Some Events Wait For Something Before They Activate

Consider this scenario - you want an overdue event to create a To Do entry so a user can authorize the next phase of an overdue process. When this event activates, the event's activation algorithm will create a To Do entry, but it will NOT transition the event to complete. Rather, the overdue event will exist in the waiting state. While in the waiting state, the Overdue Event Manager will monitor the state of the To Do entry. When the To Do entry completes, the original overdue event can transition to the complete state and then latter dependent events can be triggered. The following points describe how to configure the system to support this type of event:

The event type's Event Activation algorithm should behave as follows:

It creates the object on which the overdue event waits.
It must link this object to the overdue process by creating a log entry where the prime-key of the related object is referenced (in a foreign-key characteristic). This log entry should also reference the event.
It should leave the overdue event in the waiting state.

The event type must have a Monitor Waiting Event algorithm. This algorithm is invoked each time the Overdue Event Manager executes. If the related object has transitioned to a "final" state, the originating overdue event is transitioned to the complete state (and then latter dependent events are triggered).

Note:

Bottom line. Two algorithms must be set up on an overdue event type to implement waiting functionality: an Event Activation algorithm that creates the monitored object and a Monitor Waiting Event algorithm to check on the state of the monitored object. The Overdue Event Manager has the dual responsibility of activating the event and monitoring its related object for completion (and then triggering the dependent events when it completes).

While the above example illustrated how an overdue event could create and then monitor a To Do entry, you can use this functionality to create and monitor any object that has an initial and final state. If the base product does not contain the algorithms you need, simply develop new ones using the base-product algorithms as examples.