Running and debugging service flows

You can develop your service flow as an iterative process that includes several playback sessions. If errors occur, you can debug the service flow in the Process Designer Inspector.

Before you begin

Important: Ensure that your browser is configured to allow pop-ups from the host on which the Workflow Center is installed. Because the playback window opens as a pop-up window, you might receive an error message if your web browser is configured to block pop-ups.

Running service flows

About this task

Each playback session runs the service flow from the beginning to the end. The playback window informs you when the service flow completes.

Procedure

To run the service flow, complete the following steps:

  1. Open the appropriate process application in the Designer view.
  2. In the Process Designer library, click Services and open the service flow that you want to run, or create a service flow as described in Creating a service flow.
    The service flow opens in the web editor.
  3. Click Run Run in the upper-right corner.

Results

A playback window displays a confirmation message that the service flow completed successfully.

Debugging service flows

About this task

If an error occurs while the service flow is running, you can debug the service flow in the Process Designer Inspector. The debugging function of the Inspector enables you to examine how the service flow operates in each step of its execution.

Using the Inspector, you can step through the service flow activities to observe how the service flow behaves as it runs. The Inspector pauses the execution of the service flow before running each step and displays the variable values at each point. If an error occurs, the debugging capability helps you to identify which step is at fault. The error message is displayed in the playback window and on the sidebar in the Inspector.

To debug a service flow, you can perform the following actions from the sidebar in the Inspector:
Table 1. Actions in the Inspector
Icon Action Description
Step Over Step Over Moves the service execution to the next activity in the flow.
Step Into Step Into Appears when the service flow execution is stopped at a linked service, and enables you to step into the linked service and debug it.
Run Run Runs the service flow.

Procedure

To debug the service flow, complete the following steps:

  1. Open the service flow in the Process Designer.
  2. Click Debug Debug in the upper-right corner.
    The Inspector opens in the browser window, pausing on the first step after the Start event.
  3. Examine the variable values at that point. When you are ready to move on to the next activity in the service flow, click Step Over Step Over.
    As the execution progresses, the followed path is highlighted and indicators mark the progress of the service flow execution in the diagram.
  4. If the service flow includes a linked service, when the service flow execution stops at the linked service node, you can click Step Into Step Into to step into the linked service and debug it.
    When the linked service flow completes successfully, the execution moves to the next step in the parent service flow.
  5. When you are ready to return to the Designer perspective, click Designer in the upper-left corner of the browser window.