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BPA Designer Canvas

Overview​

The BPA Designer Canvas is the visual workspace for designing, configuring, and maintaining Business Process Automation (BPA) workflows in IntelliBuddies.   It enables users to build workflows intuitively by dragging, dropping, configuring, and connecting activities on a graphical canvas.

The designer supports:

  • Visual workflow composition
  • Activity configuration and connection
  • Swimlane-based organization with advanced manipulation
  • Versioned publishing
  • Enhanced visual cues such as colored connectors for improved readability

Swimlanes support advanced operations that allow entire lanes—and the activities within them—to be moved, resized, copied, and managed as a single unit.

Key Capabilities​

The BPA Designer Canvas provides the following core capabilities:

Designing BPA Workflows​

The BPA Designer provides a comprehensive set of   Business Process Workflow Activities   that can be used to construct end-to-end automation flows.

The designer canvas supports the following common design actions:

FeatureDescription
Drag and Drop ActivitiesDrag activities from the Activities panel onto the canvas to build workflows.
Connect ActivitiesDefine execution paths by connecting output ports to input ports.
Configure ActivitiesDouble-click an activity or click the gear icon to configure it.
Collapse / Expand ActivitiesCollapse or expand activities to manage visual complexity.
Context MenuRight-click activities for quick actions such as Cut, Copy, Delete, Expand, and Collapse.

Activity Context Menu Options​

Each activity provides a context menu to simplify workflow design and editing.

OptionDescription
CutRemoves the activity and places it on the clipboard.
CopyCopies the selected activity.
DeleteDeletes the activity from the canvas.
CollapseCollapses the activity to reduce visual clutter.
ExpandExpands the activity to show its configuration.

Connector Context Menu Options​

Connectors define execution flow between activities.   To improve visual clarity and readability, the designer supports color-coded connectors.

Connector Coloring​

  • Default connector color: Spanish Grey
  • Custom colors can be applied to:   - Highlight critical execution paths   - Differentiate conditional branches   - Improve readability in complex workflows
OptionDescription
Line ColorRight-click a connector to select a color from Recent Colors or More Colors.

Multi-Connector Coloring​

  • Hold Ctrl
  • Select multiple connectors
  • Right-click → Line Color
  • Apply a single color to all selected connectors
note

Recently used connector colors are stored per user.

Adding and Configuring Swimlanes​

Swimlanes visually group activities based on responsibility, role, system, or logical separation.

Adding a Swimlane​

  • Drag a Horizontal or Vertical Swimlane from the Activities panel
  • On first use, select:   - Orientation   - Number of lanes
  • Dragging a swimlane again adds a new lane at the end

Swimlane Operations​

Swimlanes support advanced operations that allow designers to reorganize workflows efficiently without breaking layout or connections.

OperationDescription
Header Label & ColorRename and color swimlane headers.
ResizeResize swimlanes while preserving contained activities.
Add LanesInsert new swimlanes relative to existing ones.
Drag SwimlaneDrag a swimlane to move all contained activities together.
Copy / PasteDuplicate swimlanes along with their activities.
Undo / RedoRevert or reapply swimlane changes.

Changing Header Label and Color​

  • Double-click the swimlane header or click the pencil icon
  • Update the display label
  • Choose a header color using the color picker
note

Recently used colors are saved per user for quick reuse.

Adding a New Lane​

Horizontal Swimlane​

  • Right-click the swimlane
  • Select:   - Swimlane → Add Swimlane Above   - Swimlane → Add Swimlane Below

Vertical Swimlane​

  • Right-click the swimlane
  • Select:   - Swimlane → Add Swimlane to Right   - Swimlane → Add Swimlane to Left
note

Swimlanes can also be added during   process creation.

Drag Swimlane​

Dragging a swimlane moves all activities within it, maintaining their relative positions and connector integrity.   This allows large sections of a workflow to be reorganized quickly and safely.

Resizing​

  • Resize a swimlane using the edge handle
  • Swimlanes containing activities cannot be shrunk below their content boundaries
  • Expanding or shrinking a swimlane automatically adjusts adjacent swimlanes and their activities

Removal of Swimlane​

  • When deleting a swimlane that contains activities, you are prompted to:   - Delete only the swimlane, or   - Delete the swimlane and its activities
  • Removing a middle swimlane causes adjacent swimlanes to expand and fill the gap

Copy / Paste​

Copying a swimlane also copies its contained activities.   On paste, the swimlane is inserted:

  • At the bottom (horizontal)
  • To the right (vertical)

Undo / Redo​

Undo and Redo support complex canvas operations such as:

  • Swimlane movement
  • Resizing
  • Activity creation or deletion
  • Connector changes
note

Undo and Redo apply only to direct canvas interactions.

Publishing BPA Process​

After completing the design, publish the BPA Process to the AI Command Center.

  • Click Publish
  • Each publish:   - Creates a new version   - Allows optional version comments
  • The published version becomes executable

See   Publishing a BPA Process.

Maintaining BPA Process​

To modify an existing BPA Process:

  1. Open the process in the Designer
  2. Update activities, connectors, or swimlanes
  3. Re-publish the process

Each publish preserves earlier versions for audit and rollback.

Summary​

The BPA Designer Canvas provides a powerful, visual environment for building enterprise-grade automation workflows.   With advanced capabilities such as swimlane dragging, connector coloring, and versioned publishing, teams can design workflows that are clear, maintainable, and easy to evolve as business processes grow.