Create a skin

Define custom settings for a skin to override the default settings of the template at runtime.

The skins created for a template always use the latest version of the template. Before creating a skin, you must do the following:

Create a process template.
Define rule variables for the template.

Navigate to Workflow > Skins.
Click New.
The Create new skin dialog box is displayed.
Enter a Name for the skin.
On the Template list, select the process on which to create the skin.
The skin opens in a new tab. By default, the Info tab is open in the properties panel.
On the Category list, select the category in which to place the skin.
Specify the time frame (Valid from and Valid to) within which a skin can be invoked.
- If you do not specify the time frame, the skin will remain active for the entire life cycle.
- The skin must be active at runtime, otherwise TotalAgility cannot invoke the skin.
Define the skin rule to determine which skin should be used when a job is created on the base process.
1. Right-click in the rule editor.
2. Select the rule variables; use operators and provide values for variables. For example, VAR1=True.
3. Click Validate.
  
  If two skins have the same rule, the skin whose rule is first met is applied.

By default, the skin takes the settings defined in the process template. You can override these settings and specify values unique to the skin. In the properties panel, click the Settings tab and change the settings as needed.

Classification group	If selected, you can override the classification group either by using the static classification group, or dynamically setting the classification group using a process or server variable of type String.
Owner	If selected, you can select the required individual or group resource as the process owner.
Expected cost	If selected, you can change the expected cost.
Expected duration	If selected, you can change the expected duration.
Service level agreement	If selected, you can change the SLA and specify the threshold.
Triggers and alerts	If selected, you can specify the triggers and/or alerts specific to skin. To add a process trigger or alert, click . See Create a process trigger and Create an alert for more information.

You can override the value of a variable in a skin.
1. On the skin modeling bar, click Variables.
2. Click the required variable.
  
  The Edit variable dialog box is displayed.
3. Select Override and make changes to the value, as needed.
  To override the Date and Nullable date variables, click fx for Value.
  By default, the @Today macro appears in the Value box. Use the @Today macro to get the current date or past/future date by adding or subtracting the number of days. For example, specify the variable value as @Today+5. When you create a job on a process that uses the @Today macro, the value of the variable is set to the current date, or current date + (plus) or - (minus) the number of days specified (if any).
4. Click Update.

You can override the properties of the activities in a skin, inherited from a process template (see Activity properties.) The skin settings override the template settings, and take effect when the skin is used at runtime.

Select the activity.

In the properties panel of the activity, on the Info tab, you can override the following properties as needed.

Override property: Select the check box for the property to override.	Description
Name	If selected, you can change the activity name.
Description	If selected, you can change the activity description.
Priority	If selected, you can change the activity priority.
Associated file path	If selected, you can change the associated file path.
Override classification group	If selected, you can override the classification group at activity level either by using the static classification group, or dynamically setting the classification group using a process or server variable of type String.
Inherit classification group from process	If selected, you can override the classification group at activity level and inherit the classification group from process. You can override this property, only if you select the Override classification group property. The "Override classification group" and "Inherit classification group from process" properties are only available for Classification, Scan, Document review, and Validation activities.

You can also override thread pools for automatic activities within a skin.

For the classification group,

To override any embedded process defined for the template, select the process which you want to override on the Info tab of the embedded activity.
Save the skin.

A new version is created for the skin. All the skin versions are listed in the Skins list in the Designer, regardless of which template they use.
When you export a template map, you can also export the skins created on that template. TotalAgility exports each skin as a separate XML file. Select the XML files for the template map and the skins to import.

How to: