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Using the Run External Programs Type

The External Programs Arguments applet appears if a Run External workflow policy program type is selected in the Actions applet. An example of a Run External Program is described in Example of a Workflow Policy Action: Creating a Run External Program Action.

Run External Arguments and Values

Table 39 shows the arguments and valid values for the Run External workflow policy program.

Table 39.  Run External Workflow Policy Program Type
Argument
Valid Values When Used by Action

Executable Name

Path and name of executable to run. For example, the executable will launch from the Siebel Server.

The executable can be a batch program.

Command Line

The command line to use. The parameters that you want to pass to the executable.

Execute Type
  • Wait. Workflow Policies waits for the external program to complete and examines the return code of the external program. If the return code is not 0, an error condition occurs.
  • No Wait. Workflow Policies executes the external program in the background and then continues processing. The return code is not checked.

Note that for Visual Basic programs which create files, set Execute Type to Wait to avoid possible corruption of files. When set to No Wait, Visual Basic attempts to write files twice, thus corrupting the data.

Available Substitutions

Dynamic fields that can be used as command line parameters. When the action executes, the substitution value is populated with the value from the record in violation.

If no path is supplied for the Executable Name argument, the executable is assumed to be in the current path of Workflow Policies running on the Siebel Server. For example, your Siebel Server may be installed on C:\siebsrvr. The default path for the executable name would be C:\siebsrvr\bin.

NOTE:  The external program cannot be one that is interactive, requires a user interface, or accesses the Windows desktop.

    
Siebel Business Process Designer Administration Guide