In addition to building process models, you can also use the Process Modeler can also be used to monitor the execution of process instances, test your process models, and edit active process instances. This page will walk through the different ways you can interact with process instances from the modeler.
Each process flow is composed of flow objects. A flow object is any object that can be added to the sequence flow of a process model in the Process Modeler, including flow connectors, activities, gateways, and so on.
When in Monitor mode or Edit mode, the process flow objects display with different colored borders, depending on their status.
| Format | Status |
|---|---|
| Blue | Completed flows and flow objects. (See the Start Event object below.) |
| Green | Active flow objects. (See the Participation object below.) |
| Red | Paused flow objects. |
| Red with a slash (Ø) through the object | Flow objects that are canceled by exception. |
| No color | Flow objects that are not yet activated by the sequence flow. (See the Script Task object below.) |
When viewing process models with exception flows, all exception flows appear in red before they have been executed. Upon execution, the flow color changes to purple as shown below:
When a node is skipped due to an exception flow, it appears shaded with diagonal lines. This is shown in the Team Information node above.
While viewing a process instance in Monitor mode, you can monitor and administer active flow objects.
To access Monitor mode for a process instance:
If you want to make updates to the process instance's process model as a result of what you've found in Monitor mode, follow the instructions in the Navigation in the Process Modeler section to open the model while viewing the process.
In Monitor mode, the Process Modeler displays a different set of toolbar options.
To pause a process instance, select Modify > Pause from the toolbar.
When an instance is paused, the following occurs:
To resume a process instance, select Modify > Resume from the toolbar.
It's possible to change the value of process variables in a process instance. The approach differs based on the type of the variable.
To change process variables of system data types:
text string 1, text string 2.To change process variables of custom data types, you need to add a script task to your process model that stores the new value into the variable:
To change an encrypted text value, you can use a technique similar to modifying values of custom data types:
A designer has the following options for flow objects when monitoring a process instance.
To pause a flow object, right-click an active node (indicated by a green border) and select Pause. The border of the paused node will become red.
When a node within a process instance is paused, the instance is still active. There can be more than one active flow in a instance. When a flow reaches a node that is paused, and there is only one active flow in the instance, the entire process instance is paused. The node must be resumed for the instance to continue.
To start a new instance of a node, right-click the object and select Start.
Follow the same steps to resume an activity that was canceled by exception.
To view activated instances of a node, right-click the activity in Monitor mode to see an indicator of how many instances there are.
Select Instances to display the Spawned Nodes dialog, which lists details about each activated instance.
The following actions are available for a selected object instance, depending on its status:
Action |
Description |
|---|---|
View Node Details |
Opens the Properties dialog, which allows a designer to view errors and change task properties, including the assignee, priority, deadline, and escalation settings.
|
Pause |
Allows a designer to pause an active instance. |
Resume |
Allows a designer to resume a paused instance. |
Cancel |
Allows a designer to cancel active and paused instances or instances with errors. Once a quick task has been activated, it can be disabled or canceled by canceling all the active instances. |
Trigger Schedule |
Allows a designer to trigger the selected node immediately, if it's scheduled to start at a specific time. |
After making changes, click Close to exit the dialog.
To view and complete a form, right-click a flow object and select View Form to display the form. Users with the right to do so can complete the form.
While viewing a process instance in Edit mode, you can make structural and configuration changes to the sequence flow in an active instance.
To access Edit mode for a process instance:
In Edit mode, the Process Modeler displays a different set of toolbar options.
When you open a running process for editing, it pauses the process.
If there are multiple process instances at different steps, the following rules apply:
Two users cannot make changes to the same process instance at the same time; however, multiple users can edit different running instances of the same process model.
Once you have made the desired changes, they can be applied to the process instance or saved to the process model. Both options are available under the File menu:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Apply Changes | Changes are only applied to this particular instance of the process. They are not saved for later use. Future executions of the process will not reflect the changes made. |
| Save New Version | Changes are saved as a minor version update to the latest published version of the process model. Minor version updates must be published before they appear in new instances of the process model. The changes are also applied to this particular instance of the process. |
Once a process instance is modified, it is validated. Any validation errors are displayed on the Modeler interface. Validation errors must be resolved before changes can be applied to the instance or process model successfully.
To iteratively develop and test your process models, you can debug a process instance directly within the Process Modeler.
Running a process in debug mode starts the process and performs the configured actions in the same manner as if it were started by a user. Any emails or alerts that you configure will be sent to the specified users. The process instance is opened in monitor mode.
Note: To avoid any problems when debugging your process model, make sure to Save & Publish it before selecting Start Process for Debugging.
If your process model uses a start form, it will launch the latest published version of your process model, but use the start form from its latest draft.
If your process model doesn't have a start form, Process Modeler will launch the latest draft when you Start Process for Debugging.
To run your process in Debug mode:
While viewing a process instance in the Process Modeler, you can view error messages for any problems that have occurred in the process to assist in debugging.
There are two ways to view the errors that have occurred in a process while in the modeler:
Double-click the node where the error occurred. The properties dialog of the node includes a tab called Error, which displays the error message.
If the node was executed multiple times, you can drill down to the error message of an individual instance by right-clicking on the node, selecting the Instances option, and then finding the appropriate instance in the Spawned Nodes dialog.
The Process Details dialog includes a tab called Errors. This view will show any unresolved errors that have occurred in the process. Select the Show resolved errors checkbox to see a full history of errors that have occurred in the process instance.
Once a process is started, process details are available to users with appropriate privileges when monitoring or editing the process instance.
The Process Details dialog serves as an administrative tool for process owners and other actors, who can use it to perform actions that affect the flow of a process. The actions that can be performed through this interface vary according to the security settings a user has for the corresponding process.
To view the Process Details dialog:
The Process History tab allows you to view executed actions associated with the process, as well as the changes made by the process.
For changes to process variables that hold multiple values (or multiple items in a custom data type), only the first 100 items are retained in process history.
Note: Process history can also be viewed from the Process Activity tab under the Monitor view. For new Appian Cloud sites starting on Appian 21.1 or later versions, this option also allows you to view the process history for an archived process.
The Variables tab allows you to view and update process variables in the active process instance.
Each process variable is listed, along with its data type, multiplicity, and current value. To edit a process variable, click the Edit link for the process variable.
Note: If this link does not appear, you do not have sufficient user rights to edit the variable.
After clicking the link, the Edit Process Variable dialog is displayed. You can directly update the process variable value from here. Changes are immediately reflected in the process instance.
You cannot directly edit process variables that are complex data types or Encrypted Text.
In order to modify the value of a complex data type in a running process, you need to add a script task to your process model that stores the new value into the variable. To do this, use the Edit Process feature.
It is not possible to change an encrypted text value to another encrypted text value from the Process Details dialog. Instead, you can use a similar technique as the one described above for modifying values of complex data types. To do this, use the Edit Process feature to add a User Input task with a SAIL form that displays the encrypted text value and saves the updated value back into the process variable.
The Process Nodes tab lists each node in a process. If an activity is executed multiple times, then multiple entries are listed for that activity.
By default, this list does not include nodes associated with any subprocesses. You can view the subprocess nodes by selecting the Show nodes from subprocess checkbox. These nodes can be distinguished by the Process ID and Process Name columns. All nodes from a subprocess will have different IDs and names than nodes that reside in the parent process.
Note: When this checkbox is selected, nodes from nested subprocesses are also displayed. Up to 10 levels of nested nodes are displayed.
Each of the nodes is listed in a table that displays the following columns:
Note: Gateway nodes can be evaluated multiple times in a process instance if they are set up on a loop of a process model. In such cases, the node is only listed once on this tab. The duration for the gateway node is the time from when the node is first initialized to when it is completed for the last time. This includes the time lapsed between the first and last evaluation.
Each node listed on this tab has additional actions available to Managers, Editors, and Administrators of the process. Selecting the checkbox associated with a node displays the actions that are available to the user.
The following options are only available to Process Administrators, System Administrators, and the Administrator account:
The Current Tasks tab displays all active tasks for the process. To view or complete a task that you have permissions to, click the task name. Depending on permissions, you can also reassign or cancel a task from this tab by selecting the checkbox next to it.
The Errors tab displays all active errors for the given process. Each of the errors is listed in a table that displays the following columns:
By default, this list does not include resolved errors and errors associated with any subprocesses. You can view the resolved errors by selecting the Show resolved errors checkbox.
See also: Process Errors
The Subprocesses tab displays all subprocesses that have been triggered by the given process are displayed. Clicking on a subprocess will open the subprocess in Monitor mode.
See also: Subprocess
The Quick Tasks tab displays all of the quick tasks that have been activated by the current process. The grid lists the task name, the date and time at which the task was enabled, and the users who have the right to view and complete the quick task.
By default, the tasks displayed within the grid are sorted by Task Name in descending order. You can sort the table by any of the column headers.
To view or complete a quick task, click the task name. After submission of a quick task, a new task instance is automatically generated and listed on the tab.
See also: Creating a Quick Task
When viewing a process instance in the Process Modeler, you can easily navigate to the process instance's parent instance and its process model or switch between the different modes.
To navigate to the process instance's parent process:
To navigate to the process instance's process model:
To switch between Monitor mode and Edit mode:
Once you have completed monitoring or editing a process instance, you can exit the Process Modeler by clicking x on the top-right corner of the tab.
Monitoring and Editing Processes
