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## Notification Activity

When the workflow engine reaches a notification activity, it issues a Send( ) API call to the Notification System to send the message to an assigned performer. You define the message that the notification sends. The message can be an informative note or it can prompt the performer for a response. When a performer responds to a notification activity, the Notification System processes the response and informs the workflow engine that the notification activity is complete so that it can continue processing the next eligible activity. See: To Create a Notification Activity.

You specify the performer of a notification activity when you include the notification activity as a node in the process. You can either designate the performer to be a specific role or an item type attribute that dynamically returns the name of a role. See: To Define Nodes and Roles.

When you define a notification activity, you can also optionally:

- Check Expand Roles to send an individual copy of the notification message to each user in the role. The notification remains in a user's notification queue until the user responds or closes the notification.

> Attention: You should expand roles to send out a broadcast-type message that you want all users of that role to see.

If you do not expand the role for a notification activity, Oracle Workflow sends one copy of the notification message to the assigned performer role and that notification is visible in the notification queue of all the users in that role. If one user in that role responds or closes that notification, the notification is removed from the notification queue of all other users in that role.

- Specify a post-notification function that the Workflow Engine executes in response to an update of the notification's state after the notification is delivered. The Workflow Engine runs the post-notification function in RESPOND, FORWARD, TRANSFER, or TIMEOUT mode depending on whether the notification recipient responds to, forwards, or transfers the notification, or whether the notification times out, respectively. When the Notification System completes execution of the post-notification function in RESPOND mode, the Workflow Engine then runs the post-notification function again in RUN mode.

For example, if you wish to restrict the roles that a notification can be forwarded to, you can specify a post-notification function that the Workflow Engine executes in FORWARD mode when the notification recipient attempts to forward the notification. The post-notification function would audit the role and either allow the forward to occur or reject it with an error. See: Post-notification Functions and Notification Model.

To create a post-notification function, you should use the same PL/SQL API required for function activities. See: Standard API for PL/SQL Procedures Called by Function Activities.

By both checking Expand Roles and specifying a post-notification function, you can create your own custom vote tallying activity. See: Voting Activity.

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