Nexio Motion4 Full Config Mode

Transcription

1 Nexio Motion4 Full Config Mode v /6/2016 Revision: Release

2 v4.11 Publication Information 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. Imagine Communications considers this document and its contents to be proprietary and confidential. Except for making a reasonable number of copies for your own internal use, you may not reproduce this publication, or any part thereof, in any form, by any method, for any purpose, or in any language other than English without the written consent of Imagine Communications. All other uses are illegal. This publication is designed to assist in the use of the product as it exists on the date of publication of this manual, and may not reflect the product at the current time or an unknown time in the future. This publication does not in any way warrant description accuracy or guarantee the use for the product to which it refers. Imagine Communications reserves the right, without notice to make such changes in equipment, design, specifications, components, or documentation as progress may warrant to improve the performance of the product. Trademarks Product names and other appropriate trademarks, e.g. D-Series, Invenio, PowerSmart, Versio are trademarks or trade names of Imagine Communications or its subsidiaries. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective companies. Contact Information Imagine Communications has office locations around the world. For domestic and international location and contact information, visit our Contact page ( Support Contact Information For domestic and international support contact information see: Support Contacts ( Worldwide Support (mailto: service@imaginecommunications.com) Customer Community Portal ( Warranty & Contract Information ( MyImagine Academy Training ( Product Manuals ( Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 2

3 Contents Contents About Motion 4 in Full Config Mode... 7 Overview... 7 Display Resolutions... 7 Login Information Displayed on UI... 7 The Device Repository... 8 The Resource Manager... 8 The Workflow Builder... 9 Trigger Service... 9 Task Assignment Monitoring Homemade Network Load Balancer for all services Motion Architecture Architecture Multiple Site Support Management of Device Failures Pre-requisites to Operation Client Installation and Startup Install Motion 4 Client Client Requirements Before You Begin Installing the Client Software Upgrading Motion4 Server and Client Motion 4.7 Upgrade Note Motion 4.9 Upgrade Note Launch Motion Full Config mode Managing Resources About Resource Manager UI overview Endpoint Icons About Configuring Resources Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 3

4 Contents About Upgrading Actions Operations Import or Export Repository Settings Declare a Device Location Declaring a Device Declaring a Device Manager Making an Association Creating Load Balanced Groups Save a Draft of Parameter settings Publishing the Device bin Device Protocol Parameters Default Settings & Tool Tips Handling Out-of-Date Definitions Managing Triggers About the Trigger Service: Rule Editor Examples: About Datamapping Triggers tab Window About missing / deactivated workflows General Actions To Add a Rule To Remove a Rule To Activate a Rule To Duplicate a Rule To Edit an Existing Rule Launch Help for Trigger Parameters Schedule Events Collector To add a Schedule Rule Storage Capacity Events Collector To add a Capacity Rule ADC Missing Material Events Collector To add a ADC Missing Material Rule Building Workflows Using the Workflow Builder User Requirements Key components About Designing Workflows About Action Config and Execute sub workflow operations Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 4

5 Contents Help Tools Activities Operations View Workflows Create a Workflow Create a Workflow Group Edit a Workflow Import/Export Environment Variables About Setting Priorities on Workflows Staff Management and Task Creation Using a Device in a Workflow Set a Workflow to Start Automatically Prepare your workflow Publish and Execute a Workflow Triggering Workflows Workflow Trigger Operations Configure a Trigger Test the trigger Motion4 Monitoring About Monitoring System Management System Settings To Launch System Settings Action Configuration Open the Action Config Management console Create a new action Make a copy of the Action Create an AddressBase from the endpoint alias Appendix A: NET Framework and Visual Basic Reference Background What is the.net Framework? What is object-oriented programming? Classes and objects Types in the.net Framework Classes and structures NET Framework Class Library (FCL) Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 5

6 Contents Structures Enumerations Literals Visual Basic Operators Assignment Operators Arithmetic operators Comparison Operators Logical Operators Classes Objects, Properties, Methods Objects Properties Methods The String class Instantiating a String Object Arrays vs. Collections Arrays Collections Static classes and class members Appendix B How Workflows Appear to an Insight User Pre-Configure Workflow Macros Create, Modify and Delete an Action Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 6

7 About Motion 4 in Full Config Mode About Motion 4 in Full Config Mode Overview Motion4 is a new workflow engine that services the requirements to integrate staff, devices, and applications into a holistic workflow. Sometimes referred to as an enterprise bus, the product ostensibly provides the integration and workflow structure for discrete modules that form part of the content management and digital supply chain. The application includes the following fundamental modules: The Device Repository (see "Login Information Displayed on UI" on page 7). The Resource Manager (on page 8). The Workflow Builder (on page 9). The Workflow Scheduler (see "Trigger Service" on page 9). The Motion Monitor (see "Monitoring" on page 10). System Management (see "Homemade Network Load Balancer for all services" on page 11). Display Resolutions The Motion 4 client supports a variety of low to high display resolutions. Along with higher resolutions, the following minimum resolutions are supported: (XGA) (4/3) (16/9) Login Information Displayed on UI The following basic Login information is displayed in the upper right of the UI: Credential (Login and group) versioning (what version client connects to what version server) Service Name selected at logon The UI will display if there is no Insight Current user: N/A if connected to Insight and the user name is set Current user: User Full Name if connected to Insight and the user name is not set Current user: user login name 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 7

8 About Motion 4 in Full Config Mode The Device Repository This system module is where devices are setup based on the license key pertaining to devices and integration sets which have been purchased. It allows the system administrator to configure devices, task and messages, and then is able to publish them to the Resource Manager. The Resource Manager The Resource Manager along with the Workflow Builder can be considered the heart of the application. The Resource Manager is designed to handle queues and priorities of jobs related to devices until these devices are available to process the job. In addition, it load balances common device types and manages the throughput of work to the devices based on their configuration and loading parameters. For example, if one device were to go offline, then the Resource Manager would take the responsibility for re-prioritizing files to the remaining online devices Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 8

9 About Motion 4 in Full Config Mode The Workflow Builder As the name suggests this module is responsible for the building of workflows that integrate staff tasks, devices, and information from third party applications into a holistic workflow. It is designed to deliver tasks to staffing through the Insight UI along with the relevant data needed to service the task. It hooks in devices such that a human task can be linked to a device, e.g. Get tape being a staffing task that would drive ingest and transcode functions of a device. Metadata sets could come from a third party system, e.g. get tape, the id of which comes from a dedicated tape library management system. Trigger Service The Motion Trigger Service has two roles: Receive/persist/reload rules and register to the appropriate event collector Monitor persistent rules to perform the associated action when an event match the rule This service is fault tolerant Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 9

10 About Motion 4 in Full Config Mode As a full service (so collectors can receive notifications from other system parts for example), it acts in a Master-Slaves configuration. All the data is persisted to allow the fail over switch to be transparent. Task Assignment This graphical component is present in both in Motion4 standalone client and Insight Client. It is a powerful tool for cooperation within/between departments where users can see tasks assigned to their groups, accept them, and when a task is completed, update the task status. Monitoring This user application allows an operator to monitor tasks, devices, files status, and the status of a particular workflow or set of workflows. It gives an overview of all the staff, applications, and devices that form part of the infrastructure set which deliver the workflows and processing capability of tasks and workflows. Reference Note: For details on monitoring see Nexio Motion 4 Monitor Mode Operations Reference Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 10

11 About Motion 4 in Full Config Mode Homemade Network Load Balancer for all services Motion 4 includes support for homemade Load Balancer / Network Load Balancer for Workflow/Resource/DeviceManager/etc. services. Operation: For services supporting load balance (i.e. workflow manager service) services are deployed on several servers All the service instances are started and active at the same time services automatically load balance the charge across all of them For other services These services are also deployed on all servers All the service instances are started but only the Master is active Services "elect" the master using the database If the Master disappear, elect a new Master API requires network load balance Relying on Microsoft NLB cluster or similar to balance the load across all the servers Works for IIS or self-hosted APIs Motion Architecture Motion is designed to meet a number of key performance and functional requirements. These include: System scalability based on use of Microsoft Clustering technology. A system that manages device failures and re-prioritizes the workflow against remaining devices. Only when using load balanced groups. A technology set and architecture that provides customers a sense of a safe investment for a 10 year window Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 11

12 About Motion 4 in Full Config Mode Architecture The following architecture diagram outlines the general view of the application. Multiple Site Support Motion can support one main site and several secondary sites. Every motion service is available on the main site while device manager servers and dedicated devices can reside on secondary sites. Motion can work with secondary sites in connection limited environments; only HTTP connection is required for secondary sites. Management of Device Failures Motion provides health-checking infrastructure for continuous monitoring of the states of individual devices. When a device in the system is detected as offline or malfunctioning, it is reported to Resource Management. The information used to re-schedule tasks for other devices (if possible) and is displayed on monitoring UI s. Pre-requisites to Operation The following must be implemented prior to using Motion4: A properly installed Motion4 system: Client and Server. Installing a Motion4 system is the subject of the section: Motion4 Client Installation (see "Client Installation and Startup" on page 13). and the Motion4 Server Installation Reference. Using the Workflow Builder feature of Motion 4 requires some Visual Basic Programming knowledge Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 12

13 Client Installation and Startup Client Installation and Startup Install Motion 4 Client This section describes how to install Motion Client 4.5. This process applies to all versions of Motion Client, unless otherwise documented. Client Requirements Operating Systems: Windows 7 (with latest SP and all the security updates) Windows 8 (with latest SP and all the security updates) Windows 10 (with latest SP and all the security updates) Windows Server 2012 (with all the security updates) Software: MSXML 6.0 Microsoft.NET Framework 4.5 with latest Service Pack (restart required) Magellan Diagnostic Logger Before You Begin Before Installing Motion Client, uninstall any previous version of Motion Client. Installing the Client Software 1. Double-click on the Motion Client.msi file to start the installation process. The Client Setup Wizard opens. 2. On the Welcome screen click Next. 3. The Custom Setup screen displays the location where the client will be installed. This path cannot be changed. (C:\Program Files (x86)\imagine Communications\Motion\Client). Click Next to continue. (Option) Click Reset to reset install parameter original settings. (Option) Click Disk Usage to review space usage on the specified install location 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 13

14 Client Installation and Startup Note: On installation device controllers are deployed in their own individual folders. 4. On the User information screen specify the Motion 4 Server address and then click Next to continue Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 14

15 Client Installation and Startup 5. On the User information screen select the Client Mode and then click Next to continue. Monitor only Client: The Monitor only client contains 4 tabs: Task Assignment / Process Explorer / Storage Explorer/ Resources. By default, the Process Explorer tab is displayed when the user opens the client. This view disables the user s ability to edit the Resources tab. The Workflows and Trigger tabs are not available to the user. The Resources tab is available, but the user can t change any settings. Full Client: In this mode all tabs are available to the user: Workflows/Triggers/Task Assignment / Process Explorer / Storage Explorer/ /Resources. 6. On the "Ready to install" screen click Install. The installation should complete successfully. 7. On the Completed screen click Finish to conclude the installation. Upgrading Motion4 Server and Client For details on upgrading Motion4 Server and Client see the "Upgrading Motion4 Server and Client" section in Nexio Motion Server Installation Guide (version 4.7 or higher). Motion 4.7 Upgrade Note The following additional steps are required when upgrading. Workflows: 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 15

16 Client Installation and Startup During an upgrade Motion will attempt to load a workflow in the invariant culture. If that fails, it will try loading it in the system culture. Motion will also save all new/updated workflows in the invariant culture. While this will work in most cases, it will still fail if the user tries to load an old workflow created on a system that had a culture that was not the local system's or the invariant. This means that after upgrading to 4.7, the workflow needs to be exported from that system to be importable on all (4.7+) systems. Alternatively 4.7 can be installed on a separate system, the language settings changed to Portuguese (or other required language), the workflow imported, and then the workflow exported. The resulting workflow will be importable on all 4.7+ systems, regardless of language settings. FTP Endpoints: When upgrading to Motion 4.7 the root path of an FTP spy will be cleared and must be manually re-entered in the endpoint's parameters." Motion 4.9 Upgrade Note The Schedule trigger in the Trigger service implemented in Motion 4.9 replaced the Schedule feature present in previous versions. This means when upgrading to Motion 4.9 from an earlier version write down your schedules, as they will need to be recreated. Launch Motion4 Use the following procedure to launch Motion 4 Client. 1. On the machine where the Nexio Motion4 client application was installed, click on the Nexio Motion icon: A shortcut on the desktop: And a shortcut in the Start Menu: 2. On the login screen specify the following: User Name: Enter your user name Password: Enter your password Service Name: Select an available service from the dropdown Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 16

17 Client Installation and Startup (Optional) Check "Remember me" to have the system remember your credentials for future access. 3. When finished click Login. A loading bar indicator at the bottom of the Motion 4 Login screen indicates progress. The operator does not have access to the UI until loading is completing an the system is fully initialized. This launches the Motion Client. Full Config mode In this mode Motion Client is launched and the operator automatically has access to all tab operations, except Workflows. Workflow Designer requires a separate password to access. See the following procedure for access details Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 17

18 Client Installation and Startup Accessing Workflow Designer (Option) When opened on the Workflows tab (or when the Workflows tab is first selected) the system prompts to enter the password to unlock Workflow Designer. Complete this step only if you will be using the Workflow Designer portion of Motion. If you have not already been provided with the password, contact Imagine Communications support for assistance. This allows access to the Workflow Designer Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 18

19 Managing Resources Managing Resources About Resource Manager The Resource Manager along with the Workflow Builder can be considered the heart of the application. The Resource Manager is designed to handle queues and priorities of jobs related to devices until these devices are available to process the job. In addition, it load balances common device types and manages the throughput of work to the devices based on their configuration and loading parameters. For example, if one device were to go offline, then the Resource Manager would take the responsibility for re-prioritizing files to the remaining online devices. The Resource Manager has the following key roles: It allows setup of device resources and connection parameters. It manages queues and priorities for each resource Every job assigned to a device must be queued until the device becomes available Several queues are created to manage priorities of the jobs It manages special resources that are the Load Balanced groups. A load balanced group is a pool of resources of the same type. The load is balanced to each resource of the group accordingly to the state of the device (queue length, CPU usage, etc.) and the limits defined in the resource repository. The group also handles device disconnection/failure to offload this device jobs to the remaining devices in the group. When a job reaches the beginning of a queue, the Resource Manager delegates this job to a Device Manager to actually perform the job. UI overview From left to right there are 4 different panels: Device Templates: This panel shows supported devices and a template associates a device model with specific protocol. It provides default values for these protocols. These predefined templates can be dragged into the draft editor, and draft devices can be saved here in the custom folder Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 19

20 Managing Resources Published: This panel shows the live repository - the list of resources currently configured and used by the system, along with connection health. This is read-only by design. By publishing the draft version, this is completely discarded and overwritten. Users can manually re-enqueue media files on a connection which supports spying. Re-enqueueing the files means a process where the system re-spies existing files on a storage device. Device Bin: This panel displays a draft version of the published repository. The user works on this version only, without corrupting the published version. When the changes are confirmed, "publish" the draft is so it becomes the published version, and the system starts to use it. This is not a local copy, but it is saved on the server and is the same for all users. Parameters: This is a Contextual property grid displaying setting details for the currently selected item. Endpoint Icons Endpoint icons provide a quick visual reference to operation status Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 20

21 Managing Resources : Waiting for the first health check to return with the new parameters after publishing a new or modified endpoint. : Error message icon. Device controller returns an error message in healthcheck. : Endpoint published successfully. About Configuring Resources The Device Bin/Parameter panes of the Repository module are where devices are configured and then made available to the workflow engine as publishable. It means that devices can be added or parameters changed off-line whilst the workflow engine is still operating. For example, this allows the administer to take one device out of a group such as Transcoder A, and reconfigure it, perhaps as part of an upgrade of that transcoder capability and additions to the Motion plugin which supports that transcoder. Likewise, workflows can be edited while the workflow engine is still running, again allowing those workflows that remain published to run and thus the operation as a whole is impacted less. Key elements of the device repository are: Communication status of the configured devices Provide default values for protocols Group all device related settings Turn devices into resources by defining limits and financial data About Upgrading Actions When upgrading a system with multiple complex workflows already created, it is labor intensive to find and replace and reconfigure all the activities changed since the previous version. Motion 4.7 improves the process by implementing the following methods in workflow designer to notify an Engineer of which activities must be replaced. An Icon is added in the workflow list and a tooltip is added on the icon explaining what it means Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 21

22 Managing Resources A Warning icon is added on the activities to upgrade in the workflow designer. In this implementation, the engineer/operator must manually replace the activities to upgrade. On workflow definition save, if the alerts are active, the system checks them and then hides them if all of the activities were updated. Operations This section outlines procedures for managing devices and Device Server connections for use with Motion 4. The user can do the following things: Add and edit Device Managers, Devices, Connections Set up access properties (address, credentials, etc.) Set up spying, and triggers The following terms are used in this section: Location: logical folder which can contain Device Managers, Loadbalanced Device Groups and Devices Device Manager: a computer where the Device Manager service runs Device: logical folder which can contain one or more connections Loadbalanced Device: same as Device, but works differently, as it is load balancing the associated connections based on system load. Typically can manage transcoders and the like, but not storage-type connections. Connection: an endpoint on a computer which has an address. Actually it is a type of a device. Types of endpoints are determined by the installed Device Controllers. One Device Controller means one Connection. There are a growing number of Connections available like: CIFS, FTP, Nexio, SGL, Avid, Amberfin, Vantage, etc. Import or Export Repository Settings Repository settings can be exported after setup or a previously defined set imported for use Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 22

23 Managing Resources Import Resources To facilitate setup an operator can choose to import a previously defined repository setup. 1. Click Import Draft Repository icon. 2. From the Open window navigate to the file location. 3. Select the file or files to import and then click OK. Export a Draft Repository A draft of the existing repository can be exported to a file location. This allows backup security for the repository settings and also allows the settings to be imported for use by another instance of Motion4. 1. Click Export Draft Repository icon. 2. From the Save As window, navigate to the desired file location. 3. Click Save. Declare a Device Location Use this procedure to declare a location (physical sites). 1. Navigate to the Resources tab of the client. The "Device Bin" area is the working area. It is empty after a fresh install. A default location is already present. It can be renamed if needed: To rename the location node: In the Device Bin, select the location node to rename. In the Parameter panel, change the name. Click the Save button. 2. Add a new Location: On the Device Bin pane left click and from the context menu select Add New Location. Before declaring any device, create a "Location" that gives an indication about the geographical location of a device. This is only useful when the customer has several remote facilities. For this example create a "Main" location. 3. Click the "Resources" action menu and select "New Location". 4. A "New Location" is created. Change its name in the Parameters area Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 23

24 Managing Resources Declaring a Device Use this procedure to configure a device or devices that will be used in workflows. 1. From the Device Bin tab select Resources > Devices >Add > Storage >, then Select a device type. 2. Select a new device: in the Parameters panel change the following as required: Name: This is the name of the device seen in the workflow editor or Motion Monitor(e.g. My First Device) Parallel limits: Define how many job (long or short) the resource is able/allowed to perform in parallel Controlled by: Define which Device Manager machine is able to connect to this device. Available Device Managers are shown with a checkbox for selection. 3. Define which protocols are supported by your device. Select one of the device protocols and change its parameters. Each protocol has a different set of parameters that are covered in detail by the HTML help. Click the Help button associated with the parameter tab. Note: HTML docs are available for each plugin. Click the Help button to view parameter details for each Device Controller Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 24

25 Managing Resources The example graphic shows only the CIFS Connection being added to the device (My First Device > Add >CIFS Connection). 4. Configure the device protocol as required. Each protocol has a different set of parameters that are covered in detail by the HTML help. Click the Help button associated with the parameter tab. For Device Controller Help: Use the help button present on the endpoint parameters to open the help on a particular Device Controller. The help opens a web page loaded from the client folder in the default web browser. An index page regroups all the non-resource activities and Device Controller in a table of content. All the pages can navigate to the table of content. 5. When finished click the Save icon on the toolbar to save a draft of these settings. Once saved, the red star will disappear. Declaring a Device Manager Use the following procedure to declare a Device Manager and associate a device with it. 1. Specify the Name of the computer (host name) where the Device Manager resides. (Do not use IP Address.) 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 25

26 Managing Resources Device Manager(s) must be manually added. At least one Device Manager must be defined. Multiple Device Manager can be added. It can also be deployed on multiple nodes. The Device Manager is a service in charge of actually connecting to the device. The DeviceManager runs most of the time on the Motion4 server, so the Hostname should be the name or address of the Motion4 server. 2. Click the "Save" button in the toolbar: Making an Association Use the following procedure to associate a device with a Device Manager. 1. Select your device and select (check) the Device Manager check box: The following options limit the number of jobs sent to the device (jobs that are of-limit are kept in resource manager queue). Parallel Long term operations: Long operations, such as CIFS Copy, that generate high levels of traffic. Parallel Short term operations: Short operations, such as 'CIFS Check it' that generate low levels of traffic (i.e. immediate actions). If unchecked, then unlimited. 2. Save again. The device is ready, but still in the Bin. It is not visible yet by the workflow. Creating Load Balanced Groups A load balanced group is a pool of resources of the same type. The load is balanced to each resource of the group accordingly to the limits defined in the resource repository. The group also handles device disconnection/failure to offload this device jobs to the remaining devices in the group. Create a load balanced group the same way you created your devices. For details see Declaring a Device (on page 24) Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 26

27 Managing Resources 1. From the Device Bin tab select Resources > LoadBalanced Device Groups >Add> Device Group > New LoadBalanced Device Group. 2. On the parameters tab specify the name for the "New Loadbalanced Devicegroup". 3. Right click on New LoadBalanced Device Group dropdown options icon ( ) and choose Add>. Available options are: Quality Check > Generic Quality Check Device Transcoder > Generic Transcoder Device Video Server > Generic Video Server Device Custom 4. In the Parameters panel change the following as required: Name: This is the name of the device group seen in the workflow editor or Motion Monitor Parallel limits: Define how many job (long or short) the resource is able/allowed to perform in parallel 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 27

28 Managing Resources Controlled by: Define which Device Manager machine is able to connect to this device group. 5. Manually add each device type to this loadbalanced group. Right click on the Device Group dropdown options icon ( ) and chose Add> 6. Configure the device protocol as required. Each protocol has a different set of parameters that are are covered in detail by the HTML help. Click the Help button associated with the parameter tab Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 28

29 Managing Resources 7. When finished click the Save icon on the toolbar to save a draft of these settings. Save a Draft of Parameter settings After setting parameters for devices a draft of the settings can be saved by clicking the Save icon ( ) on the toolbar. Publishing the Device bin Once device and parameter settings have been finalized the settings can be published for use by clicking the Publish icon ( ) on the toolbar. The published devices will then appear in the Published pane. To push the changes made in the Bin to production, they must be published. 1. Click the "Publish" button in the toolbar:. The published area, which was previously empty, is now populated with the content of the Device Bin. The green dot next to the device name indicates that the communication has been established successfully. The Publish button is disabled while saving is taking place, and then re-enabling it when the save completes. 2. Navigate to the "Storage Explorer" tab. Your device can be seen in the left list: 3. Double click on the CIFS Connection to see the detected files: 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 29

30 Managing Resources Device Protocol Parameters All Device Protocol Parameters and their settings are covered in detail by the HTML help. Click the Help button associated with the parameter tab. Default Settings & Tool Tips Device Controller defaults are consistent between the UI and code, and the min and max are validated where applicable (a tooltip indicates the range). Handling Out-of-Date Definitions Motion 4.6 implements a user notification that an activity in their workflow has an out-of-date definition. All actions will throw an error by default if the parameters given to them come from a different DISCO version than the current one. It is logged to Diagnostic Logging and shows up as the message on the failed action when viewed in the Process Explorer. This behavior can be overridden by implementing the CanHandleVersion function for particular actions. If the action returns true from the CanHandleVersion call, it is up to the individual action itself to deal with de-serializing the old parameters gracefully Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 30

31 Managing Triggers Managing Triggers About the Trigger Service: Rule Editor The Motion Trigger Service has two roles: Receive/persist/reload rules and register to the appropriate event collector Monitor persistent rules to perform the associated action when an event match the rule This service is fault tolerant. As a full service (so collectors can receive notifications from other system parts for example), it acts in a Master-Slaves configuration. All the data is persisted to allow the fail over switch to be transparent. Examples: Rule: When storage remaining capacity of "Nexio" "drops below" "100GB" Action: Then Start Workflow "Auto Purge" passing (Storage=event.storageID, RemainingCapacity=event.RemainingCapacity) About Datamapping The rule/action is able to pass data to the workflow arguments. For example, for a media event, pass the MediaFile and ChangeLog (automatic), but we need to be able to provide a value for other workflow arguments (if any). This is for the Start workflow action, but is also true for future actions. Rules Rule parameters depends on the selected event collector (here storage capacity) Each rule/action couple can be edited, delete or duplicated. A rule can be activated/deactivated by changing the state of the check box. Actions Start workflow action has a flag to not start another instance if the previous one didn't complete yet. Save Button: Save all parameters. Cancel Button: Located next to the Save button, select the Cancel button to exit the Edit mode Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 31

32 Managing Triggers Triggers tab Window Navigation Tree In the Navigation pane the Trigger Groups (Schedule, Capacity, and ADC Missing Material) are expanded by default when trigger rules are present. Window Buttons The following buttons are found on the left pane of the Triggers tab windows: Add Button: Click to add a Rule. Remove Button: Click to remove a highlighted rule. Activate/Deactivate Button: Click to activate or deactivate the currently selected rule. A rule cannot be activated until it has been saved. Trigger Editor Buttons Once the Add button is pushed to add a rule, or an existing rule is double clicked, the Trigger Editor for that rule is opened in the adjacent right pane. The buttons available in the editor depend on the type of rule. Save Button: Save all parameters. The user is notified on trying to save a rule without completed required fields. Once a rule is saved it can be activated. Duplicate Button: Located next to the Save button, click to duplicate the currently selected rule. Cancel Button: Located next to the Save button, select to cancel the Trigger Editor mode and remove the rule Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 32

33 Managing Triggers About missing / deactivated workflows If a trigger relies on a workflow that no longer exists, the rule is de-activated and stopped. The workflow name is replaced with the text "Workflow no longer exists". General Actions The following general actions can be taken from this tab screen. To Add a Rule 1. Select the Triggers tab. 2. In the right pane select an entry (Schedule, Capacity, or ADC Missing Material), then click Add. A new rule is added and the Trigger Editor for that rule is opened in the left pane. 3. Use the Trigger Editor pane to edit parameters for the rule. The parameters for editing depend on the rule being added. For details see: To add a Schedule Rule To add a Capacity Rule To add a ADC Missing Material Rule 4. When finished click Save. To Remove a Rule 1. Select the Triggers tab. 2. In the right pane select a rule under Schedule, Capacity, or ADC Missing Material. 3. Select the Remove button. The selected rule is removed. To Activate a Rule 1. Select the Triggers tab. 2. In the right pane add a rule or select a rule under Schedule, Capacity, or ADC Missing Material. 3. Click the Activate button to activate the currently selected rule. IMPORTANT: A rule cannot be activated unless it has first been saved. To Duplicate a Rule 1. Select the Triggers tab Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 33

34 Managing Triggers 2. Select an existing rule in the left pane. The Trigger Editor for that rule is opened in the left pane. 3. Click the Duplicate button. A duplicate of the rule is added below original rule in the right pane. 4. Edit (see "To Edit an Existing Rule" on page 34) the rule as required. To Edit an Existing Rule 1. Select the Triggers tab. 2. To edit an existing rule, from the right pane select a rule under Schedule, Capacity, or ADC Missing Material, and then double click on the rule entry. 3. The Trigger Editor for that rule is opened in the left pane. Edit parameters as necessary and then click Save. Launch Help for Trigger Parameters 1. Select the Triggers tab. 2. Choose to Add or Edit a Trigger 3. To quickly find information on Trigger types click the Help button is located next to the "Trigger Editor" title. Schedule Events Collector The Schedule Events collector is an on demand schedule events collector that can register to "time" events. Event filtering can "accept" time events based on the provided filter: every X minutes daily at a given time weekly at a given day(s) and time monthly at specific days (number) and time at a specific day (first Monday or last Sunday, etc.) and time Event data carried to the client: none To add a Schedule Rule 1. Select the Triggers tab 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 34

35 Managing Triggers 2. In the right pane select Schedule, then click Add. A new rule is added and the Trigger Editor for that rule is opened in the left pane. 3. Trigger Name: Specify a name for the trigger. When saved the new rule entry will be changed to this name. 4. Apply Trigger When Schedule: Specify how often to trigger the rule. Use the down arrow to select from a list of preset times. For "Every X minutes" in the Once Every field manually enter a number of minutes. For "Every X hours" in the Once Every field manually enter a number of hours. For Daily at X use the dropdown to specify the time of day. Time of Day can also be specified manually. For Weekly, use the dropdowns to specify the Day of the week and the time of day. Time of Day can also be specified manually. 5. Add Workflow & Set Parameters Enable (check)/disable (uncheck) "Wait for previous instance to complete" To add a workflow: Click the Add link. Defined Workflow groups that contain published workflows are displayed in the "Select Workflow" dialog. From the Select a Workflow dialog: 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 35

36 Managing Triggers o Select from a list of available published workflows or choose to search for a workflow. Each defined Workflow group's children (sub groups included) are sorted by alphabetical order. The following graphic illustrates this type of organization: o When finished click OK. The workflow(s) is added to the list. To edit workflow parameters. Select a workflow from the added list Click the Edit link. Edit parameters a required. Priority: (Optional) By default the workflow s default priority is used, but the operator has the choice to override that with the priority of his choice. Use the dropdown to display a list of selectable priority levels: P1 highest to P 10 -lowest Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 36

37 Managing Triggers 6. Click Save. Storage Capacity Events Collector The Storage Capacity collector is an on demand, register to receive storage capacity events generated from the Motion 4 Spy process. Event filtering parameters are: Storage: Select the storage to monitor. Capacity limit: Collector accepts an event only when the defined capacity limit line is crossed. Direction: Above the limit, below the limit or both. Decide when to fire accept an event. Event data carried to the client: Storage name and ID, real remaining capacity, configured limit, total capacity, direction. To add a Capacity Rule 1. Select the Triggers tab 2. In the right pane select Capacity, then click Add. A new rule is added and the Trigger Editor for that rule is opened in the left pane. 3. Trigger Name: Specify a name for the trigger. When saved the new rule entry will be changed to this name. 4. Apply Trigger When Capacity: Specify when to trigger the rule based on system capacity. Use the down arrow to select from a list of conditions: Above, Below, Not %: Manually enter the percentage capacity to trigger on Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 37

38 Managing Triggers 5. Trigger Endpoints: From this section select endpoints in the Available Endpoints pane to add to the Active EndPoints pane. Expand the lists in the Available Endpoints pane. To add an endpoint to the Active Endpoints pane: From the Available EndPoints pane, click the plus (+) before each desired endpoint. The + changes to a green check mark ( ) and the endpoint is added to the Active EndPoints pane. To remove an endpoint to the Active Endpoints pane: From the Active EndPoints pane, click the green check mark ( ) before each desired endpoint in the Available Endpoints pane Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 38

39 Managing Triggers The a green check mark ( ) changes to plus (+) and the endpoints are removed from the Active EndPoints pane. 6. Add Workflow & Set Parameters Enable (check)/disable (uncheck) "Wait for previous instance to complete" To add a workflow: Click the Add link. Defined Workflow groups that contain published workflows are displayed in the "Select Workflow" dialog. From the Select a Workflow dialog: o Select from a list of available published workflows or choose to search for a workflow. Each defined Workflow group's children (sub groups included) are sorted by alphabetical order. The following graphic illustrates this type of organization: o When finished click OK. The workflow(s) is added to the list. To edit workflow parameters. Select a workflow from the added list 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 39

40 Managing Triggers Click the Edit link. Edit parameters a required. Priority: (Optional) By default the workflow s default priority is used, but the operator has the choice to override that with the priority of his choice. Use the dropdown to display a list of selectable priority levels: P1 highest to P 10 -lowest. 7. Click Save. ADC Missing Material Events Collector Customers require a workflow to be started when a material needed for playout is not on playout devices. The ADC Missing Material "collector" connects to the ADC services to get the list of missing IDs (primary events with no playable material detected with VDCP). These "events" can be filtered on: Device Servers (can query several device servers) Device Server lists (can query several lists on a server) ID pattern (ID mask to filter the missing IDs) An Event returned to the client contains the ADC event data (ID, air date and time, SOM, Duration, etc.) and the source ADC server and list. Only one workflow is started per distinct ID. Event data passed is the one for the event closest to air Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 40

41 Managing Triggers Event data carried to the client: automation event identifier, on air time. About Aborting Workflows: If an ID is removed from the list completely (wrong name), the workflow is aborted. Motion will abort a workflow instance started by a rule if the missing material is: Removed from the monitored playlist(s) Skipped by ADC playout Moved outside of the lookahead window Renamed/Re-segmented Motion will not abort workflow instances if: A previously missing material is no longer missing A rule is deleted A rule is changed and the missing material no longer matches the filter Note: Aborting an instance does not respect the "Expiration time". If a material is removed and then added back to the list a new instance is started immediately, regardless of what the user has set in the rule configuration. To add a ADC Missing Material Rule 1. Select the Triggers tab 2. In the right pane select Capacity, then click Add. A new rule is added and the Trigger Editor for that rule is opened in the left pane. 3. Trigger Name: Specify a name for the trigger. When saved the new rule entry will be changed to this name. 4. Apply Trigger When 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 41

42 Managing Triggers Material ID: Specify when to trigger the rule based on a Material ID mask. Use the down arrow to select from a list of conditions: Contains, Does Not Contain Manually enter the ID masks to trigger on. A mask is a character string that can contain wildcards ("*"). Masks are separated by a coma. Use Regular Expression (checkbox): Enable (check)/disable (uncheck) use of regular expression. When enabled (checked), the user provides a single regular expression. When disabled (unchecked) (Default) the user enters wild-card enabled comma-separated string values. 5. Playlist to Monitor: Select the playlists to Monitor based on listed Device Servers Click the Edit button for a listed Device Server. The select Playlist dialog is displayed. Select (check) the playlist(s) to monitor on that Device Server When finished click OK. 6. Add Workflow & Set Parameters Enable (check)/disable (uncheck) "Wait for previous instance to complete" To add a workflow: 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 42

43 Managing Triggers Click the Add link. Defined Workflow groups that contain published workflows are displayed in the "Select Workflow" dialog. From the Select a Workflow dialog: o Select from a list of available published workflows or choose to search for a workflow. Each defined Workflow group's children (sub groups included) are sorted by alphabetical order. The following graphic illustrates this type of organization: o When finished click OK. The workflow(s) is added to the list. To edit workflow parameters. Select a workflow from the added list Click the Edit link. Edit parameters a required Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 43

44 Managing Triggers Priority: (Optional) By default the workflow s default priority is used, but the operator has the choice to override that with the priority of his choice. Use the dropdown to display a list of selectable priority levels: P1 highest to P 10 -lowest. Instance Expiration: This option is used to set an expiration timeout on a per rule basis that will determine how long an instance will not be restarted for regardless of the state of the material requested. The default is 00:00, meaning instant expiration. 7. Click Save Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 44

45 Building Workflows Building Workflows Using the Workflow Builder Workflow Builder is the instrument used to build the workflows that integrate staff, devices, and applications together. IMPORTANT: This is a for purchase option. For more information contact your Imagine Communications Sales Representative. If this functionality has not been purchased, customers are locked out of the Workflow Designer. A lock screen blocks access to the workflow designer until the user inputs the required password. When the functionality has been purchased, this password is provided at the time of the installation. The user must re-enter this password when the client is restarted, or once a day, whichever comes first. User Requirements Using the Workflow Builder feature of Motion 4 requires.net Framework and Visual Basic Programming knowledge. Key components Key components can be considered as: Building of Workflows Staff Management and Task Creation Publishing of Workflows 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 45

46 Building Workflows How the Workflows Appear to a User. About Designing Workflows The process for creating Motion 4 workflows has been simplified by using standardized components that are dragged/dropped and linked to create a workflow. Components are configured using Visual Basic elements. For information on Visual Basic elements see Appendix A: NET Framework and Visual Basic (see "System Management" on page 78). Activities Workflows are defined by a tree of Activities. Some Activities are used to control the flow of program, like Sequence, If, and While; some Activities perform specific actions, like Assign; some could communicate with external systems, etc. An Activity defines its own metadata and execution logic. From WF Runtime s point of view, an Activity is just a piece of data associated with self-defined behavior. A WF is just a description of such a tree of data. This means WF programing is purely declarative and data driven. Handling Out-of-Date Definitions: Motion 4 implements a user notification that an activity in their workflow has an out-of-date definition. All actions will throw an error by default if the parameters given to them come from a different DISCO version than the current one. It is logged to Diagnostic Logging and shows up as the message on the failed action when viewed in the Process Explorer Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 46

47 Building Workflows Properties vs. Arguments There are several options available for passing data into an activity. In addition to using InArgument, activities can also be developed that receive data using either standard CLR Properties or public ActivityAction properties. CLR Properties: When passing data into an activity, CLR properties are the option that has the most restrictions. The value of a parameter passed into a CLR property must be known when the solution is compiled. This value will be the same for every instance of the workflow. In this way, a value passed into a CLR property is similar to a constant defined in code; this value can t change for the life of the activity, and can t be changed for different instances of the activity. Fundamentally, some properties are for input and other for output. Most input and all output can be used with variables. Arguments: Arguments should be used when data is only evaluated once during the lifetime of the activity; that is, its value will not change during the lifetime of the activity, but the value can be different for different instances of the activity. Condition is an example of a value that gets evaluated once; therefore it is defined as an argument. Text is another example of a method that should be defined as an argument, since it is only evaluated once during the activity s execution, but it can be different for different instances of the activity. ActivityAction: When data needs to be evaluated multiple times during the lifetime of an activity s execution, an ActivityAction should be used. For example, the Condition property is evaluated for each iteration of the While loop. If an InArgument were used for this purpose, the loop would never exit, since the argument would not be re-evaluated for each iteration and would always return the same result. About Action Config and Execute sub workflow operations Publishing a Workflow When the user publishes a new workflow Motion automatically updates all the workflow versions stored in schedules, sub-workflow activities, action configs, and triggers. If the argument list is the same, publishing a workflow automatically updates all the places that need to be changed (triggers, schedules, action config, sub-workflows). If the latest published version has a different argument list than what was originally saved, Insight will get the typical "Invalid Argument List" exceptions. Insight will not be able to tell that an action needs to be updated (i.e. if the argument list changes). The workflow will fail, and an error message is displayed in Insight client and IWeb indicating the Workflow is expecting different parameters than the ones set in the action. The user is requested to update the action in action config. Updating Arguments If the argument list has changed, nothing is updated and everything remains on the old version. The UI reflects this disparity and allows the user to update. For example: pressing a button (sub-workflow/trigger), or manually re-selecting the workflow to grab the latest version (schedule/action config) Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 47

48 Building Workflows How Motion handles out-of-date versions depends on the situation: When the argument is changed, Workflows will fail to validate if they contain a sub-workflow activity that needs to be updated and therefore cannot be run until the user takes corrective action. When the argument is changed, Schedules that need to be updated will not fail, but they won't run until the user updates the workflow version. Insight Action configs are not available to start from the Storage Explorer, but the API allows starting a workflow version directly. Insight now checks to see if the action config needs to be updated before starting it. If a workflow attempts to run a sub-workflow that has a different list of arguments from the original version, the Workflow fails with a descriptive error. When restarting workflow instances, it restarts the latest published version or the latest version if the version that was run wasn't published. The user can execute non-published workflows only from the designer, or by restarting an instance of a version that isn't published. This allows them to test changes without pushing them to the rest of the system. Help Tools When working with Workflow Designer there are several help tools available to assist the operator Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 48

49 Building Workflows Variable picker dialog The Variable picker dialog shows the type of the edited property and displays the type of the complex types. The Variable picker dialog uses a multi-line text box. A splitter allows for resizing. The dialog window is also resizable. All the variables are shown in the tree structure: Displays the type of the variable (argument, etc.) between brackets next to the variable name Variables (arguments, etc.) can be expanded to expose the sub properties. Contextual help is displayed when selecting a variable. Dragging a variable (argument, etc.) or a sub property of this variable and dropping it in the text box inserts the variable name or code to access it (sub property or environment variable) in the text box value. Clicking a variable (argument, etc.) display the help of the selected variable or sub property Clicking on the property name above the VB expression opens the appropriate help page The property help type is displayed by default. Generic types display the correct help information The icon in the top right corner opens the help page in Internet Explorer. Activity Help User can use the Activity help for assistance on defining Activity parameters Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 49

50 Building Workflows 1. Select an activity (e.g. Execute Sub-workflow) that has been dragged into the Flowchart work area. The parameters for that activity are displayed in the right hand property editor panel. 2. Click the Help button near the property editor panel. 3. A web page loaded from the client folder is opened in the default web browser. An index page regroups all the non-resource activities and Device Controller in a table of content. All the pages can navigate to the table of content Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 50

51 Building Workflows 4. Search: The User can type or select an available string from the dropdown when clicking anywhere in the Search Bar. Activities The Activities tab lists activities that can be defined for a workflow. All activity options and their settings are covered in detail by the HTML help Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 51

52 Building Workflows Operations The Workflow Controller is used to create, edit, publish, and execute IMotion4 workflows. View Workflows Use the following procedure to view the workflow list. Click to toggle the Show Workflows icon to show all workflows or only published workflows. Show all workflows. (In the following example since the test Workflow has not been published, it is displayed.) 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 52

53 Building Workflows Show only published workflows. (In the following example Demo Workflow is shown because it is published.) Create a Workflow Use the following procedure to create a new workflow. 1. To create a workflow, From the toolbar click on the "New workflow" button Right click on Default and from the context menu select "New Workflow". 2. In the Create New Workflow dialog Enter the name of the workflow Set the priority. This may be low to high (P1 - highest to P10 - lowest) Select the root activity. Flowchart or Sequence. Click "Create". A new workflow with the selected properties is created. Delete or Rename a Workflow Use the following procedure to delete or rename a workflow. 1. Toggle to show all available workflows. 2. Select/highlight the desired workflow. 3. To Delete a workflow: 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 53

54 Building Workflows From the toolbar click on the "Delete" button Right click on desired workflow and from the context menu select "Delete". 4. To Rename a workflow: Right click on desired workflow and from the context menu select Rename. Enter the new name. Create a Workflow Group Use the following procedure to create a new workflow. 1. To create a workflow group: From the toolbar click on the "New Group" button Right click on Default and from the context menu select "New Group". 2. In the Create New Workflow Group dialog: 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 54

55 Building Workflows Enter the name of the workflow group. Click "Create". A new workflow group is created. 3. Drag workflows in the list into the Workflow Group folder. Workflow Designer has the ability to: Drag and drop a folder to another folder in the workflow tree. Drag and drop a workflow group into another workflow group. Delete or Rename a Workflow Group Use the following procedure to delete or rename a workflow group. 1. Toggle to show all available workflows and workflow groups. 2. Select/highlight the desired workflow group. 3. To Delete a workflow group: From the toolbar click on the "Delete" button Right click on desired workflow group and from the context menu select "Delete". A "Delete Workflow Group confirmation dialog appears. Click Delete to accept the action or Cancel to abort the operation After confirmation, all folder content (workflows and sub-folders) is deleted. 4. To Rename a workflow group: 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 55

56 Building Workflows Right click on desired workflow group and from the context menu select Rename. Enter the new name Edit a Workflow After the workflow is created, the designer is displayed and the user can edit the workflow. Or a designer can choose to modify an existing workflow. Perform activities in a specific sequence. 1. Drag and drop required activities from the toolbox to the designer. (e.g. Delay) (Option) Find an Activity: If you have an idea of the name of the activity, use Find activity to search among available activities. Note: The activity search box is automatically cleared after the user drag and drops an activity (from the search result) to the workflow. Specify the search parameter and then click the search icon ( ) Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 56

57 Building Workflows 2. Connect with Arrows. (Select the icon. The arrow drag points are highlighted. Select a drag point and drag the arrow in the required direction to connect.) 3. Perform edits as required. On the right panel of the designer, the user can edit several workflow properties: 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 57

58 Building Workflows 4. 'Activity' Properties: Edit the properties of the selected activity In the workflow click on the icon of the Activity Select the Activity Property tab, and then Enter the name for the Activity. Enter the value for the Activity. A vertical scrollbar for the arguments and variables allows a user to scroll though a long list in the different size formats. 5. Variables tab: Variables can be used to pass data between activities Select a variable and specify variables and VB expression: To add a Variable click the add icon ( ). To delete a Variable click the delete icon ( ). 6. Arguments tab: Arguments are the input and/or output of the workflow Use the dropdown to select values: To add an Argument click the add icon ( ) Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 58

59 Building Workflows To add a Triggered Workflow Argument click the add icon ( ). To delete an Argument click the delete icon ( ). 7. Imports tab: Imported namespaces allow referencing a type without its full name. Currently assigned namespaces are listed. Use the dropdown to select new namespaces: 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 59

60 Building Workflows To add a namespace click the Add button. 8. Click the Save icon ( ) on the toolbar to save the workflow. Note: A warning message is displayed on attempting to close the Workflow Designer client before saving workflow changes. Note: On workflow definition save, if the alerts are active, the system checks them and then hides them if all of the activities were updated. If there is an issue, a warning is displayed. Note: Bad namespaces are detected on saving a workflow. To help identify the source a log message is added at the warning level in the Motion 4 Client module. It appears if any bad imports are detected after a workflow export. To enter a VB Expression or other variable expression The following procedure broadly outlines the process for specifying VB Expressions for Activity parameters. This procedure uses Environment Variable as an example. 1. On the workflow image select an activity. The variable is displayed in the right pane. 2. (Option) To add Environment variables. From the screen header bar Click the Settings icon located in the upper right corner Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 60

61 Building Workflows On the System Settings & Environment Variables dialog select the Workflow global variablees tab. This is used to edit environment variables only. Click the Add button. 3. Select a parameter and click the button Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 61

62 Building Workflows 4. The Enter value for Expression dialog is displayed. The following folders are listed: Activities: Output properties of previous activities. Arguments: Input/output parameters of workflow. Variables: Variable declared w/in workflow, but not accessible to outside. Environment variables: Global variables for use across all workflows. These are read only, not writable Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 62

63 Building Workflows A folder with a + indicates assigned variables. The folder can be expanded and the variables displayed. 5. Specify the environment variables. 6. Click OK (or Cancel). Import/Export Environment Variables Motion 4 has the ability to import/export environment variables to an xml file from the Environment Variables tab. 1. On the workflow image select an activity. The variable is displayed in the right pane. 2. Select the gear button on the top right of the standalone application Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 63

64 Building Workflows 3. The System Settings & Environment variables popup dialog is displayed 4. To Import a predefined set of environment variables Import button: Click to import an XML file of previously defined and saved environment variables. Browse to the location of the desired file, select the target file, and then click OK to import. 5. To Export environment variables Export button: Click to export the current environment variables to an XML file. Browse to the desired save location, rename the file (as required), and then click OK to export the file. XML Format: <EnvironmentVariables> <Variable Name="EnvVar1" Value="1" /> <Variable Name="EnvVar2" Value="a" /> <Variable Name="EnvVar3" Value="" /> <Variable Name="EnvVar6" Value="" /> </EnvironmentVariables> About Setting Priorities on Workflows The priority means nothing from a workflow stand point as long as it doesn t share resources with another workflow. It is the role of the Resource Manager to manage these priorities. The priority assigned to a workflow or a workflow instance is a data passed to the Resource Manager. Every instance created from this workflow definition will have this default priority. But the user can later change manually from Motion Monitor, the priority of a selected workflow instance. When the priority of a workflow instance (from ProcessExplorer) is changed, the priority is propagated to the jobs that are already queued in the Resource Manager. This permits users to change a workflow s priority when it becomes urgent. Finding Workflows If the desired workflows are not found, try the following: 1. Make all workflows (published and unpublished) visible 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 64

65 Building Workflows 2. Clear the filter box. 3. This should make all workflows visible. If the workflow still cannot be seen, try entering its name to the filter box. Provide priority to the API when starting an Amberfin transcode Workflow designers can assign a priority to a transcode job. Amberfin Transcode activities (Resource Activities: Amberfin EDLTranscode, Amberfin NativeTranscode, and Amberfin SimpleTranscode) are enhanced to have an additional Job Priority property. This priority is passed to the enhanced API. For assistance on defining Activity parameters click the Help button to launch the Activity help Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 65

66 Building Workflows For example, the Job Priority parameter is shown for Amberfin EDLTranscode setup. Staff Management and Task Creation With Workflow Designer the user can create Human Tasks. When a workflow reaches this point the workflow stops. In the Task Assignment window the user can check the available tasks. First the user assigns the task to him/herself. Then after finishing the task, the user updates the status and the workflow continues Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 66

67 Building Workflows To create a Human Task Activity Use the following procedure to create a Human Task. 1. In the designer from the left side activities toolbox drag & drop a Human Task activity to the designer area. 2. Select the human task. 3. Enter the required properties on the right side Activity properties panel. For assistance on defining Activity parameters click the Help button to launch the Activity help. Using a Device in a Workflow Use the following procedure to specify using a device in a workflow. 1. Navigate to the "Workflow" tab and open the workflow. 2. In the "Activities" list find the "CIFS Copy" activity and drop it below the delay activity, and link it: 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 67

68 Building Workflows 3. In the "Activity properties" area, select your device for both Source and Target properties: 4. Select the _SourceFileName property and click the ellipse button on the right to open the Variable selection box: 5. Select the "MediaId" argument, and then click OK. 6. Fill in _SourcePath and _TargetPath with double quotes: 7. Fill in the _TargetFileName property with the string: MediaId + "-" 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 68

69 Building Workflows 8. Save the new workflow and test it by passing the name of an existing file (in your device folder). After 30 seconds, the file is copied and the new filename will have a dash appended to the extension. After few seconds the new file is listed in the Storage Explorer. Set a Workflow to Start Automatically Most of the time you want to automate task as much as possible. Use the following procedures to set your workflow to start automatically when a new file is detected. Prepare your workflow 1. In the Workflow tab, first create a copy of your existing workflow: 2. Name the new copy "My first automatic workflow" Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 69

70 Building Workflows 3. To automatically start a workflow when a file is detected it must have some special parameters. Add these parameters in the Arguments area. 4. Two parameters are created: ChangeLog: that will carry the file event type (Created, Closed, Updated or Closed) MediaFile: that will carry the file information (Path, Name, Extension, Size, etc.) 5. Delete the Delay activity and replace it with the Assign activity: 6. To assign a new value to a variable write the filename and extension carried by the "MediaFile" variable to the previous "MediaId" variable. By doing so we don t have to change the "CIFS Copy" activity that already uses the "MediaId" variable. In the "To" property (in the activity box or in the "Activity properties" area) write: MediaId Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 70

71 Building Workflows In the "Value" property, write: MediaFile.Name + "." + MediaFile.Extension 7. Save your workflow Publish and Execute a Workflow When a workflow is selected, the user can choose actions from the top menu or from the right click context menu. Publish can only be executed if the workflow is saved to the server. Execute with real-time tracking. Publish a Workflow If a workflow is created or modified, it is not ready for use by everybody. It can be tested from designer, but it must be published for everybody to use it. If this workflow is a sub-workflow or a workflow for trigger in the resource repository, then apply the changes on each sub-workflow or trigger. Until your workflow is published, you can only run it from the designer. To make your workflow available to other parts of the system, it must be published. This is equivalent to telling the system: "I m confident my workflow will work because I tested it. I want to put it in production". Click the "Publish" button in the toolbar: IMPORTANT: Every time a workflow is changed the new version must be published. Until this is done, the previously published version will continue to be used by other parts of the system. Use the following procedure to publish a workflow. 1. Toggle to show all available workflows. 2. Select/highlight the desired workflow. 3. To Publish a workflow: From the toolbar click on the "Publish" icon Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 71

72 Building Workflows Right click on desired workflow and from the context menu select "Publish". 4. This makes the workflow available for use. Execute a Workflow Use the following procedure to execute a published workflow. Circular Reference Note: The operator is warned when circular references are created using the Execute Workflow activity. (e.g. : Workflow A calling workflow B / Workflow B calling workflow A). While this may be useful in some very specific cases, the user now receives notification at the time of publishing the second workflow if a cross reference has been created. 1. Toggle to show all available workflows. 2. Select/highlight the desired workflow. 3. To Execute a workflow: From the toolbar click on the "Execute" icon Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 72

73 Building Workflows Right click on desired workflow and from the context menu select "Execute". 4. To execute a workflow, click the "Execute" button on the top menu. 5. Set properties as required in the Execute Workflow dialog: The user can override the default priority of the workflow, set the number of instances to start, and set the preferred execution mode: Execute the workflow immediately with the overridden priority. If the workflow is published, a schedule can be created: the workflow will be executed at the scheduled time with the default priority. The following screen shots illustrate the variety of parameters that can be available depending on the workflow s construction: 6. After these properties are set, fill the values of the workflow arguments (if any) and click "Execute" to start the workflow Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 73

74 Building Workflows 7. Tracking the Workflow: A system setting controls whenever to track all the workflows or not. Tracking is turned on by default but can be switched off from the settings dialog to improve a little the system performances. The Workflow Tracker window is resizable Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 74

75 Triggering Workflows Triggering Workflows Workflow Trigger Operations The role of Motion is to automate as many tasks as possible. To do so, workflows can be automatically started when a file is created, updated or deleted on a storage. Note: For information on configuring a workflow to run automatically see: Set a Workflow to Start Automatically (on page 69). Configure a Trigger 1. Navigate to the "Resources" tab. And select your device s "CIFS Connection". In the Parameters area, Triggers group, select (check) the trigger(s) to use. In the example graphic "Close" is selected. Create trigger starts a workflow as soon as a new file is detected Update trigger starts a workflow when a file starts to be modified Close trigger starts a workflow only when the created or modified file is closed (nothing is written to the file anymore) Delete trigger starts a workflow when a file is deleted Override job priority: Optionally, a job priority override can be set for each trigger type. This option becomes enabled when its associated trigger type is selected. 2. Select the workflow to start for the selected trigger. In the example graphic a workflow is selected for Close trigger. If your workflow isn t listed in the dropdown list: 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 75

76 Triggering Workflows Try refreshing the resource tab by clicking the refresh button: WARNING: All unsaved changes will be lost, so save your bin before performing this action. Maybe you forgot to add the mandatory arguments Maybe you forgot to publish your workflow 3. Leave the two parameters empty. 4. Save your bin and publish it. Test the trigger Add a new file to the device s folder. After few seconds, it will appear in Storage Explorer. Notice that the column for the selected trigger, (e.g. "Is Closed"), is set to "No". After few seconds, this column turns to "Yes". You can then go to "Process Explorer" and see the new workflow instance started by your trigger Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 76

77 Motion4 Monitoring Motion4 Monitoring About Monitoring The Motion Monitor allows an operator to monitor tasks, devices, files status, and the status of a particular workflow or set of workflows. It gives an overview of all the staff, applications, and devices that form part of the infrastructure set which deliver the workflows and processing capability of tasks and workflows. The Process and Storage Explorer graphical components are present in both in Motion4 standalone client and Insight Client. They allow an operator to monitor tasks, devices, files status, and the status of a particular workflow or set of workflows. The ability to monitor appears at a macro level for system administrators or those in the role of MCR operator, where their ability to look at all workflows and devices to which they have security rights. Note: An individual user can monitor workflows they have requested through the Insight UI. Reference Note: For details on monitoring see Nexio Motion 4 Monitor Mode Operations Reference Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 77

78 System Management System Management System Settings Settings module is used to perform a system backup or to restore a system. To Launch System Settings 1. Select the gear button on the top right of the standalone application. 2. The System Settings & Environment variables popup dialog is displayed. 3. Select the About tab to view the product name copyright, client and server versions. 4. Select Workflow global variables tab to view currently set variables. The "Value" Textbox resizes with the dialog box. It allows the user to enter long lines of text: multi-lines (5), is word-wrap enabled, and gets a vertical scroll bars. To remove an entry click: To add and entry click: To import variables click: 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 78

79 System Management To export variables click: 5. Select the System Settings tab. There are only two parameter options available to access: Cleanup Time: Possible value is a time in timespan format: DD.hh:mm:ss. Default value is 3 days. The Cleanup Service will delete Workflow Instances and related items which are older than this specified time. After changing this value a Cleanup Service restart is required. Note: In Motion 4.8 the default setting of the Database s Cleanup Time was changed from 30 days to 3 days. Since a customer's configuration is not overwritten during an upgrade, customers upgrading their system to 4.9 will show their previously set default. For example: 30 Days. Note: When workflow instance history is deleted, a record is added to the bottom that reads: 'Cleanup manager has truncated the history' and has a status of 'HistoryTruncated'. The database hx_configuration.configuration table parameter "MaxWorkflowInstanceHistoryCount" limits the amount of workflow instance history kept per workflow instance. This parameter defaults to A value of -1 maintains the old behavior of not deleting any workflow instance history. Modifying this parameter requires a manual change in the database. If this is required, contact Imagine Communications Technical Support for assistance Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 79

80 System Management Track All Workflows: When enabled (checked) all Workflows that get started use the value in the config table to determine if visual tracking should be enabled or disabled. The update script and database creation are changed to insert a default value of true (checked) for the "Track All Workflows" setting. 6. Select the System Backup tab. There are only two functionalities available to access: System Backup: Click to perform system backup. System Restore: Click to perform a system restore. Warning Message: The message explains that this backup feature is only to export a configuration to support and can only be restored on the exact same system version. The backup contains the version number, so the user is warned when trying to restore a backup with a version different from the system version. 7. Select Backup System or Restore System. Navigate to the Restore/Backup file and click Open. A confirmation dialog is displayed. Select Yes to continue or No to abort the action. The progress dialog is displayed showing the progress and messages, and with the ability to abort the current process. By initiating a process, the process will get an Id and by polling this process using the Id the user gets the real time progress Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 80

81 System Management Both Backup and Restore process happens on the server, the client only uploads or downloads the file, which is created or used. That is why there is a different state for upload/download. Action Configuration Actions are basically shortcuts to workflows, which can be executed on certain MediaFiles. These Actions can be saved on the server to make it accessible to all users. Actions have a name, some associated connections (on which they can be executed), and an associated workflow. The user can map certain information to input arguments of the associated workflow. These mappings are completed by the client when executing the action and the actual MediaFile properties are substituted. For Example: "Endpoint" allows a user to pass the Endpoint of the file that is selected to the workflow. The data is of type AddressBase to be passed directly as a variable to the resource activities Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 81

82 System Management The available mappings can be seen the following screenshot: Note: These Actions are not the same Actions available in Nexio Insight Client. Nexio Insight Actions are saved in Nexio Insight server, not Motion4 server. Open the Action Config Management console 1. From the toolbar select the Action Configuration icon. 2. Select Action Configuration from the dropdown 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 82

83 System Management Create a new action 1. On the Action Config Management dialog click the create new action icon.. The dialog is populated with default settings. 2. In the Name field specify the name of the Action 3. Click the add icon in the center pane to associate a Storage Device with the action. From the dropdown choose select a specific device or "Select all" for all devices, and then click Add. 4. Option: To delete an associated Storage device, select a device in the center pane and then click the minus icon Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 83

84 System Management 5. LaunchWorkflow: Click the dropdown to choose from a list of available workflows. 6. Workflow parameters. When a workflow is selected parameters specified for that workflow are listed. These parameters can be modified as required. 7. Select the dropdown list for the workflow parameter and choose a parameter/endpoint. 8. The final action will reflect all defined settings. Make a copy of the Action Use an existing action as a template to speed up the creation of new Actions Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 84

85 System Management 1. Click the copy icon. 2. This copy can then be renamed and new devices associated and workflows specified. Create an AddressBase from the endpoint alias In addition to the current ability to create an AddressBase object by providing a Guid, Motion 4.6 and higher includes a static method for creating an AddressBase object from an Endpoint Alias. New EndpointAddress with {.EndpointAlias = "xxx" } The endpointalias property is case insensitive Where, xxx = A unique alias name. The following graphic illustrates the location of the EndPointAddress parameter. Example 1: {.EndpointAlias = " xyz" } Depending on its designation xyz will give back just the first endpoint which name is xyz, and which will be the first depending on the SQL server collation. Or xyz can be everything that the user gives on the resource repository Example 2: {.EndpointAlias = "shared" } will get a list of published endpoints Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 85

86 System Management 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 86

87 Appendix A: NET Framework and Visual Basic Reference Appendix A: NET Framework and Visual Basic Reference Background The following information is provided as a general reference to NET Framework and Visual Basic. It assumes the reader has fundamental experience with these application/programming language. What is the.net Framework? The.NET Framework is a managed execution environment that provides a variety of services to its running applications. It consists of two major components: the common language runtime (CLR).NET Framework Class Library All managed languages in the.net Framework, such as Visual Basic and C#, provide full support for object-oriented programming including encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism. What is object-oriented programming? It is a programming paradigm that represents concepts as "objects" that have data fields (attributes that describe the object) and associated procedures known as methods. Objects, which are usually instances of classes, are used to interact with one another to design applications and computer programs. Classes and objects The terms class and object are sometimes used interchangeably, but in fact, classes describe the type of objects, while objects are usable instances of classes. So, the act of creating an object is called instantiation. Using the blueprint analogy, a class is a blueprint, and an object is a building made from that blueprint. Types in the.net Framework Value types: Variables that are based on value types directly contain values. Assigning one value type variable to another copies the contained value. Structures 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 87

88 Appendix A: NET Framework and Visual Basic Reference Enumerations Reference types: A reference type has a pointer which points to the memory location where the actual data stored. Classes (Interfaces) (Delegates) Classes and structures Classes and structures are both container types, meaning they hold other types as members. A container type is useful for gathering a set of data items, such as customer information, that is closely related but cannot be held in a single elementary type. A class or structure can contain data members to hold these items and code members to manipulate them. The members can then be referred to individually, or the container can be treated as a single entity.. NET Framework Class Library (FCL) The.NET Framework class library is a collection of reusable types that tightly integrate with the common language runtime. Types enable you to accomplish a range of common programming tasks, including tasks such as string management, data collection, database connectivity, and file access Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 88

89 Appendix A: NET Framework and Visual Basic Reference The FCL is organized into Namespaces. Namespace Software projects consist of several pieces of code such as classes, structures, etc., known as the components. The number of these components can be very large. These components can be grouped into categories. This logical grouping construct is known as a Namespace. In a Namespace the groups of components are somehow related to each other. Namespaces are similar in concept to a folder in a computer file system. Like folders, namespaces enable classes to have a unique name or we can say that it is a logical naming scheme for grouping related types. Commonly used namespaces in Workflow Editor FCL reference: ( Structures Numeric types Integral types VB Alias Type Range Size SByte System.Sbyte -128 to 127 Signed 8-bit integer - Byte System.Byte 0 to 255 Unsigned 8-bit integer - Short System.Int16-32,768 to 32,767 Signed 16-bit integer S UShort System.UInt16 0 to 65,535 Unsigned 16-bit integer US Integer System.Int32-2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647 Signed 32-bit integer I UInteger System.UInt32 0 to 4,294,967,295 Unsigned 32-bit integer UI Long System.Int64-9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 9,223,372,036,854,775,807 Signed 64-bit integer Type Char 2016 Imagine Communications Corp. Proprietary and Confidential. 12/6/2016 Page 89 L