You can add or change data fields from the list of exposed data fields in your roster, queue, or event log definition.
To add or change exposed data fields:
- If the Properties window is not already displayed, select the icon of the queue, roster, or event log you want to modify and click Properties on the toolbar.
- Click the Data Fields tab.
- To add an exposed field, enter the information in the first empty row.
To change an exposed field, select the information you want to change and enter the new value.
- Enter a name in the Field Name box. The field name must meet the system naming conventions. To take advantage of exposed data fields, the name of the data field that you create in Process Configuration Console and the name of the corresponding field in a workflow definition must match exactly.
Tip: To copy existing data fields from other rosters, queues, and event logs, click Exposed Fields on the data fields toolbar. The Exposed Data Fields window that appears allows you to copy the Field Name, Field Type, and Length of one or more exposed data fields.
- Select a Field Type from the list. You cannot expose fields that have an array data type. To take advantage of exposed data fields, the type of the data field that you create in Process Configuration Console must exactly match the type of the field in the workflow definition. The numeric data types are the exception to this rule: you can mix integer and float data types.
- If the Field Type is String, enter a length. Valid lengths depend on your database software.
The field length specifies the number of bytes of the field that can be used in a search filter or as part of an index. Any characters that exceed the length you set here are ignored for these purposes. However, the system continues to store the entire value of the field in the work item unexposed fields.
Important: - Use the shortest length possible that still provides enough information to meet your needs; the longer the field, the more it adds to the system overhead, both in space and performance. In addition, indexes that use the data fields must not exceed the maximum index size.
- For some Western European languages, one character occupies one byte. For many other languages, one character occupies two or more bytes, so it is important to consider the character set that will be used and specify the field length accordingly.
- You cannot change the length of an existing event log data field.
After an exposed field is used in workflow definitions, if you change the data type of that field for a queue, roster, or event log, the data type will not change in currently running work items or in any workflow definitions where this exposed field is used. In this case, the data from running work items will not match the type expected in the queue, roster, or event logs where this data field is defined, so the data will not be exposed. In order to use the exposed fields in subsequent workflows, update the data field types in existing workflow definitions .
- Click OK when done.
- Click Commit Changes on the toolbar to apply this change to your isolated region. Click Commit Changes on the toolbar to apply this change to your isolated region.
Important: Following the committal, the changes are reflected in the runtime environment only in work items that were created after the committal or in work items that entered the queue after the committal.