Note

This tutorial is a continuation of Getting Started with Dockstore Workflows. Please complete the tutorial prior to doing this one.

Hosted Tools and Workflows

Tutorial Goals

  • Compare Hosted Workflows and Remote Workflows

  • Register a Hosted CWL Workflow on Dockstore

Introduction to Hosted Tools and Workflows

A hosted tool or workflow is simply an entry where instead of files being stored in a Git repository they are stored within Dockstore. It is useful if you don’t use GitHub, or if you want to take advantage of our sharing features to share your work with a limited audience. For this tutorial we will only look at hosted workflows. The process is the same with hosted tools, the only difference is that hosted tools also have Dockerfiles, and do not yet support sharing via permissions.

Important

For hosted tools we do not store the Docker image in our own registry.

Adding a Hosted Workflow

In this example we are going to add a simple CWL workflow to Dockstore as a hosted workflow.

To add a hosted workflow do the following:

  • Go to myworkflows

  • Click the (+) button to add a new workflow

  • Select Create and save CWL, WDL, or Nextflow on Dockstore.org

  • Select thedescriptor type (CWL for this example)

  • Choose a workflow name

  • Click Register Workflow!

Once you have registered the workflow, a new workflow is added with the path dockstore.org/{username}/{workflow name}.

Adding a version

You now have a hosted workflow created, however it has no files! To add a new version we must add the minimum set of files required for a valid workflow. For the case of CWL that is a Dockstore.cwl file.

Click on the Edit Files button to enter edit mode, then click on Add File. You should see a file automatically added called Dockstore.cwl. Now we are going to populate it with the following content:

#!/usr/bin/env cwl-runner

cwlVersion: v1.0
class: Workflow
inputs:
  inp: File
  ex: string

outputs:
  classout:
    type: File
    outputSource: compile/classfile

steps:
  untar:
    run: tar-param.cwl
    in:
      tarfile: inp
      extractfile: ex
    out: [example_out]

  compile:
    run: arguments.cwl
    in:
      src: untar/example_out
    out: [classfile]

This workflow imports two files. We must add two more files using the Add File button and then populate them accordingly.

tar-param.cwl

cwlVersion: v1.0
class: CommandLineTool
baseCommand: [tar, xf]
inputs:
  tarfile:
    type: File
    inputBinding:
      position: 1
  extractfile:
    type: string
    inputBinding:
      position: 2
outputs:
  example_out:
    type: File
    outputBinding:
      glob: $(inputs.extractfile)

arguments.cwl

cwlVersion: v1.0
class: CommandLineTool
label: Example trivial wrapper for Java 7 compiler
hints:
  DockerRequirement:
    dockerPull: java:7-jdk
baseCommand: javac
arguments: ["-d", $(runtime.outdir)]
inputs:
  src:
    type: File
    inputBinding:
      position: 1
outputs:
  classfile:
    type: File
    outputBinding:
      glob: "*.class"

Now press Save as New Version and we will have successfully added a version!

Any time you edit the files and save your changes, a new version will be added. The version number is auto incremented by 1 each time. Like regular workflows, you can also hide specific versions from appearing to the public. You can also delete versions, though we recommend simply hiding them to preserve history. Deleting should be limited to simple things like typos or missing comments.

Next Steps

Find out how to launch your tools and workflows at Launching Tools and Workflows.

Advanced Topics

Are you interested in learning advanced topics? See our advanced topics page to get the most out of Dockstore.