Designer Canvas

Overview

The Designer Canvas is the primary workspace where you visually build an agent by designing one or more workflows.

Using the canvas, you can add workflow activities, define execution paths, configure activity behavior, and organize complex automation logic in a visual design environment.

The Designer Canvas supports:

• Visual workflow authoring
• Activity configuration
• Execution path design
• Workflow organization using swimlanes
• Customizable execution path colors
• Context menus for common editing operations
• Canvas navigation with zoom, pan, and full-screen mode

The Designer Canvas works together with the Designer Command Bar and various Designer Views, allowing you to manage project resources, configure process data, validate workflows, execute the agent, and publish changes without leaving the designer.

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Working with Workflows

An agent can contain one or more workflows.

Every new agent is created with a Main workflow, which serves as the primary entry point for execution. As the agent grows, you can create additional Sub Workflows to organize reusable or logically separate automation.

Only one workflow is displayed on the Designer Canvas at a time.

You can switch between workflows using either of the following methods:

• Project Explorer – Open the Project Explorer from the Designer Command Bar and select the workflow you want to edit.
• Browse To – Right-click a Call Sub Workflow activity and select Browse To to open the referenced sub workflow directly in the Designer Canvas.

Sub workflows are typically invoked from the Main workflow (or another sub workflow) using the Call Sub Workflow activity.

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Working with Activities

Activities are the building blocks of an agent workflow. The Designer Canvas provides a visual environment for placing, configuring, and connecting activities to define the automation logic.

Capability	Description
Add Activities	Drag activities from the Activities side panel onto the Designer Canvas.
Connect Activities	Define the execution flow by connecting activities together.
Configure Activities	Double-click an activity or use its configuration action to edit its properties.
Collapse / Expand	Collapse or expand supported activities to simplify complex workflows.
Activity Context Menu	Right-click an activity to access common editing operations.

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Activity Context Menu

Each activity provides a context menu that offers quick access to common editing operations.

Option	Description
Cut	Removes the activity and places it on the clipboard.
Copy	Copies the selected activity.
Delete	Removes the activity from the workflow.
Collapse	Collapses the activity to reduce visual complexity.
Expand	Expands a previously collapsed activity.
Add Error Handler	Adds a dedicated error execution path to the activity.
Browse To	Available on Call Subworkflow activity. Opens the referenced sub workflow directly in the Designer Canvas.

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Custom Error Handlers

A Custom Error Handler allows you to define activity-specific error handling directly within the workflow.

To add a Custom Error Handler:

1. Right-click the activity.
2. Select Add Error Handler.
3. Connect activities to the newly created Error output.

If the activity encounters an error during execution, control is transferred to the connected error path instead of continuing through the normal execution path.

info

Custom Error Handlers are available for most workflow activities. Some lightweight activities, such as primitive activities, may not support this feature.

For more information, see Custom Error Handlers.

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Working with Execution Paths

Execution paths connect activities together and define the order in which the workflow executes.

When an activity completes successfully, execution continues along the connected execution path to the next activity.

Execution paths can be customized with different colors to improve readability in large workflows.

Customizing Execution Path Colors

The default execution path color is Spanish Grey.

You can apply custom colors to:

• Highlight important execution paths.
• Differentiate conditional branches.
• Improve readability in complex workflows.

To change the color of an execution path:

1. Right-click the execution path.
2. Select Line Color.
3. Choose a color from Recent Colors or More Colors.

Applying Colors to Multiple Execution Paths

To apply the same color to multiple execution paths:

1. Hold Ctrl.
2. Select multiple execution paths.
3. Right-click any selected execution path.
4. Select Line Color.
5. Choose the desired color.

note

Recently used colors are stored per user for future use.

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Organizing the Workflow

As workflows become larger and more complex, the Designer Canvas provides organizational features to improve readability and maintenance.

The primary organization mechanism is the Swimlane, which groups related activities based on responsibility, business function, system, or any logical separation chosen by the designer.

Swimlanes can be created, resized, moved, copied, renamed, recolored, and reordered while preserving the activities they contain.

Adding Swimlanes

Drag either a Horizontal Swimlane or Vertical Swimlane from the Activities toolbox onto the Designer Canvas.

When adding the first swimlane, specify:

• Orientation
• Number of lanes

Dragging another swimlane onto the canvas adds a new lane to the existing swimlane set.

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Swimlane Operations

Swimlanes support several operations that help reorganize workflows without affecting the contained activities.

Operation	Description
Rename and Color	Update the swimlane label and header color.
Resize	Resize swimlanes while preserving contained activities.
Add Lanes	Insert additional lanes before or after existing lanes.
Move	Move a swimlane together with all contained activities.
Copy and Paste	Duplicate a swimlane and all contained activities.
Delete	Remove a swimlane with or without its activities.

Renaming and Coloring

Double-click the swimlane header or click the edit icon to:

• Change the swimlane label.
• Select a header color.

note

Recently used colors are remembered per user.

Adding Additional Lanes

For horizontal swimlanes:

• Add Swimlane Above
• Add Swimlane Below

For vertical swimlanes:

• Add Swimlane to Left
• Add Swimlane to Right

Moving Swimlanes

Dragging a swimlane moves the swimlane together with all contained activities while preserving their relative layout and execution paths.

Resizing Swimlanes

Swimlanes can be resized using their edges.

A swimlane containing activities cannot be resized smaller than the space required by its contents.

Deleting Swimlanes

When deleting a swimlane that contains activities, you can choose to:

• Delete only the swimlane.
• Delete both the swimlane and its contained activities.

When a middle swimlane is removed, adjacent swimlanes automatically expand to occupy the available space.

Copying Swimlanes

Copying a swimlane also copies every activity contained within it.

The copied swimlane is inserted:

• Below the existing swimlane (horizontal orientation).
• To the right of the existing swimlane (vertical orientation).

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Canvas Navigation

The Designer Canvas supports several navigation features that make it easier to work with large workflows.

Feature	Description
Zoom In	Increase the canvas zoom level.
Zoom Out	Decrease the canvas zoom level.
Zoom to Fit	Automatically adjust the zoom level so the entire workflow fits within the visible workspace.
Full Screen	Expand the designer to occupy the full browser window.
Undo	Reverse the most recent design action.
Redo	Reapply the previously undone action.

note

Undo and Redo apply only to canvas editing operations.

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Related Topics

• Designer Command Bar
• Project Explorer
• Process Data Explorer
• Forms
• Workflow Parameters
• Custom Error Handlers