Edit workflows

If you have LiveCompare Editor permissions, new workflow diagrams may be created in a workspace by choosing New Workflow from the Workflows folder’s context menu, or by importing a workflow template.

To edit a workflow, select it from the Workflows folder to display the Workflow Editor in the Details pane. The following workflow editing operations are available:

Component Palette tool button. Place diagram components

The components that may be added to a workflow diagram are available in the Component Palette. Items in the Component Palette are organized into sections for Actions, General Items, Parameters and Datasets.

  • If necessary, click the Component Palette tool button. toolbar button to display the Component Palette.
  • Select the appropriate category, and if necessary, enter an initial character or search string in the Search Palette field.
  • To add a node or text label to the diagram, select an item and drag it onto the workflow canvas. Diagram components are snapped to the nearest grid point on the workflow canvas, and a margin is maintained along the workflow’s top and left edges.
  • If a node is placed outside the workflow canvas, the workflow canvas expands to contain the node.
  • To cancel the placing of a component, select the Escape key during the drag operation.

Select diagram components

Diagram components may be selected as follows:

  • To select an individual component, left click the component in the Workflow Canvas. The selected component has a blue border, and its links are highlighted in blue.
  • To select multiple components, use Shift+Left Click. Alternatively, use Left Click+Drag to lasso the components. The selected components have a gray border.
  • To clear your selections, click a blank area of the workflow canvas.

Selected components may be repositioned in the workflow canvas using drag and drop. However, a margin is maintained along left and top edges of the workflow canvas to ensure that components remain within the bounds of the diagram.

When a single node is selected in a workflow diagram, its input and output nodes have a black border and the associated links are highlighted in blue. Dropped components are snapped to the nearest grid point on the workflow canvas.

Selected components may be deleted by pressing the Delete key (alternatively, choose Delete from the context menu).

Resize diagram components

To resize diagram components, select a single node or text element and drag its resize handles.

  • Select the Ctrl key and drag a handle to resize the component symmetrically about its center point.
  • Select the Shift key and drag a corner handle to resize the component while retaining its original proportions.

Edit properties

The properties for selected diagram components may be viewed or edited using the Property Editor.

Appearance properties

Each component has appearance properties which define how it is displayed in the diagram. To edit an appearance property for an object, enter a new value in the appropriate value cell, or select an item from the property’s dropdown list.

To edit a color property in the Property Editor, click the field next to the color property and then click the color list box to display the Color Property Editor. This editor allows you to select a color or enter an RGB hexadecimal value directly. Newly-created colors will be available for selection (for all workflow components) when the Color Property Editor is next displayed.

To rename the selected workflow node, select F2 to edit its Label property. Enter a new value and click Save or select Enter to confirm your changes.

Each workflow diagram has its own appearance properties which may be modified by selecting the diagram background while the Property Editor is displayed.

Action properties

Many components have action properties, which define the data the action uses. Some action properties have literal values, for example, Integer parameters have an Integer property that contains an integer value. To set a value for this type of property, click the field to the left of the property name, enter a value directly, and click a different portion of the Property Editor to save the value. Alternatively, double-click the field to display a dialog in the lower part of the Workflow Editor.

Some action properties have values that may be selected from a dropdown list. For example, Boolean parameters may be set to either true or false. To set a value for this type of property, click the field to the left of the property name, select the appropriate value, and click a different portion of the Property Editor to save your selection.

Other action properties have custom editors which allow you to modify their values. For example, Select List parameters have a dialog which allows field or object type specifications to be created. Click the field to the left of the property name in this case to display the dialog in the lower part of the Workflow Editor.

A fourth type of action property may refer to another diagram component, or to an object in the LiveCompare hierarchy. For example, Read SAP Table actions have an RFC Destination property which may refer to an RFC Destination parameter node in the workflow diagram, or to an RFC Destination defined in the LiveCompare hierarchy. To edit this type of property, click the property’s Property Editor Arrow icon. icon and select one of the following from the dropdown list.

  • [Value] - Allows a value for the action property to be selected directly.

  • New <component type> - Creates a new parameter or dataset of the appropriate type and sets it as the value of the action property. The parameter or dataset is given the same name as the action property. If the name has already been used, the new node is given a unique number within the workflow. A link is created between the current object and the newly-created component. Where possible, parameter nodes (inputs) are positioned above the action and dataset nodes (outputs) are positioned below it. The parameter and dataset nodes are staggered so that each may be selected individually.
  • Edit - Opens the editor associated with the action property to allow literal values to be specified. Properties that store the results of actions don't allow the use of literal values; the ‘Edit’ item is not available for these properties.
  • Clear - Clears the property setting. This option is available for action properties that have values.

The dropdown list also allows you to select any node from the current workflow diagram that is appropriate as a value for the action property. As you hover the mouse over items in the dropdown list, the corresponding nodes are highlighted in the workflow diagram and displayed with an orange border. If an item is highlighted in the dropdown list using the Up or Down Arrow keys, its workflow node is highlighted and displayed with a yellow border. If necessary, the workflow is scrolled to display the highlighted component. Node highlighting is not available if the Hide Parameters diagram context menu option has been set.

When a component item is selected from the dropdown list, a link is created between the current object and the selected component. Note that a dataset may only store the results from a single action. If an action is linked to an output dataset that stores the results from a second action, the link between the second action and the dataset is removed automatically.

Some workflow actions have default parameters, which may be edited (in some cases) by choosing Edit <Parameter> from the workflow action’s context menu.

Diagram links

Links between diagram components are maintained automatically when an object’s action properties are set.