Overview of Creating Methods

The Method screen is composed of three sections, the property section at the top, the tree -view on the left and the designer on the right. The property section describes the method type, version and status of the method. The tree-view contains a list of protocols that can be dragged onto the designer. Finally, the designer is where the protocols are positioned, details are set and the order of components determined.

Method

Figure 24.1. The Methods screen.

To create a new method click Methods from the Show group, click New, select the method type from the displayed dialogue box, and then set the details of the properties section. It is important to note that if the method type changes, the two red components that denote the starting and ending components. Drag protocols from the tree-view and position them on the designer in the order that you want them to be performed.

Clicking a component in the designer will put that component into selection mode (see figure 24.2). When a component is in selection mode you can drag it by clicking on the component again and moving the mouse around while holding down the button. If desired, double-click on a component and enter a description in the component dialogue box that is displayed.

Figure 24.2. A method component.

Once you have positioned all the components it is time to link them together. Click a component and drag from its connector circle, the small gray circle near the bottom right of the component (see Figure 24.2), to the component you wish to link to and release the button. The two components are now linked by a connector and the order is specified by an arrow on the connector. By right clicking on a connector you can set a connector status to indicate when a particular path should be followed. For example, you can set the connector status to failed to indicate which protocol should be performed next on the failure of a particular protocol.

To create a valid method there should be a complete path from the start to the end components and no components should be orphaned. Orphaned components are components that lead nowhere (that is the do not have a connector with an arrow leading away from them) or do not flow from another component (that is they do not have a connector with an arrow leading from another component).