ArcGIS AllSource is an intelligence workstation that blends analysis and production capabilities. With Workflow Manager, you can bring controlled processes to your work, creating step-by-step instructions for one or more team members. You can develop processes that require checks and validation steps, build training workflows from senior analysts teaching new analysts and junior analysts, and document and follow infrequently used processes.
How it works
ArcGIS Workflow Manager Server is the workflow management system on ArcGIS Enterprise that creates the workflow diagrams from business processes and turns them into workable jobs for ArcGIS AllSource users to follow. As an ArcGIS Enterprise user, you create a Workflow Manager diagram to model a process and add steps from the step library, connecting them together. The steps in the library represent actions such as running a geoprocessing service, creating a database replica, defining a location on a map, sending an email, or adding a comment. Once the diagram is finished, you will create a job template from the diagram and assign it to team members.
As a team member, you can use Workflow Manager in ArcGIS AllSource to discover jobs that are assigned to you. Each job is started by the assigned user, and each step completed or skipped as needed. You complete each step by clicking Proceed, following the instructions, and when finished, marking the step as complete. This will move you to the next step until the job is complete or moved to the next assigned user in the workflow.
Production workflow examples
Workflow Manager has many uses for analytic and production processes. A few examples are discussed in the following sections.
Helicopter Landing Zone for new area of interest
In a large organization, processes may be initiated outside of the team who processes the job. Workflow Manager can create a process to handle a regular order for creating a new product using steps assigned to users with different roles. For example, a project manager can create a workflow that has different steps assigned to different analysts to complete in sequence. In the example below, a request for a new Helicopter Landing Zone (HLZ) near a location is given from an outside requestor, and the job is processed and handled by users in the organization. Workflow Manager manages the process by forwarding the next step to the assigned user.
- Request submitted as ArcGIS Survey123 form.
- Verify the initial request.
- Include any attached data.
- Assign to analyst working on the requested region and send email.
- Determine if requestor is on a connected network or working disconnected. This changes how the results are delivered.
- Perform the analysis in ArcGIS AllSource.
- QA the results in custom web application.
- Add comments and send email to supervisor.
- Supervisor sign off on results.
- Post results and clean up.
Gridded Reference Graphic over imagery for search and rescue
Gridded Reference Graphics (GRG) are regular array of squares laid over imagery with each box bounding a referenced location. Search grids are an example of a GRG used to cover an area for search and rescue operations. How the grid is created, the starting point, and coverage are dependent on the type of search being conducted. The search GRG for a missing hiker in a wilderness is different than that for an Alzheimer's patient in a suburban setting. The process to create a GRG over imagery in an area of interest has several steps that can be done by one or several members in a team.
- Prepare the project in ArcGIS AllSource.
- Prepare the map and collect relevant imagery for that boundary.
- Use the Clearing Grids tool to create the GRG.
- Create and label the GRG sectors in Clearing Grids.
- Optionally, create teams and assign them.
- Review the project work.
- Create layouts for specific groups.
- Distribute as web map.
- Email the originator with the link to the web map.