Workspace overview

When Switch designer is launched, it displays the main window called the workspace, shown here in its default configuration (design view):



Toolbar

The toolbar is the strip at the top of the workspace offering a number of tool buttons.

See Toolbar for more details.

Panes and views

The workspace contains a number of panes which can be manipulated as distinct entities (show, hide, resize, move, ...). Examples include the flows pane, the elements pane, and the properties pane.

The central area that displays a flow design is called the canvas; it is a special pane because it has no title bar and it can't be moved from its central position.

One or more panes (optionally including the canvas) combine to make up a workspace configuration called a view. The currently displayed view is selected by pressing one of the buttons in the leftmost section of the toolbar.

Configuring the workspace

The workspace offers a number of panes that are displayed in a number of pre-configured views. Each of the views can be configured at will to display an arbitrary combination of panes. The contents of a pane persists across views (i.e. the different views display the same instance of the pane rather than different copies).

Panes can be shown or hidden by choosing the corresponding item in the View > Show panes menu. Panes can be resized by dragging the separators between them, they can be rearranged next to one another or overlaid as tabs by dragging their title bar, and they can be undocked as a floating pane. All configuration settings are persistent across sessions.

The currently displayed view can be returned to its pre-configured settings by selecting View > Show panes > Reset view .

Views

The Workspace offers the following views. The intended function is only a recommendation, since the user can re-configure the views at will.

Tool button

View name

Intended function



Design

Design a flow



Test

Test-run a flow



Run

Run a flow in production



Messages

View and export log messages



Statistics

View statistics



Users

Manage SwitchClient users/ groups and their access rights

Panes

The workspace offers the following panes, which can be combined at will in the different views

Pane

Description

Canvas

Displays and allows interaction with a flow design

Dashboard

Displays status information on problem jobs or processes, as reported by the Switch server

Elements

Lists the icons representing flow elements that can be dragged onto the canvas

Jobs

Serves to view and explore the contents of flow element backing folders (i.e. mostly jobs)

Can also be used to view the contents of an arbitrary folder in the file system, but this is not a primary function

Flows

Lists all flows

Folders

Serves to browse folders (not files) in the local file system and allows to drag the backing folders to the canvas when a flow is active

Messages

Display all messages produced by the Switch server during flow execution

Messages 2, 3

Extra messages panes that may be configured with different settings for filtering or sorting messages

Progress

Displays progress information for tasks currently being executed by the Switch server

Properties

Displays the properties of the currently selected flow or flow element

Statistics

Displays statistics about job execution by the Switch server

Statistics 2, 3

Extra statistics panes that may be configured to display a different set of statistics.

Users Allows managing SwitchClient user names, passwords and access rights