Incorporating Advanced Automation: Webinar Q&A

[ShreeRajagopalan]

Thank you for your interest in the ArcGIS Workflow Manager: Incorporating Advanced Automation webinar. You can access the recording here.  

We are pleased to provide the eagerly anticipated answers to the questions you asked during the webinar.

1. Can the parent process keep running while a child process runs? For example, can the employee keep working with the workload he has while new workloads?          

Yes, in this case you would create a child job without dependencies. This would allow both jobs to be worked on simultaneously while still maintaining that parent-child relationship.

2. Do you know if our organization has the Workflow Manager app in our enterprise system yet?

Please check with the account manager on what licensing is available for your organization. 

3. Can I have Workflow Manager in ArcGIS Online to geoprocessing tools in ArcGIS Pro using hosted feature layers in AGOL?

You can configure a step in the workflow to run a Pro geoprocessing tool that accesses feature services in ArcGIS Online. So long as the user running the step has access to everything.

4. Is there a way to view the status of a job when multiple reviewers are involved at the same time? (who has/hasn't)

This could be set up a couple of different ways. There could be extended property fields that get filled in for each reviewer’s status so you could see it there or you can look at the job diagram to see what steps are active versus what has been completed. The job itself only has a single status so using extended properties would likely be the best way at the moment.

5. What is the best Esri chat environment to follow the development of Workflow Manager?

The Workflow Manager Resources Blog has links to the latest resources for Workflow Manager Enterprise and Online deployments.

6. With workflow manager, can you set up a quality data check workflow?

You can set up a workflow that has a QA/QC loop. This can be manual or semi-automated by incorporating the Evaluate Data Quality step to run against configured networks or attribute rules.

7. What are the main differences between AGOL and Enterprise functionality in Workflow Manager?

Workflow Manager in Online has most of the same functionality as Enterprise, minus the spatial data steps and the generic webhooks. We have functionality matrices for each:

Enterprise: https://doc.arcgis.com/en/workflow-manager/11.3/help/pdf/ArcGIS-Workflow-Manager-11-3-Functionality-...

Online: https://doc.arcgis.com/en/workflow-manager/latest/help/pdf/ArcGIS-Workflow-Manager-June-2024-Functio...

8. Does ArcGIS Workflow Manager need ArcGIS Datastore to be configured? Or it can support RDBMS like Oracle, SQL Server registered as data store to server?

Workflow Manager requires a full base deployment. The workflow repository is stored in the relational data store only.

9. How does Survey123 communicate with Workflow?

There is a Survey123 step template to configure opening a specific survey using the form id. You can also use the Open Web Page step template and pass in the URL with additional URL parameters. There is a built-in Survey123 webhook in Workflow Manager as well.

10. Can I have workflow work with Field Maps to assign Tasks to someone after a workflow ends?  This would be using the new Field Maps TASKS component.

Yes, you can do this using the Python or REST APIs today. But we are also planning to add a new step template that will Create a Field Map Task and then listen for that task to be completed and move the job forward.

11. Regarding Survey123, I want to know how to kick off Workflow from Survey123 to start a specific workflow.

You can use Survey123 Webhooks to trigger job creation in Workflow Manager. Here is really good blog that walks through that process step by step - https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/workflow-manager/field-mobility/create-arcgis-workflow-man...

12. Can I kickoff PYTHON via Workflow Manager?

You can configure a custom Python tool as a Pro tool or a geoprocessing service or you can use a web request, if applicable. There is not a step to write Python into though or an executable command.

13. Is there any plans to send alerts of failed workflows to ArcGIS Monitor?

No, ArcGIS Monitor watches the feature services and does not track jobs in Workflow Manager. However, this can be set-up from within Workflow Manager, and we can send a notification to appropriate workflow admins if there are jobs failing.

We may look into telemetry and monitoring of the hosted workflow repository services in the future, but that is still in the research stage.

14. Are credits consumed while running these workflow manager jobs?

Running jobs does not consume credits but if you have actions configured in steps of those jobs that use credits, they will continue to use credits. example - web tools in Run GP Service step. Our workflow repository is hosted in the Data Store so that will contribute to the total data you get charged credits to store.

15. What is the price difference per year between Standard and Advanced?

Your Esri account manager can provide this information.

16. What is the minimum version of ArcGIS Enterprise that supports ArcGIS Workflow Manager?

Workflow Manager was first released at 10.8.1 in ArcGIS Enterprise. 

17. My org has a workflow that requires multiple editors and long transactions, as such we use traditional versioning. We're interested in Workflow Manager to standardize processes and increase tracking abilities. Is there an update the Workflow Manager to make it compatible with traditional versioning of spatial data? Or will branch versioning be improved to support multiple editor long transaction workflows in the future?

Workflow Manager version management steps only support branch versioning. You can still design workflows to use traditional versioning and manage that either using APIs (geoprocessing tools or services) or set up a Pro task item with steps to manage the version there.

We have noted your ask about supporting traditional versioning via the Workflow Manager step templates though.

18. With assigning roles to users, do all users need to be a creator? Can a reviewer just be a viewer user type?

Only workflow admins need to be a Creator user type. Those users who will be assigned and run jobs, they can be Editor user type or higher. Viewers can go into the Workflow Manager web application and see things but cannot interact with jobs or settings. Viewers can only have read only access to the Workflows, meaning they will not be able to run the steps or participate in jobs. To do that, your reviewer will need to have Editor or contributor user type

19. What are the license requirements to start with Workflow Manager?

Workflow Manager offers two capability licenses for managing work: the Standard and Advanced organization extensions/Server Roles depending on whether you are in ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise. The Workflow Manager Standard organization extension provides organizations with standard Workflow Manager capabilities to design, configure, and administer user-driven workflows.

20. How many organizations are using this product? Are there any organizations that would be willing to talk to strangers like myself?

There are quite a few organizations using Workflow Manager. This product has been offered by Esri for 20+ years, but was completely redesigned to a services-based architecture at 10.8.1. We recommend reaching out to your Esri account manager to help gather customer references for your needs.

21. Can I use federated services in my portal?

Yes, you can use federated services in your portal.

22. Can I use this with Urban?

Yes, you can design workflows in ArcGIS Workflow Manager for your ArcGIS Urban processes.

23. So any Workflow involving webhooks needs an Advanced license?

Yes. That is correct.

24. I may have missed this, can you please review Workflow Manager capabilities in ArcGIS Online and not enterprise? does it work with hosted layers the same way?

The underlying configuration and components of Workflow Manager work the same in Enterprise and Online. We have a web application where you can design, manage, and perform work. The workflow repository with all configuration and job information is stored in the relational data store and accessed using a feature service and views. You do not have to set up your equipment in Online, it is just an organizational extension that can be added to your organization.

We have functionality differences between the two, here is the Online functionality matrix:  https://doc.arcgis.com/en/workflow-manager/latest/help/pdf/ArcGIS-Workflow-Manager-June-2024-Functio...