Back Forward Flow Action form
Completing the Action tab

 About Flow Action rules

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Complete the Action tab to associate activities with this flow action, and to control operation of the Perform harness form when this flow action is a choice appearing on the Perform form.

Complete the Used As field to record whether you intend this flow action to be available as a local or connector flow action, or both. A local flow action does not complete the assignment; a connector flow action does complete the assignment.

  Before this Action...

Optionally, the system can execute an activity after the user selects the flow action and before the system displays the action frame.

Field

Description
Run Activity SmartPromptOptional. To cause the system to do certain preprocessing when users select this flow, enter the Activity Name — the second key part — of an activity. At runtime, the system runs this activity before it does other processing for this flow action. This activity is not visible on the Visio flow diagram. B-19453 rejected second key part only

If the activity uses parameters, click  Params   and enter parameter values. B-16167

NoteThis activity executes only once, the first time a user selects this flow action for this assignment. The activity executes only once even if the action area is redisplayed more than once — for example because inputs that users submitted the first time failed validation. B-21833 and MARIK 11/7/06 (The activity also executes when you use the toolbar Preview button Preview.)

In this activity, do not perform a Commit operation and do not transfer the assignment. See Pega Developer Network article PDNPRKB-21740 Troubleshooting: Error:Assign Mismatch " when a Before This Action activity transfers a work object for details on these restrictions.

NoteIf this flow action is to support bulk processing, leave this field blank. Bulk processing cannot use a pre-processing activity. MARIK 9/29/09

NoteThe standard activity Work-.jumpToTask can be useful here to allow a user to return control to a completed assignment that is marked as an entry point. If you use this activity, complete either the TaskName parameter (with the internal task name, such as ASSIGNMENT52 or UTILITY12) or select the previousEntryPoint box. Review the standard flow action Work-.Previous for an example.

  Validate

Identify a validation rule to test user input values.

Field

Description
Validation Rule SmartPromptOptional. To require users to enter non-blank values into one or more of the HTML fields that appear when they select this flow action, enter the name of a validate rule. This rule is processed after each  Submit .

If the Enable Client Side Validation? box is selected on the HTML tab, properties marked as required in this validation rule are enforced on the workstation client.

For screen flow rules only: By default, when this flow action appears as a step in a screen flow rule, and the user at runtime clicks away to a different step in the screen flow rule, this validation rule does not run. To cause this validation rule to execute when the user clicks away to a different step, select the Post Action on Click Away? checkbox on the Assignment shape properties panel. GRP-402 PROJ-1350 MARIK V5.5

  After this Action...

Define processing that is to occur after the user submits the action form.

Field

Description
Apply Cost R-11546 MARIK 12/10/03 Optional. Standard reports do not use this property.

Enter a number or expression for the cost of this flow action, in units of your choice. The system automatically maintains a total of these costs in the property pyTotalFlowActionCost, using a standard Declare Expression rule. Your application may use this computed value in billing or reporting.

B-10980 Rejected SARTM 7/20/05Alternatively, you can enter a property reference here, identifying a numeric property used in your computation. (Within in a single application use only numbers or only property references.) The standard activity Work-.ValidateAction contains Java code that accepts either a Java double value or a property reference in this field:

  strCost = “Value of pyCost from a flow action passed in as a parameter”
   double newCost
      try {
           newCost = Double.parseDouble(strCost);
          } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
  // If the cost is not a hard-coded double,
  // perhaps it is a property
          ClipboardProperty thisRef =.getProperty(strCost);
           if (thisRef != null)
           newCost = thisRef.toDouble();
Run Activity SmartPromptOptional. Enter the name of an activity to run after other successful processing of this flow action. If the activity uses parameters, click   Params   and enter parameter values. This activity name does not appear on the Visio flow diagram.

If you use an activity that depends on parameter values to be entered by a user after that user chooses this flow action, enter the activity here rather than placing the activity in the flow.

This activity can perform validation processing MARIK 6/11/09 (and add messages to the clipboard if validation fails) and can perform other processing that is to occur when the flow action is submitted successfully. (Do not include a Commit method in the activity.)

If this is a local flow action, you can force a refresh of the entire work object form by referencing here an activity that sets the parameter param.Purpose to NoPurpose. REALLY? PRKB-14585

For screen flow rules only: By default, when this flow action appears as a step in a screen flow rule, and the user at runtime clicks away to a different step in the screen flow rule, this activity rule does not run. To cause this activity to execute when the user clicks away to a different step, select the Post Action on Click Away? checkbox on the Assignment shape properties panel. GRP-402 PROJ-1350 MARIK V5.5
Look for an assignment to perform? Select to cause Process Commander to search next for another assignment for the same work object (and same flow execution) on the user's worklist. This feature is sometimes called back-to-back assignment processing.

The system only finds and presents assignments that the current user is qualified to perform and for which the value of Assign-.pyActionTime is past. MARIK 5.3 4/25/07 revised B-10925

Clear this box to bypass the search.

TipAs a best practice, select this box. In many situations, two or more assignments may be open for one work object, assigned to the same person. DELETED or to the same workbasket
When a user who performs one of these assignments is also qualified to perform other assignments, it is usually most efficient to have that user perform the assignments one after another, because the work object is familiar.

For example, a flow may require three items of outgoing correspondence to be edited and sent out. In the flow rule, a Split-Join shape may cause Process Commander to create three correspondence editing assignments, all in a single worklist. After a user edits the first correspondence item, completing one of the three assignments, it usually is productive to have that user complete the other two assignments.
If not found, look in other flows for this work object? Select to cause Process Commander to search next for open assignments on this user's worklist B-10925 from other flow executions active for the same work object.

The system finds and presents assignments that the current user is qualified to perform and for which the value of Assign-.pyActionTime is past.

Clear to bypass the extended search.

This box appears only when the Look for an assignment to perform? box is selected.

TipAs a best practice, select this box.
If not found, look in flows on the cover object? Select to cause Process Commander to include, when searching for back-to-back assignments, open assignments for the cover work object to which this work object belongs.

The system finds and presents assignments on the current user's worklist for which the value of Assign-.pyActionTime is past. B-10925

Clear to bypass the extended search.

This box appears only when the Look for an assignment to perform? box is selected.
For each also consider assignments in workbaskets? Select to include assignments in workbaskets in the search for back-to-back assignment processing. The search scope expands to examine the assignments in the workbaskets associated with the user's work group (through the Work Group field on the Workbasket tab of the Workbasket form), as well as assignments on the user's worklist.

Clear this box to bypass the search of workbaskets.

This box appears only when the Look for an assignment to perform? box is selected.

Optionally, your application can override the detailed search criteria that the system uses when this box is selected. The standard decision tree rule Assign-Workbasket.PerformCriteria defines these criteria.MARIK BUG-5092 5/18/07
If an assignment is not being performed C-1187 Indicate what the system is to present to users after all assignments are complete. Select:
  • Show Harness — The system presents a refreshed harness form for the current work object, using the harness rule identified in the next field. Typically, the new harness displays the results of processing or computations based on the user input. B-22045
  • Get Next Work — The system uses information on the  Work Settings tab of the Operator ID instance of the current user to search for an assignment to work on next.
  • Close Harness — Close the work object form, returning to an earlier workspace contents, such as the Process Work home view. No confirmation form appears.
Harness SmartPromptOptional. If you selected Show Harness in the previous field, select the Purpose key part of a harness rule to be used. Typically, a post-assignment harness rule has Confirm as the Purpose key part. B-22045

C-1187 To force the work object form to close, select the standard harness rule Work-.AutoClose. (This is equivalent to choosing Close Harness in the previous field.)

CautionDon't specify a "Perform-type" harness here — one that presents the work object in read-write mode. SR-8769 MARIK 3/6/07

  Action Buttons

Two checkboxes in this area control the display of the flow action's default navigation buttons. Those buttons are:

Checkbox

Description
Hide the default Action Section buttons? Check this checkbox to hide the default action section buttons. You can then provide custom navigation--buttons, dropdown menus, links, or whatever-- in the body of the action section.

CautionNote that if you check this checkbox but do not provide some alternative navigation, users who get to this point in the flow will not be able to leave it.
Customize the Action section button labels? When you check this checkbox, four text fields appear. The four fields display the current values of the four default navigation buttons, as shown above. You can enter text for each button that suits your users' expectations more closely.

CautionDo not leave a button label blank. At runtime, unlabeled buttons are functional but appear with no text, making it difficult for users to know what to click.

  Indicator and bulk processing

Classify this flow action to allow it to be used in local mode, connector mode, or both modes.

Field

Description

Used As03-02 R-5018 C-170 Select Local Action, Connector Action or Local and Connector to record your intent for the use of this flow action. B-3931
  • A local flow action may update the assignment and the work object, but retains the flow at the same assignment task, allowing the current user (or another user in some cases) to choose another flow action.
  • A connector flow action, corresponding to a connector arrow in the flow rule, updates the work object, completes the assignment and advances the work object in the flow.
Your selection determines which SmartPrompt lists include this flow action rule when a developer adds an assignment to a flow rule.

When the classic form of the Action section is used, your selection also determines the order in which this flow action appears to application users on work processing forms. Local flow actions appear below a dotted line, connector flow actions appear above the line.

Alternatively, flow actions can appear at runtime as labeled buttons. Forms for local flow actions can appear in a pop-up window after a user clicks a button of type Local Action. See Harness, Section, and Flow Action forms — Placing a button in a cell.
Disqualify this action from bulk processing?C-2516 SmartPrompt Optional. Select if you want to exclude a specific flow action from the list of flow actions available for bulk processing (as presented in the My Process Actions area of the Process Work workspace). See Process Work workspace   — How to process assignments in bulk.

Bulk processing is possible when these considerations are all met: MARIK 9/29/09
  • The Before this Action... Run Activity field is blank
  • The flow rule must not have circumstances
  • If the assignments are in various work types, the Applies To class of the flow action must be a class that is an ancestor to all the work types.
By default some standard flow actions are not eligible for bulk processing because the process is designed to be used with only one work object at a time. To change the default setting, copy the flow action to your RuleSet and make the change.

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