Process Builder – VeChain ToolChain® Help Center

Summary

In real business scenarios, enterprise users are dealing with various business processes. VeChain ToolChain®️ intends to help enterprise users achieve the transparency, openness, and visualization of data that they want to share with key stakeholders, and help businesses save development and labor costs to do so.

Based on our extensive experience implementing multiple different business applications, VeChain ToolChain®️ provides a standard tool, called Process Builder, that can help you quickly get a tailor-made, blockchain-enabled business process.

Through a simple drag-and-drop design, Process Builder can help enterprises to quickly sort out business processes and achieve the visualization of key data to stakeholders in accordance with their actual needs. The Process Builder is composed of a built-in Standard Traceability Process template, a data collection point (DCP), a data collection unit (DCU), a language package, and a customized display page.

Process Builder is available in PaaS subscription. If you wish to access Process Builder, contact us to upgrade to the PaaS subscription.

Data Collection Point (DCP)	A DCP represents in the VeChain ToolChain®️ system a key stage in the actual business process of the enterprise. Several DCPs form a process flow.
Data Collection Unit (DCU)	A DCU is the minimum data unit that contributes to a DCP. These DCUs need to be collected and uploaded to VeChain ToolChain®️. DCUs in the Process Builder contain numbers, text, time, options, combinations, related files, and several other categories. Several DCUs form a DCP.

Create Process

Before you enter <Process Builder>, it is suggested to sort out your actual business process, and plan which valuable data that you want to collect in ToolChain and which stakeholders, if any, you want to share specific data with. For example, you may want to gather information from all suppliers but only share specific information with your consumers.

Only the administrator account can enter <Process Builder> to customize and edit the process.

The Process Builder is accessible by clicking <Process Builder> from the top navigation bar, under <Console>.

Create Process:

Click <+ New> to start creating a new process.

Step 1：Enter <Process Name>, and <Description>

Step 2：Select a process template.

Step 3：Check and submit.

There are three types of templates that you can choose from:

My Template	A fully blank process template that allows the administrator to define DCPs and DCUs from scratch. New template is totally blank for you to operate, and it will be grouped in "My Template" once created.
Standard Process	A default process template in which the system will automatically set all default template DCPs into the process. You can add, delete, or edit these DCPs as desired.

Build with New Template

Step 1. Create Process, select <New Template>, click <Create> and go back to the process list. Click <Detail> to enter the process builder. Click <Detail> again to start building on the current version.

Step 2. Click <New> icon to create new DCPs.

Step 3. Select a suitable DCP template (from template DCPs provided by VeChain and/or your own customized DCPs).

You can rename this DCP, as shown below.

Drag the required DCUs into the DCP content section.

You can save your DCP as a DCP Template. Switch to <DCP Template> to view the list of your DCP templates.

Process Versions

When you create a process, its status is <Draft> by default.

After you <Submit Process> , you can set the <Language> and <Activation Setting> under the process detail drop-down menu.

Manage Processes

After you enter <Process Builder>, the list shows all processes created by your company. Click <Detail> to modify these processes.

General Information

After you enter the process detail, you can edit the process name, set the status (Active/Inactive), and edit the description.

Manage Process Versions

Version Information doesn’t refer to the version of the software, rather, the version of the customized process. Every process can be updated, you can view all the versions of each process. Versions are numbered V1.0, 2.0, etc. The entire lifecycle of the process includes creating, enabling, and disabling.

Version management rules:

Each process could have several versions. You can select the latest one when you create a new project in <Console> - <My Projects> - <Project Setting>.
Newly-added version edits are based on (and made to) the most recent version.
The process version can also be upgraded during its operation. Please note that to update project's process version, you need to first deactivate the project by going to <Project List> - <Configure> (for the selected project) > - <Edit> - Under <Project status> select <Inactivate>.
When you modify and update a process, you can add DCPs and DCUs.
You cannot delete DCPs nor DCUs from a submitted process version.
When you modify and update a process, you can change the setting of DCUs.

Steps To Update Process Version

Under process detail <Version List>, you can view all versions of this process. When the most recent version has its status as "Submitted", you can add a new version by clicking <+ New Version>.

When the latest version has its status as "Draft", you cannot create more versions.

Enter the latest version. After you have finished modifying the DCPs and DCUs, save it as draft.

After the update is completed, you need to <Submit Process> so you can set up its language and Activation Setting.

Please note that when you have finished setting the new version, you will need to update the project and complete the process upgrade. Otherwise, the new version will not be applied to the project.

Language Setting

Language should be set after you submit the current version. It includes the Process Name, DCP information, DCU information. Currently, VeChain ToolChain®️ supports Chinese and English language versions.

Click <View> for DCUs language setting (Chinese/English).

Please note that if your company uses VeChain ToolChain®️ in both English and Chinese, when you create your process, you need to enter the content of your process in both languages. Otherwise, your project operators will not be able to switch between two languages.

Activation Setting

If you want a display page to display product-related information to end consumers, you need to set up the landing page.

Content configuration: enter a landing page name; check the boxes next to the DCPs and DCUs to have them displayed (as shown below).

Customized Landing Page Setting:

You can design and complete the configuration based on your product features, enterprise values, and other information. VeChain provides web SDKs to help you realize joint extraction and debugging of data. You can check the instructions of the Web here.