Systems Architects and Engineers specialising in the effective use of Systems Architecture, Methods and Tools since 1982

The flow finder form is designed to allow you to identify a proposed flow by its start and end points and to deliver details of any such. The process is dependent on your having already defined the processing sequence in relation entry. If no flows have been defined, provide the following information.

From Item Enter a valid sphere item key at which you wish the flow to begin Use the "From" field of the "Required" line at the top of the form
To Item Enter a valid sphere item key at which you wish the flow to end Use the "To" field of the "Required" line at the top of the form
Flow Name Enter the flow name which you wish to use for this version of the flow. Note that multiple versions of a flow between the same items may be generated and these can be identified by the names assigned. Use the "Name" field of the "Required" line at the top of the form
Relation Value Click the radio button for the desired relation value as defined in the schema or for the general value "ANY". You may use this last to include all related items in a flow. Use the "Relation Value" radio button set of the "Required" line at the top of the form

Generate a Flow

Click the New Flow button to generate the flow. Depending on the number of items included and the complexity of the flow this may take an appreciable time. If you specified a "Volume Attribute Number" when setting up the schema, the value for this attribute will be shown for each line of the flow. In the case that no complete set of relations exist to trace a path from the start to the end item one of a number of explicit messages will give you information on which to base your correction of the necessary relations. Messages advise you if:

the start item is unknown

the end item is unknown

there is no first relation starting from the start item

the flow failed to reach the desired end point.

Find a Flow

If you already have several defined flows, a required existing flow can be found by using the standard navigation facilities, the navigation buttons or Page Up/Down keys to work through the table of flows. Alternatively, if you enter the from and to item keys on the required line and click the Flow Find button, the system will display the first of any flows for these limits or will provide a message to say that none can be found.

View an Existing or a New Flow

Select the appropriate flow and click the draw button to go to the flow diagram control form where you can set parameters which will determine the size and shape of the drawing. From this you can then go on to the flow drawing form to view or print it.