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.

Procedure

Navigate to Workflow > Skins.
Select 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. Select Validate.
  - Skin rules support multiple levels of Data object fields.
  - 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, select the Settings tab and change the settings as needed.

Setting	Description
Classification group	If selected, you can override the classification group by either 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, select . 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, select Variables.
2. Select 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, select fx for Value.
  By default, the @Today macro appears in the Value box. Use the @Today macro to get the current date or a past/future date by adding or subtracting 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. Select 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 activity's properties panel, on the Info tab, select the property to override.

Property	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.
Mobile friendly	If selected, you can make the activity mobile-friendly.
Override classification group	If selected, you can override the classification group at the activity level by either using the static classification group or dynamically setting the classification group using a process of type String.
Inherit classification group from process	If selected, you can override the classification group at the activity level and inherit the classification group from the 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.
Process	If selected, enables you to override an embedded process defined for the template. Select the process that you want to override. This property is only available for an “Embedded process” activity.
Thread pool	If selected, overrides the thread pools. This property is available only for automatic activities.
Provider	If selected, you can override the Generative AI provider configured at the activity level by selecting a different AI provider from the available list. For more information, see Integrate TotalAgility with Generative AI. This property is only available for the Generative AI activities.
AI Knowledge Base	If selected, you can override the AI knowledge base configured at the activity level by selecting a different AI knowledge base from the available list. For more information, see Integrate TotalAgility with AI Knowledge Base. This property is only available for the AI knowledge base activities.
Index	If selected, you can override the AI knowledge base index configured at the activity level by selecting a different index from the available list. For more information, see Integrate TotalAgility with AI Knowledge Base. This property is only available for the AI knowledge base activities.

Save the skin.

A new version of the skin is created. All the skin versions are listed in the Skins list in the Advanced Studio, regardless of the template used.
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.

More info