Optionally, you can use these fields so that after the user selects the flow action and before the system displays the action frame the system invokes a data transform to copy clipboard data or starts an activity.
Field
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Description
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| Data Transform
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Optional. Enter the Name — the second key part — of a data transform. At runtime, the system applies the transform definition to the current primary page. Click Paramsto display the parameters specified on the Data Transform form's Parameters tab. Enter the values you want to pass to this data transform.
You can both run an activity and a data transform. The transform data processes first.
For an example, see PDN article 26383 Using a data transform in a flow action.
Caution: If at runtime this flow action has the highest likelihood, the form from this flow action form appears as the default when your application presents a Perform user form, and the data transform runs. Keep this in mind and consider the consequences if the user then selects a different flow action.
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| Run Activity
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Optional. 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 flow diagram. If the activity uses parameters, click Params and enter parameter values. Select the Open icon  to open the rule.
Note: This activity runs s only once, the first time a user selects this flow action for this assignment. The activity runs only once even if the action area is redisplayed more than once — for example because inputs that users submitted the first time failed validation. (The activity also runs when you use the toolbar Preview action.)
Caution: In this activity, do not perform a Commit operation and do not transfer the assignment. See PDN article 21740 Troubleshooting: Error:Assign Mismatch " when a Before This Action activity transfers a work item for details on these restrictions.
If this flow action is to support bulk processing, leave this field blank. Bulk processing cannot use a pre-processing activity.
The 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 shape name, such as ASSIGNMENT52 or UTILITY12) or select the previousEntryPoint box. Review the standard flow action Work-.Previous for an example.
Caution: If at runtime this flow action has the highest likelihood, the form from this flow action form appears as the default action when your application presents a Perform user form, and the activity runs. Keep this in mind and consider the consequences if the user then selects a different flow action.
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Define processing that is to occur after the user submits the action form. See PDN article When and how to set up "back-to-back" assignments for examples of how these fields can affect assignment routing and efficient operations.
Field
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Description
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| Apply Cost
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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.
Alternatively, 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();
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| Data Transform
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Optional. Enter the Name — the second key part — of a data transform. At runtime, the system applies the transform definition to the current primary page. If the transform uses parameters, click Params and enter parameter values.
Note: You can both run an activity and a data transform. The data transform processes first.
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| Run Activity
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Optional. 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.
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 (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 user form by referencing here an activity that sets the parameter param.Purpose to NoPurpose.
For screen flows only: By default, when this flow action appears as a step in a screen flow, and the user at runtime clicks away to a different step in the screen flow, this activity 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? check box on the Assignment shape properties panel. |
| Look for an assignment to perform?
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Select to search next for another assignment for the same work item (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.
Clear this box to bypass the search.
As a best practice, select this box. In many situations, two or more assignments may be open for one work item, assigned to the same person.
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 item is familiar.
For example, a flow may require three items of outgoing correspondence to be edited and sent out. In the flow, a Split Join shape may cause the Pega 7 Platform 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?
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Select to search next for open assignments on this user's worklist from other flow executions active for the same work item.
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.
As a best practice, select this box. |
| If not found, look in flows on the cover object?
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Select to include, when searching for back-to-back assignments, open assignments for the cover work item to which this work item belongs.
The system finds and presents assignments on the current user's worklist 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.
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| For each also consider assignments in workbaskets?
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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 Assign-Workbasket.PerformCriteria defines these criteria.
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| If an assignment is not being performed
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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 item, using the harness identified in the next field. Typically, the new harness displays the results of processing or computations based on the user input. 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 user form, returning to an earlier workspace contents, such as the Process Work home view. No confirmation form appears. This setting applies only to Submit and Next/Finish buttons.
To close the form when clicking the Create button, use the If an assignment is not being performed on the Flow form's Process tab. See Flow form - Completing the Process tab.
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| Harness
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Optional. If you selected Show Harness in the previous field, select the Purpose key part of a harness to be used. Typically, a post-assignment harness has Confirm as the Purpose key part.
To force the user form to close, select the standard harness Work-.AutoClose. (This is equivalent to choosing Close Harness in the previous field.)
Caution: Don't specify a "Perform-type" harness here — one that presents the work item in read-write mode. |
Two check boxes in this area control the display of the flow action's default navigation buttons.
Checkbox
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Description
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| Hide the default Action Section buttons?
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Select to hide the default action section buttons. As an alternative, you can then provide custom navigation — such as buttons, drop-down menus, and links — in the body of the action section. For example, use pxButton and a Cancel action instead of Cancel.
Caution: If you check this check box but do not provide alternative navigation, users will not be able proceed in the process. |
| Customize the Action section button labels?
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When you check this check box, four text fields appear, which display the current values of the four default navigation buttons. Enter text that suits your requirements.
The buttons are:
- Submit — Submits the current work item. This button normally only appears in the last step of the flow action.
- Previous — Displays the previous step in the flow action, if one exists. This button only appears after the user has moved past the first step.
- Cancel — cancels the process and closes the flow action without saving any changes.
- Next — Displays the next step in the flow action, if one exists. This button does not appear in the last step of the flow action.
Caution: Do 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.
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Field
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Description
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| Used As
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Select Local Action, Connector Action, or Local and Connector to record your intent for the use of this flow action. - A local flow action may update the assignment and the work item, but retains the flow at the same assignment shape, allowing the current user (or another user in some cases) to choose another flow action. Local flow actions can be invoked from a modal window or from a flow action form.
- A connector flow action, corresponding to a connector arrow in the flow, updates the work item, completes the assignment and advances the work item in the flow. Typically, connector flow actions are invoked from a flow action form.
When a user selects Other Actions in a flow action form, a menu displays connector flow actions and local flow actions.
Alternatively, you can use auto-generated controls such as pxButton, pxLink, or pxIcon that users can click at runtime to invoke flow actions. A Connector Action can be invoked using the Perform Action control action. Local Action, and Local and Connector actions can be invoked using the Launch Local Action control action. See Harness and Section forms — Placing a button in a cell and Control form — Completing the Control tab. |
| Disqualify this action from bulk processing?
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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 Bulk Process Work tool available on the Case Manager portal). See Running flow actions in bulk .
Bulk processing is possible when these considerations are all met:
- The Before this Action... Run Activity field is blank.
- The flow 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 item at a time. To change the default setting, copy the flow action to your ruleset and make the change. |