About workflow fields

Workflow fields are all of the data fields and system fields associated with a single workflow. A field is a workflow property, which means that it can be used in one or more steps of a workflow. When the workflow is running, a field value set at one step will be available in subsequent steps that use the same field. The value of each field in a workflow is limited to the current instance of the workflow; each time the workflow runs, the values in the fields can be different, and can change as the workflow processes.

Data fields

The workflow author defines data fields to hold values that will be used by a participant or automated process at a step, and as values for conditional tests or decisions. A data field definition includes a name, data type, and an initial value. The workflow author, workflow administrator, and application developer typically work together to determine what fields are needed and how they will be used.

The amount of data stored in a data field is limited by the workflow database software. See Workflow database field size limitations for more information.

System fields

Process Engine automatically creates the fields it needs to process a workflow. Although you use and reference system fields in your workflow, you cannot directly edit the values they contain.

See System fields for a complete list of system fields and related information.

Exposed fields

The workflow administrator can use Process Configuration Console to expose workflow fields in a roster, queue, or event log. Exposing a field makes it available for use in a search filter, when defining an index, and when logging information to the event log. Adding a field to the list of exposed fields does not create the field in a workflow definition—the workflow author does that. In the same way, removing a field from the list of exposed fields does not delete the field—it simply makes the field unavailable for the uses listed above.

To take advantage of exposed data fields at runtime, the names and types of the data fields that the workflow author defines in Process Designer must match the names and types of the fields created in Process Configuration Console, including case. (The numeric data types are the exception to this rule—you can mix integer and float data types.)

CAUTION  Exposing workflow fields adds to the system overhead, both in space and performance. Additional performance impact can occur in the following cases:

The size of an exposed field is limited by the workflow database software. See Workflow database field size limitations for more information.