On the flow Diagram tab, you can add a shape in one of three ways. Validation of the added shapes occurs when you save the flow.

Use the canvas context menu:

1. Right-click a blank area of the canvas near the location where you would like the Utility shape to appear.
2. Hover over Add on the submenu to display a list of shapes you can add to the flow.
3. Click the Utility shape. After the shape has been added to the canvas, click and drag to reposition.

Use the toolbar Flow Shape palette:

1. Click the toolbar Flow Shape palette to display a drop-down shapes menu that will remain open until you close it, facilitating the process of rapidly adding multiple shapes. Click the window title bar and drag the submenu to another area of the screen, as needed.
2. Click and drag the Utility shape to the canvas.
3. Close the Flow Shape palette at any time.

Use the Flow Shape palette drop-down menu:

1. Click the down arrow on the Flow Shape palette the toolbar to display a drop-down shapes menu.
2. Click and drag the Utility shape from the drop-down menu to the desired position on the canvas.

1. On the flow Diagram tab, open the properties panel using one of the following:

• Double-click the shape.
• Right-click the shape and select Properties from the drop-down menu.
• Click the shape, then click the toolbar View Properties icon .

2. When the Utility panel appears, enter a name, no longer than 128 characters, to the right of the shape title (Utility: [Utility]). Choose a name meaningful to application users who see this on the work item history display, the breadcrumbs control (for entry points), and the Where-Am-I? diagram. For example: CustomerOpen-To-Buy. The system automatically enters the name in the Specification section. The shape name is only descriptive; it does not affect runtime execution.

This name also appears inside the Utility shape on the diagram. To change the name after you have exited from the properties panel, click the name, and type over the highlighted text.

3. Complete the fields as described in the tables below.

4. Click OK to save edits and close the panel.

5. Connect at least one incoming connector to the Utility shape.

6. Connect at least one outgoing connector from the Utility shape to another shape.

A utility may be deleted from the process flow. Right-click the utility, and select Delete from the drop-down menu.

You can also select the utility and do one of the following:

• Click Deleteon the toolbar.
• Press the Delete key on your keyboard.

When a shape is deleted, the connectors to and from the shape are

Cut or copy shapes from a flow and paste them within the same flow or in other flows within your user session.

• Click to cut a selected shape(s) and connector(s). Cut differs from Delete in that cut shapes appear faded on the canvas until you paste them elsewhere. You can also cut selected shapes using the right-click canvas menu, or the shape drop-down menu.
• Cick to place selected shape(s) and connector(s) in the copy buffer. You can also copy selected shapes using the right-click canvas menu, or the shape drop-down menu,
• Click to paste selected shape(s) and connector(s) elsewhere in the flow or in other flows within your user session. You can also paste selected shapes using the right-click canvas menu, or the shape drop-down menu.

Field	Description
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 Utility type. Doing so displays a warning message The selected Rule is not a Utility activity in the properties panel. Use the appropriate shapes for Assign,Connect, Notify, and Route types. For example, use an Assignment shape for Assign types.
Parameters	If the utility selected requires parameters, supply a literal value for each parameter. PRPC validates these parameter values when you exit (unless the flow in is Draft mode). 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 param refers — as always — to activity parameters, not flow parameters.
Audit note	Optional. Select or enter the name of a Rule-Message rule to control the text of an instances added to the work item history (the "audit trail") when a flow execution completes this shape. PRPC includes a few dozen standard messages in the Work- class. (Through field value rules, the corresponding text on work item 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 item history. See Controlling the volume of generated work item history instances and the PDN article How to control history instances written to the audit trail.
Entry point	Select to indicate that this Utility shape 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 shape 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 shape that requires user input.
Only going Back	This check box appears only when you select the Entry Point? check box. 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 check box if your flow accepts inputs in any order.
Post action on click away	This check box appears only when you select the Entry Point check box. Select to run flow action post-processing when you click away from this entry point.

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.