To edit and test a workflow process template, follow this procedure:

1.Check out a copy of a workflow template.

2.Edit the copy and save it to your personal cabinet.

3.Initiate a workflow process, based on that template.

The edited copy of the template in your personal cabinet is then used, rather than the current, checked-out iteration in the System cabinet.

You must either complete the running process, or stop and delete it before you can check in the edited workflow process template or undo the check out.

Using the Workflow Template Editor

The Workflow Template Editor is a graphical interface for defining workflow processes that range from the simple to the highly complex. It features a large set of predefined activity nodes that you can place and connect. The Workflow Template Editor supports nested processes, branching, merging, loops for iterative activities, and defining assigned activities.

Working with Workflow Templates

The Workflow Template Administration utility displays a list of existing workflow templates, with their locations, enabled status, and context. Using the buttons on this page, you can create new templates, edit and view existing templates, and delete templates, as well other activities, including importing and exporting workflows. Click New or Edit to access the Workflow Template Editor. When you edit a workflow process, it is automatically checked out if it is in a vault.

For more information about using the Workflow Template Administration utility, see the Workflow Template Administration help.

To verify that your process definition is correct, select Process Validate All at the top of the Workflow Template Editor window. The Validate window either confirms the process definition or identifies dangling activities or malformed processes.

A Java compiler is integrated with the Workflow Template Editor to support expressions of arbitrary complexity. Workflow routing functionality includes links and event triggers. Events that cause a link to fire are displayed on the link itself, so anyone viewing the process definition can easily understand and verify the process behavior. For example, the Approve and Revise events in the examples above are events that cause a link to fire.

When you have completed your process definition, it is saved in your personal folder. To change a process definition that has been saved in a vault, it must be checked out and checked back in.

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Updating workflow processes is an iterative process. A new iteration is created when an edit is checked in. You can view iterations on the Workflow Template Administration page.

The following sections describe the tools and components available to help you define a workflow process in Windchill.

Navigating a Process Diagram

The Workflow Template Editor is designed for easy navigation of processes and their subprocesses using common web navigation techniques. For example, you can edit a subprocess diagram by clicking a subprocess hyperlink.

To navigate between a parent process and a subprocess, use either the Back and Forward buttons, or the Location drop-down list.

The title bar of the Workflow Template Editor displays the name of the process or subprocess you are currently editing.

Hyperlinks display the properties of each activity type and link. For example:

•Click an activity node hyperlink to open the properties window for that activity. You can then create, edit, or view the properties that define the node's behavior.

•Click the Properties hyperlink (to the right of the Location drop-down list) to view and edit the properties of the process itself.

•Double-click the link that connects a node to open a window to map events that are broadcast (or emitted) from the preceding activity to actions in the succeeding activity. By default, the completion event for a given task triggers the start of all successor tasks.

Placing Process Nodes

You can build a process definition by adding, selecting, and linking nodes that are represented by icons at the left of the Workflow Template Editor.

For more information about adding and linking nodes, see the Workflow Template Administration help.

The following list describes the process nodes that can be added to your process definition. The list is displayed in order of each icon’s appearance on the Workflow Template Editor.

•The Assigned Activity is an activity assigned to one or more users or userdefined groups or an actor to perform.

•The Ad Hoc Activity is assigned to a user to define a group of activities at runtime. The group of activities is similar to a simple block.

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•The Block represents a group of activities, connectors, or robots. You can reduce the complexity of a process by creating blocks of activities that can be expanded when needed.

•The Proxy Process is a subprocess embedded within the main parent process, which can be nested to reduce complexity and provide reuse.

•The And Connector fires when all the predecessor links have fired, but not before.

•The Or Connector fires when any one of the predecessor links has fired. Preceding activities are terminated if Terminate Open Predecessor Activities When Fired has been selected.

•The Conditional Router allows you to branch a process based on a conditional

expression.

•The Threshold Connector fires when a user-defined number of predecessor

links have fired. Preceding activities are terminated if Terminate Open Predecessor Activities When Fired has been selected.

•The End stops the process. All process activities should eventually be connected to an end.

•The Ground stops a parallel branch of activities within the process, but it does not stop the process.

•The Notification Robot notifies the appropriate user with a user-defined email. You can define notification robots containing an attachment or metadata of the primary business object associated with the workflow. You can use braces to delimit variables created for the process or node, for example, {varname}. Use back slashes to escape the delimiter, for example, \{{varname}}\. For a detailed procedure, see the Workflow Template Administration help.

•The Method Robot represents one of several single actions performed when adding the robot to the process. No other configuration is required. The following table lists the robot actions:

Robot	Description
Checkin	Checks in the primary business object to the Windchill
	database.
Checkout	Checks out a business object to the specified user. For example,
	you can use the Checkout robot to automatically check a part
	out to the engineer assigned the task of applying changes after a
	design review cycle is complete.
Demote	Causes the primary business object to transition to a
	predecessor phase, with an associated state change, and the
	application of new business rules (such as those for access
	control).
Deny	Removes the primary business object from the gate and returns
	it to the phase of the same state.
Drop	Causes an object to be removed from its current life cycle and

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Robot	Description
	sets its state to dropped. For example, you could have a process
	branch in which two vendors submit bids for review. These bids
	could be entered into the database as Windchill documents,
	which would move through a review and approval process by
	application of a process definition. In this case, your process
	may require that, when one bid is approved, its document object
	is automatically promoted to its next life cycle phase, while the
	document containing the rejected bid is dropped from its life
	cycle and goes no further.
Promote	Causes the primary business object to transition to a successor
	phase with an associated state change and the application of
	new business rules, such as those for access control. For
	example, you could define a process in which an object is
	automatically promoted to the next phase in its life cycle, if a
	specific user approves the object. In this case, you could add the
	Promote robot to your process definition to execute all of the
	actions associated with an object's promotion.
Set State	Sets a life cycle–managed object to an ordinal state or a specific
	state. The ordinal state is entered as any non-zero integer. The
	specific state is selected from those defined in the wt.lifecycle.
	StateRB enumerated type.
Submit	Moves the business object associated with this process to the
	gate for its current life cycle phase. After a submit, an object
	awaits promotion to the next life cycle phase. For example, you
	could add the Submit robot to a process definition to indicate
	that, when a user creates a change request, it is automatically
	submitted for promotion to the Open state.

•The Checkpoint Robot records the time it takes the workflow process to get from one checkpoint node to the next. An email notification is sent to subscribers when the node is reached.

•The Timer Robot delays the start of an activity by a specified amount of time, based on the time it is fired or the time the parent process is begun.

•The Launch Application Robot executes system commands on the server. These commands are executed using the Java runtime.exe command. The execution can be either synchronous or asynchronous.

•The Execute Expression Robot enters a synchronous Java expression to be executed in a workflow. By default, the expression returns true. A return of false indicates a problem during execution, and an exception is thrown on the server.

•The Synchronization Robot synchronizes the start of an activity or process with events that are not time related. You can set the robot to start an activity when certain generic external or Windchill-keyed events occur.

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