Creating a workflow installation file
At the bottom of the workflow editor, click the Create Installer button (or use the shortcut Shift + Alt + I) to bring up a dialog where you provide information about the workflow to be distributed (see an example in figure 11.62).
Figure 11.62: Workflow information for the installer.
The information entered in this dialog will be visible for users installing the workflow and will enable them to look up the source of the workflow any time.
- Author name
- Provide the name of the author of the workflow.
- Author email
- Provide the email of the author of the workflow.
- Author homepage
- Provide the homepage of the author of the workflow.
- Organization
- The organization name is important because it is part of the workflow id (see more in Workflow identification and versioning).
- Workflow name
- The workflow name is based on the name used when saving the workflow in the Navigation Area. The workflow name is essential because it is used as part of the workflow id (see more in Workflow identification and versioning). The workflow name can be changed during the installation of the workflow. This is useful whenever you have a workflow that you would like to use e.g. with small variations. The original workflow name will remain the same in the Navigation Area - only the installed workflow will receive the customized name.
- ID
- The final id of the workflow.
- Workflow icon
- An icon can be provided. This will show up in the installation overview and in the Toolbox once the workflow is installed. The icon should be a 16 x 16 pixels gif or png file. If the icon is larger, it will automatically be resized to fit 16 x 16 pixels.
- Workflow version
- A major and minor version can be provided.
- Workflow description
- Provide a textual description of the workflow. This information will be displayed when a user mouses-over the name of the installed Workflow in the Workbench Toolbox, and is also presented in the Description tab for that Workflow in the Manage Workflows tool, described in Managing workflows. Simple HTML tags are allowed (should be HTML 3.1 compatible, see http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html32).
If you configured any of the workflow elements with data, clicking Next will give you the following options for the reference data (see figure 11.63). You can choose to
- Ignore. This is the recommended setting when the workflow inputs have been configured with workflow roles. The user installing the workflow on their local system will have to apply their own references.
- Reference. This is the recommended setting when the workflow inputs have been configured by selecting elements in a shared CLC_References directory. The data will not be bundled with the workflow, but the reference data is included in the workflow by pointing to the shared data in the CLC_References directory. This is particularly useful when working with large reference data.
- Bundle. This is the recommended setting when you cannot, or do not wish, to share the data through a CLC_References folder (see Imported Data for how to transfer data to a CLC_References folder.) This option will include the data in the workflow by directly bundling the reference data with the workflow. Note! Bundling data should only be used to bundle small data sets with the workflow installer.
Figure 11.63: Bundling data with the workflow installer.
Click Next and you will be asked to specify where to install the workflow (figure 11.64). You can install your workflow directly on your local computer. If you are logged on a server and are the administrator, the option "Install the workflow on the current server" will be enabled. Finally, you can select to save the workflow as a .cpw file that can be installed on another computer. Click Finish. This will install the workflow directly on the selected destination. If you have selected to save the workflow for installation on another computer, you will be asked where to save the file after clicking Finish. If you chose to bundle data with your workflow installation, you will be asked for a location to put the bundled data on the workbench.
Installing a workflow with bundled data on a server, the data will be put in a folder created in the first writable persistence location. Should this location not suit your needs, you can always move it afterwards, using the normal persistence operations.
Figure 11.64: Select whether the workflow should be installed on your local computer or on the current server. A third option is to create an installer file (.cpw) that can be installed on another computer.
In cases where an existing workflow that has already been installed is modified, the workflow must be reinstalled. This can be done by first saving the workflow after it has been modified and then pressing the Create Installer button. Click through the wizard and select whether you wish to install the modified workflow on your local computer or on a server. Press Finish. This will open a pop-up dialog "Workflow is already installed" (figure 11.65) with the option that you can force the installation. This will uninstall the existing workflow and install the modified version of the workflow. Note! When forcing installation of the modified workflow, the configuration of the original workflow will be lost.
Figure 11.65: Select whether you wish to force the installation of the workflow or keep the original workflow.