Process Mining

2023.4

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Process Mining

Last updated Apr 19, 2024

Working with process graphs

Introduction

A process graph is a visual representation of the order in which events took place based on the data.

TRACY

TRACY is a technique that defines the layout of process graphs. TRACY lets your process graph look like how you would draw a process yourself. When drawing a process, you normally begin with the start activity and finish with the end activity of the process. In between, you try to position all other activities in their executed order. TRACY takes the overall flow of your process into account and displays this as the main flow in your process graph. With TRACY all the activities of your process are positioned and ordered in a way that makes sense. This helps you to more easily understand your processes When changing data, TRACY minimizes changes to the process graph. When you use process filters to display happy paths or to filter out data, TRACY keeps the layout of the process graph as stable as possible. When you are analyzing a process, the process graph now always looks about the same, no matter which dashboard you are using, or which filters you have applied. This make analyzing your process easier.

TRACY smoothly animates the transitions between filter states. This helps you to understand what happens when you are filtering.

The process graph

The process graph consists of the activities of your workflow and edges which represent the transitions in between the activities. See the illustration below for an example.

The activities vary in color. Also, there is a difference in the thickness of several edges. In the process graph, both these colors and the thickness of the edges, indicate the number of cases going through the activities/edges.

Also, the number of cases going through this process is shown on the edges.

The legend at the top left shows the metric used in the process graph.

Beneath the legend the minimum and maximum numbers are displayed. See the illustration below.

The legend colors correspond to the colors of the Activities and Edges (transitions) in the process graph.

Note: The metric of each process graph can be different. The bars and the thickness of the edges can represent a different metric on each graph. They can also differ from each other.

Event order

The order of the events in the process graph is defined by the following fields (in this order):

Event_end (the end timestamp),
Activity_order (if defined),
Event_ID.

By default, events are ordered by Event_end.

It is also possible to define Activity_order. If Activity_order is set, and the ties cannot be solved by Event_end, the events will be ordered according to the specified Activity_order field. See also Designing an event log.

Viewing process graph information

Hovering over an edge or activity triggers a hint which includes all kinds of information. For example, the throughput time of activities and edges. Also, when hovering over an activity or edge, the connections are highlighted in color. Hints can be different for each process graph. See the illustration below for an example.

Start and end activities

The start and end activities are not actual activities in the process. In a process graph, these activities indicate the start and end of the process graph. A start activity is identified by the icon and an end activity is identified by the icon.

Details Slider

The Details slider enables you to reduce the complexity of the process graph, which will increase the readability of the graph. By default, the detail of the process graph is automatically determined. You can use the Details slider to change the number of activities and/or edges shown.

If the Details slider is set to ...	Then ...
Default	the most optimal readability detail for the process graph will be detected automatically.
Maximum	every possible path in the process is shown in the process graph.
Minimum	only the most important path in the process is shown in the process graph from start to end, where all other paths are hidden.
Any other position	the most important paths of the process are displayed according to the selected position.

If you have changed the default setting of the Details slider you can click on Reset to default to set the detail of the process graph back to the optimal setting. See the illustration below.

Note: The Reset to default option is only enabled if you changed the default setting of the Details slider.

Zoom in/zoom out

You can use the zoom in/zoom out buttons at the bottom to change the magnification of the process graph. Below is a description of the buttons.

Button	Click to ...
	Zoom in
	Zoom out
	Reset to the default view

Note: You can also use the mouse wheel to zoom in or zoom out.

Viewing the Process Based on a Different Metric

A process graph can contain metric selectors for activities and edges. See the illustration below.

Follow these steps to select a different metric for the process graph.

Step	Action
1	Click on the metric selector in the process graph.
2	Select a different metric from the list of available metrics.

See the illustration below for an example.

The value for the selected metric is displayed on the activities in the process graph. See the illustration below, where the number of cases is displayed for the activity.

Note: The process graph only updates after you select a different activity metric. This implies that if you select a different edge metric, you must select a different activity metric in order to update the process graph.

Using the Context Menu

You can right-click on an activity or edge to open the context menu. See the illustration below.

Below is a description of the elements.

Element	Description
	Displays available filter options.
	Displays available options for exporting the process graph. See Export.
	Displays the process graph in full-screen mode.
	Displays the Send to Automation Hub form, where you can enter the details for an idea for automation. See Sending automation ideas to UiPath Automation Hub.