Adding Stages to Taskflows

A stage describes a step in a taskflow. Each stage has an action, such as load data. These actions have parameters for which values are supplied at runtime.

You define a stage using these three tabs:

• General: Defines the stage name, description and user ID of the user responsible for completing the stage. The user can be an initiator, which is the owner of the first stage in the taskflow, or another user for the other stages.

• Processing: Defines the action to be performed when the stage is run and any required parameters.

• Starting Event: Defines the event that initiates the taskflow, and the scheduled times for the event to occur. The scheduled time is based on the time of the application server, not on the time of the local user's computer. You can schedule the taskflow to run according to a schedule such as weekly, monthly, at the first of the month, or so on. This tab is displayed only for the first stage in the taskflow. It displays the scheduled event (taskflow start time), or is disabled (for the manual start of a taskflow run by the Run Now option).

To add stages:

1. From the taskflow editor, click Add Stage.

   A new stage is displayed in the left pane, and stage details are displayed in the right pane. If stages exist in the taskflow, the new stage is created at the end of the taskflow.

   Figure 14-1 Task Automation General Tab

   
   
   
2. Select the General tab and enter this information:
   1. For Name, enter a stage name; for example, LoadData.

      Note:

      Stage names cannot contain spaces. The name can contain up to 30 characters.

   2. Optional: For Description, enter a taskflow description; for example, Load a monthly data file.
   3. From Run As, select UserName, and enter a username and password for the user who launches the taskflow.

      Note:

      Stage 1 requires that you enter a username and password. When you create future stages, you can select to run as the Initiator, which tells the system to use the user ID and password that was defined in Stage 1.

3. Select the Processing tab, and enter this information:
   1. From Application, select an application from which to run the task.
   2. From Action, select an action to perform; for example, LoadData.

      Note:

      See Financial Management Stage Actions and Parameters.

   3. From Type for each parameter, select Picklist, Text Box, or URL, depending on the action, and enter values for the parameter.

      For example, for the LoadData action, the Mode option contains a picklist from which you can select Merge, Accumulate, or Replace.

      To edit the Point of View, click Edit, then select members for the Point of View.

      For the data file and log file names and paths, you must manually enter the information in a text box. The taskflow is run from the server, so you must make sure that the file names and paths are valid and can be accessed from the server running the task. Therefore, you should not enter a path such as c:\file.dat that references your own hard drive. You must identify the computer name and share directory for the file using Universal Naming Convention (UNC); for example, \\HFMServer\share\path\file.dat.

      Figure 14-2 Sample Parameters for Load Data

      
      
      
4. Select the Starting Event tab, select Scheduled Event and enter this information:
   1. From Starting Event, select an event.

      The Server Date information is displayed for informational purposes.

      Figure 14-3 Task Automation Starting Event Tab

      
      
      
   2. For Start Date, enter the scheduled date for the task to be run, or click the pop-up calendar and select a date.
   3. From Start Time, select the scheduled time for the task to be run.

      Note:

      The scheduled time is based on the time of the application server, which is identified on the Server Date line, not on the time of the local user's computer.

   4. For a recurring task, select Recurrence, and from Recurrence Pattern, select the task frequency.
   5. Select an option for the task end date and time:

      • No End Date

      • End After occurrences, and enter the number of occurrences

      • End Date, enter an end date and select an End Time.

5. Optional: To add a stage, click Add Stage and complete the stage information for General and Processing.

   Note:

   The Starting Event tab is available only for the first stage. However you can schedule taskflows independent of creating stages by using the Schedule Taskflow functionality. See Scheduling Taskflows.