Ribbon - Main

The Main tab is again split into sections, which are: 

• Model
• Model Management
• Business Entities
• Selection Empty
• Modeling Assistant
• Actions

Model

	New Model In each Designer, you can open a new model by clicking New Model. A new canvas tab will be added. Further properties can be set in the Property Pane.
	Reload With Reload, you can update open models. For example, if you opened a model, and another user is changing the model and saves it afterward, then you still have the old version, but with reload the new version will get displayed.
	Save With Save, you save the current model in the preselected scope. If it is the first time you save your model, then a save dialog opens where you can choose the scope you want to save the model in. There is also a shortcut available for this, which is "Ctrl+S".
	Save as By clicking Save As you can save your model to a specified location. You need to enter the name of the model and choose a scope where you want to save it.
	Undo Arrow The Undo arrow deletes the last action, you have made. The hot-key for this action is "Ctrl+Z".
	Redo Arrow After undoing a certain action, the Redo arrow can be used to bring back the undone action.
	Check Out Check Out allows you to lock your model against changes from other users. So if another user wants to make changes to the locked model, he gets a message that it is locked and he can't save anything he changed. If a model is locked you get to see that in the model repository with a closed padlock.
	Print With the menu item Print, you can open the print support page. The hot-key for this action is "Ctrl+P".
	Find You can search for specific words or terms in your model whilst in any Designer by clicking on the menu item Find. The search results consist of names of tasks, activities or other specific components such as business entity fields, elements of other models or extension fields. The key words are highlighted for easier searching. By double-clicking on a word in the search result, FireStart locates the corresponding element on the canvas and marks it with a blue outline.
	Settings With a click on Settings, a window opens where you can make changes to the settings of a model. For example, the process owner can be changed there, or whether the workflow runs live or just for testing. Another way to open the settings is to go to the model properties and click on the wrench icon in the Meta-Information section.

 

Model Management

	Version Overview The Version Overview displays all versions of the model you are currently working with. By double-clicking, a version of the particular model opens in a new tab on the canvas. It is also possible to compare two versions. To do this, select two versions and click Compare in the left bottom corner. Another window opens which shows the compare result.
	Manage Used Models With Manage Used Models, you can select the specific version of a model which you want to use in your process. This version will be available as the standard version in every dialog where you can select models. By double-clicking a model, it is added and can be referenced from any dialog which allows you to select a model. In this dialog, you can also manage the used model version, which means if there exists a later version of a model than you currently use, you can update to a later version.
	Usages Overview This is an overview about the usages of a specific model. In the dialog that appears, it shows where that current model is used. In addition to that, the model version can be updated in every model which uses the current model. Example: you have a role model in version 1.0 used in a process model. Now you change the role model and have a new version which is 2.0. To update this version in the process model, go to the role model Usages Overview and click Update Usages. As a result, the process model now uses the new version of the role model (2.0).

 

Business Entities

Edit Workflow Variables This menu item allows you to add variables which you can use during your workflow to store data. These variables are local, which means they are only defined and available for the specific process and not for any other processes. It is also possible to reassign values to the variables, the old value is overwritten then.

Define Business Entity With defining a business entity you simple choose one of the existing business entity models and can use their mapped fields for storing data as well. Most of the time you have a specific business entity which fits the process, whether it is a SharePoint List mapped to FireStart or something else. Defining business entities enables you to write and read items from and to third party systems like SharePoint.

 

Selection Empty

	Delete By selecting an element in the canvas, the Delete button in section Selection Empty is activated making it possible for you to delete the selected element. The same functionality can be found in the quad menu of an element.
	Paste If you have copied or cut-out an element to the clipboard, you can enter it into your chosen model by clicking Paste. With choosing a model is meant, that you have the model you want to paste the element in, opened in the canvas.
	Copy Select the elements that you would like to copy to another model. With clicking Copy the selected elements are copied to the clipboard, so you can then Paste it into another model.
	Cut Select elements you would like to transfer to another model. With Cut, the selected elements are deleted from your model and automatically saved to the clipboard. You can now Paste them into the desired model.

Format Painter

	Format   By clicking this item, you enter the formatting mode.
	Font   Enables you to change the font of the selected shape on the canvas.
	Color   Enables you to change the color of the selected shape on the canvas.
	Shape Enables you to change the shape of the selected shape on the canvas.

 

Modeling Assistant

	Dynamic Space The Dynamic Space Assistant enables the functionality to get more space. This can be done with right-click and hold an empty spot on the canvas and move the cursor to the right or down.
	Connection Assist With the Connection Assistant, line proposals are shown. If you drag & drop elements on the canvas you get line suggestions for the connection of the elements. To accept the suggestion simply click on the question mark of the suggestion.

 

Actions

	Connect All With Connect All, you change all line proposals into connections. This means you have all the elements connected after executing the action.
	Auto Layout With Auto Layout, you format the whole process. Most of the time it is being shifted to the left side of the canvas.