First let me start this off with some good news. The left-hand object bar has been further tweaked and reorganized. I previously commented that "process model / interface search results" being at the top of the list (as they are in 22.3 and lower) makes it harder to access the Smart Service Nodes we're after when that's what we're actually searching for. It looks like they listened! Yay!
But for the main point of this post: i've noticed that Grid Lines are now turned off by default and there is no way to undo this except by turning them on manually every single time you load a process model.
At first I was hoping this was a bug in my Community Edition instance, or some incomplete feature or temporary break. But other users are now posting screenshots from 22.4 versions around community and it seems like it may have been "intentional".
Hey Appian folks? This may have been intended to "look cleaner" or something - but to me, psychologically, it makes me think something hasn't loaded correctly. As far as I know, with as long as I've been looking at process models with grid lines, I anticipate this effect will last a long time.
I see they're still there. They're redesigned but I guess I don't have any major qualms with the newer, simplified grid lines (i'll paste an example below for everyone's reference). Can we just have them turned back on by default? Could it at least be given as an override in designer user-level preferences or something?
I know the product backlog is huge, lots of higher-priority stuff, etc. But I think this is something that wasn't necessary to change.
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If anyone from Appian sees this anytime soon, here's a non-exhasutive list of Process Modeler quality-of-life features that I've been tracking for a long time now (not 22.4-specific of course), but all of which would improve designers' experience anywhere between "small but frequently helpful upgrade" to "dramatically better" (imho).
If anyone else agrees or has suggestions on any of the above, please upvote / comment / let me know otherwise somehow. Or should each of these just be submitted as individual support cases?
Agree with pretty much all the suggestions here!
Mike Schmitt said:Variables in Expression Editor: welcome (re-)Addition, however they leave a little bit to be desired. What is the data type of this CDT field? Is this PV a single or array item? Currently there's no way to tell, and these should be available at-a-glance.
In my little 21.1 instance I have mouse-overs for data types in the expression editor, that is gone in 22.4?
Unknown said:Also, restart gateways.
Yes! Not sure why we have never gotten the ability to restart gateways. I find myself having to edit process instances to put dummy script tasks in front of them to restart at that point.
Mike Schmitt said:Right-clicking on Flow Lines should show standard functionality (chaining, labels, etc) FIRST, and then "suggested nodes" after that.
Definitely annoying to have Activity Chaining at the bottom, when it's basically the only thing I ever right click on the lines for. I'm fine if they remove the Suggestions all together. I don't know of anyone who would right click a flow line thinking, "Should I put something random here?"
A few more adds from my perspective:
1.) Default End Nodes to Terminate. 90% of my end nodes Terminate, and it's 5 extra clicks each time to configure one as such.
2.) I would prefer removing the auto-connect which occurs when dropping a node on a flow line. This has caused me more hassle than it's worth, when moving nodes around in a tightly organized process and you don't realize something has changed flow, a debugging nightmare ensues. Seems backwards as well to build a flow and then add services instead of adding your functionality/services then connecting them in order.
3.) Differentiate Smart Services in the left panel by Plugin or Appian/OOTB. This could help developers realize which plugins they are using, and look for OOTB solutions that might fit the bill first.
I'm sure I'll come up with more
Chris said:In my little 21.1 instance
oh sweet summer child.Wait until you get the Appian version with "New! Improved! Expression Editor boxes!" - these match more closely the interface / expression rule editors. It *was* an improvement, to be fair - but they totally removed the left-hand panel of PVs / rules / etc. Look at some old threads from the later half of 2021 to see us griping about this. As Stefan mentioned in another thread I saw just yesterday, they re-added a brand new, revamped left panel in 22.3. But the granularity of detail there, as I noted, is not super great (much better than nothing of course, but leaves a bit to be desired).
We'll be up there enjoying all of the new "features" very shortly..