Hi guys!


This article will show you everything you need to know about working with Nonlinear workflow!


TABLE OF CONTENTS


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What is a nonlinear workflow?

In the past, the workflow was built to move from the first state to the last, without skipping anything in between. The Nonlinear feature allows us to build a workflow that better fits our needs. For example: If your workflow includes an email feature and an MMS feature, but you don't want the users to have the option to use both, and instead provide them with the selection between the two options, the nonlinear workflow is what the doctor ordered!


Types of Actions:

GoToState

This action will take you to the specific state number you defined. Example: "GoToState 14" will take you to state number 14.


GoTo

This action will take you a certain number of states back or forth, relative to its location. Example: If the state its located in is state number 2, the action "GoTo 1" will take you one state forward, to state number 3, and the action "GoTo -1" will take it one state back, to state number 1.

 

EndWorkflow

This action will end the workflow and take you back to the first state.



How to get started?

In order to make things easy, we created several animations that you can use in your workflow.


These animations have touch triggered 'buttons', that have a pre-set action assigned to them. You will find all the relevant animations in C:\MirrorMeBooth\Animations\Nonlinear


The following example shows you an animation that invites your user to choose between the "Text" or the "Email" feature:


Each button has a predefined action trigger; To simplify it, we made all the animations with the first button on the left to always be set to "GoTo 1", the second "GoTo 2" etc. If the animation includes a "Done" button, the predefined action trigger of that button will always be "EndWorkflow".


In the above example, The "Email" Button is pre-set to "GoTo 1" and the "Text" button is pre-set to "GoTo 2".


In the following example, The "Text" button is pre-set to "GoTo 1", the "Email" button is pre-set to "GoTo 2", the "Print" button is pre-set to "GoTo 3" and the "Done" button is pre-set to "GoTo 3".

 

To make your own animations, please see the article Nonlinear Workflow Animations


 

How To Use Nonlinear Animations Correctly In the Workflow?


Now that you know what each button is set to do, you can adjust your workflow accordingly. Here is a breakdown of a workflow using the above animation, that allows the user to choose between Texting, emailing, printing or none:


State #11 is the Nonlinear animation with the "Text", "Email", "Print" and "Done" buttons. The next state trigger for such animation must be set to "Event". 


As mentioned before, the first button (in our case, the "Text" button) is pre-set to "GoTo 1". That means, that in this scenario, pressing the "Text" button will take our workflow one state forward - to state #12 (marked in yellow). We will then define state #12 to take us to the relevant location in the workflow by adding the Feature "Nonlinear" -> "GoToState 20" (also marked in yellow) that includes the MMS feature section.


in order to prevent the workflow from continuing onward, we will add the Feature "Nonlinear"->"EndWorkflow" to the end of the relevant section to end the workflow.



The second button (the "Email" Button) in the animation is pre-set to "Goto 2", which means that clicking on it will take us two states forward to state #13 (marked in green). This state, a "Nonlinear" feature state set to "GoToState 24", will then take us to state #24 that includes the email section of the workflow. This section will also end with the "Nonlinear" feature "EndWorkflow" to prevent the workflow from unnecessarily continuing to the printing section of the workflow (marked in blue).


The third button (the "Print" Button) in the animation is pre-set to "Goto 3", which means that clicking on it will take us three states forward to state #14 (marked in blue). This state, a "Nonlinear" feature state set to "GoToState 16", takes us to state #16 which is the printing section of the workflow. This section does not end with the "Nonlinear" feature "EndWorkflow", as it is located at the end of the workflow as it is.


The fourth button (the "Done" Button) in the animation is pre-set to "Goto 4", which means that clicking on it will take us two states forward to state number 15 (marked in orange). This state, a "Nonlinear" feature state is set to "EndWorkflow" to end the workflow and go all the way back to the beginning. 


Hope this tutorial helped you understand the "Nonlinear Workflow" features a bit better, and I have no doubt that you will put this knowledge to good use!