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You can drag and drop activities from the navigator tree into the Process window. The properties for an activity node may be viewed or edited by double clicking on the node in the Process window with the select mouse button. You define transitions between activities by drawing arrows from one activity to the next using the secondary mouse button.

Notification, function, and process activities make up the nodes of a process. If a process contains a process activity in its diagram, that process activity is known as a subprocess. There is no restriction on the depth of this hierarchy. To display the subprocess diagram in a Process window, double-click on the subprocess activity node in the parent Process window.

Transitions

For an activity that has a defined result type, you must associate the transition arrow that you create with one of the activity's possible results. The result that the activity returns when it completes then determines what the next eligible activity is, as defined by the results-based transitions that originate from the completed activity. For example, "Notify Approver" with a result of 'REJECTED' transitions to "Reject Requisition." See: Requisition Approval Process Activities.

You can also create a <Default> or <Timeout> transition for an activity that has a defined result type. The Workflow Engine follows a <Default> transition if no other transition matching the completion result exists. The Workflow Engine follows a <Timeout> transition if the notification activity times out before completion. See: Setting Up Background Workflow Engines.

Activities can also have multiple transitions for a single result, creating parallel branches.

Timeout Transitions

When an activity times out, Oracle Workflow marks the activity as timed out and then cancels any notification associated with the timed out activity. The Notification System sends a cancellation message to the performer only if the cancelled notification was expecting a response and the performer normally gets notifications via E-mail.

Processing then continues along the <Timeout> transition as indicated by your process definition. If a timed out activity does not have a <Timeout> transition originating from it, Oracle Workflow executes instead, the error process associated with the timed out activity or its parent process(es).

Note: You must have a background engine set up to process timed out activities. See: Setting Up Background Workflow Engines.

Creating Multiple Transitions to a Single Activity

In other cases, the multiple transitions may indicate that the activity may be transitioned to multiple times because it is the starting point of a loop. In these cases, you want the activity to be reexecuted each time it is revisited.

The Loop Reset flag for an activity determines whether the activity (a function, notification or process) reexecutes when it is revisited more than once. Loop Reset is set in an activity's Details property page.

If Loop Reset is unchecked, the activity runs once and only once. If it is transitioned to a second time, the workflow engine ignores this activity. If Loop Reset is checked, the activity executes every time it is visited, however, with every visit, this activity as well as all other activities that are a part of this loop are reset. You can also use the standard Loop Counter activity as the initial activity in a loop to control how many times a process can transition through a loop. See: Looping and Loop Counter Activity.

Suggestion: If you have multiple incoming transitions from parallel branches, you should always use an AND, OR, or custom join activity to merge those branches. This is especially true if after merging the parallel branches, you want to create a loop in your process. By using a joining activity to merge parallel branches and designating the following activity as the start of the loop, you create a less complicated process for the engine to execute. See: Standard Activities.

Designating Start and End Activities

An End activity should return a result that represents the completion result of the process. The result is one of the possible values from that process activity's result type.

Start activities are marked with a small green arrow, and End activities by a red arrow that appear in the lower right of the activity node's icon in the Process window.

Initiating a Process

Diagramming a Process

• To Add Nodes to a Workflow Process

• To Define Nodes

• To Define Activity Attribute Values

• To Create and Edit a Transition

• To Display a Process Overview

• To Print a Process

• To Copy a Process Diagram to the Clipboard

• To Validate a Process Definition