Architecture

Enterprise Console

This is a Web-based interface that allows authorized users to build workflow driven applications, and to participate in these applications. Organizations can create and access their business applications using Enterprise Console.

Repository

A Repository is a container that holds Business Process Management (BPM) and application-related data. It has a unique name and description.

The Repositories are stored within the Database. You can also maintain each Repository on a different Database and isolate the information from each other. AVEVA Work Tasks typically requires that you create one repository for an organization. However, sometimes there may be a need for more than one Repository. For example, you may have separate development and production environments or have a need to completely isolate applications from each other. One more compelling scenario for creating more than one Repository is that of hosted solutions, where each client needs a secure data store and isolation. In such a case, you will need to create multiple Repositories. Repositories are maintained using Enterprise Console.

Server Controls

Server Controls are user interface layers provided by AVEVA Work Tasks. These easy-to-use controls can be reused and embedded in a custom ASP.NET application. You can extend the functionality of AVEVA Work Tasks in your application by simply dragging and dropping these controls onto the ASP.NET page.

These are required only for custom ASP.NET development where a context-sensitive workflow UI has to be embedded inside the application. The following controls are available in Server Controls:

• Workflow List: This lists all workflows defined for a AVEVA Work Tasks Repository. The Workflow List provides options for categorizing, designing, and publishing workflows.

• Process Designer: The Process Designer is an interface used to model processes. Similar to other workflow designing tools, like Microsoft Visio, it includes popular drag and drop functions that enable you to quickly and easily draw workflows for your business processes.

  For example, you can use Process Designer to design a process for support request. This process involves creation of workflows and defining business logic.

• Queue Management: The Queue Management enables you to create and manage queues for allocating workflow activities. This is done using the Queue control.

  A queue consists of a pool of resources with shared characteristics. The Queue control offers advanced level resource optimization. Queue Management supports industry standard algorithms for automatic task allocation of resources belonging to a common pool.

• Calendar: The Calendar interface enables the creation of hierarchical organization and resource calendars. The Calendars are used to determine availability of resources, calculate time outs and perform other scheduling functions.

• Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) Dashboard: The BAM Dashboard is a key Server Control. It enables you to monitor the execution of a workflow and provides an array of real-time reports. This report includes status and performance of workflows.

  It is also instrumental in generating alerts and events, providing reports in graphical format, ensuring secured access and providing details for tracking workflows. You can use Process Reports to schedule reports and generate alerts.

  Business managers and Process administrators can monitor, track, fine tune processes, and make pro-active decisions.

• Work Item List: The Work Item List is a Web-based interface which lists the various workflow activities in AVEVA Work Tasks. The Work Item List provides detailed information of an activity. You can view and respond to Work items from an interface similar to Microsoft Outlook.

Forms Designer

The Forms Designer is an intermediate layer between a user and Forms Engine. It provides an interface that assists you to design, customize, maintain form templates and define a business logic specific to a form. Forms are associated with workflows. These workflows are responsible for driving end-to-end business applications. A form triggers a business process.

For example, you can use Forms Designer to design a Leave Application form for your organization. The designed form can be used as a template by all the employees while submitting leave requests.

Lists

A List is a collection of items such as Task lists or Item lists captured using Forms. It acts as a logical table (similar to a database table), but involves more complicated structure to represent an entire entity with links to child tables. The data entered in the Lists are stored in a Repository. It stores application-level data thus facilitating generation of business reports. AVEVA Work Tasks lists group related information.

A Form is used as an interface to enter data in the Lists.

For example, you can define a List to store all the leave requests submitted by employees in your organization. Your list can include parameters (columns or fields) such as From Date, To Date, Leave Type, and Reason.

Delivery Channel

A Delivery Channel is an interface for users to interact with workflows. AVEVA Work Tasks provides multiple delivery channels which include:

• Browsers: AVEVA Work Tasks provides controls that can be embedded in Web-based applications to view or respond to Work items.

• Messenger Services: AVEVA Work Tasks uses this channel to send tasks or information to messenger applications.

• Mobile Phones: AVEVA Work Tasks allows both SMS and e-mail communication. You can send and receive messages using AVEVA Work Tasks. The two-way e-mail channel within AVEVA Work Tasks is used to deliver and act on tasks directly using mobile phones.

• E-mail: AVEVA Work Tasks also supports two-way e-mail communication. A Work Item can be delivered to both email and Web channel based on a user's preference. The user can act on the work item from either of the channels. AVEVA Work Tasks synchronizes this information.

• Microsoft Outlook Applications: AVEVA Work Tasks provides a Microsoft Outlook plug-in to respond to tasks. It enables work items to be delivered to the Inbox of your mail client such as Microsoft Office Outlook 2016 or Microsoft Office Outlook 2019. For more information, see Microsoft Outlook Integration.

• Desktop Applications: AVEVA Work Tasks provides extensive APIs and Web services that can be called from various desktop applications to work with Work item.

Forms Engine

The Forms Engine is responsible for every activity starting from the time a form is opened till a form is closed. It captures all the real-time user inputs, processes the inputs, and displays this information in terms of controls, business logic, and usability.

The Forms Engine is triggered when a form is submitted. The submitted form will follow a workflow based on the business logic defined for the form.

For example, the Forms Engine makes the Leave Application form available to an employee when the employee wants to apply for a leave.

Services

The Server controls various service requests using Services. The Services comprises the following:

• Workflow Engine Service: This service needs to be running for the execution and control of workflows.

• Task Scheduler Service: This service handles the execution of all tasks that have not taken place as scheduled (escalations).

• Communication Service: This service handles incoming e-mail and SMS communication.

• Advance Server Service: This service provides load balancing and failover support. This service is available only if Load Balanced Server is installed.

• Client Service: This is used internally by AVEVA Work Tasks for provisioning and deployment.

• Mobile Notification Service: This service is used to send notifications to the Work Tasks Pro mobile application.

  The Workflow Engine Service can exist on a single machine or on multiple machines. For Load Balancing and Failover support to function, Workflow Engine Services must be installed on multiple machines and Advance Server Service must also be enabled on these machines. For more information on Load Balancing and Failover support, see Load Balanced Server.

Operational Data

The data created while working with AVEVA Work Tasks are stored in SQL databases. These databases are defined while installing the solution. The Server Controls, Delivery Channel, Services, and Forms Engine connect to the database to store or retrieve data.

Integration Layer

The integration layer acts as an interface between AVEVA Work Tasks and third-party applications. The various objects within the integration layer include:

• Entity Infrastructure: Entity Infrastructure is used to manage users across different platforms. An Entity has two categories - User Entity and Role Entity. A User Entity manages all the information for the users across different data sources. A data source can be an active directory, an SQL provider, or more. A Role entity manages users in roles.

• Web Services: AVEVA Work Tasks provides out-of-the-box activities that can be used to call a third-party Web Service from a workflow.

• AVEVA Work Tasks Object Access (SOA): This object allows reuse of third-party .NET objects in AVEVA Work Tasks, thus avoiding custom coding. AVEVA Work Tasks allows registration of third-party object assemblies.

  Example: An organization has a Human Resources (HR) system developed using Microsoft.NET technology. This HR system has information related to employee, such as salary, leave, promotions. To strengthen the process, the organization integrates its existing process with AVEVA Work Tasks. While designing a workflow for the appraisal process using AVEVA Work Tasks, there is a need to get employee information and accordingly route the workflow based on the experience level and the grade of an employee. The need is to reuse the existing employee object inside the AVEVA Work Tasks process and avoid custom coding. This objective is achieved by using AVEVA Work Tasks Object Access.

• Enterprise Event Bus: This is a mechanism that handles third-party events and these events are used to trigger a workflow. The third-party events can include updating files and receiving e-mails.

  Example: An organization has implemented AVEVA Work Tasks to automate their invoicing process. The organization wants to monitor changes made to a folder that stores scanned copies of invoices as files. As soon as any modification is made to the folder, the workflow triggers the accounts payable process and a notification is sent to the respective person. Modifications to a folder can include activities, such as adding an invoice, updating an invoice, renaming an invoice, or deleting an invoice.

  All these objects work collectively to ensure smooth information exchange.

Security and Directory Services

AVEVA Work Tasks does not force you to create new user accounts and passwords. Instead, it assumes that you already have some means to authenticate a user name and password. This allows AVEVA Work Tasks to use the existing user name and password, without creating replicas of those user accounts in specific tables. The solution thus supports external Security and Directory Services. This is a service that allows AVEVA Work Tasks to use and manage a user's identity stored in an external database.

AVEVA Work Tasks supports the following Security and Directory Services:

• Active Directory

• Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)

• Any User Directory

• .NET Role Provider

  Note: You can create user accounts using AVEVA Work Tasks. These user accounts are stored in User List.

File Watcher

A File Watcher constantly monitors activities in a folder. Whenever there is an activity, such as a file creation or a file update, File Watcher raises events that are used to initiate a workflow.

Example: An organization has implemented AVEVA Work Tasks solution to automate their invoicing process. The organization wants to monitor changes made to a folder that stores scanned copies of invoices as files. The File Watcher feature monitors all changes made to the folder. As soon as any modification is made to the folder the workflow triggers the accounts payable process and a notification is sent to the respective person. Modifications to a folder can include activities like creating or adding a new invoice, updating an existing invoice, renaming an invoice, or deleting an invoice.

Third-party Applications

AVEVA Work Tasks can integrate with different third-party applications, such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Human Resources Information System (HRIS) using the integration components, such as Web service, custom activities, and API.

Microsoft Integration

The open architecture of AVEVA Work Tasks assists you to derive maximum benefits by integrating it with various Microsoft applications. The Microsoft applications that are integrated comprise:

• Microsoft Exchange: AVEVA Work Tasks integrates with Microsoft Exchange to provide alerts and notifications.

• Microsoft Word: AVEVA Work Tasks integrates with Microsoft Office applications like Microsoft Word to participate in content-driven business processes.

• SQL: SQL integrates with AVEVA Work Tasks to store records.

• Microsoft Visio: AVEVA Work Tasks can integrate with Microsoft Visio and import diagrams created using Microsoft Visio.

Business Rules Engine

For common process related scenarios, AVEVA Work Tasks provides basic rules capabilities using rule activity, decision activity, and expression builder. You can also integrate AVEVA Work Tasks with other third-party business rules engine using the integration components, such as Web services, Custom activities, and Event API.