Monitoring Workflows

The Workflow monitor is available immediately after the Workflow has started. During its Activation stage, both the Workflow and the task boxes are empty hubs, but you can already see the Workflow structure. Later, during the Workflow execution, the monitor provides detailed information about the Workflow and about its tasks.

As a developer and object designer, you use the monitor to check whether the Workflows behave as expected. The monitor allows you to modify some parameters in the Workflow definition and most of the properties of the tasks. It also lets you modify and replace tasks at runtime. You can monitor any Workflow that you are authorized to work with.

As an operator, the monitor lets you check the progress of the Workflows that you are responsible for and to analyze why something went wrong.

The monitor provides the information you need to track the progress of a Workflow. The progress bar and the change of color in the task boxes let you know the overall status of the Workflow. The icons and the color of the task boxes indicate the individual status of each task. The progress bar and the Details pane show the runtimes of both the Workflow and of the task that you select. With the Critical Path visualization, you can easily recognize Workflow branches with low performance. From the monitor you can open the Executions lists and the reports of the Workflow and of each task.

Multiple Workflow and task functions are available from the Workflow monitor. Depending on the status of the Workflow and of your authorizations, you can modify some of its settings. The same applies to the tasks in the Workflow.

This topic describes all the components of the Workflow monitor and provides links to detailed descriptions of all its associated functions.

Tip: Read Execution Stages to understand the processing sequence of tasks in AWA. Take also a look at Workflow Logic to learn more about how the task processing sequence in a Workflow.

Notes:

• During the execution of a Workflow, its Monitor is dynamic. By default, it refreshes every 60 seconds to provide the latest information on the status of its tasks. If necessary, you can change the refresh interval in your user settings, see Refresh Interval .
• You can change some of the Workflow settings and of the properties of its tasks only as long as the Workflow and its tasks are active. These changes apply to that particular execution. If you want those changes to be permanent, you have to change the Workflow definition. As soon as the Workflow has finished, the original settings apply again. For more information, see Designing Workflows (JOBP).

Tip: Read the Execution Stages topics to learn more about what happens during the execution of a Workflow.

Accessing the Workflow Monitor

You can access the Workflow monitor from the following areas in the Automic Web Interface:

• Clicking the Open Monitor link that pops up at the top of your screen immediately after executing a Workflow.

• Process Monitoring perspective

  Right-click the Workflow in the Tasks list and select Open Monitor.

• Process Assembly perspective

  Right-click the Workflow that you have just executed and select Last Monitor.

• Schedule monitor, if the Workflow is running as sub-task of a Schedule, provided the Schedule is active and there already exists a RunID for the Workflow.

  Right-click the Workflow in the task list and select Open Monitor.

• Global Search

  Right-click the required Workflow in the Tasks section and select Open Monitor.

• Your Dashboard.

  Right-click the Workflow and select Open Monitor.

• The My Catalog on the following widgets: Activities, History.

  Right-click the Workflow and select Open Monitor.

Overview of the Workflow Monitor

Workflow Caption

The caption of the Workflow monitor page shows the name of the Workflow.

Read-Only and Edit Modes

When you open the monitor, the Workflow is in read-only mode. For running Workflows, if you want to change either the Workflow attributes or the properties of its tasks, you must make it editable. Click the Modify button to stop the execution and to switch the Workflow to edit mode. After making your changes, switch back to the read-only mode to be able to continue with the execution.

Workflow Button

Click this button to open the list of functions that are available to the Workflow. They depend on its status. For more information, see Available Functions Depending on the Task Status.

View Mode Buttons

The Workflow can be displayed in one of the following views:

• Graphical view

  The tasks are displayed as linked boxes. Here you see the structure of the Workflow.

• Hierarchical list

  The tasks are displayed in the form of lists with a parent/child relationship. Expand the nodes to see the tasks in the Workflow. This view provides better performance for large Workflows.

Level of Detail

If you have selected the graphical view, you can zoom in and out by clicking and dragging the slider. There are five levels of detail. In large Workflows, the size of the boxes is automatically reduced to display as much as possible of the Workflow structure. The smaller the size of the task boxes, the fewer the pieces of information about the task that are available.

Critical Path Button

Click this button to highlight your Workflow's critical path. The critical path shows the longest duration path in a Workflow, it directly affects runtime.

For more information, see Live Estimated Runtime.

Task Functions

The toolbar provides shortcuts to the most usual task functions (Cancel, Restart). Depending on the status of the task, they can be enabled or disabled.

Expand the More button to open additional options. It is disabled if no further options are available.

Tip: For tasks that are Jobs (JOBS), you can access their monitor from here, provided they are not running as part of a Job Group (in which case their task type is C_HOSTG).

For more information, see Working with Tasks.

Task Search

In large Workflows you can search for tasks that are not visible using this field. You can enter the following properties to search for tasks:

• Object name
• Object title
• Task type
• Task number (sequence number of the task in the Workflow)

Allowed characters: * and ?

The task that contains the first occurrence of the search string is highlighted. The tasks that do not contain it are grayed out.

If the entered string is available in more than one task, use the left and right arrows to the right of the search field to scroll through them.

Task Details Button

Select a task and click this button to open a pane with detailed information about the properties of the underlying object and about the current execution of the task. The information varies depending on the type of task.

If you do not select a specific task and click the button, the details of the Workflow are displayed.

Task Properties Button

Select a task and click this button to open the properties pane on the bottom half of your screen. It contains various tabs with the properties defined for that task.

You can modify the task properties only when the Workflow is still running and the task you want to edit has not been executed yet.

For more information, see:

• Modifying Workflows at Runtime
• Modifying Workflow Tasks at Runtime

Refresh Button

During the execution of a Workflow, its monitor is dynamic. By default, it refreshes every 60 seconds. If necessary, you can change the refresh interval in your user settings.

Status Bar

The status bar that is beneath the toolbar provides the following information:

• Status of the Workflow
• Execution progress and lapse. This includes:
  • Dynamic timer that automatically adjusts according to a task or tasks running. By default, it is displayed in hours and minutes. For more information, see Time Format.
  • Current server time, displayed in brackets

• Status of the tasks in the Workflow indicating how many tasks are in each status. The following colors are used:

  • Red (aborted tasks)
  • Yellow (blocked tasks or tasks with a manual breakpoint)
  • Blue (tasks that are waiting for the start time)
  • Green (active tasks)

• Progress bar that is calculated on the basis of the Expected Runtime (ERT). ERT is the average runtime of the task currently running in a Workflow. Notably, it considers the Workflow's critical path.

  The progress bar can move in two directions according to the following:

  • Interactions with your Workflow tasks. If you add, delete, pause or modify a task the runtime may increase or decrease.
  • If a running task takes longer than the estimated runtime
  • If the current Workflow depends on external dependencies. For example another Workflow has failed to execute or the dependency is taking longer to process than expected.

  This is reflected by the length of the green progress bar after a screen refresh.

  Example:

  

  The status of the Workflow displayed in this illustration is ENDED_OK. Of the tasks that are included in it, one has been blocked or has a breakpoint.

  If the expected runtime is either reached or exceeded, a dashed, animated bar is displayed across the entire width.

See also Status of Tasks - Visual Aids.

Information Elements in the Task Boxes

Task boxes display the most important data on the execution of the task.

1. Object icon, see Objects.

2. Object name, title or alias, see Name, Title and Alias.

   If the name is too long and the task has also a title that is displayed, the name is truncated. If the task has no title or if it not displayed, the long name extends over the second line.

3. Embedded Workflow indicator, see Embedded Workflows.

4. Comment indicator

   If comments have been entered for the task, a call out icon is displayed next to the properties indicator. To read the comment, right-click the task and select Comments. The dialog that opens displays all the comments made on the task in chronological order.

5. Status of the task

   The bottom left area contains an icon and text that provide detailed information about the status of the task. The color of the box is also a status indicator. For more information, see Status of Tasks - Visual Aids

6. Time monitor details

   The bottom right area displays important time details about the execution of tasks that have one of the following status: Active, waiting, blocked, failed or ended.

   • ST: Start Time
   • ET: End Time

   • EET: Estimated End Time, which is calculated based on the task start time and its Estimated Runtime.

     For more information about the Estimated Runtime of objects, see Runtime Page.

   • EST: Estimated Start Time
   • EAT: Earliest Start Time

   Note: The following display date format, applies to times with and without seconds. If the set day is over seven days away (i.e. next week), the date will be displayed in the following format DD/MM/YYYY (or Default Date format Settings).

Embedded Workflows

Task boxes with a flip icon on the upper right corner are embedded Workflows. Click the icon to expand the box and show the structure of the Workflow and the most important information about its tasks. Click it again to collapse it.

Right-click anywhere on the expanded box of the embedded Workflow to display a context menu that provides access to all the functions that are available to that Workflow. You can also select the tasks in the embedded Workflow and right-click to access all the functions that are available to them.

Task Tooltips

Hover the mouse over a task to display a tooltip. The START and END nodes also have tooltips. They provide information about the status of the Workflow.

Status of Tasks - Visual Aids

To make sure that you always have a clear overview of the status of the tasks in a Workflow, no matter the level of detail you are working with, the monitor provides the following status indicators:

• Color of the Task Box
• Status Icons

Color of the Task Box

The following list lists the colors that help you identify the status of tasks in large Workflows that display small boxes:

• Gray

  Completed (also for completed rollbacks)

• Red

  Not completed due to errors

• Blue

  Waiting (also waiting for rollback)

• Green

  Active

• Yellow

  Paused

• Purple

  Rollback is running

• White:

  • Inactive

    A task can be deactivated in two ways:

    • In the object definition, on the General Page. This task is then always inactive until you deselect this checkbox.
    • On the Workflow editor or monitor by opening the Properties pane and deselecting the Active checkbox on the General tab. This affects this particular execution of the Workflow. The next time the workflow is executed, this task will be active again.
  • No longer available, the task has been either replaced or deleted.

Status Icons

The following table lists the icons that help you identify the status of the task and provides their meaning:

ABEND

Abend

Abend (Restart)

Abend (Restart of a restarted task)

Abend (Restart of the original task)

BLOCKED

or Inconsistent

Inconsistent (Restart)

Inconsistent (Restart of a restarted task)

Inconsistent (Restart of the original task)

or Held

Held (Restart)

Held (Restart of a restarted task)

Held (Restart of the original task)

WAITING

or Waiting (gray means that the process is ongoing and that this status will change; the user cannot intervene)

Waiting (Restart)

Waiting (Restart of a restarted task)

Waiting (Restart of the original task)

or Waiting-Registered

Waiting-Registered (Restart)

Waiting-Registered (Restart of a restarted task)

Waiting-Registered (Restart of the original task)

or Waiting-External dependencies

Waiting-External dependencies (Restart)

Waiting-External dependencies (Restart of a restarted task)

Waiting-External dependencies (Restart of the original task)

or Waiting-Host

Waiting-Host (Restart)

Waiting-Host (Restart of a restarted task)

Waiting-Host (Restart of the original task)

or Waiting-Manual release

Waiting-Manual release (Restart)

Waiting-Manual release (Restart of a restarted task)

Waiting-Manual release (Restart of the original task)

or Waiting-Parallel tasks

Waiting-Parallel tasks (Restart)

Waiting-Parallel tasks (Restart of a restarted task)

Waiting-Parallel tasks (Restart of the original task)

or Waiting-Preconditions

Waiting-Preconditions (Restart)

Waiting-Preconditions (Restart of a restarted task)

Waiting-Preconditions (Restart of the original task)

or Waiting-Queue

Waiting-Queue (Restart)

Waiting-Queue (Restart of a restarted task)

Waiting-Queue (Restart of the original task)

or Waiting-Rollback

Waiting-Rollback (Restart)

Waiting-Rollback (Restart of a restarted task)

Waiting-Rollback (Restart of the original task)

or Waiting-Sync

Waiting-Sync (Restart)

Waiting-Sync (Restart of a restarted task)

Waiting-Sync (Restart of the original task)

or Waiting-Start time

Waiting-Start time (Restart)

Waiting-Start time (Restart of a restarted task)

Waiting-Start time (Restart of the original task)

ACTIVE

or Active

Active (Restart)

Active (Restart of a restarted task)

Active (Restart of the original task)

OK

or Ended normally

Ended or (rollbacked, rollback empty)

See Task Statusfor a list with descriptions of the available task status codes.

Monitoring ForEach and IF Workflows

If you have the list view set to hierarchical, FOREACH Workflows are shown as containers that include all subordinate tasks that have already run. The order of the sub tasks depends on the loop iteration.

Important! The Monitor of ForEach Workflows always displays the current loop cycle.

Modifying Active ForEach or IF Workflows

The properties of ForEach Workflows cannot be modified. This is why the Modify button on the toolbar is always disabled. However, you can perform certain functions, such as set a breakpoint, cancel or restart the Workflow. The functions that are available depend on the status and on the type of the task.

For information, see Available Functions Depending on the Task Status.

Forecast

• ForEach Workflows: The system uses the task chain's processing duration without iterations.
• IF Workflows: The system uses the branch with the longer total processing duration.

Restart

• ForEach Workflows: The system reevaluates the number of loop cycles from the specified source. Therefore, the number of iterations can be different in each restart.
• IF Workflows: The system reevaluates the START object's conditions and actions. Therefore, it can also happen that the other task branch will be processed depending on the conditions and circumstances that apply. In other words, a restart shows the same behavior as a regular start.

See also:

• Modifying Workflows at Runtime
• Working with Tasks
• Modifying Workflow Tasks at Runtime
• Working with Rollbacks
• Rollback Page
• Refresh Interval
• Adding Comments