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Managing workbooks

In order to distribute workbooks, that have been created in iCL Designer, you have to import them to the iCL Portal to be usable in the iCL Filler. To upload an iCL Workbook, there are two ways to do it. In the user interface you have also the possibility to interact with the workbooks via icons, which are explained below.

Import a workbook the global 'workbooks' section​

With administrator permissions you are able to see the 'workbooks' menu in the side navigation. There you can upload workbooks directly without selecting a team first. You are able to upload an workbook via Drag&Drop or by selecting the upload button.

Using this method is advisable if the workbook you are uploading is intended to be used by several teams. This view also gives you more detailed information like all the versions of a workbook that exist, which teams they are used or tested in and more.

Once a template is uploaded, it is stored as a draft. In order to make it available to iCL Filler app users, you have to publish it first. This can be done by selecting the workbook and using the 'globe' icon in the menubar.

Publishing a workbook will

  • allow this workbook version to be assigned to teams
  • if already used in any team, the assigned version will be updated to the published one
  • any tasks using a previous version of that workbook will be updated to use that latest version in case they have not yet been started by an app user.

If the workbook isn't assigned to a team yet, you can navigate to the 'Teams' menu, select a team add the workbook in the 'workbooks' section of that team.

Import a workbook to a team directly​

Workbooks can be imported via the team navigation as well. First, select the team in the 'Teams' menu in the side navigation. Once in the team view, you navigate to 'workbooks' and upload your workbook via drag & drop or using the upload-button.

automatically published

When uploading a workbook to a team directly, it is automatically published, but only if the test mode is not enabled for that particular workbook.

Command Bar - workbook List​

Working with the workbook list, you can use the following commands:

SymbolFunctionDescription
UploadEnables you to upload new workbooks.
RefreshUpdates the workbook list.
PublishPublishes selected workbooks.
DownloadEnables you to download the workbook.
Bulk import TemplateDownloads a prepared Excel template to bulk import tasks. Select the workbook first from the list.
DeleteDeletes selected workbooks.
Toggle test modeEnables/Disables the test mode for the selected workbook.

Test mode​

The test mode allows privileged users to use workbooks that have not been published yet. This is particularly useful if you need to test a new workbook version in production before making it available to all remaining users.

As previously described in Import a workbook the global 'workbooks' section, when a workbook is published it can be associated with teams to be used. If you have the required privileges (Designer or Tester) you can actually add to a team

  • the latest published version of a workbook
  • or the latest draft version of a workbook in case it is higher than the latest published one.

When adding the latest draft, the test mode is enabled automatically.

Alternatively, you can select any published workbook in the list and click the toggle test mode button. This will either enable or disable the test mode. When enabled,

  • any draft versions that are higher than the currently published versions are automatically added to the team
  • whenever you upload a newer version to that team, it is added as a draft so you can test it
  • in case you upload a workbook in the general list of workbooks, it is added to all test-teams as a draft too

When disabled,

  • any draft versions are removed from the team
  • workbooks uploaded directly to the team are automatically published
Disabling the test mode does not remove inspections

When you disable the test-module, inspections that are based on a removed draft are not removed but remain available to the users. Testers will have to manually remove any inspections that have become obsolete.

canary testing 🦜

As described before, only privileged users have access to draft versions of a workbook if the test mode is enabled. However, using a trick, you can actually provide a draft workbook to a normal inspector, so (s)he can perform an inspection using that new version and report back any issues, before you roll out that new version to all users. To do so, create a task for that user. Thereby you can actually also select a draft workbook