Process Engine Capabilities Overview

The Process Engine is the FileNet P8 Platform component that allows you to create, modify, and manage business processes (workflows) implemented by applications, enterprise users, or external users (such as partners and customers). Process Engine application development involves the development of custom applications or applets to perform specific steps or other activities associated with a workflow.

The Process Engine manages workflow definitions and events, which are created using the Process Designer, one of the graphical GUI tools of the FileNet web application, which may be one of the following: FileNet Workplace, FileNet Web Services, or FileNet Open Client. Depending upon which FileNet web application you are using, these application services are provided as follows:

A workflow definition is a user-created graphical map showing the sequences, resources, and routing logic of the specific steps needed to complete a business process. The specification of each step includes which users will do the work, the user interface that the participants will see, which attachments (documents or folders) are required, what data is necessary, and what responses the participants can choose. The workflow definition's routing logic specifies how work advances from one step to the next.

The Process Engine provides the following basic capabilities:

Creating and Managing Workflow Definitions

Workflow definitions are stored and maintained as XML-based objects in an object store (managed by the Content Engine). The object store provides the objects that link the workflow definition to other objects and processes. The object store also specifies the events that launch a workflow. Workflow definitions include:

Process Event Logging

The Process Engine enables the tracking of workflows and activity analysis by providing full-featured event logging functionality. Some of the categories that can be tracked are: when users log on and log off; when work item processing begins and ends, or is abnormally interrupted; when work items are updated or delegated to another user; and so on. The Workplace Configuration Console (part of the Workplace application), enables administrators to determine which events to log and what information about those events to capture. Once events are logged in the Process Engine's database, workflow administrators have a number of analytic tools they can use, including creating their own applications that call the log query API.

Linking and Launching Documents and Workflows

Workflow definitions can be linked to an entire document class or just to individual document versions. This means that content-based events (changes in properties, passage of the document through a lifecycle definition, actions such as checkin or checkout) can launch workflows, ensuring that the document or all documents assigned to a particular class of document, will go through the process defined by the workflow. For example, checking in a design document could launch a design review and approval workflow, placing work requirements into the inboxes of those users participating in the approval process.

Assisting Document Lifecycle Management

The Process Engine's workflow feature set complements the Content Engine document lifecycle management feature set by enabling different workflows to be used in different stages of a document lifecycle. In particular, a workflow may create the conditions for a lifecycle stage transition. Typically, several workflows will be available at different stages of a document's lifecycle. In rare cases, however, a single workflow could span the document's entire lifecycle. Combining document lifecycle management and workflow allows you to divide complex processes into smaller, more manageable workflows.