Workflow editor title bar

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Workflow editor title bar

    The Workflow editor title bar in ServiceNow provides essential information and controls for managing workflows directly within the canvas. It displays the workflow title and status, helping you quickly identify whether a workflow is checked out or published. The title bar is your central access point for workflow properties, testing, validation, and help resources.

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    Key Features

    • Workflow Status Display: Shows if the workflow is "Checked out by <name>" or "Published," indicating its current editing or live state.
    • Workflow Properties: Opens the form to view or edit attributes of the current workflow.
    • Start: Runs the workflow directly from the editor for workflows on the Global table, enabling immediate testing without additional setup. For workflows on other tables, testing requires inserting a matching record.
    • Validate: Runs pre-publication validation to detect errors that could block publishing or cause failures, ensuring workflow reliability.
    • Help: Provides access to documentation for workflow creation guidance.
    • Workflow Menu: Additional options include creating, opening, copying, publishing, checking out, deleting, and inactivating workflows, as well as managing transitions, contexts, inputs, and stages. This comprehensive menu helps you configure and troubleshoot workflows efficiently.

    Practical Usage for Customers

    ServiceNow customers can use the title bar controls to manage workflow lifecycle tasks such as editing personal copies (check out), publishing finalized workflows, and testing workflows before deployment. The validation feature is crucial to catch issues early, preventing runtime failures. The menu options enable workflow organization, duplication for versioning, and maintenance like inactivation or deletion when no active contexts exist. Redrawing transitions helps maintain clarity in complex workflows. Access to contexts and input variables supports troubleshooting and subflow integration.

    When a workflow is opened in the canvas, the title bar displays the workflow title and the workflow status in italics. Possible states are Checked out by <name> and Published.

    Figure 1. Workflow editor title bar
    Controls on the right side of the title bar manage the workflow.
    • Workflow Properties Workflow properties icon: Opens the current workflow's properties form.
    • Start Run the workflow icon: Runs the workflow. This control is only available for workflows running on the Global table that are accessible from all application scopes. To test workflows that are on other tables, insert a record into that table that meets the condition of the workflow.
    • Validate Validate the workflow icon: Tests the workflow prior to publication. Validation detects potential problems that can prevent the workflow from publishing or cause the workflow to fail. For more information, see Workflow Validation.
    • Help Help icon: Opens documentation to help you create the workflow.

    Workflow menu

    Click the menu icon in the title bar for additional options to configure the workflow.

    Figure 2. Accessing the workflow menu
    These menu options are available:
    Table 1. Workflow menu options
    Option Description
    New Workflow Creates a new workflow.
    Open Existing Opens another existing workflow.
    Copy Creates a duplicate of the workflow. Give the copy a different name.
    Publish Makes the personal workflow version public, overwriting the current published workflow version. This option is only available for checked out workflows.
    Checkout Creates a personal version of the workflow for you, which you can edit. This option is only available for published workflows.
    Delete Deletes the workflow. You cannot delete workflows that have contexts associated with them.
    Set Inactive Inactivates the workflow so that it cannot be used.
    Expand Transitions Redraws the transitions so that they do not overlap when they leave the activity condition.
    Start Workflow Starts a test run of the current workflow.
    Validate Workflow Runs validation tests on your workflow prior to publication. Use this validation to detect potential problems that can prevent the workflow from publishing or cause the workflow to fail. For more information, see Work on workflows.
    Collapse Transitions Redraws the transitions so they overlap when they leave the activity condition.
    Show Contexts Displays all the contexts for the current workflow. You can use this option to troubleshoot a workflow.
    Properties Opens the Workflow Properties form, which defines the workflow's attributes.
    Edit Inputs Opens the Workflow Inputs list of variables that the workflow can accept when used as a subflow. For more information, see Pass a variable from a workflow to a subflow.
    Edit Stages Opens the Workflow Stages list. For more information, see Workflow stages. For tables with a column of Type = Workflow.