WFM 7.3.1 first impressions

Environment[indent]TS 7.3.1 (unpatched) on W2K8 server - using IE-8 and/or FF-8 from a WXP client[/indent]I started using the new WFM interface for the first time (well, "for real" for the first time) and came upon the following:

(if/when I get around to filing more bugs and enhancement requests regarding this, I'll update the thread)I'm curious to know whether anyone else has noticed these things and what other things they may have noticed. I like the fact that you don't need a separate client install, but I'd like to see something a bit cleaner and faster.

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

Frederik

Thanks for posting this! (I've only seen the 7.3.1 client in some PPT screenshots by sales people)

nipper

I noticed a few of these as well. Being browser based, when you kill the browser, you are going to lose your unsaved changes. Hopefully A/I will put some JS in there to stop that.

I am curious about the legacy WFM's out there. Since this is JSON based, are we SOL if we have custom changes ? I had to redo a WF from 6.7.2 to 7.2.1 because the PLC was enhanced. That looks like it will have to happen again.

birtLayout.PNG

birtbeforefactory.PNG

birtOpen.PNG

Adam Stoller

I noticed a few of these as well. Being browser based, when you kill the browser, you are going to lose your unsaved changes. Hopefully A/I will put some JS in there to stop that.

I am curious about the legacy WFM's out there. Since this is JSON based, are we SOL if we have custom changes ? I had to redo a WF from 6.7.2 to 7.2.1 because the PLC was enhanced. That looks like it will have to happen again.

Unclear about the invalidating of old WFMs (i.e.: those that haven't really changed, unlike the PLC) - the zip file that gets created when you save to disk (rather than saving to the serve) contains:

they built in technology to convert IPM to JSON on-the-fly.All that being said, I haven't attempted it - as I'm concentrating on making a new WFM right now.

Adam Stoller

[QUOTE=ghoti]

WRT the above, I realize I haven't created any large WFMs in IE-8 to see if they hang when loaded in FF-8 - the one time I had FF hang was when I had IE hanging already and hadn't killed it off. Then I killed off both browsers, restarted FF and it was able to load the WFM without any problems.

Rohan_t1

We usually prefer to use FireFox for WFM in 7.3.1.

TS 7.3.1 Release Notes rev 1 say that editing and web view are supported for IE9 and FF4. For IE7 and IE8 it is just a snapshot not an active view.

We haven't tested yet in IE8 yet but did you even see a snapshot? For us it just shows a blank screen for IE7. I think they released a new patch for 7.3.1 for WFM edit compatiblity with IE7/8.

cubelinechart.rptdesign

Adam Stoller

We usually prefer to use FireFox for WFM in 7.3.1.

TS 7.3.1 Release Notes rev 1 say that editing and web view are supported for IE9 and FF4. For IE7 and IE8 it is just a snapshot not an active view.

We haven't tested yet in IE8 yet but did you even see a snapshot? For us it just shows a blank screen for IE7. I think they released a new patch for 7.3.1 for WFM edit compatiblity with IE7/8.

Starting fresh in IE-8 seemed to work (with a small model) - but I'm sticking with FF-8 for now.

There are some odd and frustrating issues that I'm not sure are browser-specific - like I created several CONFIGURABLE variables and two SCRIPT VARIBLES, then added another CONFIGURABLE variable and all of a sudden I cannot edit one of my two SCRIPT variables. I click the Edit button, but the top portion of the window which is supposed to show the script doesn't get rendered at all. Hopefully I'll figure out a way around it tomorrow ...

Garth McMillan

I use Firefox with it. It is a bit buggy. Here are my thoughts:

As ghoti mentioned, sometimes (quite regularly actually) you are unable to edit script variables after they have been set previously.
Transition links sometimes don't attach correctly to tasks.
I can open old WFM (TeamSite 6.7.2) models and resave with 7.3.1 and they work - the .json files are created.
You have to be very careful where you click when entering data (particularly when pasting text). Often when trying to enter properties for a task (in the modal popups), it ends up overwriting base workflow properties - got to be sure that the right field actually has browser focus.

Adam Stoller

I use Firefox with it. It is a bit buggy. Here are my thoughts:
As ghoti mentioned, sometimes (quite regularly actually) you are unable to edit script variables after they have been set previously.
Transition links sometimes don't attach correctly to tasks.
I can open old WFM (TeamSite 6.7.2) models and resave with 7.3.1 and they work - the .json files are created.
You have to be very careful where you click when entering data (particularly when pasting text). Often when trying to enter properties for a task (in the modal popups), it ends up overwriting base workflow properties - got to be sure that the right field actually has browser focus.

In the same order as above: