Drawing Tools
This section will focus on the drawing tools included in the Workflow experience.
When you open a process diagram in the Workflow experience, all of the diagram-drawing tools will be located in the left-hand toolbar.
Each of the tools are discussed in detail below, in the order that they appear in the toolbar.
Tool Name | Icon | Description |
---|---|---|
Hand | Used for dragging on the canvas to reposition the "camera" of the editor. Note that to scroll across the canvas, you can also: click-and-drag on the empty white canvas background; hold Space on your keyboard and move the mouse; or position your mouse at the edge of the canvas to scroll towards that edge. | |
Lasso | Useful for selecting multiple components at once. Click-and-drag to draw a boundary box, and release to select the items inside the boundary box. | |
Create / Remove Space | Useful for repositioning an item or groups of items. The cursor will become a crosshair with a dotted x and y plane extending from the cursor. Clicking and dragging either vertically or horizontally will create or remove space along the chosen axis. | |
Global Connect | Used for connecting objects together. Note that selecting on an object in the canvas will also display this tool in the pop-up. | |
Start Event | Place a Start Event on the canvas. Start events can be triggered by a variety of conditions. When a start event is triggered it creates a "token". This token moves along the workflow process, down the assigned global connections and to the tasks or other events. To configure this event: select it once the object is placed on the canvas, and press the wrench icon.. | |
Intermediate / Boundary Event | Place an Intermediate or Boundary Event on the canvas. These events can be triggered by a variety of conditions. To configure this event: select it once the object is placed on the canvas, and press the wrench icon.. | |
End Event | Place an End Event on the canvas. This event causes the token to be terminated and closes the workflow process. | |
Gateway | Place a Gateway on the canvas. A gateway can have logic assigned to it, and causes the token to divert down a number of paths depending on the logic applied. To configure object event: select it once the object is placed on the canvas, and press the wrench icon.. | |
Task | Place a Task on the canvas. Typically a task is either assigned to the Rapid System to complete, or assigned to a specific user to complete. To configure this object: select it once the object is placed on the canvas, and press the wrench icon. | |
Expanded Sub-Process | Place a sub-process on the canvas. This is a process within a process, and is useful for completing necessary small tasks while the main task is running. | |
Data Object Reference | For diagramming purposes. The Data Object Reference doesn't perform any automation role. Instead, it is sometimes useful for indicating to a person reading the diagram that a file is being manipulated, generated, etc. | |
Data Store Reference | Place a Data Store Reference on the canvas. Also known as Data Cans, this object allows you to access items from specific tables. The database's items can also be changed or updated using a this object. | |
Pool / Participant | Place a Pool / Participant on the canvas. Also known as Swim Lanes, these allow you to organise your workflow. A common practice is to have Data Cans in the top row; then to have system tasks, events, and processes in the centre row; and finally, to have user tasks in the bottom row. Using this method, you can see at a glance all of your data, system processes, and people processes. | |
Group | For diagramming purposes. This object doesn't perform any automation role. Instead, it helps group together items in a container to either highlight them, or indicate that they are closely connected. |