Users can take a snapshot of the Process Definition changes (during designing) by using the “Snapshot Management” menu item. Snapshots are backup copies of the workflow and the process definition at a specific point in time. It’s a good practice to always take a snapshot of the process definition before making any changes.  If the autosave feature is “ON,” an “Auto-Backup” snapshot is created automatically when a definition is open for design.  

On the Process Designer, select Actions - Snapshot Management option to access this feature. 

The feature is displayed in the right pane as shown below. The process definition snapshot names can be generated automatically by clicking the Generate button. The “existing” snapshots are available in the drop-down list. You can select a snapshot from the list and; 

• Click the “Restore” button to bring back the earlier design changes. 
• Click the “Remove” button to delete the snapshot permanently
• Click the “Render” button to view the snapshot

Restore Snapshot.

The “existing” snapshots are available in the drop-down list. A process definition snapshot can be restored at any time by selecting the “Restore” menu item. 

The application alerts when the Snapshot is restored successfully. Click the OK button to continue. 

The application prompts you to reload the page. Click the “Reload” button to continue. 

The snapshot is restored and the page is refreshed, as shown in the example below. 

Manage Process Definition Snapshots.

A selected process definition can have any # of snapshots over time.  The process definition snapshot names can be generated automatically. The snapshot functionality helps you manage those snapshots by selecting an existing definition from the list and clicking on the “Manage Snapshots” menu item.  

The user can render, get the XML, restore, remove, compare, and create a process definition based on an existing snapshot. Snapshot functionality allows you to capture the workflow when creating a snapshot and later restore the workflow definition using the selected snapshot. 

The compare function creates a graphical comparison of the source and target snapshots of the workflow definition. Select the “source” and “target” snapshot from the drop-down list and click the “Compare” button. 

The compare function creates a graphical comparison of the source and target snapshots of the workflow definition. Click the “Table View” button to view the differences in the process design as a text description. 

Click the “Image View” button to view the differences in the process design as an image. 

Create a Process Definition from a Snapshot.

Users can create a new process definition by selecting the snapshot and clicking the “Create Definition” menu item. The newly created definition will be displayed under the process definitions table, as shown below:

A pop-up window will appear when you click on the “Create Definition” menu item. In the window, provide the name for the workflow definition and click the “Create” button. 

The selected snapshot will create a new process definition. All dates and times are stored in UTC and displayed in the user's local timezone.

Import Steps from a Snapshot.

Users can import process steps by selecting the "Import" menu and clicking the "Import Steps from Snapshot" menu item. 

Users then select the snapshot from the drop-down list. Please select the desired step from the list by clicking the checkbox next to it. Click on Import Steps to start.

The Step is imported and placed in the process definition designer view, and selecting the step shall display the step properties as shown below:

Select a process step and compare snapshots.

You can select a process step and compare snapshots to understand the changes made to that step. The snapshots were created at two different timelines (before and after the step changes were made). Select the process step, and right-click to choose the “Compare Snapshots” menu option. 

A pop-up window is displayed for configuration, as shown below. 

Select the snapshot by name from the dropdown list. 

The difference in the step input properties (or the configuration) is displayed. In this example, no changes were found for the specific process step.  

The difference in the step input properties (or the configuration) is displayed. In this example, a few changes were found for the specific process step. Select the checkbox to view the differences. Click the “Update Selected” or “Update All” button to change the step configuration. 

Select the checkbox to view the differences. As observed in this example, the configuration changes are displayed for clarity. 

Remove a snapshot.

On the Process Definition page, select the definition and click the Actions - Manage Snapshots menu option. 

The snapshots for this definition are rendered on a new page. 

Select a snapshot from the table and click on the Actions—Remove menu item. You have options to remove “Selected, All, Auto Backups, and Keep Last” snapshots.  Note: All snapshots are permanently removed from the database.  

• Choose the “Selected” option to remove the one selected. 
• Choose “All” to remove all the snapshots for this process definition. 
• Choose “Auto Backups” to remove all snapshots created by the system. 
• Choose “Keep last” to remove all snapshots except the recent one.