Workflow

Notifier Configuration

 

Mail Layout

  The layout of the e-mails, which are used to inform the user about work items, can be configured individually. The html-file template fragments in the <environment name>\lay\notifier folder can be adapted.
  Please consider the variables tagged with <AXA>...</AXA> :
 

Default Variables:

Header PersonPrefix (title, defined in person data record)
PersonName (last name, defined in person data record)
Body Text (mailtext, defined in Work Item, activity, or the text of a stat change message)
Footer Entity=WorkItem, Field=OID (T_MAIL.DAT.C_ID)
Entity=Activity, Field=OID (T_ACT_DAT.C_ID)
UserName (receiver name (DEMOEP,....)).
FROM (sender e-mail-address)
 

Additional available variables:

Depending on the relation of the work item to other workflow objects, the following variables are available:

  • In case of standard workflow messages:

    • All attributes of the entities process, activity, work item
    • If the process was initated via work request or work order: all attributes of the entity work order or work request.
    • If the process works with additional project or organization filter: the project name or company name.
  • In case of a state change message: all attributes of the concerning object (process, activity, or work item).
 

Add Additional Variables

  To add an additional variables use the following construction:

<AXA>Entity=<entity name>,Field=<field name></AXA>
If the combination of entity / field name, or the value does not exist, the construction will be replaced by "--"!
 

Example 1:

To add the existing value of T_ACT_DAT.ACT_STATE to the mail template... search the field name ACT_STATE in ABS_<env-name>.ini:

[Repository\ObjTypes\Activity\Attributes\Phase]
name=Phase
mapping=ACT_STATE
mappingType=STRING

The construction should lool like:

<AXA>Entity=Activity,Field=Phase</AXA>

 

Example 2:

In case your field does not exist inside ABS_<env name>.ini, add it manually.

Field T_PRC_DAT.PRC_TYPE, currently not inside ABS_<env name>.ini...

 

Create a new repository entry (the mapping name, here Type, should be unique for this entity):

[Repository\ObjTypes\Process\Attributes\Type]
name=Type
mapping=PRC_TYPE
mappingType=STRING

 

Redeploy Your Application

  Redeploy your application to make your changes available. To use these new attributes, see the example construction above.
To make the changes available for all environments, use tpl_ABS_env.ini and redeploy all applications!
 

File ABS<environment name>.ini

  Configure timing and mailing settings of the notifier in the <ep_root>\build\tpl_app\tpl_ABS_env.ini file. The following parameters with values in <...> are set automatically during the installation: The other parameters can be changed manually.
  A short functional explanation is written after the :
 

...
[EciServer]
Port=<PLMEciPort> : eci server port of Agile EDM application
...
[Watchdog]
...
Time0=12:30 : first time, the watchdog checks for due and overdue activities, activated by removing PeriodBase and Period
Time1=15:00 : second time....
Time2=4:00 : third time...
PeriodBase=12:00 : base time for calculative reasons
Period=0:05 : time period of regular intervals
BatchPeriod=0:01 : time period of regular intervals for background activities
MaxBatchStartupTime=0:10 : the time, when the responsible user for the process gets an e-mail that this status remains
MaxBatchCallNumber=2 : the maximum number of simultaneously running processes (background processes)
JaDeHost=<JaDeHost>: java daemon host name
JaDePort=<JaDePort>: java daemon port

[WorkflowExecutor]

[Notifier]
delay=1000 : defines the time period in seconds the notifier is inactive between two active phases calculated from the start of the Business Service

[Messenger]
HOST=<MAIL_RELAY>: mail server that is used to sends mails from the messenger
PORT=<MAIL_PORT>: see table below
ConnectTimeOut=60: see table below
useSSL=<USE_SSL>: see table below
useAuthentication=<USE_AUTH>: see table below
SMTPUserName=<SMTP_USER>: see table below
SMTPPassword=<SMTP_PWD>: see table below
FROM=agile_workflow@oracle.com: sender e-mail-adress the notifier uses to send e.g. information about new Work Items.
Admin_UIC=<Admin_UIC>: UIC of the user who is designated for the ADMIN with privileges for the workflow module and manager rights to create persons or change user data.
axalantSender=agile_axalant@oracle.com: e-mail-adress the notifier uses in case of using the External E-Mail Integration
axalantWebHost=<HTTP_HOST>:<HTTP_PORT> : Oracle http server host name and port used for web client
axalantWebApplication=<WebApplication> : context root of the web client
axalantJaccHost=<JCL_HOST>:<JCL_PORT> : Oracle http server host name and port used for java client web start
JaccContextRoot=<JCL_CNXT_ROOT>: context root of the java client web start
JaccApplication=<JaccApplication> : used application name
XMLSwitch=false : switch to choose mail generation by templates (default = false) or xml generator (true)

 

Timing

 

The section [Notifier] contains delay=<value in seconds>. This entry defines the time delay in seconds between two active phases of the notifier calculated from the start of the Business Service. During an active phase, e-mails are sent for the new work items immediately the notifier starts with delay.

...
[Watchdog]
...
Time0=12:30 : first time, the watchdog checks for due and overdue activities, activated by removing PeriodBase and Period
Time1=15:00 : second time....
Time2=4:00 : third time...
(These entries are used if a notification is expected only a few times a day. It is possible to add more TimeN entries, e.g. Time3, Time4.)
PeriodBase=12:00 : base time for calculative reasons
Period=0:05 : time period in minutes of regular intervals (default timing for watchdog)
BatchPeriod=0:02 : time period in minutes of regular intervals for background activities
...

[Notifier]
delay=1000 : defines the time period the notifier is inactive between two active phases calculated from the start of the Business Service
...

When using the Notifier in productive environments, set the time periods to at least 1000 sec (~ 15minutes) or higher (e.g. delay=2000).
 

Mailing

  In the ABS<environment name>.ini file, the following default e-mail parameters are set automatically during the installation:

...

[Messenger]
HOST=<MAIL_RELAY>: mail server that is used to sends mails from the messenger
PORT=<MAIL_PORT>: see table below
ConnectTimeOut=60: see table below
useSSL=<USE_SSL>: see table below
useAuthentication=<USE_AUTH>: see table below
SMTPUserName=<SMTP_USER>: see table below
SMTPPassword=<SMTP_PWD>: see table below
FROM=agile_workflow@oracle.com: sender e-mail-adress the notifier uses to send e.g. information about new Work Items.
...
axalantSender=axalant@agile.com: e-mail-adress the notifier uses in case of using the External E-Mail Integration
axalantWebHost=<HTTP_HOST>:<HTTP_PORT> : Oracle http server host name and port used for web client
axalantWebApplication=<WebApplication> : context root of the web client
axalantJaccHost=<JCL_HOST>:<JCL_PORT> : Oracle http server host name and port used for java client web start
JaccContextRoot=<JCL_CNXT_ROOT>: context root of the java client web start
JaccApplication=<JaccApplication> : used application name
XMLSwitch=false : switch to choose mail generation by templates (default = false) or xml generator (true)
...

It is required to insert values for ADMIN_UIC in the messenger section of the abs.ini file! The user who is designated for the ADMIN should have privileges for the workflow module and the manager rights to create persons or change user data!
 

SSL and Authentication for SMTP Mailing

 

Workflow and server-side external mailing provide SSL and authentication for mailing.

Parameter Description Dependency
PORT=<MAIL_PORT> SMTP port for SSL -
ConnectTimeOut=60

Value in seconds. Default is 60 seconds

If ConnectTimeOut is deleted from abs.ini file, it will be set to its default value.

-
useSSL=<USE_SSL>
  • true
    SSL will be used (default)
  • false
    SSL will not be used

If useSSL is deleted from abs.ini file, it will be set to its default value.

-
useAuthentication=<USE_AUTH>
  • true
    Authentication will be used (default)
  • false
    Authentication will not be used

If useAuthentication is deleted from abs.ini file, it will be set to its default value.

If useAuthentication=true:

  • SSL has to be set to true
  • SMTPUserName has to be provided
  • Password has to be provided

If useAuthentication=false:

  • Password can be empty
SMTPUserName=<SMTP_USER>

User name / account name of the SMTP account.

Always use <account-name>@<domain-name>.

 
SMTPPassword=<SMTP_PWD>

Encrypted password

Unencrypted passwords are not accepted, even if authentication is set to false.

 

 

 

Default Data

In case there are no notifications sent, first check the values of the EDB-WFL-NOT flags in the database. Clicking will open the Default Data list!
 
The name and the value assigned to the EDB-WFL-NOT entry indicate whether and how often notifications are sent. If a user has a special setting (e.g. immediately, hourly) this setting will have priority compared to the users GLOBAL or SYSTEM. If a user doesn't have an entry, the system first searches for the user GLOBAL. If GLOBAL is not available, the system searches for SYSTEM. The GLOBAL and SYSTEM settings are valid for all user without a special entry. It is quite "dangerous" to define GLOBAL and SYSTEM with NONE since then the system wouldn't send out any notifications if there are no other users defined!
 

Concatenation of Notifications

If several new work items appear during an inactive phase of the notifier, the notifications for the same person are automatically concatenated and sent as one notification!
  As an example, the settings below will have the following effect on the concatenation of notifications:
Set the value for EDB-WFL-NOT to IMMEDIATELY.
In the ABS_env.ini do the following settings:
 

Set the notifier to 10 min.
- [Notifier] delay = 600

Set the watchdog period to 20 min
- [Watchdog] period = 0:20

Set the watchdog batch period to 2 min
- [Watchdog] batch period = 0:02

Create three simple workflow processes with only one activity and set the following values:
  - Duration = 2 minutes
- Limit = 12 minutes
Please note that when entering the time value via the corresponding mask, the selection menu doesn't offer to select minutes. However, the value for minutes can be entered manually (e.g. 2 mi)!
  Effect:

After having started these three processes, the following emails will be sent:

- After 10 minutes one email will be sent to the user concatenating new work items.
- After 20 minutes one email will be sent to the user concatenating due work items.
- After 40 minutes one email will be sent to the user concatenating the overdue work items and an additional email will be sent to the process responsible person to inform about the overdue work item.

 

Opening Tasks with the Java Client

  Instead of using the Web Client it is also possible to use the Java Client to open the tasks contained in the workflow notifications.
Because both links are available, please delete the unused link definition.
 

Internationalization

 

Extentions for the Workflow Mailing

The encoding of HTML or TXT snippets is UTF-8. All non-ASCII characters have to be replaced with either HTML or Decimal escapes. All TXT snippets have to be encoded as UTF-8 files without ByteOrderMask.

E.g. "ä"

  • HTML
    &auml;
  • Decimal
    &#228;
 

Extentions for the Server-Side External Mailer

By default, the encoding is set to UTF-8.
 

The encoding is done on server side with the given encoding, or if missing with UTF-8 encoding.

If this fails, the original text is send without encoding. Thus, the parameter -k must be set if the encoding in a text file differs from UTF-8 encoding. If you want to send an XML file, which is usually encoded in UTF-8, you do not need the -k parameter.

In case of any text file written on the client side (e.g. windows clients have usually the encoding windows-1252) the encoding has to be -k'windows-1252'.