Interacting with processes and tasks
Abstract
Preface
As a knowledge worker, you use Business Central in Red Hat Process Automation Manager to run processes and tasks of the business process application developed by citizen developers. A business process is a series of steps that are executed as defined in the process flow. To effectively interact with processes and tasks, you must have a clear understanding of the business process and be able to determine the current step of a process or task. You can start and stop tasks; search and filter tasks and process instances; delegate, claim, and release tasks; set a due date and priority of tasks; view and add comments to tasks; and view the task history log.
Prerequisites
- Red Hat Process Automation Manager is installed. For installation options, see Planning a Red Hat Process Automation Manager installation.
Chapter 1. Business processes in Business Central
A business process application created by a citizen developer in Business Central depicts the flow of the business process as a series of steps. Each step executes according to the process flow chart. A process can consist of one or more smaller discrete tasks. As a knowledge worker, you work on processes and tasks that occur during business process execution.
As an example, using Red Hat Process Automation Manager, the mortgage department of a financial institution can automate the complete business process for a mortgage loan. When a new mortgage request comes in, a new process instance is created in the mortgage application. Because all requests follow the same set of rules for processing, consistency in every step is ensured. This results in an efficient process that reduces processing time and effort.
1.1. Knowledge worker user
Consider the example of a customer account representative processing mortgage loan requests at a financial institution. As a customer account representative, you can perform the following tasks:
- Accept and decline mortgage requests
- Search and filter through requests
- Delegate, claim, and release requests
- Set a due date and priority on requests
- View and comment on requests
- View the request history log
Chapter 2. Knowledge worker tasks in Business Central
A task is a part of the business process flow that a given user can claim and perform. You can handle tasks in Menu → Track → Task Inbox in Business Central. It displays the task list for the logged-in user. A task can be assigned to a particular user, multiple users, or to a group of users. If a task is assigned to multiple users or a group of users, it is visible in the task lists of all the users and any user can claim the task. When a task is claimed by a user, it is removed from the task list of other users.
2.1. Starting a task
You can start user tasks in Menu → Manage → Tasks and in Menu → Track → Task Inbox in Business Central.
Ensure that you are logged in and have appropriate permissions for starting and stopping tasks.
Procedure
- In Business Central, go to Menu → Track → Task Inbox.
- On the Task Inbox page, click the task to open it.
On the Work tab of the task page, click Start. Once you start a task, its status changes to InProgress.
You can view the status of tasks on the Task Inbox as well as on the Manage Tasks page.
Only users with the process-admin
role can view the task list on the Manage Tasks page. Users with the admin
role can access the Manage Tasks page, however they see only an empty task list.
2.2. Stopping a task
You can stop user tasks from the Tasks and Task Inbox page.
Procedure
- In Business Central, go to Menu → Track → Task Inbox.
- On the Task Inbox page, click the task to open it.
- On the Work tab of the task page, click Complete.
2.3. Delegating a task
After tasks are created in Business Central, you can delegate them to others.
A user assigned with any role can delegate, claim, or release tasks visible to the user. On the Task Inbox page, the Actual Owner column displays the name of the current owner of the task.
Procedure
- In Business Central, go to Menu → Track → Task Inbox.
- On the Task Inbox page, click the task to open it.
- On the task page, click the Assignments tab.
- In the User field, enter the name of the user or group you want to delegate the task to.
- Click Delegate. Once a task is delegated, the owner of the task changes.
2.4. Claiming a task
After tasks are created in Business Central, you can claim the released tasks. A user can claim a task from the Task Inbox page only if the task is assigned to a group the user belongs to.
Procedure
- In Business Central, go to Menu → Track → Task Inbox.
- On the Task Inbox page, click the task to open it.
- On the Work tab of the task page, click Claim.
To claim the released task from the Task Inbox page, do any of the following tasks:
- Click Claim from the three dots in the Actions column.
- Click Claim and Work from the three dots in the Actions column to open, view, and modify the details of a task.
The user who claims a task becomes the owner of the task.
2.5. Releasing a task
After tasks are created in Business Central, you can release your tasks for others to claim.
Procedure
- In Business Central, go to Menu → Track → Task Inbox.
- On the Task Inbox page, click the task to open it.
- On the task page, click Release. A released task has no owner.
2.6. Bulk actions on tasks
In the Tasks and Task Inbox pages in Business Central, you can perform bulk actions over multiple tasks in a single operation.
If a specified bulk action is not permitted based on the task status, a notification is displayed and the operation is not executed on that particular task.
2.6.1. Claiming tasks in bulk
After you create tasks in Business Central, you can claim the available tasks in bulk.
Procedure
In Business Central, complete one of the following steps:
- To view the Task Inbox page, select Menu → Track → Task Inbox.
- To view the Tasks page, select Menu → Manage → Tasks.
- To claim the tasks in bulk, on the Task Inbox page or the Manage Tasks page, select two or more tasks from the Task table.
- From the Bulk Actions drop-down list, select Bulk Claim.
- To confirm, click Claim on the Claim selected tasks window.
For each task selected, a notification is displayed showing the result.
2.6.2. Releasing tasks in bulk
You can release your owned tasks in bulk for others to claim.
Procedure
In Business Central, complete one of the following steps:
- To view the Task Inbox page, select Menu → Track → Task Inbox.
- To view the Tasks page, select Menu → Manage → Tasks.
- To release the tasks in bulk, on the Task Inbox page or the Manage Tasks page, select two or more tasks from the Task table.
- From the Bulk Actions drop-down list, select Bulk Release.
- To confirm, click Release on the Release selected tasks window .
For each task selected, a notification is displayed showing the result.
2.6.3. Resuming tasks in bulk
If there are suspended tasks in Business Central, you can resume them in bulk.
Procedure
In Business Central, complete one of the following steps:
- To view the Task Inbox page, select Menu → Track → Task Inbox.
- To view the Tasks page, select Menu → Manage → Tasks.
- To resume the tasks in bulk, on the Task Inbox page or the Manage Tasks page, select two or more tasks from the Task table.
- From the Bulk Actions drop-down list, select Bulk Resume.
- To confirm, click Resume on the Resume selected tasks window.
For each task selected, a notification is displayed showing the result.
2.6.4. Suspending tasks in bulk
After you create tasks in Business Central, you can suspend the tasks in bulk.
Procedure
In Business Central, complete one of the following steps:
- To view the Task Inbox page, select Menu → Track → Task Inbox.
- To view the Tasks page, select Menu → Manage → Tasks.
- To suspend the tasks in bulk, on the Task Inbox page or the Manage Tasks page, select two or more tasks from the Task table.
- From the Bulk Actions drop-down list, select Bulk Suspend.
- To confirm, click Suspend on the Suspend selected tasks window .
For each task selected, a notification is displayed showing the result.
2.6.5. Reassigning tasks in bulk
After you create tasks in Business Central, you can reassign your tasks in bulk and delegate them to others.
Procedure
In Business Central, complete one of the following steps:
- To view the Task Inbox page, select Menu → Track → Task Inbox.
- To view the Tasks page, select Menu → Manage → Tasks.
- To reassign the tasks in bulk, on the Task Inbox page or the Manage Tasks page, select two or more tasks from the Task table.
- From the Bulk Actions drop-down list, select Bulk Reassign.
- In the Tasks reassignment window, enter the user ID of the user to whom you want to reassign the tasks.
- Click Delegate.
For each task selected, a notification is displayed showing the result.
Chapter 3. Task filtering in Business Central
Business Central provides built-in filters to help you search tasks. You can filter tasks by attributes such as Status, Filter By, Process Definition Id, and Created On. It is also possible to create custom task filters using the Advanced Filters option. The newly created custom filter is added to the Saved Filters pane, which is accessible by clicking on the star icon on the left of the Task Inbox page.
3.1. Managing task list columns
In the task list on the Task Inbox and Manage Tasks windows, you can specify what columns to view and you can change the order of columns to better manage task information.
Only users with the process-admin
role can view the task list on the Manage Tasks page. Users with the admin
role can access the Manage Tasks page, however they see only an empty task list.
Procedure
- In Business Central, go to Menu → Manage → Tasks or Menu → Track → Task Inbox.
- On the Manage Task or Task Inbox page, click the Show/hide columns icon to the right of Bulk Actions.
- Select or deselect columns to display. As you make changes to the list, columns in the task list appear or disapper.
To rearrange the columns, drag the column heading to a new position. Note that your pointer must change to the icon shown in the following illustration before you can drag the column:
- To save your changes as a filter, click Save Filters, enter a name, and click Save.
- To use your new filter, click the Saved Filters icon (star) on the left of the screen and select your filter from the list.
3.2. Filtering tasks using basic filters
Business Central provides basic filters for filtering and searching through tasks based on their attributes such as Status, Filter By, Process Definition Id, and Created On.
Procedure
- In Business Central, go to Menu → Track → Task Inbox.
On the Task Inbox page, click the filter icon on the left of the page to expand the Filters pane and select the filters you want to use:
- Status: Filter tasks based on their status.
- Filter By: Filter tasks based on Id, Task, Correlation Key, Actual Owner, or Process Instance Description attribute.
- Process Definition Id: Filter tasks based on process definition ids.
- Created On: Filter tasks based on their creation date.
You can use the Advanced Filters option to create custom filters in Business Central.
3.3. Filtering tasks using advanced filters
You can create custom task filters using the Advanced Filters option in Business Central.
Procedure
- In Business Central, go to Menu → Track → Task Inbox.
- On the Task Inbox page, click the advanced filters icon on the left of the page to expand the Advanced Filters panel.
- In the Advanced Filters panel, enter the filter name and description, and click Add New.
- Select an attribute from the Select column drop-down list, such as Name. The content of the drop-down changes to Name != value1.
- Click the drop-down again and choose the required logical query. For the Name attribute, choose equals to.
Change the value of the text field to the name of the task you want to filter.
NoteThe name must match the value defined in the business process of the project.
- Click Save and the tasks are filtered according to the filter definition.
Click the star icon to open the Saved Filters pane.
In the Saved Filters pane, you can view the saved advanced filters.
3.4. Managing tasks using default filter
You can set a task filter as a default filter using the Saved Filter option in Business Central. A default filter will be executed every time when the page is open by the user.
Procedure
- In Business Central, go to Menu → Track → Task Inbox or go to Menu → Manage → Tasks.
On the Task Inbox page or the Manage Tasks page, click the star icon on the left of the page to expand the Saved Filters panel.
In the Saved Filters panel, you can view the saved advanced filters.
Default filter selection for Tasks or Task Inbox
- In the Saved Filters panel, set a saved task filter as the default filter.
3.5. Viewing task variables using basic filters
Business Central provides basic filters to view task variables in Manage Tasks and Task Inbox. You can view the task variables of the task as columns using Show/hide columns.
Procedure
- In Business Central, go to Menu → Manage → Tasks or go to Menu → Track → Task Inbox.
- On the Task Inbox page, click the filter icon on the left of the page to expand the Filters panel
In the Filters panel, select the Task Name.
The filter is applied to the current task list.
- Click Show/hide columns on the upper right of the tasks list and the task variables of the specified task id will be displayed.
Click the star icon to open the Saved Filters panel.
In the Saved Filters panel, you can view all the saved advanced filters.
3.6. Viewing task variables using advanced filters
You can use the Advanced Filters option in Business Central to view task variables in Manage Tasks and Task Inbox. When you create a filter with the task defined, you can view the task variables of the task as columns using Show/hide columns.
Procedure
- In Business Central, go to Menu → Manage → Tasks or go to Menu → Track → Task Inbox.
- On the Manage Tasks page or the Task Inbox page, click the advanced filters icon to expand the Advanced Filters panel.
- In the Advanced Filters panel, enter the name and description of the filter, and click Add New.
-
From the Select column list, select the
name
attribute. The value will change to name != value1. - From the Select column list, select equals to for the logical query.
- In the text field, enter the name of the task.
- Click Save and the filter is applied on the current task list.
- Click Show/hide columns on the upper right of the tasks list and the task variables of the specified task id will be displayed.
Click the star icon to open the Saved Filters panel.
In the Saved Filters panel, you can view all the saved advanced filters.
Chapter 4. Process instance filtering in Business Central
Business Central now provides you with basic and advanced filters to help you filter and search through process instances. You can filter processes by attributes such as State, Errors, Filter By, Name, Start Date, and Last update. You can also create custom filters using the Advanced Filters option. The newly created custom filter is added to the Saved Filters pane, which is accessible by clicking on the star icon on the left of the Manage Process Instances page.
All users except those with manager
or rest-all
roles can access and filter process instances in Business Central.
4.1. Filtering process instances using basic filters
Business Central provides basic filters for filtering and searching through process instances based on their attributes such as State, Errors, Filter By, Name, Start Date, and Last update.
Procedure
- In Business Central, go to Menu → Manage → Process Instances.
On the Manage Process Instances page, click the filter icon on the left of the page to expand the Filters pane and select the filters you want to use:
- State: Filter process instances based on their state (Active, Aborted, Completed, Pending, and Suspended).
- Errors: Filter process instances that contain at least one or no errors.
- Filter By: Filter process instances based on Id, Initiator, Correlation Key, or Description attribute.
- Name: Filter process instances based on process definition name.
- Definition ID: The ID of the instance definition.
- Deployment ID: The ID of the instance deployment.
- SLA Compliance: SLA compliance status (Aborted, Met, N/A, Pending, and Violated).
- Parent Process ID: The ID of the parent process instance.
- Start Date: Filter process instances based on their creation date.
- Last update: Filter process instances based on their last modified date.
You can also use the Advanced Filters option to create custom filters in Business Central.
4.2. Filtering process instances using advanced filters
You can create custom process instance filters using the Advanced Filters option in Business Central.
Procedure
- In Business Central, click Menu → Manage → Process Instances.
- On the Manage Process Instances page, click the Advanced Filters icon.
- In the Advanced Filters pane, enter the name and description of the filter, and click Add New.
- Select an attribute from the Select column drop-down list, for example, processName. The content of the drop-down changes to processName != value1.
- Click the drop-down again and choose the required logical query. For the processName attribute, choose equals to.
Change the value of the text field to the name of the process you want to filter.
NoteThe
processName
must match the value defined in the business process of the project.- Click Save and the processes are filtered according to the filter definition.
Click the star icon to open the Saved Filters pane.
In the Saved Filters pane, you can view all the saved advanced filters.
4.3. Managing process instances using default filter
You can set a process instance filter as a default filter using the Saved Filter option in Business Central. A default filter will be executed every time when the page is open by the user.
Procedure
- In Business Central, go to Menu → Manage → Process Instances.
On the Manage Process Instances page, click the star icon on the left of the page to expand the Saved Filters panel.
In the Saved Filters panel, you can view the saved advanced filters.
Default filter selection for Process Instances
- In the Saved Filters panel, set a saved process instance filter as the default filter.
4.4. Viewing process instance variables using basic filters
Business Central provides basic filters to view process instance variables. You can view the process instance variables of the process as columns using Show/hide columns.
Procedure
- In Business Central, go to Menu → Manage → Process Instances.
- On the Manage Process Instances page, click the filter icon on the left of the page to expand the Filters panel.
In the Filters panel, select the Definition Id.
The filter is applied on the current process instance list.
- Click Show/hide columns on the upper right of the process instances list and the process instance variables of the specified process id will be displayed.
Click the star icon to open the Saved Filters panel.
In the Saved Filters panel, you can view all the saved advanced filters.
4.5. Viewing process instance variables using advanced filters
You can use the Advanced Filters option in Business Central to view process instance variables. When you create a filter over the column processId
, you can view the process instance variables of the process as columns using Show/hide columns.
Procedure
- In Business Central, go to Menu → Manage → Process Instances.
- On the Manage Process Instances page, click the advanced filters icon to expand the Advanced Filters panel.
- In the Advanced Filters panel, enter the name and description of the filter, and click Add New.
-
From the Select column list, select the
processId
attribute. The value will change to processId != value1. - From the Select column list, select equals to for the logical query.
- In the text field, enter the name of the process id.
- Click Save and the filter is applied on the current process instance list.
- Click Show/hide columns on the upper right of the process instances list and the process instance variables of the specified process id will be displayed.
Click the star icon to open the Saved Filters panel.
In the Saved Filters panel, you can view all the saved advanced filters.
Chapter 5. Setting the due date and priority of a task
You can set the priority, due date, and time of a task in Business Central from the Task Inbox page. Note that all users may not have permissions for setting priority and the due date of a task.
Procedure
- In Business Central, go to Menu → Track → Task Inbox.
- On the Task Inbox page, click the task to open it.
- On the task page, click the Details tab.
- In the Due Date field, select the required date from the calendar and the due time from the drop-down list.
- In the Priority field, select the required priority.
- Click Update.
Chapter 6. Viewing and adding comments to a task
You can add comments to a task and also view the existing comments of a task in Business Central.
Procedure
- In Business Central, go to Menu → Track → Task Inbox.
- On the Task Inbox page, click the task to open it.
- On the task page, click the Work tab or the Comments tab.
In the Comment field, enter the task related comment and click Add Comment icon.
All task related comments are displayed in a tabular form in the Work as well as Comments tab.
To select or clear the Show task comments at work tab check box, go to the Business Central home page, click the Settings icon and select the Process Administration option. Only users with the admin
role have access to enable or disable this feature.
Chapter 7. Viewing the history log of a task
You can view the history log of a task in Business Central from the Logs tab of task. The history log lists all the events in the "Date Time: Task event" format.
Procedure
- In Business Central, go to Menu → Track → Task Inbox.
- On the Task Inbox page, click the task to open it.
On the task page, click the Logs tab.
All events that take place during the task life cycle is listed in the Logs tab.
Chapter 8. Viewing the history log of a process instance
You can view the history log of a process instance in Business Central from its Logs tab. The log lists all the events in the Date Time: Event Node Type: Event Type
format.
You can filter the logs based on Event Node Type and Event Type. You can also view the details of the human nodes in the logs.
Procedure
- In Business Central, go to Menu → Manage → Process Instances.
- On the Process Instances page, click the process instance whose log you want to view.
- On the instance page, click the Logs tab.
- Select the required check boxes from Event Node Type and Event Type pane to filter the log as per your need.
- To view additional information regarding human nodes, expand Details.
Click Reset to revert to the default filter selection.
All events that occur in a process instance life cycle are listed in the Logs tab.
Appendix A. Versioning information
Documentation last updated on Friday, May 22, 2020.