Advanced Chain Definition Editor Quick Reference

The chain definition editor was specifically designed to edit chains with many steps, chain processes and child-chains in an efficient manner. The parent chain is the top-most figure with rounded corners. Immediately below it you find the step, named Step 1 by default. Under each step is a placeholder for the first chain process.

You first specify a name for the chain, it will be used as the default name for child-chains, suffixed with _<n>, where <n> is a number. Choose Click here to change to specify the chain name, a description (optional) as well as the application (optional, recommended) for the chain.

Editing Steps

• - add a chain process to the current step (icon under a chain process of the step) or a step before or after the current step (left- and right-hand side)
• - add a step precondition
• - add a step status handler
• - Easy Restart enabled
• - Easy Restart disabled

Editing Chain Processes

Choose Click here to change to specify a process definition.

• - under a step, this icon adds a new chain process
• - add a chain process precondition
• - edit scheduling parameters
• - specify parameter-mappings
• - specify process monitors to update
• - convert chain process into a child chain

Event Icons

You can wait and raise events of chain process on the process definition.

• - before a chain process, this icon symbolizes a wait event(s).
• - after pa chain process, this icon symbolizes a raise event(s).

Parameter Names and Descriptions

You now have a toggle control to display either parameter names or descriptions (default). The preference is stored in the user hive of the registry.

The preference is stored in the user hive of the registry.

Critical Path

The critical path control allows you to visualize the chain processes that take longest to run. The average runtime of the chain is used as a baseline. The slider allows you to highlight chain processes that have an average runtime greater than x% of the average runtime of the chain. For example, you have a chain with three steps, each having a chain process. The average runtime of the chain is 10 minutes, the chain process in Step 1 runs for 3 minutes, in Step 2``5 minutes, and in Step 3``2 minutes, all on average. All chain processes will be highlighted when the slider is below 20%, between 20% and 30% chain processes in steps 1 and 2 will be highlighted, between 30% and 50% the chain process in step 2 will be highlighted, above 50% none will be highlighted.

Working with Chain Processes, Child Chain Definitions, and Steps

The following gestures and actions are available on chain processes, child chains, and steps:

• Drag and drop steps and chain processes to a desired location
• Duplicate a step by holding CTRL while dragging the step, drag the step to the desired location

Context Specific Tabs

When you highlight a chain process or step, the full path of the element in the chain definition is displayed on the top of the editor. When you choose a path element, for example a chain process that points to a chain definition, only the chain processes and steps of this child chain will be displayed. The tabs of the editor will switch to the displayed chain definition; to return to the parent, you simply choose the firth path element and the full chain definition is displayed. This feature is especially useful for large and complex chain definitions, allowing you to edit child chain definitions as if you had opened them in a separate editor. The functionality also works for process definitions called within the chain definition.

General Navigation

You use your pointing device or the keyboard to navigate in the chain definition editor.

Using Pointing Devices

When you use a pointing device, such as a mouse, as you hover over the steps and chain processes, the current node and its elements are highlighted.

Toolbar

A toolbar is available and allows you to perform the following:

• - zoom in 10%
• - zoom out 10%
• - expand all, recursively
• - collapse all, recursively
• - print the chain
• - open this help page

Printing the Chain Diagram

You can print the chain diagram to a printer if you prefer having a copy on paper. This allows you to visualize the whole chain when it is too big to be visualized in the Redwood Server ui at an acceptable size.

On the dialog, you can specify general as well as Redwood Server-specific formatting criteria, like orientation, page size, and fit width.

• Media: paper size (A4, letter, etc)
• Units: centimeters or inches (for margins, overlap and "smallest feature")
• Orientation (portrait, landscape, etc)
• Margins (minimum of 1 cm or more if the printer cannot print this close to the edge)
• Scale and Overlap:
  • scale can be specified in three different ways:
  • Fixed: fixed scale (as a percentage)
  • Fit width: fit the diagram to a number of pages wide
  • Fit height: fit the diagram to a number of pages high
  • Overlap: the amount the diagrams on each page should overlap when printing to multiple pages. Allows for easier "cut and paste" them together.
• Pages
  • The number of pages required (and the number of pages wide/high)
  • The printed size (in units) of the "smallest feature". For a chain diagram the "smallest feature" is the width of a minimal chain process box.

Parameter Mapping in the Chain Editor

When you fill a parameter field of a chain process, you can hard-code a value or refer to another parameter on the chain or a chain call of a previous step.

Using Existing Chain and Chain Process Parameters

To map to an existing parameter you focus a chain process parameter value field and hover over a chain process or the parent with your pointing device (all candidates will be highlighted in yellow), an option will be displayed below the element with the name of the parameter. You can edit chain-level parameters on the Parameters tab.

Using Drag and Drop

1. Select the chain process. the dialog or property panel shows
2. Drag the parameter, as soon as you start dragging, all items with compatible Out and InOut parameters will highlight.
3. While still dragging, hover above the candidate, a pop-up appears containing all applicable source parameters (only Out and InOut parameters will be listed).
4. Release the dragged parameter on the source parameter you want to map.

Using your Pointing Device

1. Select the chain process. the dialog or property panel shows
2. Select the control (leave it blank), all items with compatible Out and InOut parameters will highlight.
3. Move your mouse above the desired candidate, a pop-up appears containing all applicable source parameters (only Out and InOut parameters will be listed).
4. Select the parameter to make the mapping.

Using the Keyboard

1. Select the chain process. the dialog or property panel shows
2. Select the control (leave it blank), all items with compatible Out and In/Out parameters will highlight.
3. Hit Enter, the focus moves to the first highlighted chain process to the left of the selected chain process.
4. Move with the arrow keys between the highlighted chain processes.
5. Hit Enter to open the pop-up of all applicable source parameters (only Out and In/Out parameters will be listed).
6. Move with the arrow keys to the parameter.
7. Select the parameter with Enter to make the mapping.

Creating Chain Parameters as Required

The chain definition editor creates a chain-level parameter for you when required; you focus a chain process parameter value field and hover over chain parent with your pointing device (it will be highlighted in yellow), a Create a new parameter option will be displayed below the parent. Once you have chosen that, you can edit the parameter in question on the Parameters tab, it will have the same name as the parameter it is mapped to. Any suitable Chain processes will be highlighted when you focus the parameter of a chain process, depending on the data type of the parameter, you hover over these to select the appropriate parameter.

Locating a Parameter

When you fill a value into the parameter value field, all items that have a name or Out/InOut parameters matching your entry will be highlighted. You select Parameter: or Job: to highlight candidates that have matching parameters or names, respectively.

Easy Restart

Easy Restart has been introduced to change the default behavior of status handlers for statuses Error, Canceled, Killed, and Unknown to Request Restart for all new chain definitions created. Existing definitions that you edit are not affected by this change. Easy Restart can be toggled either with icons ( and ) on the chain box in the diagram, or the Request restart by default checkbox on the chain properties pane.

You disable Easy Restart for future chain definitions by creating the NewChainDefaultsToEasyRestart registry entry and setting its value to false.

Example

Using a Pointing Device (mouse)

1. Navigate to Definitions > Chains and choose New > Chain.
2. Choose Click here to change on the top-most chain.
3. Fill in the name for the chain, such as JC_Test and hit Enter; fill a description into the field and choose the close button.
4. Choose the precondition icon to the left of Step 1.
5. Choose the time window field, fill Christian_ALL into the field and select the System_Christian_All time window, hit Enter.
6. Select closed and hit Enter.
7. Fill Amsterdam into the field and select Europe/Amsterdam, choose the close icon.
8. Notice that now the precondition icon is always active; this is because it contains settings. Choose the Click here to change field on the chain process (under Step 1).
9. Fill Sleep into the field and hit Enter (if you have more than one process definition and/or chain definition with sleep in its name, choose System_Sleep and hit Enter). Fill sleepy in the field and hit Enter; notice that the dialog closes immediately.
10. Choose Save and Close.

JobChain