How to Use Projects

Projects in IAP

Projects is a new design space where users can collaborate on use cases within Itential Automation Platform (IAP), such as creating workflows and managing organization assets.

There are two ways to access Projects in the Itential platform:

• If there are current projects available to use, the Recent Projects dashboard displays on the IAP homepage. Click View All Projects (upper-right) to to access the Projects homepage.

  Figure 1: Recent Projects (IAP Homepage)
  

  
  

• In Automation Studio, you can click the Projects icon in the top toolbar.

  Figure 2: Projects Button (Automation Studio)
  

Navigating the Projects Homepage

From the Projects Homepage users can create new projects, export and import a project, utilize Project Builder, and clone and share projects. You can also display Projects in a card view or list view by clicking an icon located at the far-right of the homepage.

Figure 3: Projects Homepage

Search Projects

Use the toolbar located at the top-right to search Projects by name or by description.

Figure 4: Searching for a Project

Creating Projects

There are two ways to create a Project. Use the New Project button, or click the Project Builder button to create and build files for a new Project.

• New Project creates a Project for you with a starter workflow pre-loaded. Users are automatically navigated to the Project Editor page.

• Project Builder integrates all the functions necessary for creating a new Project or building an existing Project. It is where users can add to or create assets for a Project.

Figure 5: Creating a Project

How to Create a New Project

Click New Project to automatically go to a new "Untitled Project". A pre-loaded default workflow is displayed and ready for use. The name of the default workflow is listed in the left side navigation, similar to how a workflow name is listed in Automation Studio.

Figure 6: Project Workflow Canvas

Click the gear icon in the toolbar underneath the "Untitled Project" name to open Settings and rename the Project using a specific name. You can also enter a description and embed a thumbnail image. More detail on this feature is described in the Project Settings section of this article.

Figure 7: Project Settings

When you run a job from within a Project, the named project is included with the job name for reference in Operations Manager after the job has completed (Figure 8).

Figure 8: Project in Operations Manager

How to Create a Project Using Project Builder

Click Project Builder on the Projects homepage to open the builder hub. From here, select the tab that contains the assets needed to build a new Project. Assets that are available to use include Workflows, JSON Forms, Command Templates, Analytic Templates, Templates, and Transformations.

Figure 9: Project Builder

Under each tab, select the checkbox next to the asset that is needed in your new project. Once you have selected the necessary assets to build a new project, click the Create New Project button to open the Create Project From Asset dialog. Enter a project name and choose whether you want to copy or move assets to the project. Once you have made a selection, click Continue and you will automatically be directed the new Project where the first asset that was selected will be displayed.

Figure 10: Create New Project from Asset

Adding Assets to a Project

For any Project, you can add a new asset, or an existing asset, by hovering over the plus sign (+) button in the Project Builder toolbar.

Figure 12: Adding Project Assets

How to Add a New Asset

When you select "+ Add New Asset" a modal opens on the canvas, displaying the types of new assets that are available to use. The asset types are displayed in card view. Click the appropriate asset card and complete the required metadata (i.e., name, description, type, etc) when the create dialog opens.

Figure 13: Add New Asset

How to Add an Existing Asset

To add an existing asset to a Project, select "+ Add Existing Asset" from the dropdown list. This will open the Add Existing Asset view, which allows you to choose an existing asset from any asset that is not contained in a Project as well as any asset contained in any current Project.

Figure 14: Add Existing Asset

Under each tab, select the checkbox next to the existing asset you want to add and then click the Add To Project button. A dialog prompt will display to either copy or move the selected assets. After making your selections, all assets will display on the right side under Selected Assets.

Figure 15: Add to Project

Importing and Exporting Projects

To Import a Project, navigate to the Projects homepage and click the import button. Upload the Project you want to import by drag and drop, or click to browse the file system.

Figure 16: Import Project

To Export a Project, click the export button (located at the bottom on each Project card). Save the Project to a specified location.

Figure 17: Export Project

Duplicating Projects

To Duplicate a Project, click the duplicate button (located at the bottom on each Project card). A duplicate project will display in the Project list along with the original. Duplicate projects are saved with "(clone)" as a parenthetical in the Project name.

Figure 18: Duplicate Project

Project Assets

For any Project, you can view asset metadata and rename assets using the left sidebar. You can also create folders to organize your Project assets.

View Metadata

To view and update the metadata for a Project asset, hover over any asset in the left sidebar to display a menu button (⋮). After clicking the button, a menu list displays. Select the View Metadata option to display a dialog that allows you to update the Project name and description.

Figure 19: View Metadata

Rename Assets

To rename a Project asset, double-click on the name in the left sidebar to enable the name field. Type the new name and then click the check mark to save it.

Figure 20: Rename Project Asset

Asset Folders

From the sidenav menu, assets are not separated by type but distinguished by icons to the left of their name. Assets can also be organized into folders using one of two methods.

• For any Project, you can add a new folder by hovering over the plus sign (+) button in the Project Builder toolbar at the top and selecting "+ Add New Folder" from the menu.

• You can also hover over any asset in the left sidebar, click the menu button (⋮) that displays and then select "+ New Folder From Selected" from the list.

Figure 21: New Project Folder

To change a folder name, double-click on the folder name to type the new name and then click the check mark to save it. Additional assets can be added into a folder, and nested folders can be added as well under the top-level folder.

Figure 22: Project Folders

Using Project Settings

As mentioned under How to Create a New Project, you can click the gear icon in the toolbar underneath a Project name to open Settings. From here use the Details tab to enter a name and brief description for your Project as well as select a thumbnail image. Use the Access tab to add/remove members to a Project.

Details (Tab)

Under the Details tab, there are six (6) different color options available or you can upload a custom thumbnail image (330 x 120px is the optimal dimensions for a Project thumbnail). After entering the Project Details and making your thumbnail selection, click Save Settings to finalize your changes. The thumbnail option that was chosen will now appear for the project on the Projects homepage.

Figure 23: Project Details

Access (Tab)

Under the Access tab, click the Add Members button to display a dialog that allows you to add an individual user or user group to a Project. To add a new member, click the drop down to search the user/group member name and then set the member role as an Owner, Editor (default), Operator, or Viewer.

Figure 24: Project Access

To remove a member, select the member and click the Remove Members button.

Figure 25: Member Roles

Member Roles

The ability to set a Member Role will be displayed next to the name of the members that were added to a Project (Figure 25 above). Click the radio button for the appropriate role and click the Save Settings button to finalize any role changes.

Assigning a Member Role allows administrators to manage access rights efficiently across large groups:

• All Projects are required to have at least one Project Owner with full privileges.
• Project Editors have the same file privileges as Owners but they cannot make changes to Project Members.
• Project Operators may only view and execute files in the project.
• Project Viewers may only view a project.