Flow form
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A utility task is an activity that can update a work object without human input. It may perform computations, searches, retrieve data from another system, make a decision affecting the course of the flow, and so on. COLLAPSE CANDIDATE
Some utility tasks appear in the flow immediately before an assignment task, to complete preprocessing. Others may appear immediately after an assignment task, for post-processing of user decisions and input.
Don't confuse
Utility
activities with functions — Java code in
instances of the Rule-Utility-Function rule type. A Utility
activity is defined in a class derived from the Work- or Data- base class
and has an Activity Type of Utility
.
1. Drag theshape onto the flow.
2. When the Utility Properties panel appears, complete these fields:
Field |
Description |
Name |
Enter a text name for this Utility shape of 32 characters or less. 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. For example, Compute Customer Open-To-Buy.BUG-2983 The task name is only descriptive; it does not affect runtime execution of the flow. This name also appears inside the Utility shape on the Diagram tab. |
Rule |
Select a Utility activity to be executed when a flow execution reaches this shape. See Atlas — Standard Activities for Flows for descriptions of a few standard Utility activities.
You can ( although not recommended) enter the name of an activity that is not a |
Application |
Optional. Select the name of the application that you want to link to the flow shape. The value of this field is referenced with the flow diagram in application documents. 5.4 Proj-831 |
Work Type |
Optional. Select the name of the work type for the application that you want to link to the flow shape. The value of this field is referenced with the flow diagram in application documents. 5.4 Proj-831 |
Use Case |
Optional. Select the name of the use case for the application and work type that details the implementation requirements for the flow shape. The value of this field is referenced with the flow diagram in application documents and on the Implementation tab of the corresponding Application Use Case rule. 5.4 Proj-831 |
Parameters |
If the utility selected requires parameters, supply a literal value for each parameter. Process Commander validates these parameter values when you exit from Visio editing (unless the flow in is Draft mode). 5.5 GRP-405
You can
use the notation param.name in a parameter field
to refer to a flow parameter. In this case, you are instructing
the system to set a value of a parameter to this call of the
activity equal to the value of a parameter to the
flow. (Inside the activity, the keyword |
Audit Note |
Optional. Select or enter the name of a Rule-Message rule to control the text of an instances added to the work object history (the "audit trail") when a flow execution completes this shape. B-18887 Process Commander includes a few dozen standard messages in the Work- class. (Through field value rules, the corresponding text on work object history displays can be localized. See About the Localization wizard.) Optionally, to reduce the volume of history detail instances, your application can prevent system-generated messages from being added to work object history. See Controlling the volume of generated work object history instances and the Pega Developer Network article PRKB-25196 How to control history instances written to the audit trail. |
Audit Note |
Optional. Enter a brief text note to be included in the work history object that the system creates when a flow execution uses this utility task. 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. |
Entry Point? |
Select to indicate that this Utility task is an entry point, which a user can return to using the breadcrumbs control or the standard flow action Previous. The default is cleared. 5.2 Because a utility task presents no user form, if a user clicks a breadcrumbs control to return to this entry point, flow processing resumes and pauses at the next assignment or other task that requires user input. |
Only going back? |
This checkbox appears only when you select the Entry Point? checkbox. Select to restrict users at runtime from jumping ahead to this step without having completed the preceding steps. After having completed this step, users may jump back to it from steps that follow it. For maximum user flexibility, clear this checkbox 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. |
3. Click Apply when done. (To edit these shape properties after you save the Flow form, open the Diagram tab, right-click the shape, and select the Edit tab on the pop-up window.) GRP-202
4. Connect at least one incoming connector to the utility shape.
5. Ordinarily, connect one outgoing connector from the utility shape.
If the activity uses the TaskStatus-Set method to one of a few possible activity outcomes, the outgoing connectors can depend on this Status value. For example, a utility activity might return the values "HIRE", "REJECT", and "WAIT" through a TaskStatus-Set method. Using three connectors from the utility, one for each status value, simplifies the flow diagram by eliminating a fork or decision shape. VIDOD F-122
You can add a Utility shape by dragging an activity rule of the following types from the Application Explorer onto the Visio diagram:
Locate
LoadDeclarativePage
OnChange
Trigger
Validate
Utility
Click the icon to select the rule. See Using the Application Explorer. V6.1 Proj-179 GRP-2259
About Activity
rules How to create activities for use in flows TaskStatus-Set method |
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Standard activities for flows |