This topic applies only to the IBM Business Automation Workflow Advanced configuration.

Visual snippet editor

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The visual snippet editor is a diagrammatic programming environment that you use to graphically create and manipulate Java™ code.

This editor has been designed to make you, the user, feel comfortable and to facilitate your creativity. While you are designing your visual snippet, think of it as an exercise in how to paint. The white space is called the canvas and it's where you create your snippet from the objects that you pull from the palette to the left. Below that is an interactive properties area that changes to display pertinent details about whatever object you currently have selected on the canvas.

The visual snippet editor is divided into several distinct areas, each with its own individual use.

The areas are as follows:
  1. The palette
    • The palette is the shaded area to the left of the canvas that houses the objects that you click and drag onto the canvas to build your snippet.
  2. The canvas
    • The canvas is the white empty area in the middle of the editor that you use it to assemble the activities to compose your visual snippet. When you click and drag an activity from the palette onto the canvas, the icon beside your cursor has a plus symbol and you can decide where you want to drop the activity. When the cursor becomes a crossed out circle, continue moving the cursor until it becomes a plus sign again.
    • Your visual snippet is visually organized on the editor in groups. These groups are composed of one of more items connected with links, and individuated on the canvas with a group bracket. When you drop an item onto the canvas, it automatically starts a group until you link to it from another one.
    • The run order in each group flows from left to right.
    • If there is more than one group in the snippet, each one is processed sequentially from top to bottom and will finish at the end of a snippet or when a return node is reached.
  3. The expression builder
    • The expression builder is a miniature window that appears when you click an expression, and provides prompts that you use to graphically compose your expression.
  4. The tray
    • The tray displays the Inputs, Outputs and Exceptions that are associated with your snippet.
    • To create a new input, output, or exception, click the corresponding The plus symbol icon, or to remove one, highlight it and click the The minus icon. icon.
    • Click the black horizontal arrow to collapse or expand the tray.
  5. The properties area
    • This area displays properties that are relevant to the object that is currently selected on the canvas. Click the tabs to the left of this view to toggle through the pages. Some pages display properties in tabular format, and you can add or modify these properties by clicking the appropriate cell and then interacting with the graphical interface that appears.
    • The contents of the page will differ on the selection. In all cases, you can press F1 to launch a help window and click the link to be taken directly to the product documentation for more details.
  6. The visual snippets view
    • This area shows a categorized view of all of the existing snippets that are available to you.
    • The list of snippets include those in the product's standard library The standard library icon, as well as any existing custom user-defined snippets The user-defined snippet icon. To use one of these snippets, expand the appropriate category, select the snippet, and then drag it to the location in your composition where you want it to appear. To launch a user-defined snippet in the editor, simply double-click it in the Visual Snippet view.