Properties of an activity element

Activities are represented by rectangles. An activity involves performing a task (e.g. “Check”) and triggering an action (e.g. clicking the “Approve release” button).

A new activity is created by clicking the icon in the tool bar. The properties of an activity element can then be edited.

An activity can either be performed:

• Manually by a user or
• Automatically by a script

An “M” or an “A” in the top right-hand corner of the activity indicates whether it is a manual or an automatic one:

Properties of an activity – General tab

Reference name: A unique reference name has to be specified for the selected activity in this field (character limit: <= 40 characters).

Display name/Description: Language-dependent details can be added as well. This only applies to the editorial languages (not the project languages).

The display name is used in various places, such as workflow dialogs (e.g. for labeling the buttons in the Transition dialog, on the Help tab, and on the History tab), for entries in the context menu for starting/switching workflows, for the description used as a tool tip and on the Help tab. If no display name is specified, the unique name is displayed instead. If a description does not exist, the text from the Comment field is displayed.

Script: This combo box can be used to select a script (from the project), which is run as soon as the activity is called. If the required activity is to be run using a script, automatic execution has to be selected.

Execution: This option defines whether an activity is to be performed manually by a user or automatically by the system.

• Manual: The editor is shown a dialog box that can be used to advance a workflow (instance) when performing a manual activity.
• Automatic: Automatic activities do not wait for user interaction and are performed as soon as one of the states upstream in the model is reached (i.e. the action is triggered by the system and not by the user). Thus, an automatic action (and a connected script along with it) is executed directly after reaching a state. The script can carry out the necessary check and advance the workflow (instance) automatically.

Comment: An optional explanatory comment can be added for the activity in this field.

E-mail tab

This tab can be used to specify whether someone should be notified by e-mail as soon as this activity is used.

Send e-mail: If the checkbox is checked, an e-mail is sent to the selected recipients as soon as the activity has been carried out.

Mailing list: This area is used to select the individuals who are to be sent an e-mail:

• Beneficiary: Persons authorized to advance the workflow to the subsequent state. These permissions are defined either directly in the workflow model using the permissions for switching the transition and/or using the permissions for switching a transition on the object where the workflow's instance was started.
• Task creator: The user that started the instance of the workflow
• Last editor: The user that switched the instance of the workflow to the current state
• Editor: The current editor of the workflow
• List: Several people or groups can be listed in this field. Clicking the icon opens another window where the desired individuals or groups can be selected from a list.

Subject: The text for the e-mail subject line is entered in this field.

Message: The message that the recipient is to receive is entered in this field. Here, the following % expressions can be used as placeholders that are replaced by the system automatically:

Placeholders for creating context-specific information

%FIRSTspiritURL% = HTTP connection mode (default mode)

%FIRSTspiritSOCKETURL% = SOCKET connection mode

%PAGESTORE_PREVIEW_URL% = Preview URL for a page from the Page Store

%SITESTORE_PREVIEW_URL% = Preview URL for a page reference from the Site Store

%WF_NAME% = Name of the workflow

%CREATOR% = Creator of the workflow (complete name)

%LAST_USER% = Last editor

%LAST_COMMENT% = Last comment

%NEXT_USER% = Next editor

%PRIORITY% = Priority

%DATE% = Due date (only if set)

%HISTORY% = History of the workflow instance

%WEBeditURL% = WebEdit link to the preview of the page

If the %FIRSTspiritURL%, %FIRSTspiritRMIURL% or %FIRSTspiritSOCKETURL% placeholders are specified in the “Message” field, a link (that links to the corresponding node in the project) is created in the sent e-mail, e.g. for: %FIRSTspiritURL%:

http://myServer:9999/start/FIRSTspirit.jnlp?app=client&project=QS_akt&name=vorlage_1&type=Page&id=4394331&host=myServer&port=9999&mode=HTTP

or for %PAGESTORE_PREVIEW_URL%:

http://myServer.espirit.de:9999/fs5preview/preview/4238727/page/DE/current/4238731/4394331

Additional context-specific information about the respective instance of the workflow can be generated using the other placeholders, e.g.: %HISTORY%:

April 16, 2012 – Admin, manual
Activity: Request release
State: Release requested
Comment: UserB: Please approve release

In addition to the URL for SiteArchitect (%FIRSTspiritURL%), a link to a preview page in ContentCreator can be transmitted in the text (%WEBeditURL%), e.g.:

http://myServer:9999/fs5webedit/?project=476656&store=pagestore&element=477196

If a placeholder cannot be resolved because information is not available in the selected context, it is replaced by the appropriate information:

• German (DE): <in aktuellem Kontext nicht verfügbar>
• English (EN): <not available in current context>

Placeholder replacement only works if the JNLP servlet is installed on the system.