria.
6	Task toolbar	Buttons (from left to right) to Increase font size, Decrease font size, Fit automation, Copy task, Delete task.
7	Task search bar	Search for available tasks.
8	Deprecated task toggle	Shows or hides deprecated tasks.
9	Task list	List view of available tasks for the automation.
10	Applications menu	Applications that comprise the Automation Studio suite.
11	Sidebar control	Allows the user to shrink or expand the sidebar navigation.
12	Save	Save the current automation if any changes have been detected.
13	Task list control	Allows user to shrink or expand the task navigation.

Automation Name

To name or rename an automation:

1. Click the Settings button in the title bar. Automation Builder will open the Automation Settings dialog.
2. Type the new automation name into the Automation Name field.
3. Click SAVE.

Automation Groups

Automation groups are a similar concept to task groups that restrict who is authorized to work a manual task. As an option, automation groups restrict who is authorized to start jobs from an automation. When automation groups are assigned, only group members can start jobs from the automation.

To set automation groups (optional):

1. Click the Settings button in the title bar. Automation Builder will open the Automation Settings dialog.
2. Begin typing the name of a group in the Automation Groups field. Matching group names will appear in a list after you begin typing.
3. Click the correct group name to add that group. The group will not be added unless it is selected from the list. Add as many groups to the Automation Groups field as desired.
4. Click SAVE.

Figure: Automation Settings Dialog

Resize Automation to Fit Window

To resize an automation:

1. Click the Fit Window button in the upper right corner of the Automation Builder canvas. The automation will be reduced to fit within the visible area of the canvas.
2. Click SAVE

Clone an Automation

To clone an automation:

1. Click the Clone button in the title bar. Automation Builder will open the Clone Automation dialog.
2. Type a name for the cloned automation.
3. Click SAVE.

Figure: Clone Automation Dialog

Start an Automation

To start an automation:

1. Click the Start button in the title bar to open the Job Description dialog (see figure below).

2. Enter a description for the job (optional).

3. Click START.

   Figure: Job Description

   

4. Automation Builder will analyze the automation and find all job variables. If an automation requires job variables, Automation Builder will display the Set Variables dialog box (shown below) where you will see the required job variables set to null by default.

5. Enter the desired values with the required data types, e.g., "device": "er1.wdc".

6. Click START.

   Figure: Set Variables Dialog

   

Search Canvas

The Search Canvas feature in Automation Builder allows you to locate tasks on the workflow canvas to aid in troubleshooting, identifying variable relationships, and setting data dependencies. The following search options are available: app, description, id, job variable, name, and summary.

To locate a task in the automation:

1. Select your search option from the dropdown menu.
2. Enter the search term in the field next to the dropdown.
   • Note: This field can be a regular expression that is not an exact match or a completed term and the search will still work.
3. After selecting your search option, click the magnifying glass to start the search.
4. Once the search query is complete, the tasks are highlighted.
5. To clear the search, click the CLEAR button.

Example 1

In this example, app was selected from the dropdown to find tasks associated with WorkFlowEngine. All application tasks on the canvas that are associated with WorkFlowEngine are highlighted in the search results displayed on the canvas.

Example 2

For this example, the description being searched for is a custom description given to a task, which in this case is "Just give me the fact". The search results indicate the phrase is located within the Query task on the canvas.

If you double-click the Query task, the Task Edit Dialog will open to show the phrase was entered in the Description field for the Query | WorkFlowEngine task.

Example 3

In this example, the id search option is used to find a task by its TaskID, which is helpful for pinpointing a task that contains an error. The search results indicate the id is located in the restCall task.

After double-clicking the restCall task, notice that the TaskID can be found in the upper right-hand corner of the Task Edit Dialog. This id can also be referenced in Job Manager (running jobs) in order to identify a specific task.

Example 4

The job variable search option is used in this example to locate formData variables. The search results indicate these variables are located in the Query task.

Example 5

The name search option was used to identify the actual name of the task itself on the canvas.

Example 6

The summary search option was selected to find the summary name for a specific task. The results indicate the summary name First Name Update is located in the replace task.

Searching Against Edited Values

As mentioned in the previous examples, the summary and description for a task can be shown by double-clicking the task itself to open the Task Edit Dialog. The initial summary and description for a task comes from the application or adapter model, which is a file called pronghorn.json. If you edit the summary or description on a task, only that instance of the task is edited. When you search by summary or description using the Search Canvas feature, you are searching the summary and description fields that are directly related to the task, not the ones associated with the application or adapter model in the pronghorn.json file.

Let's say the original summary name for a task is Add two numbers. If you then edit the summary name through the Task Edit Dialog to be Calculate the sum of two numbers and then attempt to search for the word add using the summary option in the Search Canvas dropdown, that task will not be found because it has an altered summary. In contrast, if you search for the word calculate, then you will find the task. Using this same scenario, if the summary had never been edited and instead you searched for add, it would find the task.

Task Tooltips

After performing a search, you can display the Tooltip for a task by hovering over the task box on the workflow canvas. From this view, you can also enter into Edge Line Mode by drawing a new line from one task to another, or into Data Highlight Mode to see a visualization of how data in the workflow is moving on the canvas.

Data Highlight Mode

The Data Highlight Mode is a visualization of where the data in a searched task is being referenced or assigned in another task. With this feature you can track how data is moving through the workflow on the canvas.

The reference table below explains the various highlight colors associated with data visualization.

Color	Description
black	A black frame surrounding the task box shows the data that is being referenced or where the current task is pulling the data from.
blue	A blue frame surrounding a task bbox shows the data is being assigned from the search task to this task.
red	A red frame surrounding a task shows that the task is both assigned data from your current search task and also retrieving data.

Example 1

The following steps outline how to enter into Data Highlight Mode. An example of what the data visualization will look like is also provided.

1. After running a search on the id search option for newVariable, click the Data Highlight Mode icon.
2. Next, double-click the newJobVariable task to display the visualization.
3. The replace task is then highlighted (framed) in blue to show that data from the newVariable task has been assigned to be used in the replace task.

Example 2

In this data visualization example, the replace task is highlighted in black and the Query task is highlighted in blue, which means information from the restCall task is being assigned to it. When you hover over the Query task, the search results that coincide with querying the restCall task show a true or false value based on whether it is assigned to the data or referencing the data, or both.

Troubleshooting Automations

When an automation is incomplete or has an error, it is saved as a draft. The DRAFT indicator will appear at the bottom-right corner of the canvas, along with the number of errors in the automation. An error modal also displays with a description of the errors. You can close the modal by clicking CLOSE. To see the errors again, click DRAFT.