How to include a breadcrumbs control in work object forms

Benefits

Work object forms can include a breadcrumbs section to allow users to view important completed tasks in the history of the current flow execution.

By clicking a rectangle in the breadcrumbs control, a user can return processing to any completed task in the flow execution so far — including flows that called the current flow — that is marked as an entry point.

To facilitate understanding in this example, tasks are identified by type rather than by a name meaningful to a user. At this point a user is performing Assignment P, following completion of Assignments B and K (possibly performed by another user). The rectangles Flow A and Utility B are also marked as entry points. (When a user returns to an earlier point, the breadcrumbs display is modified to show only that point and earlier tasks.)

Procedure

To provide breadcrumbs control to users of a flow:

1. Open the flow rule and choose one or more tasks as entry points that can be returned to from the control. Typically, assignment tasks and subflow tasks are marked as entry points. However, you can allow users to jump back to other tasks by marking them as entry points. For example, a utility task may immediately precede an assignment task in the flow and compute values needed for the assignment.
2. Select the Entry Point? check box in the shape panel for each task as desired.
3. The breadcrumbs control displays the Name field for each task marked as an entry point. Review and if desired edit the description in the Name field to be meaningful to application users and to ensure uniqueness. Save the flow rule.
4. In a Call Subflow task, use two check boxes to control this feature. When the Entry Point? check box is selected, at runtime the breadcrumb control allows return to this task name only after the entire subflow is completed. Select the Allow Subflow Re-entry? check box and leave the Entry point? box cleared to make entry points within a called subflow visible on the breadcrumbs control as they are completed.
5. Repeat this as desired for subflows called by the top-level flow rules.
6. Update the Perform harness rules in your application to reference any one of three standard section rules that support the control. These function identically, but differ in the location of the control:

At runtime, the system presents the breadcrumbs control on each Perform display.

Notes

If the user clicks a shape in the breadcrumbs control to return to a task that is not an assignment, processing resumes at the indicated task. What the user sees next depends on the flow execution. For example, a utility shape may compute values needed by an assignment.

If a user attempts to return processing to an assignment that the user lacks privileges to perform, the assignment is created but the user sees only the Confirm form, not the Perform form.

You can customize the font, color, and other visual details of the breadcrumbs display by overriding the standard HTML rule named Work-.ProcessFlowPath.

This control displays properties from the system-maintained pages of the Work-.pyFlow(myFlow).pyFlowPath property, a Page List.

	entry point, screen flow
	About Flow rules

User Interface category