You are here: Reference > Rule types > Activities > Activity form - Completing the Steps tab

  Activity form
Completing the Steps tab
  1. About 
  2. New 
  3. Steps 
  4. Parameters 
  5. Pages & Classes 
  6. Security 
  1. Test Cases 
  2. History 
  3. Methods 
  4. More... 

Use the Steps tab to define a sequential set of instructions, or steps, for an activity to execute. Each step calls a method or supported rule type to perform the required processing.

You can control the flow of execution by repeating a group of steps, defining a set of pre-conditions for a step, or jumping to a later step.

As a best practice, limit each activity to thirty or fewer steps to promote modularity.

 

Populating a step

If your activity supports a Declare Trigger or Declare OnChange rule, select an appropriate activity type in the Usage field before populating any steps.

 

Each numbered row on the Steps tab represents a step. Use the following options to control how the activity processes a step at run time.

Element

Description
Label

A unique identifier.

Enter a short (one-or two-character) string that other steps can reference in their jump criteria. Otherwise, leave this field blank.

Enter two slash marks (//) to comment out a step, or exclude it from execution. A commented-out loop step excludes all child steps from execution.

No iteration or loop criteria exists.

Click to specify loop criteria such as the number of iterations or the type of element to evaluate.

Iteration or loop criteria exist.

Click to review or edit the loop criteria.

No pre-condition or when criteria exist.

Click to specify a when rule that controls whether a step is executed or skipped.

Pre-condition or when criteria exist.

Click to review or edit the when criteria. Uncheck the Enable conditions before this action box to remove the when criteria.

Parameter details for the specified Method.

Click to expand the Method Parameters section and provide parameters to the specified method or rule instance.

Click a second time to collapse the section.
Method

The method or rule to execute.

Select a method name from the list or enter a keyword followed by a supported rule instance. This list excludes deprecated methods.

Many methods and instructions require parameters.

You have specified a keyword and rule in the Method field.

Click to open the rule.
Step Page

The context, or page for this step.

Enter a page name from the Pages & Classes tab or leave this field blank to use the primary page of this activity.

Depending on the scenario, you can use additional syntax:

  • Type "." followed by an embedded property of mode Page.
  • Type "." followed by the name of a Page List or Page Group property and an index (integer or name) in parentheses.
  • Omit the index and parentheses when a step is a loop iterating over a Page List or Page Group property.
  • Type a full property reference to iterate over an embedded property on a different page. For example, pagename.propertyname.

Most methods require a step page to exist. When using the Call or Branch keyword, you can only enter a page name with the same Applies To key part as this activity.
Description

Internal documentation.

Enter a brief description for other developers to understand what this step does.

No transition criteria exist.

Click to define how this step transitions to the next step or jumps to a later step.

Transition criteria exist.

Click to review or edit the transition criteria. Uncheck the Enable conditions after this action box to remove the transition criteria.

Removes a step in an activity.

Add a step

Inserts a new step below the step currently in focus.

 

Managing steps

Use these options to speed up development of your activity steps:

 

The API Version field is available when an activity does not use the latest Java version. Use the default value of 03-02 and save the rule form to remove this field.

 

Up About Activities

Open topic with navigation