What Is an Activity?

Activities define a manual or automated task that conforms one step within a process design. Adding a new activity allows you to create a new step and assign it to a role in a process.

A manual activity requires end user intervention whereas an automatic activity can be automatically completed by the Engine. An activity can include one or more tasks.

The following table describes different categories of Activities. For detailed information on each Activity see Activity Types:
Category Description Activities
Process Initiation/Termination Activities Function as a beginning and end point for the process. The activities are automatically generated and define the scope of the process. Begin, End
Human Interaction Activities Allows user interaction with process. Interactive, Grab, Decision
System Interaction Activities Handle automatic interactions with business systems. Automatic
Organizational Interaction Activities Allow communication with other areas and processes of an organization. Process Creation, Termination Wait, Process Notification, Notification Wait, Dynamic Process Call
Process Control Activities Control process flow or generate copies of a process instance to allow flow through multiple paths simultaneously. Split , Split N, Join, Conditional
Global Activities Handle global requirements that are not associated with a specific process instance. Global Creation, Global Automatic
Miscellaneous Activities Provide other functionality with a process Connectors, Measurement Marks

Activity Naming Conventions

It is recommended that you name your activity with a verb followed by a noun specifying the Activity's role within the Process. Providing descriptive names for your Activities allows your process to be self-documenting. For example, Create Order, Ship Product, Check Credit are all useful Activity names.

Note: After an Activity name has been defined, it cannot be changed. However, you can change the Activity label which is displayed to end users.