25.1.9.1.1 Deciding if Task Needs an Outcome

Choose an action task to track completion or an approval task to capture an outcome.

When you create a Task Definition shared component, as shown below, set the Type to Action Task to track only that an assignee has completed the task. Choose Approval Task instead to capture the actual owner's APPROVED or REJECTED outcome. If you realize later that you picked the wrong task type, then you'll need to try again by creating a new task definition. You can only set this property at create time.

Figure 25-23 Choosing an Action Task or Approval Task at Create Time



The task type determines the buttons end users will see in the Task List and Task Details pages when your app assigns them tasks to work on. As shown below, by default approval tasks display quick action buttons to approve or reject the task, while action tasks do not.

Figure 25-24 Approval Tasks Show Quick Action Buttons in the Task List



Similarly, while the default task detail page for an approval task shows (Approve) and (Reject) buttons, as shown below, the generated page for an action task has just a (Complete) button instead.

Figure 25-25 Action Tasks Have a (Complete) Button in Task Details Page