Workflow Page
The Workflow page of the TotalFlow Production Manager user interface lets administrators see the workflows and activities in the system.
The Workflow page contains two tabs: Editor and Properties. The Editor tab contains two pods: an Activities pod and an Editor pod.
Important: Always use the page buttons to switch tabs in the user interface because using the
browser's forward and back buttons can cause unexpected results.
The Activities pod shows the workflows and activities in TotalFlow Production Manager. It has two sections:
- The Default section , where the supplied activities are.
- The Custom section, that lists activities you create.
Use the Editor pod to view and edit the activities in a workflow.
The Editor pod is divided into areas that represent the workflow phases. Each area is a different color:
- Receive phase (blue)
- In the Receive phase, TotalFlow Production Manager accepts input files for processing. Each job is assigned to a workflow , which defines
the phases and activities that process the job.
After the Receive phase queues the input file, it becomes a job in theTotalFlow Production Manager. All input files must pass through the Receive phase.
- Prepare phase (purple)
- The Prepare phase composes and transforms the job. You can also instruct TotalFlow Production Manager to run external programs during this phase to further condition or interpret the job. The Prepare phase is optional.
- Print phase (yellow)
- The Print phase routes and sends the job to an available printer, monitors printing status, and reports print completion. It can include a manual quality check, which can let the operator make printer adjustments before reprinting the job. It might also send the job to an external program for customized processing. The Print phase is optional.
- Complete phase (green)
- After jobs have completed all other processing, they arrive in the Complete phase. The Complete phase manages the retention period for jobs; it deletes jobs that have no retention periods or whose retention periods have expired. During this phase, you can also invoke external programs on completed jobs. For example, an external program can copy the jobs to an archive system. All jobs must pass through the Complete phase.
An icon represents each activity in the workflow.
Connectors show the path from one activity to another.