Flow form
Editing in Process Modeler — Integrator shape

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An Integrator shape identifies an activity that connects your PRPC system to an external system to send or receive data.

The indicates that one or more tickets are defined on the integrator. Assigned ticket names appear beside this icon on the flow.

Purpose

An integrator shape can connect to a customer master database to retrieve account balances or verify account numbers and status. Integrator shapes use activities (with Connect as the Activity Type) that call connector rules (Rule-Connect- rule types).

Adding an Integrator shape

On the flow Diagram tab, you can add a shape to a flow 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 where you would like the Integrator 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 Integrator shape. After the shape has been added to the canvas, click and drag to reposition.

Use the toolbar Flow Shape palette:

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

Editing Integrator shape properties

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

2. When the Integrator Properties panel appears, enter a name, no longer than 128 characters, to the right of the shape title (Integrator: [Integrator]). 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. The shape name is only descriptive; it does not affect runtime execution.

NoteThis name also appears inside the Integrator 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 below.

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

6. Connect at least one incoming connector to the shape. Ordinarily, connect one (and only one) outgoing connector to the shape.

Deleting an Integrator shape from the flow

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

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

NoteWhen a shape is deleted, the connectors remain on the canvas.

Cut, copy, and paste Integrator shapes

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

Configuration

Complete the Configuration section as described in the table below.

Field

Description

Rule

Select an activity with an Activity Type of Connect.

Parameters

If the connector requires parameters, response and request data transforms generated by the accelerator are listed. Use the generated "Request Data Transform" to define the mapping of application (source) properties to connector request (target) properties. Use the generated "Response Data Transform" to define the mapping of connector response (source) properties to application (target) properties.GRP-37906

Application

Optional. Select the name of the application that you want to link to this shape. The value of this field is referenced with the flow diagram in application documents.

Work Type

Optional. Select the name of the work type for the application that you want to link to this shape. The value of this field is referenced with the flow diagram in application documents.

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.)

NoteOptionally, 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 Integrator shape is an entry point, which a user can return to using the breadcrumbs control or the standard flow action Work-.Previous. The default is cleared.

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

Because an Integrator 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.

TipFor 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 decision shapes, or that have intermediate shapes that are not entry points.

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.

Advanced

Complete the Status and Tickets sections as described below.

Status

Field

Description

Work status

Enter a work status in this field to set the work item status for the work item. This allows you to easily change the status at multiple points in the life cycle of a work item without adding a Utility shape to the flow for each status change. Similar to setting work item status using a Utility shape, setting the status invokes the UpdateStatus activity. Any defined tickets dependent on the status are raised, as appropriate. The selected status updates .pyStatusWork when the flow execution reaches this assignment shape.

A status indicator appears on connectors to shapes that change a work item status. For example, if the shape status is set to Pending-External, the connector to that shape displays a small red flag. All transitions connecting to the shape will display the status indicator. Following are the status indicators for the four status prefixes.

New

Open

Pending

Resolved

Tickets

Add a Ticket Name field to indicate the ticket(s) available at runtime. Use the Ticket to mark the starting point for exceptions that may arise at any point in the flow, such as a cancellation. The ticket is a label for a point in a flow, much like a programming "GOTO" destination.

An activity executing anywhere in your entire PRPC application can set or raise this ticket by executing the Obj-Set-Tickets method with this ticket name as a parameter. See Ticket help for other ways to raise a ticket.

The scope of a raised ticket includes all flows on the current work item that contain this ticket. If found, processing stops on that flow promptly, and resumes at the ticket point.

The system adds to the decision shape to indicate one or more tickets are associated with this decision. The assigned ticket name appears on the flow.

Field

Description

Ticket Name

add row Select one or more tickets that are to be available at runtime from this decision. Add a row for each ticket. Use SmartPrompt to display all tickets available to flows in this work type.

TipCreating ticket rules is recommended but not required. You can enter here a name that does not correspond to a ticket rule .

NoteIf a shape has more than one ticket associated with it, then processing continues with that task only after all tickets are set.

Example

Processing is connected to a ticket to respond to an exception, error flow or event. For example, if a mortgage application is withdrawn after some, but not all, of the application processing is completed, a mortgage processing flow can:

  • Include a ticket named Withdrawn on a utility shape that computes the fees due for work done so far, and any refund amount
  • Follow the utility shape with another that produces correspondence, to alert all parties working on the mortgage that it was withdrawn
  • Connect to external systems to back out (rollback) changes or void accounting entries as appropriate
Display NameThe Ticket Name appears by default. Enter a name to display other than the ticket name.
Definitionsactivity type, breadcrumbs control, connector, entry point
Related topicsHow to create activities for use in flows
TaskStatus-Set method
Standard rulesStandard activities for flows

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