Setting workstep properties describes how you can add and configure activity, adapter and other workstep types in BPM Designer. Similarly, you can add and configure monitoring worksteps for tasks performed by external participants.
BPM Designer supports the following types of monitoring worksteps performed by external participants:
External Activity: This workstep is performed by an user, specified in the triggering event. In case the event does not include the performer's name, you can configure a default performer for this workstep.
Note: The name of the external performer, as well as the default performer, need not be defined in your monitoring process template.
External Adapter: This workstep is triggered and performed by an external system performer.
To add a monitoring workstep:
1. Create a Business Process using Progress Developer Studio for OpenEdge.
2. From the Tasks pane, click the Assign Participants link and expand the External folder.
a. To add an external activity workstep, drag the External User icon.
b. To add an external adapter workstep, drag the External Adapter icon.
Similar to activity and adapter worksteps, you can use the Properties view to configure workstep properties for the external activity and adapter worksteps.
From the General tab, you cannot assign or change the performer in the Performer box. This is because the performer is from the external system and need not exist in the current process template.
In addition to selecting an individual performer or dataslot, you can use the Default performer box to specify a performer, who does not exist in the current process template. For more information, see Default performer for monitoring workstep.
If you select the Wait For Activation checkbox, then the external activity workstep waits and processes the ACTIVATE_WORKSTEP event before proceeding with the COMPLETE_WORKSTEP event, even if it has arrived. If the Wait For Activation checkbox is not selected, then the workflow processes the event which comes first. For example, if COMPLETE_WORKSTEP event comes before ACTIVATE_WORKSTEP event, then it is processed and the ACTIVATE_WORKSTEP event is moved to invalid event table.
The General tab does not contain Priority, Presentation, Skippable, and Collect Work Time fields, as they are not applicable of a monitoring workstep.
You can use the Dataslots tab to add dataslots. For more information, see Using dataslots.
There is no Collaboration tab, because it is not required in a monitoring workstep.
The Advanced tab contains only the following tabs:
The Before Activation and When Completed tab, in which you can only enter the respective code to be executed.
The On Overdue tab does not contain the Change Performer and Complete workstep checkboxes.
You can also configure these properties by right-clicking on the external activity and external adapter worksteps and selecting Properties. For more information, refer to Workstep properties.
The Properties view is similar to that for an external activity workstep. The only exception is that there is no default performer, because this field is not applicable for an adapter workstep.
External Activity: This workstep is performed by an user, specified in the triggering event. In case the event does not include the performer's name, you can configure a default performer for this workstep.
