27 Designing Human Tasks in Oracle BPM

27.1.1 Typical Design Workflow

There are different approaches to working with Human Tasks in Oracle BPM:

• Creating the Human Task using the Human Task editor

• Creating the Human Task using the simplified interface Oracle BPM provides

• Use an existing Human Task

The approach you choose depends on how you plan your work, how you divide it between the developers in your team and the complexity of the Human Tasks you are developing.

Creating the Human Task Using the User Task Properties Dialog

• Create a BPMN process

• Add a user task

• From the user task implementation properties dialog, create a Human Task

  For more information see Section 27.2, "Creating a Human Task from Oracle BPM Studio".

• Create the corresponding taskflows using SOA Suite

Creating the Human Task Using the Human Task Editor:

• Create a Human Task from the SOA Composite Editor

  For more information see Section 27.4, "Creating a Human Task from the SOA Composite Editor".

• Create the corresponding taskflow using SOA Suite

  For more information see .

• Create a BPMN process with user tasks

• Implement the user tasks in the BPMN process using the defined Human Tasks

  For more information see Section 27.5, "Implementing a User Task with an Existing Human Task".

Using an existing Human Task:

• Create a BPMN process

• Add a user task.

• In the user task implementation properties dialog, select the existing Human Task.

  For more information, see Chapter 27, "How to Implement a User Task With an Existing Human Task".

27.2.1 How to Create a Human Task from Oracle BPM Studio

You can create a Human Task from the User Task Properties dialog in Oracle BPM Studio.

To create a Human Task from Oracle BPM Studio:

1. Edit the BPMN process.

2. Right-click the user task.

3. Select Properties.

   The Properties - User Task dialog appears.

   Figure 27-2 shows the Properties - User Task dialog.

4. Click the Implementation tab.

5. Click the Add button next to the Human Task field.

   The Create Human Task dialog appears.

   Figure 27-1 shows the Create Human Task dialog.

6. In the name field, enter a name to identify the Human Task.

7. From they Priority List, select a priority.

8. Select a Human Task pattern appropriate for your implementation.

   For more information about Human Task patterns, see Chapter 30, "Using Approval Management".

9. In the Title Field, enter a title for the task to display in the client application (Process Workspace and others).

10. Optionally, you can configure the following:

    • The outcome

      See Section 27.2.2, "How to Configure the Outcome of a Human Task" for information on how to configure the outcome of a Human Task.

    • The parameters

      See Section 27.2.3, "How to Add a Parameter to Human Task" for information on how to configure the outcome of a Human Task.

    • The outcome target

      See Section 27.2.4, "How to Configure the Outcome Target of a Human Task" for information on how to configure the outcome of a Human Task.

11. Click OK.

    The Create Human Task dialog closes and the Human Task field in the User Task Properties dialog shows the Human Task you created.

12. Click OK.

    The User Task Properties closes and saves the implementation you configured for the user task.

27.2.2 How to Configure the Outcome of a Human Task

When you create a Human Task from Oracle BPM Studio you can configure the outcome of the Human Task. The outcome values you configure appear as the available actions of the Human Task in Oracle BPM Worklist.

To configure the outcome of a Human Task:

1. In the Create Human Task dialog, click the Browse button next to the Outcomes field.

   The Outcomes dialog appears.

2. Select one or more outcomes, or click the Add button to add a new custom outcome.

3. Optionally click Outcomes Requiring Comment, to select those outcomes that require comments.

4. Click OK.

   The Outcomes dialog closes and the selected outcomes appear in the Create Human Task dialog, in the Outcomes field.

27.2.3 How to Add a Parameter to Human Task

You can add multiple parameters to a Human Task to build the Human Task payload. Oracle BPM Studio uses this parameters to create the data association of the user task that uses the Human Task.

To add a parameter to a Human Task:

1. In the Create Human Task dialog, click the Add button in the Parameters table.

   The Data Objects dialog appears.

2. Select a data object from the Data Objects dialog and drop it on the Parameters table.

   The selected data object appears in the Parameters table.

3. Close the Data Objects dialog.

4. Optionally you can mark the parameter as editable by selecting the Editable column in the Parameters table.

27.2.4 How to Configure the Outcome Target of a Human Task

When you create a Human Task you must define an outcome target. The outcome target maps the result of the Human Task to a String data object in your BPM project.You can base the flow of your process on the value of the outcome target using an exclusive gateway.

To configure the outcome target of a Human Task

1. In the Create Human Task dialog, click the Add button next to the Outcome Target field.

   The Data Objects dialog appears.

2. Select a String data object from the Data Objects dialog and drop it on the Outcome Target field.

   To add a new data object, right-click the Data Objects node and select Add.

   The selected data object appears in the Outcome Target field.

3. Close the Data Objects dialog.

27.2.5 What Happens When You Create a Human Task from Oracle BPM Studio

The Human Task automatically appears in the HumanTasks predefined module in the business catalog. You can use the Human Task to implement the user task you are editing or other user tasks in the BPM project.

You can edit the created Human Task using the Human Task editor to configure implementation details.

27.3.1 How to Edit a Human Task Using the User Task Properties Dialog

To edit a Human Task using the User Task Properties dialog:

1. Open the BPMN process that contains the user task implemented with a Human Task.

2. Right-click the user task.

3. Select Properties.

   The user task properties dialog box appears.

4. Click the Implementation Tab.

5. Make changes to the properties in the Human Task Attributes and Advanced sections.

27.4.1 How to Create a Human Task from the SOA Composite Editor

You can add a user task to a BPM project using the SOA Composite editor.

To create a Human Task from the SOA Composite Editor:

1. Select the Application view.

2. Expand the BPM project where you want to add the Human Task.

3. Expand the SOA Content node.

4. Double-click the composite.xml node to open the SOA Composite editor.

5. From the Component Palette grab a Human Task.

6. Drop the Human Task in the Components area of the SOA Composite.

   The Create Human Task dialog appears.

7. Enter a name to identify the Human Task.

8. Optionally, modify the URL for the Human Task namespace.

9. Optionally, check the Create Composite Service with SOAP Bindings option.

10. Click OK.

    The Human Task component appears in the Component area of the SOA Composite.

27.4.2 What Happens When You Create a Human Task from the SOA Composite Editor

The Human Task you created is available to implement the user tasks in your BPM project. For more information on how to do this, see Section 27.5, "Implementing a User Task with an Existing Human Task".

27.5.1 How to Implement a User Task With an Existing Human Task

You can implement a user task using an existing Human Task that you created for another user task or using the Human Task editor.

To implement a user task with an existing Human Task:

1. Open the BPMN process.

2. Right-click the user task.

3. Select Properties.

   The Properties - User Task dialog appears.

4. Click the Implementation tab.

5. Click the Browse button next to the Human Task field.

   The Browse Human Tasks dialog appears.

6. Select a Human Task from the list.

7. Click OK.

   The Browse Human Tasks dialog closes and the selected Human Task appears in the Human Task field.

8. Click OK.

27.5.2 What Happens When You Implement a User Task With an Existing Human Task

The user task uses the existing Human Task for its implementation.

The SOA Composite displays the relationship between the BPMN process and the Human task by adding a wire between them.

When the BPMN Service Engine runs the user task implementation it invokes the Human Workflow Service with the parameters defined in the data association of the user task. When the Human Workflow Service finishes running the Human Tasks it provides the result to the BPMN Service Engine using the defined data association.

27.5.3 How to Associate the Process Payload to the Human Task Payload

To associate the process payload to the Human Task payload you must configure the Human Task, the user task and start events in the BPMN process and create a business object based on the payload xsd file.

To associate the process payload to the Human Task payload:

1. Create a business object using the Based on External Schema option.

   1. Right-click a module.

   2. Select New and then select Business Object.

   3. Select Based on External Schema.

   4. Click the Browse button.

   5. Select Copy to Project.

   6. Click Browse Resources.

      The Type Chooser dialog opens.

   7. Select the type of the business object from the payload xsd file.

2. Edit the start event in your BPMN process.

3. Define a custom argument using the business object you created as its type.

4. Add a process data object to your process using the business object you created as its type.

5. Define the data associations between the custom argument and data object.

6. In the Human Task editor, click the Data tab.

7. Select Add other payload from the list in the Add button.

8. Select the payload element in the Type Chooser dialog.

9. In the Process editor, right-click the user task and select Properties.

10. Define the data associations between the process data object and the task payload.

27.6.1 How to Edit a Human Task Using the Human Task Editor

You can edit a Human Task used in your BPM project using the Human Task editor. Generally you use the Human Task editor to edit complex human tasks.

To edit a Human Task using the Human Task Editor:

1. Open the BPMN process that contains the user task implemented with a Human Task.

2. Right-click the user task.

3. Select Open Human Task.

   The Human Task editor appears.

4. Make changes to the Human Task.

27.7.1 How to Specify an E-mail Address for the Recipient of a Notification

When using the Human Task editor in a BPM Suite installation, you can specify an e-mail address for the recipient of a Notification.

To specify an e-mail address for the recipient of a notification:

1. Open the Human Task editor.

2. Click the Notification tab.

3. Double-click the Recipient list.

   The Recipient list is an editable list, when you double click it, it becomes a text field.

4. Enter the recipient's e-mail address.

   Optionally you can use the buttons next to the Recipient text field to look up the e-mail address in an application server or to specify the e-mail address using XPath.

27.7.2 How to Configure Oracle UCM Repository to Store Task Attachments

You can configure Human Tasks to store attachments in the UCM repository. These attachments may contain one or more meta-data properties. You can assign values to these properties or configure them to allow the user to provide the value.

To configure Oracle UCM Repository for task attachments:

1. In the Project Navigator tree, expand the Business Catalog node.

2. Expand the Human Tasks node.

3. Double-click the Human Task you want to configure.

   The Human Task Editor appears.

4. Click the Documents tab.

5. Select Use Document Package.

   A section to configure meta-data properties appears. The table already contains the mandatory standard meta-data: Security Group and Document Type.

6. Optionally add new standard or custom meta-data properties:

   1. Click the Add button.

   2. Click the Name column to select a standard property from the list or to enter a custom name.

   3. Click the Value column to assign a value to the property. Select By Name to provide the text to assign the value to the property, or By Expression to provide an expression.

   4. Click the Display column to select a display mode:

      Editable: the user can provide a value in the task form when uploading the attachment.

      Hidden: the value does not appear in the task form

      Read-Only: the value appears in the task form but the user cannot modify it

   Note:

   custom metadata is does not apper in the task form, so you must map the value to task payload or provide a static value.