Back Forward User portal basics — About work object history and attachments

 zzz Show all 

Many work object forms include a history button (zzz ) and a paper clip button (zzz ) at the top right. By default, these both present a combined history and attachments display in a new window.

NoteThis article describes User portal features available to application users. For a developer's perspective on work object attachments, see Understanding work object attachments.

 zzz History display

Click the paper clip button to display the history of this work object, also called the audit trail. The header identifies the current task or assignment.

Each row contains a date and time, description, and the operator's full name. Dates and times on the history display are presented in the time zone indicated in the Time Zone field of your Operator ID data instance.

To see additional detail in a pop-up window, hold the mouse porinter over a row.

History information is cumulative and permanent; it cannot be changed. If the work object contains incorrect information, you can overwrite or replace it with correct information.

Click Export to Excel to export the history report lines to Microsoft Excel.

 zzz Default attachment form (Basic View)

Click the paper clip button (zzz ) to list the existing attachments to this work object or to review, edit, or delete existing attachments.

The report shows existing attachments to the work object. Depending on your privileges, the attachment type, the work type, and other conditions, you may be allowed to view the attachment, edit the attachment (producing a new attachment; the original is preserved) or delete the attachment. These capabilities are conveyed by attachment category rules. (The standard attachment category rules do not allow editing or deletion of any attachments.)

The Basic View form allows you to enter three of the five attachment types: a text note, a file, or a URL.

Note attachments

To add a note attachment, click the New V button and select Add a Note.

Enter the note. Click Apply. You can use any of these rich text edit controls:

Icon

Result

Bold

Bold the selected text using the <strong> HTML tag.

Italic

Make the selected text italics.

Underscored

Make the selected text underscored.

Font color

Change the font color of the selected text. Choose a color from the palette.

Background color

Set the background color of the selected area. Choose a color from the palette.

Indent

Indent, increase space at the beginning of the selected lines.

Outdent

Outdent, reduce space at the beginning of the selected lines.

Unordered list

Convert the selected paragraphs to an unordered list (<ul> tag).

Ordered list

Convert the selected paragraphs to an ordered list (<ol> tag).

The standard flow action Work-.AttachAFile provides a similar capability, without a pop-up window and without rich text editing.

File attachments

To create a file attachment, click the New V button and select Add a File.

  1. In the pop-up window, enter a subject.
  2. Type a full file name and path, or click Browse and navigate to the file using Windows Explorer. Select the file and click Open.
  3. Select a category, if applicable. The list of available categories may depend on privileges, the work type, and other factors, determined through attachment category rules. If no category is assigned, the default category is Other files.
  4. Click Apply.

The standard flow action Work-.AttachAFile provides a similar capability, without a pop-up window.

Choose the Edit Attachments action Work-.EditCategorizedAttachments (when configured in a flow) to revise an existing file using workstation software such as Microsoft Word. The system retains both the original file and the updated file, with a higher version number.

URL attachments

A URL attachment links the work object to a web page or other object accessible with the HTTP protocol. To create a URL attachment, click the New V button and select Add a URL.

  1. In the pop-up window, enter a subject.
  2. Enter the URL.
  3. Select a category, if applicable. The list of available categories may depend on privileges, the work type, and other factors, determined through attachment category rules.
  4. Click Apply.
The standard local flow action Work-.AttachAURL provides a similar capability, but without a pop-up window.

 zzz Default attachment display (Advanced View)

Click the Advanced View button (at the bottom of the window) to enter any of all five attachment types. In addition to Note, File, and URL attachments, two other attachment types are available in the advanced view. Unlike the three Basic View types, these two attachment types each require that a Process Commander ActiveX control be present on the user workstation.

Screen Shot attachments

To add a screen shot attachment, click the New V button and select Add a Screen Shot. Complete the pop-up window that appears:

  1. The Window Name field shows the title of each window on your workstation, even if minimized. Select one window title from the list to bring the target window to the front.
  2. Enter a short text description in the Note field.
  3. Select a category, if applicable. The list of available categories may depend on privileges, the work type, and other factors, determined through attachment category rules.
  4. Click Attach Selected Window.
  5. Click Apply.

The standard local flow action Work-.AttachAScreenShot provides a similar capability, without a pop-up window.

This feature is sometimes called screen capture. The prScreenCapture ActiveX control supports this capability. The attachments are instances of the Data-WorkAttach-ScreenShot class.

Scanned document attachments

If your workstation includes a scanner, you can create and attach a TIFF image scanned from a paper document.

To add a scanned document attachment, click the New V button and select Add a Screen Shot. Complete the pop-up window.

  1. Place a document in the scanner.
  2. Enter a short text description in the Note field.
  3. Click Apply.

The standard local flow action Work-.AttachFromScanner provides a similar capability, without a pop-up window.

The PegaImgViewer ActiveX control supports this capability for the Image Viewer. (The prBatchScanning ActiveX control supports this capability for the Scan Station tool used only with Windows 2000). Attachments are instances of the Data-WorkAttach-ScanDocument class.

OldIn releases before V5.5, screen shot attachments and scanned document attachments are available only by creating custom buttons on the harness rule. That approach remains functional but is deprecated. If you want to disallow use of these two attachment types in your application, override the Work-.HistoryandAttachments harness rule, eliminating the Advanced View button in your rule.

 zzzCustomizing the history display

The standard harness rule Work-.HistoryandAttachments supports the standard display of history and attachments. You can override this rule for your applications, to change the layout, contents, or functions available. Alternatively, you can present the history section or attachments sections within a work object form.

The standard section rule Work-.HistoryListView executes a standard list view rule History-.HistoryListView.ALL. To change the columns or presentation, override this list view rule in the History-ZZZZ class, where ZZZZ is the name of a class group or work type in your application. (Do not override the section unless you are making advanced changes; it is not auto-generated.)

 zzz Customizing the attachment display

The standard harness rule Work-.HistoryandAttachments supports the standard display of history and attachments. You can override this rule for your applications, to change the layout, contents, or functions available. Alternatively, you can present the history section or attachments sections within a work object form.

The standard section rule Work-.Attachments supports the New V button to allow the user to add attachments (of three types for Basic View, or all five types for Advanced View. This section includes the standard section Work-.AttachmentListView (not auto-generated) which executes the standard list view Link-Attachment.AttachmentList.ALL. Although there is no fixed limit on the number of attachments that a work object may have, the standard list view displays a maximum of 100 attachments.

To customize the presentation, override the auto-generated sections or the list view rule. (Do not override the Work-.AttachmentListView section unless you are making advanced changes.)

Definitions attachment, attachment category, audit trail
Related topics About Attachment Category rules
Understanding work object attachments

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