Enable email notification
You can optionally enable email notification of workflow activity. Individual users
can configure which notifications they want to receive and their preferred locale. For instance,
users can choose to be notified when work is assigned or when work is
approaching or passes a deadline. Users who have been assigned as a tracker
for a workflow can be notified when the workflow is assigned to others,
when it approaches or passes a deadline, and when exceptions occur.
As a workflow administrator, you must configure and enable email notification. This involves the following tasks:
- Configure PE — You must specify the SMTP server, default user, and other parameters used for email notification. You use Process Task Manager to configure Process Engine email notification.
- NOTE When executing a step that includes an email notification, Process Engine (PE) communicates with the SMTP server only as long as is required to send the message. Once the email notification has been sent, PE does not listen for status messages about that email notification. For example, if the SMTP server subsequently generates a message indicating that the recipient's inbox is full so the email notification cannot be sent, PE does not receive this information. It is necessary to monitor the SMTP server directly to get status information for email notification messages.
- Verify the default locale — PE uses the Default Authoring Locale as the default language for email notification of workflow activity. Use Process Task Manager to view the default locale and verify that it specifies the desired default language. A user can override the default by selecting personal notification preferences, depending on his system interface:
- In Workplace, select Preferences/Tasks.
- In FileNet Web Services, open Personal Work Manager.
- In Open Client, display the Process page.
- Add a language pack — Each language pack contains the translated templates used for email notification of workflow activity. You use Process Task Manager to add language packs. At a minimum, add a language pack for the default language specified in Default Authoring Locale; you may add additional language packs as desired. Once added, each language pack is available for selection as a preferred locale in a user's Workplace preferences.
- NOTE If no language packs are added, PE disables email notification. If the default language pack is not added, PE logs an error when attempting to use the default language pack for a user.
- Set the event logging options — Email notification requires that event logging be turned on for the Exception and Begin Operation categories. You use Process Configuration Console to set event logging options.
- Set the preferred web application — You can set the preferred web application to be used for generating email notification messages. You use Process Configuration Console to set the preferred web application.
See Developing email notifications in Help for Process Development for detailed instructions on customizing an email notification template.