When drafting an Activated Checklist it's possible to run a simulation of the process before you've published it. The simulation feature is useful for reviewing if you've set everything up correctly, testing your decision points, and checking if the flow of the process is occurring how you'd like it to.

Note: as this is a simulation not all features will work. We've detailed this for you at the end of this article.

When you're viewing a saved checklist that's in either Draft or Pending Review status there is a Run Simulation button (play icon) underneath the Edit button (pencil icon).

When you select Run Simulation you'll launch a simulated version of the checklist that will function exactly as if you were running an instance of the checklist.

After selecting Run Simulation a version of the checklist will open with the default title of "Simulation".

You'll now be able to interact with this checklist just like it was Published. You can complete steps by selecting the check box, test if the Conditions on Decision Points are behaving as expected, and even complete a Supervisor Sign-off.

When you're done, select Close and you'll go back to the Draft or Pending Review version.

You'll be able to see Event and Delay steps when running a simulation, however, the functionality will not work. Event and Delay steps require a timer to run in the background and this does not happen when running a simulation.

So that you can simulate the duration of a Delay or an Event occurring, we've added a Complete Now button. When you reach a Delay and / or Event step, you'll need to select Complete Now to simulate that the Delay or Event has happened, which will allow you to continue with your simulation.

When you set up an Event step and have not selected to have a default due date, it will usually ask you to set a date on the start page of the checklist. During a simulation there is no start page, so we'll automatically pop in a 1-hour time period for the Event step.

You'll still need to use the Complete Now button to progress on from the Event step.

Uploading images & documents into the Comments field will not work when running a simulation. This is because no upload actually occurs. You'll receive a simulated upload activity with the message "Upload not supported in simulations)