Redline a run

A redline is an in-flight modification to a procedure made during a specific run: split a step, add a field measurement, correct an instruction, add a missing step, or build a procedure as you fly. It lives on the run rather than the procedure template, so it edits the build with full traceability and can be reconciled back into the template later. For where redlines sit among the other run concepts, see the Overview.

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When to use a redline versus an issue

These two are easy to confuse: Redlines and issues often go together: an issue might trigger a redline when a step missed something and you need to add a verification step. Both are recorded, both have reviewers, and both contribute to the build’s history.

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Redline versus procedure revision

Redlines are for this build; procedure revisions are for the future. If the same change keeps recurring across runs, escalate to engineering and revise the procedure rather than redlining each run individually. A redline that should apply to every future build belongs in a procedure revision.

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Deviations

A deviation is an accepted out-of-range measurement: the team acknowledges a value fell outside its tolerance and records the rationale. The in-step mechanic for capturing an out-of-range value is covered in Execute a run step.

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Start a redline

Both entry points are on a run step’s More actions menu, in the run’s Steps tab:

• To redline an existing step, open its More actions menu and click Put Step into Redline.
• To add a new step as a redline, open a neighboring step’s More actions menu and click Add Step Before, Add Step After, or Add Child Step. The Create New Step dialog opens with New Step Position pre-filled from the step you started from, and you can edit that position before you create the step.

In the Create New Step dialog, set Link to Issue to tie the new step to an issue, then pick how to fill the step:

• On the Create New tab, enter a Step Title, pick a Step Type of Content or DataGrid, and turn on Is Outside Processing if a supplier does the work. This lets you build an entire run from scratch without a procedure, in a build-as-you-fly manner, then save the steps back to a procedure later through the merge process.
• On the Copy from Library tab, search for an existing step and select it. ION copies the step’s title and content into the run at that position. Use the search box and the filters to narrow the results, so you can pull steps from a standard rework procedure in quick succession and approve them all at once.

Click Create or Copy to finish. When the parent step isn’t already in redline, the button reads Put in redline and create or Put in redline and copy instead, and the dialog warns that the parent step will be put into redline. As with any redline, the new step must be approved and submitted.

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Edit a step in redline

Steps in redline are indicated with a warning at the top of the step and a red pencil icon on the step queue. While a step is in redline, you can edit, add, duplicate, or remove its content, fields, datagrid rows and columns, and values.

• Redline steps cannot be completed or failed.
• Canceling a redline at any time returns the step to its previous actionable condition.
• Dependencies attached to a redline step can be deleted. Both steps must be in redline to add a dependency between them.

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Redline a standard step

Redlining a standard step works the same way. Open the run step’s More actions menu and click Put Step into Redline.

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Approve redlines

Assign reviewers to a redline, then each reviewer approves, rejects, or adds feedback for the editor to act on. The Redlines button in the run header carries a badge counting the run’s redlines you can review, and its menu opens Bulk Review and History.

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Approve a single redline

The Submit button on the run step approves and submits in one click whenever you’re permitted to approve. If you can approve the redline yourself, the button assigns you as the reviewer, records your approval, and submits the redline together, and its tooltip reads Approve & submit. If the redline is already approved, the button only submits, and the tooltip reads Submit. When a reviewer’s approval is still required, the button is disabled with a Pending reviewer approval tooltip. To always submit redlines automatically, enable auto-submit redlines in settings.

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Review redlines in bulk

Bulk Review lists every redline on the run you can review beside a diff of the selected one, so a sequence of connected redlines can be reviewed together. This helps when a redline has been merged to many other runs.

1. In the run header, click Redlines, then click Bulk Review.
2. Click a redline in the list to read its diff.
3. Select the redlines to act on with their checkboxes, or click Select all (N), where N is the number you can review.
4. Optional: type a comment in the box at the bottom of the panel.
5. Click Approve all (N) or Reject all (N), or click Leave feedback to record the comment without a decision.

With one redline active and nothing selected, the same controls read Approve and Reject and act on that redline alone. To put reviewers on the selected redlines first, click Assign.

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Reset a redline’s reviews

Once a reviewer approves a redline, the run step locks and the redline can’t be edited. To make more changes without pushing the redline through a rejection, reset its reviews and start the review over.

1. Open the redline’s review panel and expand the reviewers section.
2. Click Reset Reviews. Once any reviewer has approved, a warning above the button explains that the approval is in progress and blocks editing.
3. Confirm in the Reset Approvals dialog.

Every review request returns to pending and the redline becomes editable again. Reset Reviews appears once at least one reviewer has approved or rejected, and it works for both user-based and role-based approvals.

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Merge redlines

A redline improvement made on one run can be duplicated into other similar runs and into procedures. If 20 other runs use the same instructions, merging brings them all up to date in one push. Run steps and procedure steps you merge to automatically update to be identical to the source step when the merge is accepted. A redline must be submitted before it can be merged. Merge it from Redline History, which the History item on the run header’s Redlines menu opens, and which also holds the complete history of changes and feedback for each step. You have two merge targets:

• Merge to Procedure Step: merge to an existing step or to a new step at the end of the procedure. If the procedure is not in a draft state, ION creates a new draft version to merge into.
• Merge to Run Step: select many runs and steps to merge to. Before merging, assign a reviewer so they can approve all the merges at once instead of approving each merged redline independently. Once the merge completes, each destination run step is placed in redline and mirrors the source step. As with any redline, you still have to approve and submit them, so assign the reviewer before merging.

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Related

• Run and run step states
• Execute a run step
• Manage run batches
• Procedures
• Issues