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Chapter 2 Process Instances

Netscape Application Server: Process Automation Edition (PAE) provides several forms for managing process instance and work item data. You can get a listing of all that match a set of criteria, you can administer a specific process instance or work item, and you can get statistics on both process instances and work items.

This chapter describes these topics:


About Process Instances and Work Items
A process instance is an instance of a deployed Process Builder application that has been initiated by an end user in Process Express. For example, if a user wants to issue a request for time off, they could initiate a new time off request in Process Express. When they do this, a new instance of the Time Off application is created in the database. This application consists of several tasks, called work items, each of which is assigned to a different user. (In Process Builder, work items are referred to as activities.) For example, an employee, her manager, and her HR representative may be assigned to different activities in a process map in Process Builder. In Process Express, each has their assigned task appear as work item in their work list. As each person completes their assigned task, the request is routed to the next assignee's work list as a work item that they must act upon. Each time the process instance moves to a new work item, is accepted, or is completed, the process instance and work item states are updated internally.

PAE 4.0 has the concept of parallel processing and subprocesses. When a parallel processing application such as Office Setup is initiated by an end user in Process Express, a single process instance can have many work items that are active simultaneously. This results in a one-to-many relationship between the process instance and its work items, and they can be in different states. For example, a process instance may be open and in a running state, but one of its work items could be suspended.

When a parent process arrives at the subprocess activity in the process map, it generates a subprocess. A single work item is created in the parent process to track the subprocess as a whole. This work item is unusual in that no one is assigned to the task, but it allows the Process Engine to track the start and end of the subprocess, so that it knows when to continue with the other activities in the process. In addition to the single subprocess work item in the parent process, individual work items are created as usual for each defined subprocess activity as the subprocess continues through its own defined process.


At any given time, a process instance or its work items can be in one of several different states. As business manager, you can move them from one state to another. For example, you may want to suspend a particular process instance when an assigned user ID is no longer valid.

Note
When you change the state of a process instance, you may be affecting the state of its constituent work items. For example, when you suspend a process instance, all of its work items are also suspended. When you resume the process instance, the work items are also resumed. The reverse is not true: When you suspend a work item, the parent process instance is not also suspended.

Table 2.1 Process instance state definitions
State Name
Description
Open:
running
The process instance has been created and is executing according to the process map. There is no exception or error condition
suspended
The process instance is unavailable, and assignees cannot take any action on it until the process has returned to the running or active state.

Note: When you suspend a process instance, all of its work items are also suspended and are inaccessible. When you resume the process instance, the work items are also resumed.
Closed:
completed
The process instance has finished normally without manual intervention.
terminated
The process instance is aborted before its normal completion. This also terminates all the work items associated with the process instance.

As with process instances, at any given time, a work item can be in one of several different states. As business manager, you can move them from one state to another. For example, you may want to suspend a particular work item when an assigned user ID is no longer valid. When you suspend a work item, you do not affect the other work items in the process instance nor do you affect the state of the process instance itself. Completed work items are removed immediately from the database, so they are no longer in any state.

Table 2.2 Work item state definitions
State Name
Description
Open:
available
The work item has been created but is not yet owned by anyone. The assignee (or one of a group of possible assignees) for a work item has not yet accepted it.
active
The assignee (or one of a group of possible assignees) for a work item has accepted the work item.
suspended
The work item is unavailable, and assignees cannot take any action for it until it has returned to the running or active state. The work item can be suspended on its own or as part of a process instance.

Note: If the process instance that the work item is part of has been suspended, all of its work items are also suspended. When the process instance is resumed, the work item is also resumed.

As business manager, you can make some state changes for open process instances and work items, but not for closed ones. The table here identifies the permitted state changes.

Table 2.3 Permitted process instance and work item state changes
Can change from:
To these new states:
running
suspended, terminated (process instances)
active (process instances)
available (work items)
suspended, terminated (process instances)
suspended
resumed to previous state, terminated (process instances)

Although expiration is not a state, a work item can be flagged as expired. Timer agents periodically check for expired work items. A work item can become expired if it has an expiration setter script set up for it in Process Builder and it has not been acted upon in Process Express before the date indicated in the script.

The Process Builder designer can use expiration setter scripts to define an absolute or a relative expiration date for each work item. The designer can define a change of state as part of a work item's expiration handler script. A typical example is that upon expiration a work item's state changes to a suspended or terminated state.

Whenever a timer finds an expired work item, it is flagged as expired in Process Express and in Process Business Manager with a small flag icon in the Due Date column. You can extend the expiration date for any work item that has passed its expiration date. See Administering a Work Item for more information.


Managing Process Instances
You can view and modify the process instances in your cluster. You can obtain a list of process instances by defining a set of search criteria such as by user, by application, across all applications in cluster, for specific creation or modification time periods, by expiration date, or by state.

Note. All existing process instances disappear if a process developer revises, then redeploys, an application that has been previously deployed to development. This does not occur to applications deployed to production; process developers cannot add or delete data fields to applications deployed to production.

This section includes these topics:

To manage your process instances, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Process Business Manager at http://yourServer/Business.apm.

  2. Click the Process Instances tab. The Find Process Instances page is displayed.

  3. You can enter search criteria for process instances (for details, see the next section, Finding Process Instances):

  4. Click Find when you have entered your criteria to display a list showing all matching process instances.
Finding Process Instances
You can get a list of process instances based on the values you enter for one or more of these fields. For more general, conceptual information, see About Process Instances and Work Items.

Note
If you enter no find criteria, all range fields default to "all-inclusive." Whatever criteria you specify are ANDed together, limiting the search to those process instances that fit all the criteria. If you enter a value in only the first part of a range, the criterion for that range becomes "after and including that data point." Likewise, if you only enter a value in the second part of a range, the criterion for that range becomes "up to and including that data point."

Figure 2.1    The Find Process Instances page

From application. Select "Any Application" or a specific application from the drop-down list.

Initiated by user. Enter the user ID of a Process Express end user.

Initiated between. Enter a from and to range of dates formatted as mm/dd/yyyy [hh:mi:ss]. Note that this field uses a 24-hour clock.

Last modified between. Enter a from and to range of dates formatted as mm/dd/yyyy [hh:mi:ss]. Note that this field uses a 24-hour clock.

With the state. Select "Open State" or a specific state from the drop-down list.

The Process Instances List
Once you submit your process instance criteria, the PAE displays a list of all process instances that meet your criteria.

Figure 2.2    The Process Instances List

 The columns of data for the listing are:

Administering a Process Instance
You can select an open process instance from the listings page and administer it by changing its state.

To administer a process instance, follow these steps:

  1. Click the link for a specific process instance in the Process Instances List page. The Display Process Instance page is displayed.

  2. Choose one or more actions for that process instance.

  3. Click Perform Actions when you are done.

    4. Figure 2.3    The Display Process Instance page

This page allows you to change the process instance's state.

Changing the State of a Process Instance
You can change the state of open process instances, but you can only change them to certain other states. See Table 2.3 for details.

To change a process instance's state:

  1. Click the radio button that reflects your choice:

  2. Click Perform Actions to change the state.
Viewing Details and History
The heading of the Display Process Instance page includes a link to the Details and History page. This provides a detailed history of every action users have performed for every work item for the process instance.

To view the details and history page:

  1. Go to Process Business Manager at http://yourServer/Business.apm.

  2. Click the Process Instances tab.

  3. Enter search criteria and click Submit.

  4. Click a process instance link on the Process Instances List. This displays the Display Process Instance page.

  5. Click the View Details & History link in the heading at the top of the page. This displays the details and history for that process instance.

  6. Close the window when you are done.

    7. Figure 2.4    The Details and History page
Managing Work Items
You can view and modify the work items for the process instances in your cluster. You can obtain a list of work items by defining a set of search criteria such as by user, by application, across all applications in cluster, for specific creation or modification time periods, by expiration date, or by state.

This section includes these topics:

To manage your work items, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Process Business Manager at http://yourServer/Business.apm.

  2. Click the Process Instances tab. The Find Process Instances page is displayed.

  3. Click the Search on Work Items link. The Find Work Items page is displayed.

  4. You can enter search criteria for work items (for details, see the next section, Finding Work Items):

  5. Click Find when you have entered your criteria to display a list showing all matching work items.
Finding Work Items
You can get a list of work items based on the values you enter for one or more of these fields.

Figure 2.5    The Find Work Items page

From application. Select "Any Application" or a specific application from the drop-down list.

Assigned to user. Enter the user ID of a Process Express end user.

Expired between. Enter a from and to range of dates formatted as mm/dd/yyyy [hh:mi:ss]. Note that this field uses a 24-hour clock. This applies only to the work items of open process instances.

Show only work items that have expired. This checkbox allows you to limit the listing to only those work items that have expired. This applies only to the work items of open process instances.

With the state. Select "Any State" or a specific state from the drop-down list.

The Work Item List
Once you submit your work item criteria, PAE displays a list of all work items that meet your criteria.

Figure 2.6    The Work Items List page

 The columns of data for the listing are:

Administering a Work Item
You can select an open work item from the listings page and perform additional administrative actions upon it. If you choose to perform more than one administrative action, and one of the actions is to move the work item to another activity, the move operation is executed first.

The administrative page, Display a Work Item, can be displayed in two formats: the administrative portion alone or a form with the administrative portion at the bottom. If no form was defined for the administrator by the designer in Process Builder, then only the administrative portion is displayed. If a form was defined, then that form is displayed with a section at the bottom where you can perform administrative actions.

To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Click the link for a specific work item in the Work Item List page. This displays the Display a Work Item page for that work item.

  2. Choose one or more actions for that work item.

  3. Click Perform Actions when you are done.

    4. Figure 2.7    The Display and Administer a Work Item page

The choices for actions you can perform are:

This page allows you to change the work item's state.

Changing the State of a Work Item
You can only change the state of open work items, and you can only change them to certain other states. See Table 2.3 for details.

To change a work item's state:

  1. Click the radio button that reflects your choice:

  2. Click Perform Actions to change the state.
Extending the Expiration Date
You can extend the expiration date for an open work item if its due date has already passed.

To extend the work item's due date:

  1. Enter the new expiration date in the format MM/DD/YY [hh:mm:ss]. The date or time must be in the future.

  2. Click Perform Actions to extend the work item's due date.
Moving to a Different Activity
You can change the current work item to any other activity that is defined for the application. That is, you can switch to an activity that is further along in the process definition or to one that precedes the current activity. You can move to a different activity even if the current activity is unfinished.

For parallel processing applications, you can only change to an activity that is on the same processing branch as the current work item.

Note. Switching the current work item can damage the integrity of your application data because you may skip a critical step or you may perform another step twice. You must understand the consequences and define possible remedies as needed before making a switch. You need to be sure that this process instance can still complete or you may have to manually terminate the individual process instance.

To move the work item to another activity:

  1. Choose an activity from the drop-down list. Process Business Manager only displays the activities that are defined for this process instance.

  2. Click Perform Actions to change the activity.
Note
No notification goes to the initiator or to the previous assignee about the switch.

Delegating to Another User
You can reassign an open work item to another user.

To delegate the work item:

  1. If you know the user ID for the person or group to whom you want to reassign the work item, enter it here.

  2. If you do not know the user ID or group ID, click on the Find User icon. This displays the Find User page.

    3. Figure 2.8    The Find User page

  3. Enter a partial name and click Search. This displays a second Find User page that lists all matching user IDs.

  4. Select a user from the displayed list and click Select. This returns you to the Display and Administer a Work Item page.

  5. Click Perform Actions to delegate the activity.
 

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