Activities

Activities are the actual process steps that are performed in a Workflow model. They represent the individual steps in the business process that the user is automating. Activities can be as simple as a Task List item requiring approval or as complex as a CDD report, a SQL activity or a VBScript that allows the user to insert their own code to perform complex functions in Workflow.

To add a new activity, select Insert > Activity. A series of windows assist the user with configuring various Activity settings. Alternatively, right-click the Workflow Designer canvas and select "Insert Activity."

To update an existing activity, right-click the activity and select "Edit Properties." The Activity Properties dialog displays the same settings as the new activity wizard, presented under three tabs:

General
Who, Action, and Wait
Transitions

General

The General tab holds the description of the activity. Workflow assign an activity ID for troubleshooting and activity organization.

Who, Action and Wait

The Who section on this tab must be set to a valid BusinessPlus Workflow-enabled user or a Workflow-enabled role. Likewise, an activity can be defined using the many conditions capability to route information to a variety of roles depending on the information being processed.

Who

Person: Assign the activity to an individual BusinessPlus user ID, final approver or the user triggering Workflow.
Group: Assign the activity to a Workflow-enabled role.
Many: In Workflow it is also possible to make assignments based on the information that is being processed. When the Many condition radio button is selected, the "Set Conditions…" button is enabled. Selecting it displays the "Multiple Conditions and Roles" dialog. See Many Conditions for more information.
None: Default setting for an activity. This is normally used since most Workflow activities do not require an individual at execution time. However, if an action is selected that requires the user's attention, the user is warned, and the activity definition is not accepted unless an assignment is made.

Execution Options
Do not skip activity if assignee notified already: The instance response will not skip any activities even if the primary assigned has not been notified.

Group Assignment Options (1 only)
Assign to another if assignee notified already: Provides response handling; another user can be assigned even if the primary approver has already been notified.
Assign to the creator of instance if in group: Task List item is assigned to the creator of the Workflow model instance instead of a round-robin or primary selection.

Expiration Handling

Activities that require additional attention, either by an individual or by a process, are set to "pending" until the action is completed. This allows the Workflow engine to proceed with other processing until then. The expiration handling allows the user to define additional action when the action is not completed within a defined length of time.

Expires In: These fields allow the user to define the length of time to wait before taking another action. Units of time can be defined in minutes, hours, days, weeks and months. The amount can be a value from 1 to 99.
Upon Expiration: This field represents the action that the Workflow engine will take upon expiration of the activity.

Retry Forever. The original activity is marked as obsolete and a new activity is executed with a new expiration time each time the activity expires.
Retry Once, then Expire. Similar to the Retry Forever action with the exception that the activity is allowed to expire after running once. If the activity contains an exit transition based on an Expired condition, the Workflow model will execute this transition. If not, it will execute either an error exit transition, any unconditional transition, or look for an error handler activity.
Retry Once, then Reject. Similar to the Retry Forever action with the exception that the activity is set to Rejected. If the activity contains an exit transition based on the Rejected condition, the Workflow model will execute this transition. If not, it will execute either a Rejected exit transition or look for a rejection handler activity.
Retry Once, then Error. Similar to the Retry Forever action with the exception that the activity will be set to Error. If the activity contains an exit transition based on the Error condition, the Workflow model will execute this transition. If not, it will execute either an Error exit transition or look for an error handler activity.
Retry with another User in Role. This option only appears in the drop-down when the assignment is for a Workflow group or set to a Many condition. When this option is set, the activity is assigned to the next available user in the Workflow group when an expiration occurs.
Do Not Retry – Leave as Expired. When the activity expires, it is not re-executed but marked as Expired. If the activity contains an exit transition based on an Expired condition, the Workflow model will execute this transition. If not, it will execute either an Error exit transition, any unconditional transition, or look for an error handling activity.
Do Not Retry – Leave as Rejected. When the activity expires, it is not re-executed but marked as Rejected. If the activity contains an exit transition based on the Rejected condition, the Workflow model will execute this transition. If not, it will execute either a Rejected exit transition or look for a rejection handler activity.
Do Not Retry – Leave as Error. When the activity expires, it is not re-executed but marked as an Error. If the activity contains an exit transition based on the Error condition, the Workflow model will execute this transition. If not, it will execute either an Error exit transition or look for an error handler activity.

Ignore Regular Business Hours: When set, the next expiration does not adjust to the regular business hours.

Action

An action is the Workflow activity that is performed at execution time of an instance. Use the Settings button to specify activity-specific information.

Action	Description
None	Used for activities that are set up as a decision point within a Workflow model.
C#	In BusinessPlus Build 7.10 and up, C# Workflow activities were enhanced to provide further code references and capabilities. Assembly references and statements: External DLL references adjust dynamically when viewed in the C# activity settings dialog in Workflow Designer or when run in the Workflow model Based on the server registry setting "LocalDir" Enhanced C# editor: Provides initial comment structure in the editor window Increased drop-down boxes for longer method definitions Initiates method types for void Method() and void Run() Ability to add/delete method types Editor provides source code validation In the C# Workflow activity, two additional external references were added that are referenced by the code: The first external reference is to the IFAS.Interop The second external reference is now caught to the redesign in the BT50WF Project C# Workflow Activity See C-Sharp Activity Setup for more information.
Call Web Service Method	In a Web Service, Workflow will utilize WSDL for object-oriented Web-based interface to the database server.
CDD Report	The CDD Report activity in Workflow allows the Workflow model to run a predefined CDD report upon execution. This activity can be included in any type of Workflow model (i.e., table triggered, Web Form triggered, process triggered or time triggered). However, its true strength is the ability to run CDD Reports on a scheduled basis and upon completion, take the results and move the output into Document Online, where users can view the report at their leisure. Therefore, the CDD Report activity should currently be accompanied by a Document Online activity within the Workflow model. See CDD Report Activity Setup for more information.
cXML Send	cXML(cXML (Commerce eXtensible Markup Language) intended for communication of business documents between procurement applications, e-commerce hubs and suppliers. cXML is based on XML and provides formal XML schemas for standard business transactions, allowing programs to modify and validate documents without prior knowledge of their form. The current protocol includes documents for setup (company details and transaction profiles), catalogue content, application integration (including the widely used PunchOut feature), original, change and delete purchase orders and responses to all of these requests, order confirmation and ship notice documents (cXML analogues of EDI 855 and 856 transactions) and new invoice documents.
Documents Online	The Document activity in Workflow allows the Workflow model to route temporary document files to Documents Online. These temporary files can be either the output of a process that has been redirected to a process-triggered model, or the output of a Workflow CDD report activity. It allows the user to take output that would normally have to be printed immediately or viewed on a terminal and create a document in Documents Online which can be viewed at a later date. After routing the output into Documents Online, the Document ID is passed back to the activity and saved with the Model instance data. This can be used later by the Workflow model in a Task List or E-Mail Activity as a link to the document viewer. See Documents Online Activity Setup for more information.
Email (Notify)	The Workflow E-Mail activity allows the user to send emails to a variety of defined user IDs in a multitude of ways. This ranges from simply sending an email to a default ID assigned in the activity dialog along with the Workflow-generated subject and message (default), all the way to importing the email addresses from model instance information along with customizing the subject and email body with imported model data. Defined user IDs must have a valid email address in their NU Manage Users record. When an Email Notify activity is executed, one or more emails are generated depending on the settings and sent to the email addresses defined. If the Workflow engine fails to connect to the email server, an error condition is set and the email activity is postponed and attempted later. If an error occurs due to other reasons such as an empty list of recipients, empty email body or invalid email address, the E-Mail Notify activity fails and the model follows the error path. See Email Notify Setup for more information.
Email (Response Required)	The E-Mail Response Required action is not like the E-Mail Notify action and should not be confused. The E-Mail Response Required action is intended for clients that prefer an email notification instead of a Task List action. The information that the BusinessPlus ID assigned to the activity action receives is very similar to the information that is contained on the Workflow Task List page. The user needs to reply to the email notification with an approval or rejection. This is picked up by the Workflow Engine and is used to set the status of the activity. When replying, the following format is required: Reply to the same email notification To approve, reply and type Y, YES, or OK in the first line To reject, reply and type N or NO in the first line To add a comment, type up to 255 characters on subsequent lines delimited by double square brackets. For example: [[this is an official comment to the e-mail response]] Users can also approve/reject instances from the Workflow task list when the activity type is set to Email Response Required in case there are issues with the email server or if they are already in the system.
Job Execute	Ability to create job activities using BT30 Objects. Activity results in an email being sent to the email address of the BusinessPlus ID that the activity resolves to at execution time. The action is similar to the Task List selection in that the user must provide a response to Workflow for the Model Instance to be further processed.
Process	The Process action allows intervention other than approvals. One of the primary uses is to allow users to process documents attached to imaging while on the pertinent BusinessPlus page (Invoices – Open Hold). These documents can be anything captured using Imaging, including scanned invoices, resumes, excel files and PDF documents. In the Process Properties dialog, the Process field presents the BusinessPlus page that will be used to enter the information for the process. Additional options can be entered in the Options text area. Once the Workflow Engine executes the Process Activity, the document becomes available to the BusinessPlus page it was defined for in the Process Properties dialog box. When the associated ASP page is displayed, the document information will be displayed so that the appropriate entry can be made for it. When data entry is complete, the data is used to attach the document according to the attachment definitions that have been previously set up in the Administrative Console, Documents Online, Attach Definitions. It is then linked to the BusinessPlus page so that when the record is brought up in browse mode, the document is now linked to it. It can be viewed via the image viewer and is available for CDD Reports.
SIF (School Interoperability Framework)	The SIF activity allows the user to take a Workflow model triggered by an HR Employee table record (BT20.HREmpmstr) and send the change in employee information to a ZIS defined Web Site. The Workflow model should process data for each life flow to ensure that any changes to the employee flows through the ZIS Web site. When triggering through the BusinessPlus page, it is not necessary to adhere to any particular Workflow model naming convention. See SIF Activity Setup for more information.
SQL List	Allows the user to generate additional information when processing information in a Workflow model instance. This activity is being phased out and replaced by the SQL Query action.
SQL Query	See SQL Query Setup for more information.
Table Updates	User is able to define simple inserts and updates to BusinessPlus tables using Workflow model instance information. See Table Updates Activity Setup for more information.
Task List (Response Required)	Creates approve, reject or forward task list and forward notification to the primary or backup approver. Task List item will be entered in Workflow menu, Mask Options under task list or the user can provide response via BusinessPlus email reply (Yes, Y, N, No on the first line of the reply + Include notes in second line in double brackets. Please note there is a limit of 255 characters.
Update Dataset	Update database for selected tables.
VBScript	VBScript code is allowed to be entered in a Workflow activity. Depending on the activity requirement, a VBScript could perform a wide range of actions for the Workflow model instance. See VBScript Activity Setup for more information.
Webform Document	Web Forms action(s) for delivery/process of a new Web forms.

When

This section allows the user to define when to execute an activity. Each Workflow model instance contains counters that represent the data count and life count of a Workflow model instance. Each time a Workflow model is triggered for a Workflow instance, the data count is bumped by one. If the Workflow instance enters a Workflow model at the beginning (meaning it is the first time entering the model, or it has already successfully completed processing by a Workflow model) the life count is bumped up by one.

Restrict Access

Leaving the default value of "No change in access" defines the access level as unchanged. Since it is always initially free access for anyone that is qualified, there is no need to change it. This field defines when to restrict access to the information being processed. Access is typically restricted once the point has been reached when the information has been processed and can no longer change at the entry point (BusinessPlus mask). Other options include: Allow access to all, Allow access only to pending/future approvals, and Pending approval access only.

External States

Set State to: This field allows a state of reference in the instance. This is only utilized when the Workflow model must be in certain state such as:

All entry transitions must qualify under certain condition defined.
Exit – In specified order, stop after first qualifying transition, etc.