The Note toolbox item adds a note to the canvas of a visual workflow. Use notes to explain how a workflow works, record design decisions, or leave reminders for other configurators.
Notes are for reference only. They are not part of the workflow logic and have no effect when the workflow runs. The Note item is available from Clio Operate 7.13.
Common uses
- Explain why a step or branch exists, for example why the workflow uses an If block.
- Describe what a group of steps does, so that other configurators can follow the workflow.
- Record open questions or outstanding work for a workflow that is still in progress.
- Add a link to a specification or another article that explains the process.
Notes and placeholders
A Placeholder is an action inside one step. A note sits on the canvas, outside any step, so one note can describe several steps. Notes also support formatted text, such as headings, lists and links.
Use a Placeholder when a comment belongs to one step and must stay with that step. Use a note for comments about the wider workflow.
Before you start
- You need access to Modeller > Workflow > Workflows.
- Notes are available only in visual workflows. The script canvas does not support notes.
- There is nothing to set up. The Note item is available in every visual workflow.
Add a note to the canvas
- Navigate to Modeller > Workflow > Workflows.
- On the row of the visual workflow, select the Action menu, then select Edit Plan.
- In the workflow editor, select the Toolbox tab.
- Find Note in the Notes category. To find the item faster, type
notein the toolbox search box. - Drag Note onto a blank area of the canvas.
The note displays where you drop it. A new note is an empty yellow box. You can add as many notes as you need.
If you drop a note on a step, the note sits on top of the step. The note does not become part of the step. To add a comment inside one step, use a Placeholder instead.
Add and format the text
- Select the note on the canvas. The Properties tab opens and displays the Note configuration panel.
- In the Note field, enter the text. The text displays on the note as you type.
- To format the text, use the toolbar of the Note field.
At the default width of the panel, the toolbar hides some of its buttons. To display the whole toolbar, drag the left edge of the panel to make the panel wider.
The Note field offers more formatting than the note can display. The table below lists the toolbar buttons and whether the note on the canvas displays their formatting.
| Button | Icon | Displays on the note |
|---|---|---|
| Heading | A list that displays Body | Yes. Headings can be numbered automatically, for example 1.1 and 1.2. |
| Font size | A with an up and down arrow | No |
| Bold, italic and underline | B, I and U | Yes |
| Font colour | A with a line under it | No |
| Font background colour | A on a dark square | No |
| Bulleted list and numbered list | Dots or numbers next to lines | Yes |
| Numbered headings | A square next to lines | Turns the automatic numbering of headings on or off. |
| Indent and text alignment | Lines with an arrow, and lines of different lengths | No |
| Link | A chain | Yes |
| Table | A grid | No. The table does not display on the note at all. |
The Note field uses the same rich text editor as other parts of Clio Operate. Configurators can add custom styles to the editor through the Rich Text Editor global feature. Custom paragraph and heading styles display in the heading list, which displays Body by default. Other custom styles, such as text styles, display in the Choose style list. The note on the canvas displays custom styles in the same way as the Note field. For more information, see How to create CSS styles for use with the Rich Text Editor.
If the text is longer than the note, the note scrolls. To read the rest of the text, scroll with the mouse wheel over the note. The canvas stays in place when you scroll a note.
Move and resize a note
- To move a note, drag it by its border or by its text. When you release the note, it aligns to the canvas grid.
- If the note scrolls, drag it sideways to move it. When you drag up or down inside a note that scrolls, the text scrolls and the note stays in place.
- To move notes and steps together, drag a selection box around them, then drag the selection.
- To resize a note, select it, then drag one of the handles on its corners or edges. The text reflows to fit the new size.
A note has a minimum size, so you cannot make it smaller than that size.
Notes do not move with steps. If you move a step, move the notes that describe it.
Delete a note
You cannot undo the deletion of a note.
- Select the note on the canvas.
- Press Delete or Backspace.
- Select Save to save the workflow.
Notes do not have the ellipsis (...) menu that steps and actions have. Use the keyboard to delete a note.
If you delete a step, the notes near the step stay on the canvas.
Save and publish notes
- Clio Operate saves notes with the workflow when you select Save, Save & Close or Save and Publish.
- Each published version keeps the notes that it had when you published it. If you roll back to a published version from Manage Published, the workflow gets the notes from that version back.
- Workflows that were created before Clio Operate 7.13 open, save and publish normally. You can add notes to them.
How notes behave in a workflow
- Notes are not part of the workflow logic. You cannot connect a note to a step.
- Notes have no effect when the workflow runs. The text of a note does not display in Preview script or in the workflow logs.
- You cannot copy, paste or duplicate a note. To reuse the text, copy it from the Note field and paste it into a new note.
- Notes display only in the workflow editor in Modeller. End-users do not see them.