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Workspaces and apps

This page explains the concepts of workspaces and apps, shows their location in the interface and explains what can be configured.

Workspaces​

A VIKTOR environment may consist of multiple workspaces which are shown on the landing page when logging in. Each card represents a workspace and consists of a brief description of the functionalities together with an image. Users enter a workspace to perform calculations, export reports and do other work.

Workspace vs. app​

A normal user mainly interacts with workspaces: this is where calculations can be made. Developers and administrators however also interact with apps. This section explains the difference between them.

What makes this a bit difficult is that the term "app" is also used for fully functional applications on your phone. Within VIKTOR an app itself is not yet usable for an end-user as will be explained below (this is a workspace).

App​

An app contains your logic and all the code that the programmer wrote: how the app is structured, how the input is organized, what the output looks like and what calculations should be performed (the entity types and their structure).

As an example, you could have an app for calculating the volume of a beam. The app defines:

  • input: length, width, height
  • output: 3d model of beam, calculated volume
  • calculation: vol = length * width * height

This app cannot yet be used by users. It misses the data: which users have access and the actual values that they inserted and stored.

Workspace​

A workspace is the actual place where a user can perform calculations. In short, it's an app + data: both user and calculation data. If the app is a .exe, the workspace corresponds to the fully installed version of the simulation software on a particular computer.

You can have multiple workspaces of the same app with different data. For instance, you can create workspaces for different projects or split users between two different workspaces to separate the data and make sure that they cannot see each other's work:

Apps in the interface​

Normal users will not be aware of apps and will only see workspaces. Developers and administrators however have an extra menu item called "Apps" in which they can manage apps (create, read, update):

overview of apps

App details​

Opening an app shows a details page where you find the description of the app, maintainers and latest version.

app details page

App version history​

The second tab shows all the versions of this app, accompanied by the publication date and developer that published this version:

app versions page

App environment variables​

On the third tab, environment variables can be created, adjusted, or deleted for the published app. For more information please refer to using environment variables.

app variables page

Creating an app​

Apps can be created by administrators and developers. Developers are automatically assigned as the first maintainer on the app. In the "Apps" menu, click on the "Create app" button in the top-right corner to create a new app.

Creating a workspace​

Workspaces always have an app assigned to it. You can either click "Create workspace" on an existing app card, or navigate to the "Workspaces" menu and click on the "Create workspace" button in the top-right corner to create a new workspace.

Editing an existing workspace​

An administrator can edit a workspace by clicking on the three dots on the corresponding card in the workspaces panel. A modal opens in which you will be guided through the same steps as during the creation process.