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Adding a User Interact Step

The user interact step is a type of workflow process step that allows you to control the flow of Siebel views that Siebel CRM displays in the client. It can guide the user through a flow of Siebel views according to user interactions or according to a defined set of actions. Siebel CRM can modify this flow as the business environment changes.

The user interact step can use a process property as an input argument. It can use this argument to dynamically set view names in an interactive workflow process.

To add a user interact step

1. Add a user interact step to a workflow process.

   For more information, see Adding a Step to a Workflow Process.

2. Make sure the step you added in Step 1 is still chosen in the Process Designer.
3. In the Properties window, set the User Interact View property.

   At run-time, Siebel CRM displays the view you set in the User Interact View property in the client.

4. If the user interact step requires conditional logic, then define a decision condition.

   You can define a decision condition on one or more connectors that emanate from the user interact step. For more information, see Configuring a Decision Condition.

5. If the workflow process is interactive, then make sure the branch that emanates from the user interact step is associated with a run-time event.

   For more information, see Defining a Run-Time Event for a User Interact Step.

Behaviors of the User Interact Step

A user interact step does the following:

• Sends a request to the Siebel Web Engine to create the view, and then display this view in the client. The Siebel Web Engine can create only one view at a time. You cannot combine a user interact step with another action, such as displaying a message box or simultaneously creating another view. You cannot simultaneously use a UserInteract step and start a task UI.
• Waits in the user session memory for a run-time event to resume processing. If a run-time event is not defined, then the workflow process resumes.
• If the user manually navigates out of the view that the user interact step displays, then the workflow process remains in the user session memory. Siebel CRM deletes this workflow process instance from memory when it terminates the user session or if it starts another workflow process in the same user session.
• If not already in the run state, then the user interact step queries the primary business component of the business object that the workflow process references. This query searches for a record where the row ID matches the value that the Object Id property contains.
• If the user interact step includes conditional logic, then Siebel CRM resumes the workflow process after the user interact step finishes. It resumes the workflow process only if the record ID of the run-time event that is registered in the decision condition matches the value that the Object Id process property contains.

Restrictions for Using a User Interact Step

The following restrictions apply if you define a user interact step:

• A workflow process that runs in the Workflow Process Manager server component must not contain a user interact step. If the workflow runs in background mode or in batch mode, then it cannot include a user interact step.
• Siebel CRM supports the user interact step only if a script or a run-time event starts the workflow process, and only if it runs this workflow process locally in the Application Object Manager.
• You cannot use the user interact step to display or start the Search Center.
• The user interact step or any activity that starts in the background must not interfere with the work that the user is performing.

Defining a Run-Time Event for a User Interact Step

A branch that emanates from a user interact step in an interactive workflow process must be associated with a run-time event. An error occurs during validation if each of the following statements are true:

• The Workflow Mode property of the workflow process is set to Interactive Flow.
• The workflow process contains a user interact step and a run-time event is not defined on the outgoing branch.

To avoid this error, if your configuration does not require the run-time event in the user interact step, then you can change the Workflow Mode property of the workflow process to 7.0 Flow. For more information, see Setting the Workflow Mode Property.

Configuring a User Interact Step to Set a View Name

You can associate the name of a view with a process property so that Siebel CRM can set this view name dynamically at run time.

To configure a user interact step to set a view name

• Enter the following string in the User Interact View property of a user interact step:

  [&ProcessPropertyName]

  The Workflow Engine recognizes this string and assigns the view name at run time.