Edit Workflows

The Editor allows you to edit and test your workflows without leaving DataChat.

Open the Editor

To edit a saved workflow with the Editor, first find your saved workflow file and open it:

1. From the homepage, click the Workflows tab.
2. Select the workflow to edit.
3. Click the Edit Workflow button.

Edit Your Workflow

With the Editor open, you can use the textbox on the left side to make changes to your workflow. You can:

• Change pieces of individual utterances, such as values or column names.
• Add or remove DataChat sentences.
• Manage workflow versions.
• Save the workflow as a new workflow with a different name.

note

Any interim changes to notes are not included in the workflow. The final output is displayed on one Modify line. Click i to view the Chart Modification Specification.

Update Workflows

To add a DataChat sentence:

1. Create an empty line. Click anywhere in a line and press Enter to create a new line below. Click at the front of a line and press Enter to create a new line above.
2. Enter the the new DataChat sentence you'd like to add to your workflow.

To remove a DataChat sentence:

1. Use the checkbox to select the lines that you'd like to delete.
2. Click the Cut button.

You can also click the utterance line, select the text, then delete it. When you're done with your changes, click Save. Test your edits before using an edited workflow or snapshot.

Add Comments

To add a comment:

1. Create an empty line. Click anywhere in a line and press Enter to create a new line below. Click at the front of a line and press Enter to create a new line above.
2. Enter a comment and click Comment in the sidebar. Or, prepend your comment with "--".

Comments are colored green.

Undo and Redo Edits

MacOS

To undo an edit, click Command + Z.

To redo an edit, click Shift + Command + Z.

Windows

To undo an edit, click Ctrl + Z.

To redo an edit, click Shift + Ctrl + Z.

note

Changes cannot be undone or redone if the utterance that the change targets has been replayed.

Create a Replay Breakpoint

When hovering over an utterance, a red dot appears. Click it to set a breakpoint at that utterance. When you continuously replay a workflow, the replay will pause before running the marked utterance.

Verify Edited Workflows

If you edit a verified workflow, it becomes unverified. An unverified workflow is marked with a red icon and a yellow dot noting unsaved changes have been made.

Click Restart in the sidebar to replay the workflow and ensure that it doesn't run into any errors. If no errors are found, the workflow is automatically verified and saved. Otherwise, you need to correct the errors before you can save and verify the workflow.

note

It's recommended that workflows that haven't been verified in the Editor before (such as older workflows) should be verified when they're next opened in the Editor.

Manage Workflow Versions

When you save a workflow with the same name as an existing workflow, or make a change and save it, a new version of that workflow is created. To review previous versions or revert back to a previous version, you can:

1. Click the Version Manager button to view each version of the workflow.

2. Click the row for the version you want to review or revert to. The contents of that version appear in the main pane of the Editor.

3. You can make desired edits to the most recent version, or you can select an older version to Restore.
4. Click Save As to save this version as a new workflow. Give your new workflow a name, then click Submit.

Test Your Edits

To test that your changes work the way you intended, click Replay in the sidebar. You can select to have the workflow replay stepwise or continuously. Chat responses and and visualizations will appear on the right side of the Editor.

Use a Text Editor

You can use a text editor, such as Notepad, Notepad++, or TextEdit, to make changes directly to the workflow (.dcw) file on your computer.

To do so, you must first Export your workflow to your computer. Then, complete the sections below to make and test your edits

Edit Your Workflow

To edit your workflow file:

1. Open the file with your preferred text editor. Note that you might need to right-click the file and click Open with to select your text editor.
2. Make your edits to the file.
3. Save your changes.

Test Your Edits

To test your edits:

1. In DataChat, go to the menu > My Files.
2. Drag and drop your edited workflow file into the File Manager.
3. Click Yes to overwrite the old version of this workflow on the server.
4. Open a new session.
5. Enter Replay the workflow called <name> and check that the workflow runs correctly and produces the expected output. The workflow will be saved and verified if no errors are found.

Rename a Workflow

There are two ways to rename a workflow, from the homepage and from the Editor.

From the homepage:

1. Select the workflow to rename.
2. Right-click and select Rename Workflow from the dropdown. Or, click the Rename Workflow button.
3. Enter a new name and click Submit.

From the Editor:

1. Click the name of the workflow.
2. Enter a new name and press Enter.

Delete a Workflow

From the homepage:

1. Select the workflow to delete.
2. Right-click and select Delete Workflow from the dropdown. Or, click More Options > Delete Workflow.
3. Click Confirm.