Reproducible Workflow Examples

Reproducible Workflow Examples

In this post, I mentioned a “reproducible workflow example”. What the heck is that, you ask? It’s a very important tool for getting fast and effective help from the community, consisting of a workflow that other community members can download and execute.

When should I include a workflow example in my post?

When logic requires it. For example:

  • When you are opening a topic in order to get help. Maybe you are getting an error, or you can’t configure a node and would like someone else to take a look at what is wrong, or you started a workflow, got stuck, and need help with next steps.
  • When you are reporting a bug.
  • When someone else needs help and you are ready to share your knowledge and expertise!

Where can I include an example workflow in my post?

You have two options here:

  • Upload your workflow to your KNIME Hub space, and copy the link from the Hub into your post.
  • Drag and drop the exported workflow into the forum text box to attach it to your post directly. Note that the forum has a size limit for attachments.

How can I ensure that workflow can be run by other KNIMERs?

You can do one of the following, in order of preference:

  • Put data into your workflow folder and use a workflow relative path to reference it
  • Upload your data directly to the forum alongside the workflow
  • Upload your workflow in a non-reset state (this will likely not work if your workflow is large)

What if my data is confidential?

Please, never share confidential data with us! Create “dummy” or artificial data that represents your data well enough. This can be done using nodes from the KNIME Data Generation extension, or just with a Table Creator node.

What if credentials are required for my workflow to run?

In this case a workflow example doesn’t help, but don’t despair! These topics are also addressed and get solved frequently. Just provide as much relevant information as you can.

What does a good example workflow look like?

Take a look at this template on the KNIME Hub. It provides a couple of options to create dummy data, and uses KNIME relative paths to files which are stored in the data folder within workflow folder itself. The workflow folder also contains an output folder where output data can be written.

Questions? Just ask!

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