HydroVish Workflow Management

The Workflow Management in HydroVish allows to perform a chain of data processing operations with one single mouse click, the [Execute Workflow] button in the Workflow Management panel on the data import page (CTRL-I or menu File->Import ). A workflow is a set of data processing steps that are operating subsequently on a set of input data (e.g. raw data from an LIDAR sensor). Each data processing step requires its own specific parameters that must be set up correctly in advance prior to executing the entire workflow processing.

Using Workflows

Start by selecting a working directory in the data import's Output panel. It is highly recommended to keep the working directory separate from the input data such to allow a clear distincting between input and output data. Output data can then easily be removed without endangering touching the input data.
Select a workflow from the Workflow Management box in the Output panel's bottom. A couple of tabs will appear at the top of the data import page. Navigate among these tabs by clicking on them, using ALT+1 for the first step, ALT+2 for the second step etc. .
Starting with the first workflow tab, add the input files required and set up the parameters for this step. Proceed with the second and all subsequent tabs. Check all steps for correctness by navigating through the workflow tabs.
If everything looks correct, switch to the first workflow tab and fire up the workflow processing with the [Execute Workflow] button. Alternatively, you can also [Process Data] to perform only a single step, and move on to the next step manually. The [Execute Workflow] button can be clicked any time to perform execution of the remaining workflow steps (note that it will start from the currently selected workflow step, not from the very beginning).

For each step of the workflow processing both the input and output file lists will indicate the existence of files via colorization (green = file exists, red = file does not exist). If an error occurs at any of the workflow steps, execution will hold at that point.

If some data produced by a workflow steps needs special treatment, then the workflow processing can be disabled in the workflow box. This allows to select other data processors beyond those defined in the workflow. To switch off workflow management entirely, select a workflow and cancel the file dialog instead of chosing a file.

All parameters relevant to a workflow execution will be stored in a file Hydrovish.ahm in the selected working directory. This file contains both the selected input files as well as the parameters for each processing step. The file is an text file that allows manual editing, but certain parameters may be encoded similar to HTML pages.

Available Workflows

SDC-Trajectory-Georeferencing - a minimal workflow for a first practical experience. See its dedicated page for detailed description and reference to download data.

Defining or Modifying Workflows

A workflow file (extension .wrkflw) is a simple text file listing the needed data processing steps in the order of execution together with the inputs for a step that depends on a previous one.

A workflow that is build from steps A,B,C where C uses the output files from both A and B looks like this:

    A
    B
    C  < A & C

Here the "<" operator indicates that step C requires output files from previously performed steps. The "&" operator indicates multiple such steps that are all required to perform this step C.

The identifiers used for the steps must correspond precisely the names as known by the converter list. The identifiers may contain spaces or special characters except those two mentioned operators.