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About Process Properties and Property Sets

Siebel workflow uses a structure known as the property set to pass data to and from a workflow process step. A property set is a hierarchical structure that contains name/value pairs, known as properties, at each level in the hierarchy. A process property is a container used to store data associated with the property set.

Figure 13 illustrates how a process property works within a workflow process.

Figure 13. How Process Properties Are Used Within a Workflow Process

Example usage within a workflow process is described in the following sequence:

1. A process property is used to send data to Workflow Step 1 as an input argument.
2. Workflow Process Step 1 manipulates the data according to its internal configuration.
3. An output argument on Workflow Step 1 sends data from the step to the process property.
4. An input argument on Workflow Step 2 provides a way to bring the data manipulated in Step 2 into Workflow Step 2 where it can be manipulated according to the internal configuration defined for workflow Step 2.

The process property therefore manages property sets in two ways, as described in Table 13.

Initial Process Property Values

When a workflow process is started, process properties of type string, number, or date with an In/Out type of In or In/Out are initialized to the input property with the same name, if one exists. Hierarchy process properties with an In/Out type of In or In/Out are initialized with child input property sets that have a matching name. Process properties with their Default String set to [Value] are initialized with the value in the Value property of the input property set.

Concluded Process Property Values

When a workflow process concludes, process properties of type string, number, or date with an In/Out type of In or In/Out are stored as properties in the output property set. Hierarchy process properties with an In/Out type of In or In/Out are stored as child property sets. If a process property with the name [Value] is defined, the property's value is stored in the Value property of the output property set.

NOTE:  The process property [Value] can also be used to pass binary data in a Sub Process step. The subprocess input argument [Value] can be initialized with data in the main process then retrieved in the Sub Process step.

For more information, see Passing Data To and From a Workflow Process.