Human Workflow Services Introduction to Human Workflow Architecture

26-32 Oracle Fusion Middleware Developers Guide for Oracle SOA Suite 27 Designing Human Tasks 27-1 27 Designing Human Tasks This chapter describes how to design human tasks. It introduces the Human Task Editor to use for modeling task metadata, routing and assignment policies, escalation policies, expiration policies, and notification settings. This chapter includes the following sections: ■ Section 27.1, Introduction to Human Task Design Concepts ■ Section 27.2, Introduction to the Modeling Process ■ Section 27.3, Creating the Human Task Definition with the Human Task Editor ■ Section 27.4, Associating the Human Task Service Component with a BPEL Process For information about troubleshooting human workflow issues, see section Human Workflow Troubleshooting of Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrators Guide for Oracle SOA Suite and Oracle BPM Suite.

27.1 Introduction to Human Task Design Concepts

To use the Human Task Editor, you must understand human task design concepts, including the following: ■ The types of users to which to assign tasks ■ The methods by which to assign users to tasks statically, dynamically, or rule-based ■ The task participant types available for modeling a task to which you assign users ■ The options for creating lists of task participants ■ The participants involved in the entire life cycle of a task For information about human task concepts, see Chapter 26, Getting Started with Human Workflow.

27.2 Introduction to the Modeling Process

Oracle SOA Suite provides a graphical tool, known as the Human Task Editor, for modeling your task metadata. The modeling process consists of the following: ■ Creating and modeling a human task service component in the SOA Composite Editor ■ Associating it with a BPEL process 27-2 Oracle Fusion Middleware Developers Guide for Oracle SOA Suite ■ Generating the task form for displaying the human task during runtime in Oracle BPM Worklist. This section provides a brief overview of these modeling tasks and provides references to specific modeling instructions. For more information about using the SOA Composite Editor, see Chapter 2, Developing SOA Composite Applications with Oracle SOA Suite. For information about available samples, see Section 26.3.2, Designing a Human Task from Start to Finish.

27.2.1 Create a Human Task Definition

You define the metadata for the human task in either of two ways: ■ By dragging a human task from the Component Palette into a BPEL process in Oracle BPEL Designer and clicking the Add icon in the Create Human Task dialog that automatically is displayed. This displays a dialog for creating the human task service component. When creation is complete, the Human Task Editor is displayed. ■ By dragging a human task service component from the Component Palette into the SOA Composite Editor. This displays a dialog for creating the human task component. When creation is complete, the Human Task Editor is displayed. The Human Task Editor enables you to specify human task metadata, such as task outcome, payload structure, assignment and routing policy, expiration and escalation policy, notification settings, and so on. This information is saved to a metadata task configuration file with a .task extension. In addition, some workflow patterns may also need to use the Oracle Business Rules Designer to define task routing policies or the list of approvers. For more information, see Section 27.3, Creating the Human Task Definition with the Human Task Editor.

27.2.2 Associate the Human Task Definition with a BPEL Process

You can associate the .task file that consists of the human task settings with a BPEL process in Oracle BPEL Designer. Association is made with a human task that you drag into your BPEL process flow for configuring, as shown in Figure 27–1 . Designing Human Tasks 27-3 Figure 27–1 Dragging a Human Task into a BPEL Process You also specify the task definition, task initiator, task priority, and task parameter mappings that carry the input data to a BPEL variable. You can also define advanced features, such as the scope and global task variables names instead of accepting the default names, task owner, identification key, BPEL callback customizations, and whether to extend the human task to include other workflow tasks. When association is complete, a task service partner link is created. The task service exposes the operations required to act on the task. You can also create the human task as a standalone component only in the SOA Composite Editor and not associate it with a BPEL process. Standalone human task service components are useful for environments in which there is no need for any automated activity in an application. In the standalone case, the client can create the task themselves. For more information, see Section 27.4, Associating the Human Task Service Component with a BPEL Process.

27.2.3 Generate the Task Form

You can generate a task form using the Oracle Application Development Framework ADF. This form is used for displaying the task details on which you act at runtime in Oracle BPM Worklist. For information on generating the task form, see Chapter 28, Designing Task Forms for Human Tasks.

27.3 Creating the Human Task Definition with the Human Task Editor

The Human Task Editor enables you to define the metadata for the task. The editor enables you to specify human task settings, such as task outcome, payload structure, assignment and routing policy, expiration and escalation policy, notification settings, and so on.

27.3.1 How to Create a Human Task Service Component

You create a human task service component in the SOA Composite Editor or in Oracle BPEL Designer. After creation, you design the component in the Human Task Editor.