Workflow Model Elements
- Anthony George
- Zoe Baldwin
Overview
Nodes on a workflow represent items that either exist in your application or are place holders for future items. Place holders allow you to create workflows without having all of the items available at the time of creation and they act as a design document for anyone creating your application to follow.
The nodes are representations of the item they are linked to or will be linked to, therefore they can be given different names to the actual items. This gives workflow designers greater flexibility and clarity when creating a workflow. Clicking on an node on a workflow opens its properties.
Nodes
| Icon | Description |
|---|---|
| A workflow item that represents a screen which either exists or is a place holder for a future screen. These are designed to represent touch points with users in your business process. For this reason it is possible to have the same screen on a workflow multiple time and to give the instance of the screen a specific name. Double-clicking this icon opens the screen, if one exists or prompts you to create a new one if it does not exist. |
| This represents an actionflow in your application. When a new actionflow is dragged onto a Workflow from the toolbar, PhixFlow immediately creates it in your application. Double-clicking the actionflow opens the instance. |
| This represents an entire workflow. Placed within a workflow it represents a separate embedded workflow that covers a different business process. Double-clicking the workflow opens the embedded workflow in a new tab. |
| This represents an analysis model. Double-clicking the analysis model opens it in a new tab. |
| Provides a representation of an activity which occurs outside of PhixFlow, such as a user receiving an email. Clicking on this option on a toolbar provides a dropdown of common external tasks with associated icons. Custom icons will be provided in the future. |
Node Properties
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | Name displayed on the workflow |
Application element the node represents For example: Screen | The actual part of the application the node represents such as the screen or actionflow. |
| Description | The description displayed when a user places the mouse over the node. |
Connectors
Connectors link nodes in a workflow together. They can be labelled to indicate the flow of activity in a business process, such as decisions or options selected.
Connector Properties
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| An input Datasource | The node where the connector originates. |
| Target | The node where the connector terminates. |
| Type | Sequence Flow: defines the execution order of the activities within a workflow. Represented as a solid line. Message Flow: indicates a flow of messages between nodes that send and receive them. Represented as a dashed line. Association: is used to associate nonflow nodes with nodes participating directly in the workflow. Represented as a dotted line. |
| Label | Text displayed on the connecting lines to indicate the role of the connector. |
| Dash Array | Determines the size of the dashes and gaps of a connecting line. The value entered needs to be a whole number and is interpreted as a pixel size. |
Connecting Nodes
- Hover over a node, and click on the arrow which appears.
- Drag the arrow attached to the mouse cursor over the required node and click on it to create the connection.
- Dragging and clicking in space provides the option to create a new node.
Set Connector Type
- Click on a connector
- In the properties, set Type.