Define interview screen flow

Define interview screen flow

By default, the screen order in an interview is primarily driven by the question search. There are times, however, when you may want the interview to follow a very precise screen flow (for example, if modeling a claim form). To enable this, you can define a Screen Flow in Oracle Policy Modeling in which you draw the flow diagrams which represent the process or series of steps through your investigation. In this way you can have a screen flow which is completely independent of the rulebase.

What do you want to do?

Create a new screen flow

Edit a screen flow

Create a new screen flow

Before you create a screen flow, first create a folder in which to store the flow:

  1. In your screens file, right-click the *.xint filename in the screens view.
  2. Select New Folder from the pop-up menu.
  3. Enter an appropriate name for your folder (eg "Screen Flows").

To create a screen flow:

  1. Right-click the screen flows folder in your screens file.
  2. Select New Screen Flow from the pop-up menu.



    The following dialog will appear: 

 

The left hand pane shows the various tabs that you use to select which shapes to add to the flow diagram in the right hand pane.

 

There are several steps involved in creating a typical flow as follows:

 

A flow must start with a Start shape and end with an End shape.

Any errors that have been detected in the flow are shown by . To see a list of all errors, click on the link in the top right hand corner of the Screen Flow dialog.

 

After completing your flow, the flow needs to be added to the summary screen for the project so that it can be accessed in a Oracle Web Determinations investigation. For details on how to add the flow to the summary screen, see Add a screen flow to the summary screen.

Name the flow

The name of a flow is referenced by the summary screen and other flows. To change the flow name, enter a new name in the Title text field of the New Screen Flow dialog box.

NOTE: Flow names must be unique across all flows to allow references to subflows.

Add a public name for the flow if appropriate, in the Public Name field.

Add screens to the screen flow

Interview screens can only be created using the standard interface within Oracle Policy Modeling. In your screen flow you can reference these screens.

To add an existing screen from Oracle Policy Modeling to your flow, follow these steps:

  1. Click the Screens tab in the Screen Flow dialog box. This will show all the screens for the selected entity (the entity is shown in the top right hand of the Screen Flow dialog box).



  2. Select the screen you want to add to your flow. You can search or filter the list by typing in the Search text box.
  3. Drag the screen to the diagram and place it just under the shape that it should flow from.



  4. Drag between shapes to join them.



Add decision points to the screen flow

You can add conditions in your screen flow that control whether or not a path in the flow is taken. A condition is an attribute and the attribute value controls which path is taken. Each condition is called a decision point and is represented in the flow with a decision shape.


To add a decision point to your flow:

  1. Click the Decisions tab in the Screen Flow dialog box.



  2. Select the attribute you want to add to your flow. You can search or filter the list by entering part of the attribute text or ID in the Search text box.
  3. Drag the attribute to just under the shape that it should flow from in the diagram.



  4. Drag from the decision shape to its related shapes to connect them.



  5. For each connection that flows from a decision shape, double-click the connection and type a value condition. Then press Enter.



A condition can just be a straight value (eg true|false|"cat"). For number, date, date and time and time of day attributes, a condition can also be preceded by a comparison. For more information on what value conditions can be applied to different attribute types, see Value conditions for screen flow connections.

If no conditions are provided for a decision point, the attribute will be investigated and then the flow will continue on from that point.

NOTES:

  1. When a screen flow is executed, if it reaches a decision shape where the attribute is unknown, it will trigger an investigation of that goal using the default screen order. If an attribute is required that doesn’t appear in the screen order, then it will use the question search to investigate the attribute. It is best practice to have the screen flow for a rulebase fully specified, therefore avoiding the need for the question search to drive the screens.
  2. You can also have a decision shape with the condition "unknown" and it will be taken when the value is unknown instead of investigating the goal. If you don’t have any such condition, the goal is investigated as described above.
  3. If the text of a condition is blank or "else" or "otherwise", then this is the 'catch all' connection that is used if none of the other conditions are fulfilled.

Choose the entity that the screen flow operates within

Screen flows all belong to a specific entity, and all screens in the flow must belong to that entity. The entity for the flow is shown in the top right hand corner of the Screen Flow dialog box.



If you want to show a screen for another entity, you must call a subflow (see below) and specify the relationship for that flow. When the (primary) flow is executed, the sub-flow will be executed once for each target of the relationship.

Add subflows to the screen flow

Subflows are separate flows that can be added to the primary screen flow. A subflow is created in exactly the same way as a normal screen flow.

If you want to have a different entity in your screen flow you must use a subflow to access that entity. When the (primary) flow is executed, the subflow will be executed once for each target of the relationship.

To include a subflow in the screen flow:

  1. Click the Flows tab in the Screen Flow dialog box.
  2. Select the Relationship for the subflow. The list of flows will change to reflect the flows available for that particular relationship.
  3. Select the (sub) flow that you want to add to your (parent) flow. You can search or filter the list by typing in the Search text box.
  4. Drag the flow to just under the shape that it should flow from in the diagram.
  5. Drag from the flow shape to its related shapes to connect them.

NOTE: There can be no cyclical references in shapes, ie A requires B and B requires A.

Edit a screen flow

Once you have started creating a screen flow you will want to move and change the appearance of shapes (screens, decisions, connections etc) in the editing pane to make the flow easier to understand.

Move a shape

To move a shape in a screen flow:

  1. In the flow diagram, click anywhere on the shape to select it.



  2. Select the centre white square (the hand will change to a multi-directional arrow).



  3. Drag the shape to a new location in the editing pane.

Change the size of a shape

To change the size of a shape in a screen flow:

  1. In the flow diagram, click anywhere on the shape to select it.
  2. Use one of the white squares on the edges of the shape to drag that edge of the shape inwards or outwards.

Delete a shape

To delete a shape in a screen flow:

  1. In the flow diagram, click anywhere on the shape to select it.
  2. Press Delete.