Up until now we have showed how the different elements that make up a Work Flow can be handled and configured, and which operations can be applied to them. We will now describe a set of commands that are of general use, affecting the entire Work Flow or parts of it.

Importing and Exporting

At times you might find useful to export a part of the Work Flow for later re-use. For example, you might feed an input file node to an Script node, and extract data from an output file. If you want to later re-use this part of logic, or if you want to send it to another modeFRONTIER user, you need to export the logic to an external file. Later on you will import it from the same file.

To export a subset of the current Work Flow you first need to select all the nodes that you intend to export. Then you should select the Export item from either the canvas contextual menu, or from the File menu. Alternatively, you can click on the Export button on the main toolbar (i.e., modeFRONTIER's toolbar, as opposed to the Work Flow editor toolbar). A dialog window will pop-up, and you'll have to select the name and location for the export file. The extension for the file must be .spf

If later on you wish to import the part of Work Flow you saved, you should select the Import item from either the canvas contextual menu, or from the File menu. Alternatively, you can click on the Import button on the main toolbar (i.e., modeFRONTIER's toolbar, as opposed to the Work Flow editor toolbar). A dialog window will pop-up, and you'll have to select from the file system the file you wish to import. The extension for the file must be .spf

Of course, if you wish to duplicate part of a Work Flow either within the same Work Flow, or from a different modeFRONTIER instance, you can simply use the copy and paste commands.

In addition you can import directly in the Work Flow canvas, file of the following types:

Importing files belonging to these types will cause the placement of the corresponding application node.

Selecting the Zoom Factor

As your Work Flows grow more complex, and larger, you'll probably find yourself desiring to visualize a larger part of the Work Flow on the screen at once. Conversely, you might have set your screen at a very high resolution, and some Work Flow features (e.g., node connectors) might be too small. All you need to do to get the desired resolution is change the zoom factor for the Work Flow window.

There are five tools on the Work Flow editor toolbar that let you do just that. Let's see how each one works.

Note: The zoom factor acts independently on each window. Thus, if you have subsystem windows open, changing the zoom factor on one of them, or on the main canvas window, will not affect the zoom factor for the other windows.

Undo

While editing a Work Flow you will probably find yourself often regretting an operation you just carried out. You can revert it by selecting the Undo item from the canvas contextual menu, or by clicking on the Undo button on the main toolbar (i.e., modeFRONTIER's toolbar, as opposed to the Work Flow editor toolbar).

Set Work Flow Description

A textual description can be associated to any Work Flow. This information will be reproduced within the preview panel in the Open Project dialog and can also a good place for you to add usage information. To edit this description you need to select the Set Work Flow Description item from the canvas contextual menu, and compose the text within the pop-up editor.