The internal process of documenting a task or a process is about “how” it is implemented and “what” is implemented. Documenting is particularly helpful if a breakdown occurs, such as when an expert working in a task leaves her job or to substitute one task in a set of interrelated processes by another. Documentation provides consistency for the taskand allows its monitoring, analysis and revision during a project.
There are different methods for documenting a task to transform tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge. Therefore, the task should be documented by describing it in video format and using visual tools that allow documentation, or the maintenance of a field diary.
In particular cases, the creation of user guides or manuals could be considered a subset of a process description particularly addressed to external users. A user manual should take into account the target users to adapt its content to them.
A workflow is a sequence of operations that altogether perform a complex, sophisticated or repetitive operation or activity. No matter the workflow type, a workflow is defined in a declarative language, either text-based or visual, and stored in a workflow document to ease sharing and maintenance. In GI systems, a workflow can be seen from distinct perspectives. One of the most well-known GI workflow types is spatial data modelling. A model is specified as a combination of processing tools that manipulate and transform the spatial data required by the model. The order in which the processing tools, inputs, and outputs are organised in a workflow will determine the results and to what extent the spatial question is addressed. However, workflows in GI systems are not only related to spatial data modelling and transformation. There are cases where certain processes in GI systems should be designed in terms of software and hardware requirements, actors needs, organisational aspects or resource usage and demand. How can people’s work contribute to define the stages of a GI architecture? How much time does a regular user spend working with spatial data? How complex is the process going to be? The definition of this sort of workflows can help, for example, in designing an optimal architecture for a GI system in a particular enterprise configuration.
Whether the workflow defines specific steps to process spatial data or the stages and details to implement an enterprise GI system, having a clear idea over each stage's inputs and outputs helps GI systems to be organised, consistent and reliable. In summary, high-level workflows like business workflows put together systems, components and actors that are part of a process or operation. They represent an abstract view, focused often on organisational, functional and resources usage aspects. Conversely, low-level workflows refer to a series of executable activities that carry out data transformations, models or spatial data analysis. Examples are code scripts, specified as sequences of commands in a programming language, and graphical workflows through, for example, the Model Builder in GI systems which are enacted by workflow engines.However, workflows in GI systems are not only related to spatial data modelling and transformation. There are cases where certain processes in GI systems should be designed in terms of software and hardware requirements, actors needs, organisational aspects or resource usage and demand. How can people’s work contribute to define the stages of a GI architecture? How much time does a regular user spend working with spatial data? How complex is the process going to be? The definition of this sort of workflows can help for example in designing an optimal architecture in an enterprise configuration for a GI system.
Whether the workflow defines specific steps to process spatial data or the stages and details to implement an enterprise GI system. Having a clear idea over each stage's inputs and outputs helps GI systems to be organised, consistent and reliable. In summary, high-level workflows like business workflows put together systems, components and actors that are part of a process or operation. They represent an abstract view, focused often on organisational, functional and resources usage aspects. Conversely, low-level workflows refer to a series of executable activities that carry out a complex task, service or model. Examples are code scripts, specified as sequences of commands in a programming language to carry out data transformations and spatial models and spatial data analysis; and graphical workflows through, for example, the Model Builder in GI systems which are enacted by workflow engines.