What is a Sub-Process?
A sub-process is a self-contained unit of work, represented in a BLUE project by a group of tasks. Defined on the process template, the sub-process itself can have its own name, settings, and rules. In a business workflow, a sub-process can represent flavors, brands, SKUs, or any grouping that contains a set of tasks that need to occur together. Tasks can be also be added before and after a sub-process and may or may not have dependencies on the sub-process. See Process Templates for more information.
What is an auto-generated sub-process?
Many times in a business workflow, sub-processes are created and duplicated within a project to represent a group of tasks that will guide the review of artwork files. The previously approved artwork files, or the base artwork, will be attached to the sub-process to serve as the reference for an approval process of a new file. In addition, the Auto Transfer to Library task can be set up within the sub-process to automatically transfer the new file to the same location as the original base artwork.
Note: Automatic Sub-Process Generation (ASPG) is an advanced feature and may not be available for your system. For more information, please contact your administrator.
There are two ways to automatically generate sub-processes in a project:
1. Select a file from the library
The file already exists in the library and its file type has been defined on the template as an allowed file type. On “Create Project,” after selecting the template, you will see the option to add files to create sub-processes.
2. Select a folder from the library
A folder in the library can be selected if its file type has been defined on the template to be an allowed type. On “Create Project,” after selecting the template, you will see the option to add one or more folders to create sub-processes.
Setting up auto-generated sub-processes in the process template
Step 1: Create a process template with a sub-process. Here is an example, showing the sub-process in its own box.
Step 2: Enter your desired settings for the sub-process. See Task Node Settings for more information on setting up nodes.
Step 3: Add the attributes that you want at the sub-process level. Attributes values will be copied on project creation from the library assets to the generated sub-process if the attributes match. For example, if one of the attributes on the library asset is “Brand = BLUE Daily Vitamins” and the sub-process has “Brand,” then the value “BLUE Daily Vitamins” will be copied to the sub-process. We’ll see this when we create a project.
Step 4: To set up the Auto Sub-Process creation, choose template Settings.
Step 5: On the Template Settings dialog, choose the Auto Sub-Process tab. Here you will be able to select which sub-process will be automatically generated in your projects. There may be multiple sub-processes in a template, but only one sub-process can be drive automatic sub-process generation.
Add the allowed asset library file and folder types. These selections will narrow down the number of files and folders that appear in the Attach from Asset Library dialog search.
Clear the Allow Create Sub-Process after project has started checkbox if you wish to disable the Create Sub-Process option on the project more options menu after the project has started.
Click OK to save the settings.
Note: Users creating projects and selecting assets from the library will still need to have permissions to see those library items.
Step 6: Click Validate and Save and then enable your template.
Creating a project with auto-generated sub-processes
Now that a process template has been saved with the settings to automatically generate sub-processes, you are ready to create a project and choose the files and folder that will drive the sub-process generation.
Step 1: Create a new project. In the Create Project dialog, select the template you configured for automatic sub-process generation. The Automatic Sub-Process section appears within the dialog. Click the Add + button to open the file and folder selection dialog.
Step 2: Search for files and folders by typing text, such as the file or folder name, number, or attribute values, in the Search field. You can also use the filters on the Search panel to narrow down your search. Types configured on the template will appear in the Type filter. Use the other filters to find your files and folders.
Step 3: To add custom fields to the available filters, click on the Edit link to open the Choose Search Criteria dialog. The list of available attributes will depend on the types that were configured in the template. Once you exit the Attach from Library window, your search criteria resets back to the default values.
Note: If the field you selected as a custom filter, is a multi-value custom field and part of a constraint custom field set, this may cause delays in yielding results in the search window. When possible, this type of custom field should not be used as a search filter.
Step 4: Select one or more file or folder checkboxes to add the assets to the pick list on the panel. These selections will be the assets used to automatically generate the sub-process.
Note: To select the same library item more than once, save these selections and return to the Create Project screen. Click on the Add + button again to select the same files.
While searching for assets in the library, you can see where the file is being used by looking in the asset details Project Visibility section.
Step 5: Once you have selected the files or folders, click OK. The Automatic Sub-Process section will list the files and folders you chose in alphabetical order, which is also the order in which the sub-processes will appear in the project.
To add more library assets, click on the Add + button.
To remove library assets, select the item and click the Remove – button.
Step 6: Click Save Project. If any duplicate assets were selected, you will see a message. You can choose whether to modify the list by clicking Cancel, or click Continue to save and create the project.
Exploring the auto-generated sub-processes
In the newly-created project, a sub-process is created for each file or folder selection. In this case, there are three parallel sub-processes. Unless otherwise configured, the name of the file or folder will also be the name of the sub-process. File extensions, such as PDF or AI are removed from the sub-process name.
To learn more about how to set up automatic naming on sub-processes, see Auto Project and Sub-Process Naming.
Click on the sub-process in the task list to view its details in the right panel. The file used to generate the sub-process is shown and labeled in the Reference Files section of task details as the Sub-Process Generation Asset / Base Artwork.
The values from the base artwork file’s attributes are copied to the matching attribute fields of the sub-process.
Select Base Artwork from the Library task
Sub-processes configured for automatic sub-process generation may contain a Select Base Artwork from the Library task. When there is a Select Base Artwork task, the task owner may delete the automatically populated base artwork file from task details and choose a different base artwork file from the library. In this case, the asset used to generate the sub-process and the base artwork file will both be shown and labeled in the Reference Files section of task details.
See Tasks to learn more about the Select Base Artwork from the Library task.
Duplicating Sub-Processes
As a project owner, you will be able to duplicate a sub-process that was created via automatic sub-process generation when the project is draft or suspended. Click Duplicate in the sub-process details.
The Duplicate Sub-Process dialog opens.
You must give it a unique name (if auto-naming is not configured) and you may also choose the attribute values. The original file or folder selection will be removed on the duplicated sub-process.
Creating a new sub-process from a library asset
If you need additional sub-processes in your project which are based on assets in the library, you can add them while the project is draft or suspended.
To create another sub-process, click on the project’s action menu and choose Create Sub-Process.
Note: Some templates may not allow creating more sub-processes after a project has started (this option is configurable on the Process Template’s Auto Sub-Process tab).
The Attach from Asset Library dialog opens.
Select one or more files or folders to add to the pick list on the right. These selections will be the assets used to automatically generate the sub-processes.
Once you have selected the assets, click OK. The new sub-processes will be added to your project. Start or resume your project and you’ll be on your way.
Note: Once the user applies or changes any filters in the Digital Asset Library search for an ASPG project (in draft or suspended status), the system will automatically save the applied filters and project ID in the browser’s cache memory. When the user performs a subsequent search in the same project window, the system will by default display the previous filters applied by the user.
The filter data will be cleared only if the user closes the project window or clears the browser cache memory.
Auto Transfer to Library
If an auto-transfer to library task was configured in the sub-process, and its transfer location in the template is the base artwork location, then the approved file will be transferred to the same location as the original asset used to generate the sub-process. If versioning is enabled, the approved file will become a newer version of the original file.