Basic User Inbox Operations
As previously described, a User Inbox is either an HTML page or Java applet
that provides the end user (workflow participant or Tracker) with notifications
on the work items he or she needs to work on. Developers are often called upon
to customize such operations as displaying a list of queues, displaying queue
contents, opening a Step Processor or Tracker assignment, and so on.
All User Inboxes must at a minimum, perform certain basic operations. These
include:
- Logging in and Establishing a Process
Session (VWSession) This operation is required for any User Inbox
and is needed to login to the Process Engine (must be a valid user) and to
instantiate and initialize a VWSession object in order to create a Process
session.
- Working with Queues Describes
the types of Process-related queues and how to work with them. Developing
User Inbox operations typically involves customizing queue operations, such
as:
- Displaying a list of queues
This operation displays a list of queues from which the user can select
items to work on.
- Querying Queues and Displaying
Query Results A basic operation required for any User Inbox
is a query of User queues and/or Work queues to retrieve work items (such
as Queue Elements, Step Elements, or Work Objects), and then displaying
the query results as a list of the current work items (or tasks) for this
end user to work on.
- Selecting and Opening a Work Item
This operation enables a user to select a work item from those displayed (as
a result of a query) and open the item either as a Java or HTML Step Processor
or as a Tracker application. An understanding of the algorithms used to determine
which Step Processor application to open and how to open a Tracker application
is important when developing this operation.
Click on the indicated link above for information on how to use the Process
Java APIs to specify and customize each of these operations.