Lesson 2: Get started with Design mode

In this lesson, we use the car loan application diagram from lesson 1 as the starting point for a very simplified car loan application workflow. The descriptions and other information in the diagram will guide the Business Analyst in implementing the workflow.

Use Process Designer in Design mode to specify data for various steps, specify participants or queues as step destinations, to add routing conditions, and to configure queues as step destinations. You must be a member of the appropriate access role to access specific functionality in Process Designer.

To implement the car loan application workflow:

  1. In Process Designer, on the Settings menu select Mode > Design.
  2. On the File menu, click Open and locate CarLoanApplication.pep.
  3. Consider the data parameters and participants who will process this workflow as follows:
    1. Data:
      • the applicant name and tax ID to check the credit
      • the loan amount
      • the down payment amount
    2. Step destinations:
      • For our fictitious business, some steps (CheckCredit and VerifyIncome) will be processed by any one of a number of credit clerks.
      • Other steps will be processed by specific participants.

    At this point it is not necessary to identify all possible items that will be needed for this workflow because we can create them as we go along.

  4. For the steps that can be processed by any one of a number of users, use the following steps to create a work queue to hold the work until a clerk selects it for processing. (You can also configure a Work Queue in the full Process Configuration Console accessible from the Admin option in Workplace or Workplace XT.)
    1. On the View menu, click Configuration.

      The configuration window provides access to the isolated region settings where you can configure queue, rosters, event logs, exposed data fields, and other options. An isolated region is a logical subdivision of the workflow database that contains the queues for the work items, event logs, rosters, and other configuration information. It also contains all transferred workflows and running work items.

    2. In the tree, click the isolated region to display the Work Queue, Component Queues, User Queues, and so on for that region.
    3. Click Work Queues to display existing queues.

      Right-click Work Queues and click New.

      Enter Queue Name: Credit. Click Create.

    4. Right-click the new Credit queue and select Properties.

      The Queue Properties dialog opens. For this queue, we will define the exposed fields that will be used in searching for and sorting workflow tasks. Exposed fields also help to standardize field definitions across multiple workflows.

      Select the Data Fields tab and double-click in the first empty field name to define the following fields:

      Field Name Field Type Length
      ApplicantName String 25
      TaxID String 9
      LoanAmount Integer  
      DownPayment Integer  

      When you are finished defining the exposed fields, click OK to close the Queue Properties dialog box.

    5. Click Commit changes on the Action bar to save your configuration changes.
    6. When the queue creation is complete, click the CarLoanApplication tab to return to the workflow map.
  5. On the Action menu, click Workflow Properties to configure the data fields, attachments, and workflow groups that will be used in this workflow.
    1. On the General tab, note the name of this workflow, CarLoanApplication, as specified in Lesson 1.

      Enter a Subject for this workflow: CarLoan. When the workflow is running, the subject will appear in the list of work items that the participant can select.

    2. Click the Data Fields tab and then click the Exposed Data Fields button to display the data fields exposed in this isolated region.

      Select and move the fields you just created to the Selected Fields column. This defines these fields in the current workflow definition. Click OK to save the selected data fields.

    3. Although you can assign specific users to process a step, it is more convenient to use workflow groups so that it is easier to change actual users when necessary. For this lesson you can assign yourself to process most of the steps in this workflow.
      1. On the Workflow Groups tab, double-click in the empty Name field (under F_Trackers) and enter CreditClerks.
      2. On the Participants bar, click Modify to select users who will be members of the CreditClerks Workflow Group. The Participant Selection dialog appears.
      3. On the Participant Selection dialog, select Users and in the Starts with field, enter the first few letters of your user name and click Search. Move your name to the Selected Users column for this workflow group, then click OK.)
      4. Use the same procedure to add Approver and assign yourself.
      5. Close the Workflow Properties dialog box.
  6. Click the LaunchStep on the map and complete the following steps to configure this step. At runtime, the LaunchStep will display instructions for the launch user to enter any initial data values required for the workflow.
    1. In the Properties pane on the General tab, enter instructions for the person who launches this workflow. For this lesson, the instructions should tell them to enter their name, tax ID, loan amount, down payment amount, and specify themselves as a Tracker for this workflow.
    2. Click the Parameters tab and specify the parameters (data fields and so on) that will be available at this step.

      From the list of available parameters, select ApplicantName, DownPayment, LoanAmount, and TaxID and move them to the Selected Parameters column.

      Select F_Trackers and move it to the Selected Parameters column. At launch time, you will specify yourself as a tracker for this workflow.

      The person assigned as a tracker for a workflow receives a work item in their Tracker queue (and possibly an e-mail message) when a workflow is launched. That person also receives notification of any missed deadlines and problems in the workflow. A lead user is frequently assigned as a Tracker to be able to assist other user and track the status of specific workflows.

    There are no conditions for the route from the LaunchStep to the CheckCredit step. When the user complete the LaunchStep, the workflow continues to the CheckCredit step.

  7. Click the CheckCredit step. This step will be processed by one of several credit clerks who all have access to work in the Credit queue.
    1. In the Properties pane on the General tab under Step Destination, click Work Queue and select the Credit queue.
    2. Click the Parameters tab and select ApplicantName and TaxID and add them to the list of parameters to be used in this step to check the credit of the applicant.
    3. We need another data field to hold the credit score.

      On the Select Parameters bar, click Modify.

      Add CreditScore, with the Type of Integer and with Read/Write access. Click the Expression field and select Create CreditScore to create the data field. Click Close.

      Notice that you can create data fields when necessary.

    There are no conditions for the route from the CheckCredit step to the DownPayment step.

  8. Click the DownPayment step.
    1. In the Properties pane on the General tab, leave the Step Destination blank. This step will be processed by the Process Engine server.
    2. There are two possible routes from the DownPayment step. Use the following steps to specify the conditions for taking one route or the other.
      1. Select the first route (1 Yes) from DownPayment to the SetRate step. (Note that this route must be identified as 1, the first route you created from this step. Process Engine evaluates the routes in sequential order.)
      2. In the Properties pane under Conditional Routing, click Condition and click the Data Fields tab and specify the following conditions for taking this route.

        Field: CreditScore, Operator: is greater than, Value: 650. Click Insert. Click OR.

        Field: DownPayment, Operator: is greater than, Value 1000. Click Insert.

      3. If a route is not identified with the appropriate route sequence (that is, 2 instead of 1), you can change the routing sequence by doing the following steps:
        1. Select the Activity step from which the routes begin. In this case, click the DownPayment step.
        2. In the Properties pane, click the Routing tab.
        3. For Outgoing Routing Information, select First true conditions and change the sequence of the routes by selecting a route and clicking the up or down arrow.

      There is no need to specify the condition for route 2 from DownPayment to the VerifyIncome step because Process Engine checks route 1 first. Any items that do not meet the conditions of the first route will be directed to the second route. This means that any application that has a low credit score or no down payment will be directed to the VerifyIncome step.

  9. Click the VerifyIncome step. This is a submap step that calls the submap CheckIncome. At runtime, when processing of the submap is complete, the workflow returns to the main map and continues as specified by the routing from the submap step.
    1. On the map toolbar, select CheckIncome.
    2. On the CheckIncome submap, click the ContactEmployer step.
    3. On the General tab under Step Destination, select Work Queue and Credit. (The clerks with access to the Credit queue will process this step.)
    4. On the Parameters tab, select ApplicantName and IncomeAmount as parameters for this step.

      If IncomeAmount does not exist, you can create this data field as instructed in Step 7c.

    5. For this step, we need additional information from the applicant: the source of income. Open Workflow Properties (on the Action menu) and create the data field IncomeSource of Type string.

      We need to get this information from the applicant at the launch step, so click Field Usage on the Workflow Properties dialog and add LaunchStep. Close the Field Usage dialog and the Workflow Properties dialog.

    6. On the map toolbar, select Workflow Main Map to return to the main workflow.
  10. On the main map, select the first route (1 Hi) from VerifyIncome to SetRate to specify the conditions for taking the first route.
    1. On the Properties pane, click Condition and click the Data Fields tab.
    2. Select Field: CreditScore, Operator: is greater than, Value: 650. Click Insert. Click OR.
    3. Select Field: IncomeAmount, Operator: is greater than, Value: 50000. Click Insert.

    There is no need to specify the condition for the second route from VerifyIncome. Any application that has a low credit score or low income (and no down payment) will be rejected.

  11. Click the SetRate step and specify the step destination and parameters:
    1. On the General tab, select Participants: Approver.
    2. On the Parameters tab, select ApplicantName, CreditScore, DownPayment, and IncomeAmount.
  12. Click the DenyApp step and specify the step destination and parameters:
    1. On the General tab, select Participants: Approver.
    2. On the Parameters tab, select all of the parameters.

      While both the SetRate and DenyApp steps could be performed by an automated process (for example, sending out a form letter), it is helpful in this lesson to be able to open these steps in your inbox to confirm that the workflow ran as you expected. It might be helpful to add all of the data fields as parameters for these two steps so that you can see the data.

  13. On the File menu, click Save to save the workflow definition in your local file system.

Validate, save, and transfer the workflow definition.

To prepare the workflow for launch, use the following steps to validate this workflow definition, transfer it to the Process Engine server, and check the file in to your FileNet object store.

  1. On the Action menu, click Validate Workflow. If errors are detected, click on each error to highlight the step where the error was discovered. Correct all errors.
  2. On the Action menu, click Transfer Workflow. This creates an executable binary version of this workflow definition in the isolated region on the Process Engine server.

    At the prompt, add this workflow definition to your IBM FileNet object store.

Continue with Lesson 3, Run and administer a workflow to run the workflow, use Personal Work Manager to access tasks, and use the administration tools to manage the active workflow.