Flow form
Editing Assignment shape properties

Field

Description

Assign a name to this Assignment task. Choose a name meaningful to application users who see this on the work object history display, the breadcrumbs control (for entry points), and the Where-Am-I? diagram.

The task name is only descriptive; it does not affect runtime execution. This name also appears inside the assignment shape on the Diagram tab.

When you begin building your application, it is customary to make this name the same as the name of the assignment activity. Later when your flow is more complete, you can change this to a more descriptive name.

Select an assignment activity. Use SmartPrompt to see a list of activities with an AssignActivity Type that are available.

Four standard activities defined with Work- as the Applies To class are always choices in this field. (Your application may include others or override these standard activities.)

• Work-.WorkList — Causes the assignment to be placed on the worklist of the current operator (or of another operator identified by a Router shape). Creates an instance of the Assign-Worklist class.
• Work-.WorkBasket — Causes the assignment to be placed in a workbasket, determined by an associated Router shape. Creates an instance of the Assign-Workbasket class.
• Work-.External — Starts the directed Web access feature, sending a temporary assignment by e-mail to a party identified in the work object who is not an interactive Process Commander user. Creates an instance of the Assign-External class.
• Work-.Agent — Sends the assignment to a background process rather than to a person (rarely used, similar to WorkBasket ).

(Another standard assignment activity Assign-.Connect activity is used internally when creating an instance of the Assign-Connect class and to support BPEL processing. Do not use this for assignments directly.)

The activity you select may accept input parameters. Supply a value for each parameter. See Parameters for guidance on common parameters. Process Commander validates these parameter values when you exit from Visio editing (unless the flow in is Draft mode).

Optional. Select a service level rule to apply to this assignments. See Associating a service level rule with an assignment task.

Optional. Select one or more local flow actions that are to be available at runtime from this assignment. Use SmartPrompt to display all flow actions available to flows in this class.

At runtime, local actions appear in the order listed here. Click to insert a row, or Click to delete a row.

Click to display three entry fields that can associate a local action with a use case. Enter values for the Application, WorkType, and Use Case Name. Click to hide these fields.

The SmartPrompt list includes both local and connector flow actions. If you are not sure that an action is local, click the pencil icon () to open the flow action rule. Review the Indicator field on the Action tab.

To make a local flow action such as Save available in all assignments in the flow, list it on the Design tab of the flow form rather than here in the Local Actions field. You don't need to also enter such global flow actions in this field.

See below for guidance on choosing local flow actions.

Optional. You can associate a cost value (in any units) with this assignment. For each work object, the system computes the sum of these cost values for the specific path it takes through the flow rule. A Declare Expression rule records this in property Work-.pyTotalFlowActionCost.

Optional. You can select a notify activity here, as an alternative to a separate Notify shape. Click to enter values for the parameters of the activity. Click to hide parameter fields.

Some developers prefer this approach, to simplify the flow diagram. The system add an envelope icon ( ) to the assignment shape to indicate that correspondence is created as the assignment is created.

Optional. You can select a router activity here, as an alternative to a separate Router shape. Click to enter values for the parameters of the activity. Click to hide parameter fields.

Some developers prefer this approach, to simplify the flow diagram.

You can't specify a router activity if this assignment is within a swim lane.

Select to indicate that this assignment task is an entry point, which a user can return to using the breadcrumbs control or the standard flow action Work-.Previous. The default is selected.

This check box works with Perform harness rules that include a breadcrumbs display and with assignments that offer the Previous flow action. In other cases, the check box has no effect.

This check box appears only when you select the Entry Point? check box. Select to restrict users at runtime who are at this entry point to choose only those entry points (on the breadcrumbs display) that identify earlier steps in the flow.

Leave unselected to allow users to select any entry point of the flow when at this entry point. They can click the breadcrumbs control or tab to complete or visit an earlier or later step.

For maximum user flexibility, leave this check box unselected if your flow accepts inputs in any order. However, this approach is typically not workable for flows that contain fork and decision shapes, or that have intermediate tasks that are not entry points.

Field

Description

Select a field value rule for the worklist column Instructions that describes the task that users perform to complete the assignment. Click the pencil icon ( ) to review the field value rule or define a new field value rule. The SmartPrompt lists field value rules with an Applies To key part equal to the work type of the flow rule (or a parent class) and a Field Name key part of pyInstructions.

Examples of instructions are "Evaluate and accept or reject" and "Fulfill as soon as possible." Use wording that clearly states what users are expected to accomplish.

When you plan to localize the application using this rule, so the application can support users in various languages or locales, choose the text carefully and limit text length to 64 characters. A field value rule with this text as the final key part is needed for each locale. When practical, choose a caption already included in a language pack, to simplify later localization. See About the Localization wizard.

If this parameter appears, you can enter a work object status value that is to appear when the assignment first appears on the worklist or in the workbasket. If you leave this blank, the status value is unchanged when this assignment is created.

Don't confuse the work object status value (the Work-.pyStatusWork property), which controls many aspects of processing, with the assignment status value. See Status.

Don't use this feature to set .pyStatusWork to a resolved value. Always use the standard utility Work-.Resolve to resolve a work object.

If this parameter appears, you can enter an assignment status value (not a work object status value). If you leave this blank, the assignment has no status.

Optional. Enter text to appear in a confirmation form presented to the user when the flow action is complete.

When you plan to localize the application using this rule, so the application can support users in various languages or locales, choose the text carefully and limit text length to 64 characters. A field value rule with this text as the final key part is needed for each locale. When practical, choose a caption already included in a language pack, to simplify later localization. See About the Localization wizard.

Identify the Purpose key part of a harness rule the system is to use to present this assignment. (The system uses the Applies To key part of this flow rule as the first key part of the harness rule.)

By convention, the Purpose key part has the value Perform, or another name starting with the word Perform.

The action section in the harness rule you identify affects the presentation of flow action choices at runtime. The most appropriate choice depends on user skills, the complexity of the actions, and likelihood values. See Presenting flow actions — Comparing three approaches.

Select to redirect the assignment to the current operator if the workbasket is not defined. (This parameter is used by the Work-.WorkBasket activity.)

Identify the Operator ID that serves as a model for the external operator. (This parameter is used by the Work-.External activity.)

Enter a positive integer for a number of calendar days after which the external assignment expires, unless completed. (This parameter is used by the Work-.External activity.)

Identify the party role (such as Customer, Originator, or another role) of the party within the work object who is to receive the external assignment. (This parameter is used by the Work-.External activity.)

Enter text to become the subject line of the e-mail message sent to the external party. (This parameter is used by the Work-.External activity.)

Optional. Enter a phrase or sentence to appear in the body of the e-mail message sent to the external party, above the system-generated URL link. (This parameter is used by the Work-.External activity.)

Optional. Identify the Corr Name key part of a correspondence rule to appear in the body of the e-mail message sent to the external party. The resulting output appears above the system-generated URL link. (This parameter is used by the Work-.External activity.) Process Commander validates this value when you exit from Visio editing.