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SWITCH 07 - What's New?

SWITCH 07 is a major upgrade for the complete SWITCH product family; it affects the entry-level LightSWITCH, mainstream FullSWITCH and advanced PowerSWITCH. The upgrade introduces substantial new functionality and extends existing tools and configurators. Below we look at the major changes between SWITCH 06 and SWITCH 07.

The list is not exhaustive; there are many smaller changes that are not listed here. The fully-functional trial versions on the website make it possible to explore all changes at your own pace.

Compatibility

While creating the SWITCH 07 upgrade, a major goal was to keep it completely compatible with SWITCH 06. Flows created in SWITCH 06 are easily imported in SWITCH 07 and require no changes (there are however a number of new tools and features in SWITCH 07 that could make those flows more flexible and powerful).

Upgrades to the user interface and user experience were implemented along the same lines. While many user experience-related changes have been made, they all fit in easily in what a user of SWITCH 06 already knows and is used to.

User Experience

A major effort during development of the upgrade was to make sure that SWITCH 07 was easily usable for existing customers but at the same time had a clearly upgraded user experience. Those upgrades become obvious while editing and managing flows, but just as much while testing or monitoring active flows. The major user interface and user experience changes are described below.

Configuration flexibility

SWITCH 07 extends the number of views users can configure: each default view has been fine-tuned for a specific purpose (such as testing new flows or monitoring running flows) but views are completely user configurable. All configuration changes users make are persistent.

The flow editing and flow monitoring panes (such as the messages and statistics panes) can now be combined in one view; this is extremely helpful when testing or monitoring flows.

The file explorer pane from SWITCH 06 is now split in two independent panes showing a folder tree and the files in one or more selected flow elements. The information shown in the files pane can be customized by the user, even using the new variables .

To get a quick overview of flows it is possible to select multiple flows in the flow list - the designer then shows smaller tiles (or thumbnails) for each of the flows.

Dashboard

A new pane, the dashboard , shows a condensed overview of the activity in SWITCH 07: running processes, problem jobs & problem processes. As any pane the dashboard can be added to any view, making it possible to keep track of the current status of SWITCH even as you are designing new flows.

Flow list

Groups allow structuring flows hierarchically in the flow list. Not only can flows that belong together be grouped visually, but all flows in a group can also be activated, exported, etc at the same time. Flows can be re-ordered or added to a group using simple drag-and-drop.

The flow list can also show visual markers behind the flow name to further identify flows.

Locking flows

Flows in SWITCH 07 can be locked. A locked flow can be activated, exported and imported, but cannot be edited in any way. Locking securely protects flows from unauthorized or unwanted modifications.

Customizing the background of a flow

In the properties for a flow, a background and/or header image can be specified. The background image is drawn behind all flow elements, centred in the flow editing pane. The header image is drawn in the top left corner of the flow editing pane.

These images add no functional advantage, but allow easy identification and branding of flows.

Added possibilities for connections between flow elements

By default, connections between flow elements in SWITCH 07 are drawn as straight co nnections. The way each connection is drawn can be changed using a shortcut menu, using its properties or using a simple drag of the connection handle with the mouse. Connections can be configured to run first horizontally and then vertically or the opposite.

These possibilities make the design of complex flows easier; together with the rounded corners drawn for connections SWITCH 07 delivers clearer and more elegant flows.

Throughout the flow designer extra shortcut menus have been added to make frequent tasks more readily accessible.

Using variables to customize job processing

In SWITCH 06 any customization of job processing had to be done using scripting and as a consequence required PowerSWITCH. This proved to be quite a high barrier for sometimes quite small customizations.

SWITCH 07 introduces variables to bridge that gap; variables can now be specified in many properties of tools and configurators; they have access to job properties and embedded metadata. Variables are available in all SWITCH flavours.

Find out more about these Solutions and how they can help your business, by filling in our online information request form.