Workflows may be executed from within a LiveCompare
workspace to obtain retrieval, comparison or analysis results. When a
workflow is executed, the actions in the workflow are run in a sequence
determined by their action properties. As a result, datasets in the workflow
may be populated with objects, reports may be generated, or data may be
written to an external source. Executing workflows or workflow actions
requires LiveCompare Editor privileges.
Note that at points where more than one workflow
action is eligible to be run, LiveCompare runs the actions in left to
right, then top to bottom order. This means that in some cases, the position
of workflow actions in a diagram may affect their order of execution.
To execute a workflow, click
the toolbar button, or choose ‘Run Now’ from workflow’s context
menu.
To execute a workflow action,
select an action node (blue rectangle) in a workflow diagram and choose
‘Run This Only’ from the context menu. The workflow is saved first.
To execute a workflow from
the node marked with an arrow up to (but not including) the current workflow
action, choose ‘Run To Here’ from the workflow action’s context menu. The workflow is saved first.
The workflow's execution status is displayed
in its title bar. The Component Palette and Property Editor are disabled while a workflow or workflow action is running.
Each workflow is displayed and executed using
a separate process on the LiveCompare server. If a workflow generates
an exception, this allows its process to terminate without affecting the
LiveCompare Application Server.
If necessary, LiveCompare saves a workflow
automatically before running any of its actions. While a workflow is running,
action nodes in the workflow diagram are marked as follows to indicate
their execution status:
Icon
Description
The workflow action is currently running. If
a workflow has been reset, the arrow marks the next action to be executed.
The workflow action completed successfully.
An error occurred while executing the workflow
action. double-click the action node, to display the associated error
string, or choose ‘View Details’ from the node’s context menu.
This is shown for Run
Workflow actions if an error occurred in the called workflow.
This is shown for Run
Workflow actions if a breakpoint was encountered in the called workflow.
This is shown for Run
Workflow actions if a breakpoint was encountered in the called workflow.
The , , and action icons display a tool tip which indicates
the status of the action. Tool tips shown for the icon display the error string returned by
the associated action.
Dataset objects in a workflow are represented
as green list objects. If an action property populates a dataset, the
number of result sets or table rows it contains is shown above the dataset
node.
To abort a workflow that is
currently running choose ‘Abort Run’ from the workflow diagram’s context
menu. Alternatively, choose ‘Abort Run’ from the workflow object’s hierarchy
context menu.
To reset a workflow and delete
any result sets that have been generated, choose ‘Reset’ from the workflow
diagram or workflow object’s context menu.
Debugging Workflows
To set a breakpoint for a workflow action,
choose ‘Toggle Breakpoint’ from the action’s context menu. When a breakpoint
it is set, the workflow action is marked with . When a workflow is executed, it runs up
to (but not including) the first node marked with a breakpoint.
To pause execution of a workflow
after the currently running workflow action, choose ‘Break’ from the workflow
diagram’s context menu.
To continue execution of a
workflow following a pause or a breakpoint, choose ‘Continue’ from the
workflow diagram’s context menu.
To execute a workflow one action at a time,
choose ‘Step’ from the workflow diagram’s context menu or use the F10
key.
Queued Workflows
To avoid performance problems, LiveCompare
sets a limit on the number of workflows that are allowed to run at the
same time (by all the users that are logged into LiveCompare). If this
limit has been reached and a user tries to run a workflow or workflow
action, the workflow will be queued for execution. As the running workflows complete (bringing the number of running
workflows to below the limit), workflows from the queue are executed in
sequence.
Running workflows include workflows that are
invoked from Apps, and workflows
that are executed as Web Services.
By default, LiveCompare is configured to be
able to run up to three workflows at the same time. However, if you have
LiveCompare Administrator privileges, this setting may be changed by selecting the
Configuration/General folder in the LiveCompare
hierarchy. In the Configuration - General screen, enter a positive value in the ‘MaxConcurrentProcesses’
field. It is recommended that no more than two workflows
are run concurrently for each GB of memory on the LiveCompare server.