Visualizing risk and compliance using Canvas
Applies to:9.1.3 and later
Canvas provides a visual workspace for designing and presenting risk and compliance information. It works like a digital whiteboard, enabling you to create diagrams that combine OpenPages® objects (such as processes, risks, controls, issues, etc.) with external objects and certain text and visual elements that aids the visualization. This helps you visualize complex systems, processes, relationships, and dependencies in a way that is easier to understand and share.
Canvas has an interactive, drag-and-drop interface and is connected to live OpenPages data. Canvas can also be used through a keyboard and supports accessibility standards. A primary object is the main focus of a canvas and serves as the starting point for a flow or visualization. Users with write access to a primary object can create and edit canvases linked to it. Within a canvas, users can add related objects and custom nodes to build out the context. Canvas can be accessed from the Task View page toolbar of an object.
- Display OpenPages objects with their fields, add related objects, and create nodes that represent external objects.
- Add annotations using text nodes to provide additional context.
- Organize information visually using group nodes, colors, and arrangement tools.
Why use Canvas?
- Risk managers and compliance managers who need to present risk posture clearly.
- Process owners who want to map processes and related risks.
- Anyone who needs to communicate complex relationships visually.
- Designing a process flow with associated risks and controls.
- Creating a risk assessment diagram for executive reporting.
- Illustrating AI governance or data flow scenarios.
Accessing Canvas
Use the following steps to create a new canvas or open an existing one:
- Access the object to which you want to anchor a new canvas or open existing canvases anchored to it.
- Open the object in a Task View.
- Click the Canvas icon in the toolbar.
- In the side panel that opens, do one of the following:
- To open a new canvas, click New canvas.
- To open an existing canvas, click it from the list of canvases.
Working in Canvas
- Read-only mode: When you open a canvas, it opens in read-only mode by default. In this mode you can only view and navigate the diagram and manipulate the items on the canvas by moving them around, but you won't be able to save any changes.
- Edit mode: If you have edit permission for an object, to enable edit mode, in the upper-right area of a canvas, set Edit mode to on. In this mode, you can add, remove, and rearrange elements. Changes are automatically saved.
When you first open a canvas in Read-only mode, the published version of the canvas is displayed. If you switch to Edit mode, the view may change to a different version if a draft exists. This ensures that edits are made on the latest draft rather than the published version.
- GRC object nodes: Drag and drop objects such as risks, controls, and issues. You can show related objects and add fields like description or status.
- Custom object nodes: Represent items not stored in OpenPages (e.g., external systems, conceptual steps).
- Text nodes: Add notes or explanations using Markdown.
- Group nodes: Group related elements into a single box for clarity.
Draw lines to indicate relationships or flow. When a line is in focus, you can use the floating menu to hide or delete the line, or add a label to it.
GRC relationships are represented by solid lines, while hand-drawn relationships are represented by dashed lines. GRC relationships indicate system-defined links between objects, whereas hand-drawn relationships represent user-defined connections for visual or contextual purposes.
- Apply colors to objects or groups for categorization.
- Zoom, pan, and use the mini-map for navigation.
- Auto-arrange elements for a clean layout.
- Group related elements into a single box for clarity.