Task Activity

Activity Description:

The Task Activity is used in a AVEVA Work Tasks workflow process design in order to assign a task to an actor or set of actors. This activity is used to define the task type and the associated status.

Application Scenarios:

A typical application scenario could be a Bug Tracking Workflow Process, in which bug fixing tasks will be assigned to developers. The task can have a drop-down that will function as a task completion maker. From the drop-down, the developer can select the status of the task, selecting "Closed" when the bug is fixed.

Workflow Variables for Task:

Steps to define variables for use in the Task activity

This section describes how to define variables for use in Task activities. It gives the syntax for creating the variables and typical examples for different cases.

Variables for capturing WorkItemIds

The Activityids for the Task work item can be retrieved using a variable of type array, with the following syntax:

'^'+CurrentActivity.Name+'WorkItemIds'.

For example, ^SolveNetworkIssueWorkItemIds

Variables for capturing All Actors' Details

The details of the actor(s) to whom the Task work item gets assigned can be accessed by declaring a variable of type array with the following syntax:

'^'+CurrentActivity.Name+'ActingUsers'

For example, ^SolveNetworkIssueActingUsers.

Variables for capturing Responding Actor Details

The details of the actor submitting the Task response can be accessed by declaring a variable of type actor with the following syntax:

'^'+HWSActivity.ActivityName+'RespondingUser'

For example, ^SolveNetworkIssueRespondingUser.

This variable stores the responded user information. If it is more than one user, it will retrieve the last user details.

Note: For single user, you can declare this variable as Resource type. If task is assigned to more than one user and to get all responded users information, then declare this variable as array.

Variables for capturing Comments

Comments entered in a Task can be retrieved using a variable with the following syntax:

'^'+_HWSActivity.ActivityName+'CommentTaskStatus'.

For example, if a comment entered along with a task response submission has to be retrieved from an activity named 'SolveNetworkIssue', add a variable with ^SolveNetworkIssueCommentTaskStatus as its name. The variable gets initialized with the comment entered by the resource after the activity submission.

Variables for assigning queue system variable

To assign queues instead of setting the queue through Assign Queue property, add a variable with a name prefixed by '^', with the following syntax:

"^"+ CurrentActivity.Name + "_QueueVariable".

For example, if the activity name is 'Approval1' then declare the variable as ^Approval1_QueueVariable in the Start activity with the Type as String. Using the "Update Variable" activity, assign the queue-id (GUID) for this variable in the workflow.

To assign multiple queues, specify the queue-ids with semicolon (;) separator. Skelta.HWS.Queue.QueueCollection class can be used to retrieve queue information.

Variable for Queue Acting Users

You can declare an array type variable to get updated information about the name of the actor to whom an activity gets assigned from a queue.

In the Workflow Variables, define the variable in the following format:

^+CurrentActivityName+'QueueActingUsers'

Ex: ^HRFormQueueActingUsers

HRForm is the activity name.

For example, the value of the user who acts on the HRForm activity will be stored in the variable. The Approval1 task will be assigned to the same user.

Variables for storing timeout warning value

Suppose, you want to store the timeout warning value for a task activity in your workflow. The naming convention for the system variable to be declared is

^<ActivityName>ResponseByWarningTimeout

The value returned by the variable will be in UTC format. For multiple user scenarios the highest timeout value calculated for a user will be available in the variable.

Activity Properties:

The Task activity has to be configured by specifying appropriate values for the different properties in the Activity Properties area. The Activity Properties can be accessed by clicking on the Activity Properties tool in the Tool Bar or by selecting the appropriate option from the right-click menu for the Task activity. The Activity Properties are organized under the following groups of related properties. The properties under each group are described in this topic.

Name & Description

The properties in the Name & Description group have been described below. You can use these properties to specify the name and description for the activity.

Name - This property can be used to specify a name for the activity.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary.)

Description - This property specifies a brief description to be displayed for the activity.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary.)

Display Name - This property specifies the name to be displayed for the activity in the Work Item List.

Property Type: Optional (This property need not be set if the display name is already configured in the Actions.xml. The name entered here overrides any display name that is configured for this activity in the Actions.xml file.)

Configuration

The properties in the Configuration group have been described below. You can use these properties to configure the functionality of the activity.

Delivery Channels - This property is used to specify the delivery channels to deliver this activity to the assigned actor(s). Multiple channels can be specified giving the actor(s) different options to act on the work item.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary.)

Steps to set the Delivery Channels property

1. To select the Delivery Channels, click the button for the 'Delivery Channels' property to open the property window.

2. In this window, the Delivery Channels that have been configured are listed on the left along with a check box against each channel. Click and select the check box corresponding to the channel you wish to select. You can select multiple channels by selecting the respective check-box.

3. Click the Save Channels button.

See Task - Delivery Channels for a detailed description of the Delivery Channels property window.

Select Task Type - You can define Task Type and Status under Select Task Type in a Task Assignment. The Status added under Task Types is used to maintain the status of the Task assigned.

Property Type: Mandatory (This property must be set for the activity to be used in the workflow.)

Attributes of the select Task Type property

• The user interface displays the Task Type and Status under them.

• Task Completion Maker functionality.

  • There can be a Task Completion Status associated with a Task Type. A Task Status marked as ! is said to be the Task Completion Status for the Task Activity.

  • The outcome of the Task Assigned is determined by the Task Completion Status tagged with Task Type.

  • Whenever a actor acts upon (submits) the Task, the engine is notified with the Task Completion Status of the Task, provided the status is marked as Task Completion status. For example, if the TASK COMPLETION Task Type has COMPLETED and ON-HOLD as status, and COMPLETED is tagged with the Task Completion Maker, then, when the Task is submitted with COMPLETED as the selected status, the engine is alerted about the 'COMPLETED' status and it executes the next process in the workflow.

• Edit and Delete options have been provided.

• First the actor clicks the Add New button. (The option to add more than one Task Type is also provided.)

• Then the actor has to enter the Task Type and the Number of Status to be added under the Task Type.

• For the Task Type, the actor has to enter the Status.

Steps to set the Select task Type property

4. To add Task Types and their Status, click the button for the 'Select Task Type' property to open the property window.

5. In this window, specify the number of task types to add in the No. of additional Task Types text box and click Add New. This will open a new window.

6. In the second window, enter the task type name in the text box under the Task Type column.

7. Specify the number of status options for the new task type in the No. of Options text box.

8. Repeat steps 3 and 4, if you are adding more than one task type for the task.

9. After setting the parameters for all the task types, click Next to go to the next window.

10. In the third window, specify the status options that will be presented to the actor to set the status for the task, in the text boxes under the Task Type & Status column. The number of rows displayed for specifying the status options correspond to the number specified in step 4.

11. Specify the status option that will set the task status as completed by checking the corresponding check box under the Task Completion Maker! column.

12. You can delete the status if required in the Delete? column.

13. After completing all the details you can click on the Finish button to save the new task types.

The first window is displayed again when you click Finish. It shows the newly added task type(s). You can modify or delete the new task types or add more new task types. If you do not wish to perform any more operations, click Close to exit this window.

See Task - Task Type for a detailed description of the Select Task Type property windows.

Work Item Fields - This property is used to add the custom fields to be used to display application data as well as value in variables and content in the Work items list when this activity is executed.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary.)

Steps to set the Work items fields property

14. To select the Work Item Fields, click the button for the 'Work Item Fields' property to open the property window.

15. In this window, the Work Item Fields that have been set are listed in a grid. Click a row to select the corresponding Work Item Field.

16. Right-click the row, and select "SetWorkItemField" from the context menu to set it.

See Task - Work Item Fields for a detailed description of the Work Item Fields property window.

Actors

The properties in the Actors group have been described below. You can use these properties to specify the actors who will work on the activity and related properties.

Assign Actor(s) - This property specifies the actor(s) who has to take up the Task activity. It is tagged with the Ignore Unavailable Resources property which in turn is tagged with Alternate Resource Allowed. This will be explained in detail later.

Property Type: Mandatory (This property must be set if the activity is to be assigned to any actor(s).)

Steps to set the Assign Actor's property

17. To specify the actors, click the button for the 'Assign Actor(s)' property to open the property window.

18. In this window, build an expression to select the actors using the actors properties. Select an attribute from the first drop down list, then select the operator, type of value (Value, Variable, Content, XMLVariables), and the corresponding value for the property from the corresponding drop downs. Select "End" from the last drop down to complete the expression. If you are building a compound expression, you can select one of the logical operators to connect the different conditions that form the expression.

19. Add the condition to the expression by clicking Add. This will display the expression to the text area.

20.  You can remove a condition already added to the expression by clicking Undo. You can also clear an existing expression if necessary by clicking Clear. This is useful if you want to clear large expressions in the text area in order to build a new expression.

21. After building the expression, click Update to save it.

See Task - Assign Actor(s) for a detailed description of the Assign Actor(s) property window.

See the Using XML Variables section in the About XML Variables topic for details on how to use the XMLVariables to build the expression.

Assign Queue(s) - This property specifies the queue(s) to which the Task activity is to be assigned.

Property Type: Mandatory (This property must be set if the activity is to be assigned to any Queue(s).)

Steps to set the Assign Queue(s) property

22. To specify the queue(s), click the button for the 'Assign Queue(s)' property to open the property window.

23. In this window, select the queue(s) from the Available Queues list box. You can select multiple queues by selecting with the

24. After selecting the required queue(s) click the [>] button to move it to the Selected Queues list box. You can click the [>>] button to select all the queue(s) and move them to the Selected Queues list box.

25. You can remove any queue from the selected list by selecting it and clicking the [<] button. You can remove all the queues by clicking the [<<] button.

26. After adding the required queue(s), click Assign to assign the activity to the selection.

27. Click Close to close the window without saving the selection. 

See Task - Assign Queue(s) for a detailed description of the Assign Queue(s) property window.

Min. Ownerships [% or Number] - This property, which can be specified as a number or percentage, is the minimum number of actors who should take ownership of the Task assignment. This property is related to the 'Timeout warning for Ownership' and 'Timeout for Ownership' properties. To illustrate, when 'Timeout for Ownership' is reached, the activity first checks if the ownership count is less than Min.Ownerships (if it is set). If it is, the work item will be removed from all Work Item lists.

If the 'Min.Ownerships' has already been satisfied, then the work item will be removed from the Work Item lists of those who have not taken ownership. If the Min.Ownerships value is 0, then the activity checks if the ownership count is less than Max.Ownerships (if it is set). If it is, the work item will be removed from all Work Item lists. Else, the work item will be removed from the Work Item lists of those who have not taken ownership. If both Min.Ownerships and Max.Ownerships are set to 0, then there should be at least one actor taking ownership within the set time, otherwise the work item will be removed from all Work Item lists.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary. It is useful in group response scenarios.)

Max. Ownerships [% or Number] - This property, which can be specified as a number or percentage, is the maximum number of actors who should take ownership of the Task assignment. If 'Timeout for Ownership' is specified and achieved, and the 'Min.Ownerships' is also satisfied, then the activity waits for action from those who have taken ownership. If the Min.Ownerships value is set to 0, then it checks if the ownership count is less than Max.Ownerships. If it is, the work item will be removed from all Work Item lists. Else the work item will be removed from the Work Item list of those who have not taken ownership. If both Min.Ownerships and Max.Ownerships are set to 0, then there should be at least one actor taking ownership within the set time, otherwise the work item will be removed from all Work Item lists.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary. It is useful in group response scenarios.)

Enable Take Ownership? - If this property is set to Yes, then the actor is provided with a Take Ownership option in the Work items list to take ownership of the task. If you do not required the Take Ownership option in the Work items list, then set this property as No.

Note: By default, this property is set as Yes.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary.)

Steps to set the Enable Take Ownership? property

28. Select Yes or No option from the Enable Take Ownership? drop-down list.

Re-Assign Allowed? - If this property is set then the actor is provided with a Re-Assign option. Using this, the actor can forward the work item to another actor.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary.)

Ignore Unavailable Actors? 

This property provides the following options - Yes, Yes - holidays excluded and No. If this property is set to 'No', when the Approval activity is assigned to the actor's Work Item list, a check is first done to see whether the actor is available. If the actor is not available then a check is made for an alternate actor assigned to the unavailable actor. Simultaneously, the value of the property 'Alternate Actor Allowed' is checked. If that is also set, then the Approval work item is assigned to this actor. If this property is set to Yes - holidays excluded, the workflow engine will ignore the fact that actors are not available if the day is an organization holiday and the output Not Enough Resources will not be generated.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary.)

Alternate Actor Allowed? - This property is set to assign a particular task to an alternate actor in the absence or unavailability of any actor.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary.)

Notification Contents

The properties in the Notification Contents group have been described below. You can use these properties to specify the content used to notify actors about the activity.

Subject - This is the subject of the Task assignment. The subject can be customized for each actor.

Property Type: Optional (This property need not be set. If it is not set, the default subject line from the Actions.xml file is displayed.)

Steps to set the Subject property

29. To specify the subject, click the button for the 'Subject' property to open the property window.

30. In this window, enter the subject text directly in the text editor.

31.  If you want to customize the subject you can do so using the Field controls to add resource property values. For example, to add a subject that includes the email id of the actor submitting the Task, you can do as follows: Type in the text "Submitted By". Select "Variable" and "Variable.SubmittedBy.Email" from the two drop downs for Field and click Append. This will add the placeholder for the variable after the text entered in the text editor. At run-time, this placeholder will be replaced by the corresponding value, i.e. the email id.

32. You can manipulate the text using the appropriate tools from the tool bar. You can cut, copy and paste text, undo and redo changes, zoom in and zoom out the view as well as print the text.

33. You can format the text, if necessary, using the formatting tools. You can make text bold or italic or change the font or size, set text color or background color.

34. After adding the subject, click Update to save it.

35. Click Close to close the window without saving the subject.

See Task - Subject for a detailed description of the Subject property window.

Body - This is the actual message of the Task sent to the actor(s). The message can be customized for each actor. There is an Enterprise Console Explorer(plug-in) icon in the Body property window to get the work item details URL.

See Enterprise Console Control (EC Plug-in) for more information.

Property Type: Optional (This property need not be set.)

Steps to set the Body property

36. To specify the message body, click the button for the 'Body' property to open the property window.

37. In this window, enter the body text directly in the text editor.

38. If you want to customize the body you can do so using the Field controls to add resource property values. For example, to add a body that includes the name of the actor submitting the Task, you can do as follows: Type in the text "Hi, Please act on the task assigned to you by". Select "Variable" and "Variable.SubmittedBy.name" from the two drop downs for Field and click Append. This will add the placeholder for the variable after the text entered in the text editor. At run-time, this placeholder will be replaced by the corresponding value, i.e. the name.

39. You can manipulate the text using the appropriate tools from the tool bar. You can cut, copy and paste text, undo and redo changes, repeat the last command, zoom in and zoom out the view as well as print the text.

40. You can format the text, if necessary, using the formatting tools. You can make text bold or italic or change the font or size, set text color or background color.

41. After adding the body, click Update.

42. Click Close to close the window without saving the body

See Task - Body for a detailed description of the Body property window.

From Email Address? - This property is used to specify the email address from which notification messages will be sent for the activity.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary. If it is not set, the default value in Activities.xml will be used.)

Hide Responses? - If this property is set to 'No', then actors can see the responses of other actors in a group Task scenario. To view these responses i.e., ownerships, Task status etc., select the 'Take Ownership' option. This will open a new pop up with the responses of other actors who have taken ownership.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary. It is useful in group response scenarios.)

Priority - This property is set to indicate the priority of the Task assignment. Enter the values 0-33 to set as Low, 34-66 for Medium, or 67-99 for High. The default value is set to 34.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary.)

Show Custom Document View Window - If this property is set to 'Yes', then the Custom Document View Window will be shown to actors in their Work Item Lists.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary.)

Send Notification Email - If this property is set to 'Yes', then notification emails will be sent to the actors. If it is set to 'Yes-HTML', then the emails will be sent in HTML format.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary.)

Notify if alternate actor is considered  - If this property is set to 'Yes', then notification emails will be sent to the actors when an alternate actor is considered.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary.)

Redirect URL - This property is used to get the URL of the web page to redirect the client to, in the case of synchronous execution of the activity.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary.)

Steps to set the Redirect URL property

43. To specify the Redirect URL, click the button for the 'Redirect URL' property to open the property window.

44. In this window, enter the Redirect URL directly in the text editor.

45. If you want to customize the Redirect URL you can do so using the Field controls to add resource property values. For example, you can add a variable or content that will hold the URL. You can do so by selecting "Variable" from the first drop down and the appropriate option from the second drop down for Field, and clicking Append. This will add the placeholder for the variable in the text editor. At run-time, this placeholder will be replaced by the corresponding value, i.e. the URL.

46. You can manipulate the text using the appropriate tools from the tool bar. You can cut, copy and paste text, undo and redo changes, repeat the last command, zoom in and zoom out the view as well as print the text.

47. You can format the text, if necessary, using the formatting tools. You can make text bold or italic or change the font or size, set text color or background color.

48. After adding the Redirect URL, click Update to save it.

49. Click Close to close the window without saving the Redirect URL.

See Task - Redirect URL for a detailed description of the Redirect URL property window.

Custom Document View URL - This property is used to get the URL of the page to which the custom document dlls does a post. The data posted to the page are application, workflow, executionid, executiondetailsid, and workitemid. The posted data can be retrieved as Request.Form["workitemid"].

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary.)

See Task - Custom Document View URL for a detailed description of the Custom Document View URL property window.

Steps to set the Custom Document View URL property

50. To specify the Custom Document View URL, click the button for the 'Custom Document View URL' property to open the property window.

51. In this window, enter the Custom Document View URL directly in the text editor. If you want to customize the Custom Document View URL you can do so using the Field controls to add resource property values. For example, you can add a variable or content that will hold the URL. You can do so by selecting "Variable" from the first drop down and the appropriate option from the second drop down for Field, and clicking Append. This will add the placeholder for the variable in the text editor. At run-time, this placeholder will be replaced by the corresponding value, i.e. the URL.

52. You can manipulate the text using the appropriate tools from the tool bar. You can cut, copy and paste text, undo and redo changes, repeat the last command, zoom in and zoom out the view as well as print the text.

53. You can format the text, if necessary, using the formatting tools. You can make text bold or italic or change the font or size, set text color or background color.

54. After adding the Custom Document View URL, click Update to save it.

55. Click Close to close the window without saving the Custom Document View URL.

Mail Channel
The properties in the Mail Channel group have been described below. You can use these properties to customize the Task activity(activities) with HTML templates.

Use html template from property - This property is not applicable.

Property Type: Optional (This property is not applicable.)

Steps to set the HTML templates

56. To specify the HTML template, click the edit icon to open the property window.

57. In the HTML template window, provide the template which should be in html format. If you are pasting a copied html content, then right-click the HTML template window and paste it as "Paste Plain Text".

58. Click Update

See Task - HTML Template for a detailed description of the property HTML template window.

Attachment

This property is used to configure report to be sent as an Email attachment.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary.)

See Task - Attach Reports for a detailed description of this property.

Decision Influencers 

The properties in the Decision Influencers group have been described below. You can use these properties to specify some parameters that influence the outcome of the activity.
Max Actors Required for TaskAssignment Completion [% or Number] - This property is used to check what percentage or number of actors should take action on the Task. Decision on the Task is taken only after the specified number or percentage of actor(s) have taken the action. The activity waits for the actors' action until the 'Timeout for action' is reached.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary. It is useful in group response scenarios.)

Min Actors Required for TaskAssignment Completion [% or Number] - This property specifies the minimum number of actors to act on the Task before the 'Timeout Warning for Action'. If the action limit is reached before the 'Timeout Warning for Activity' then the warning message is not shown.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary. It is useful in group response scenarios.)

Escalation & Timeout    

The properties in the Escalation & Timeout group have been described below. You can use these properties to specify escalation and timeout settings for the activity.

Set Calendar for Timeout - This property is used to specify the calendar to be used to determine activity timeouts.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary.)

Steps to Set Calendar for Timeout

59. To specify the calendar for timeout, click the button for the 'Set Calendar for Timeout' property to open the property window.

60. In this window, select the required calendar by clicking the calendar name in the tree structure.

61. Click Set Calendar to set the selected calendar.

62. You can specify that a resource calendar should be used, if available, by clicking to select the corresponding check box.

See Task - Set Calendar for Timeout for a detailed description of the Set Calendar for Timeout property window.

Minimum available time for Activity - This property is used to check the availability of an actor to whom a task must be assigned while executing the activity. The availability check for the actor is done based on the Calendar settings (Global or Resource Calendar). If the time taken to complete the task is within the value set for the Minimum available time for Activity property, then the task will be assigned to that actor. However, if the time taken to complete the task exceeds the value set for the Minimum available time for Activity property, then the task will be assigned based on the values set for the Ignore Unavailable Actors? and Alternate Actor Allowed? properties.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary.)

Timeout Warning for Ownership - This property specifies the time at which a warning is provided to an actor to take ownership of the work item assigned to him/her. If the actor does not take ownership within this time the engine is notified with a warning. Thus if 'Min.Ownerships' is set, and it is not satisfied before the given time then a warning is sent. If Min.Ownerships is 0, it will check for Max.Ownerships. If the ownerships count does not reach the Max.Ownerships value within the set time, a warning is sent. If both Min.Ownerships and Max.Ownerships are not set, this property is ignored.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary.)

Understand how Ownership Properties relate to each other:

• Task activity is assigned to the actors in the Task assignment list by the workflow engine. Task activity has a default property set that at least one actor has to make Take Ownership of the Task activity.

• A drop-down interface has been provided for the actor to Take Ownership. However, the actor can act on the Task without taking ownership first, in which case ownership will be considered to be done. i.e. if the actor acts upon the Task activity without taking ownership, then it is considered as an ownership with action taken.

• After the actor has taken ownership, a link is provided to the actor, which opens a pop up with the details of the other actors. This is again tagged with the 'Hide Responses?' property. The link will be provided only If 'Hide Responses?' is set as 'No'. The pop up will have details like Actor name, Ownership Status, Action taken, Comments.

• If the 'Min.Ownerships' property is set and the ownership count has reached the set limit [percentage or number] then the 'Timeout Warning For Ownership' property is not considered.

• If the 'Min.Ownerships' property is set and the ownership count has reached the set limit [percentage or number] and the 'Time Out For Ownership' is also reached then the work item is removed from other actors' Work Item list and the work item waits for action from those who have taken ownership.

• If the 'Min.Ownerships' limit is not reached for the Task activity, and the 'Timeout Warning For Ownership' has been exceeded then the actor is notified with a warning by including an email or an information activity, with the Timeout Warning for Ownership link to it.

• If 'Timeout For Ownership' is set, if the Task activity has not reached the minimum limit (Min.Ownerships) and the 'Time Out For Ownership' has been reached, then the work item is removed from the Work Item lists of all the actors.

• If 'Min.Ownerships' = 0 and if 'Max.Ownerships' is set, the activity waits for actors to take ownership or action until the 'Time Out For Ownership' is reached (if this is set).

• If none of the Ownership properties are set then the activity waits until the actor takes ownership or acts upon it.

Timeout for Ownership - This property specifies the time until which actors are allowed to take ownership, i.e. the time until which the Task activity will wait for actors to take ownership. If Min.Ownerships is set and is not reached, the work item is removed from all Work Item lists. If Min.Ownerships is 0, it will check if ownership count is less than Max.Ownerships. If it is, the work item is removed from all Work Item lists. Else the work item will be removed from the Work Item lists of those who have not taken ownership. The work item will remain in the Work Item list of actors who have taken ownership and wait for action from them.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary.)

Timeout Warning for Activity - This property specifies when a reminder has to be provided for the actors to act on the Task request, if the action count has not been reached. If properties such as Max.Ownerships, Affirmative Action for Task (AAA), and Action Limit (AL) are set, once the property values are reached then a warning is sent to the participant. When the timeout is reached, the following checks are made: if AL is set, when the action count i.e. the no. of Tasks or rejections (AC) < AL, then a warning is sent, if AL = 0 and AAA is set, and when AC < AAA, then a warning is sent to the participant.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary. It is useful in setting escalations.)

Timeout for Activity - This property's value is used to decide until what time the activity should wait for the actors' action. If properties such as Max.Ownerships, AAA, AL are set, once the property values are reached the work item is removed from the Work Item lists of all the actors. When the timeout is reached, the following checks are made: If AL is set, when the action count i.e. the no. of Tasks or rejections (AC) < AL, then the timeout for action is performed and the work item is removed from all Work Item lists. If AC > AL, it checks with the no. of Tasks or 'decision count' (DC) and AAA. If DC >= AAA (if it is set), the action is considered completed. If AAA = 0 and if DC >= AL, the action is considered completed. If AL = 0 and AC < AAA, then the timeout for action is performed and the activity is removed from all Work Item lists. If AL = 0 and AC > AAA, it will check with DC. If DC > AAA it is completed. If AL = 0 and AAA = 0, then if DC is at least 1, then it is considered completed.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary. It is useful in setting escalations.)

Multiple Timeout Warning - This is used to set recurring timeout warnings that will be sent to the actors who have to take action. To set multiple timeout warnings, click the 'Multiple TimeOut Warning' button in the Properties pane for the Task activity. A new window pops up. In this window, set the interval for the recurring warning as well as the output message. You can also set the Recurring Time Interval. This can be used to set a different recurring time out after the first timeout happens. For example, if 'Time Interval' for the property is set as 7 days and 'Recurring Time Interval' is set as 2 days, then the first time out will happen after 7 days and there will be a recurring time out every second day after the seventh day (first) time out.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary. It is useful in setting escalations.)

Steps to set the Multiple Timeout Warning property

63. To set the multiple timeout warning, click the button for the 'Multiple Timeout Warning' property to open the property window.

64. Enter the time interval for the timeout in the Time Interval field.

65. Select "Yes" from the drop down for the Recurring? field if you want the timeout warning to recur. Select "No" otherwise.

66. Enter the output message corresponding to the timeout warning in the Output field.

67. Enter the time interval for the recurring timeout in the Recurring Time Interval field.

68. After entering the content details, click Add Row to add this timeout setting and display a new row for entering another timeout setting.

69. Remove rows if necessary by selecting them and clicking Remove Selected.

70. After specifying the timeout settings, click Update.

See Task - Multiple Timeout Warning for a detailed description of the Multiple TimeOut Warning property window.

Looping Behavior 

The property in the Looping Behavior group has been described below. You can use this property to specify the looping behavior of the activity.

Loop through this action if output is - This property is used to specify the condition for looping the activity by selecting an activity output from the drop down.

Property Type: Optional (This property needs to be set only if necessary.)

Miscellaneous

Redirection Enabled? - This property enables redirection. When this property is set to Yes, the workflow redirects the user  to the URL in the Redirect URL  property in the next activity.

Activity Outputs:

The Task Activity returns the following values -

Action Completed: Displayed when all the actors have taken part.

Action Completed - Affirmative Percentage Not Reached: Displayed when all the actors have not taken part.

Not Enough Resources to Take Acknowledge: Displayed when the filter condition did not yield enough actors to whom the request can be sent.

Timeout - Take Acknowledge: Displayed when the specified minimum number of actors did not take ownership of the request in the given time.

Timeout - Action: Displayed when some or all of the specified actors did not perform the required action in the given time.

Timeout Warning - Take Acknowledge: Displayed when a warning is generated that the specified minimum actors have not taken ownership of the request in the given time.

Timeout Warning - Action: Displayed when a warning for timeout is generated because some or all the actors did not perform the required action in the given time.

Note: The following outputs will return only if user assigned tasks to a queue user.

Resource Unavailable for Queue - If a queue is assigned to a task & if there are no resources available in the queue then this output will get triggered.

TimeOut for Queue Task - This output will get triggered when the task in the queue is not picked by any users within the queue escalation time resulting the completion of that task.

Timeout Warning -Queue - This output will get triggered when the task in the queue is not picked by any users within the queue escalation time resulting in sending a warning out put. However, the task will still be sleeping.

Timeout Warning -Queue Participant - This output will get triggered when the task in the queue is picked by user but still not acted on that task within the queue escalation time out settings resulting in triggering a warning output. However, the task will still be sleeping.

Exception Behavior

Each activity has the Raise Error on Unhandled Linked Output property on click of which, it shows all the default configured mapped error outputs in red with their check boxes selected.

See Mapped Error Outputs for more details.