IBM FileNet P8, Version 5.2.1            

Specifying properties for steps and routes

In Simulation Designer on the Step tab, you define the duration for each step and the weighting for each route.

You can also specify the simulation properties for the steps and routes in Process Designer on the Simulation tab of the Properties pane, or on the Step tab when defining a workflow scenario.

To define the simulation properties for each step and route:

  1. In the list of workflow definitions specified for this scenario (left pane), select one to work on. If the workflow definition you want is not displayed, you can import it into the scenario from either your local file system, an object store, or from the workflow server. See Import workflow definitions.
  2. Click a step on the workflow map. You can also choose a step name from the Name list on the Step tab.
  3. On the Step tab under Duration, specify the time it takes for the participant to process the selected step when the participant works at 100% efficiency.

    It is possible to specify that a resource performs at more or less than 100% efficiency. For example, if the specified step duration is 20 minutes, but the resource that processes that step performs at 50% efficiency, then the simulation would show the actual duration of the step as 40 minutes.

    Note: Duration does not apply to Submap steps because the IBM® FileNet® Process Engine runs these steps instantly.
  4. Under Route Weight, specify the weighted percent for each route.
    • For a single route, the weight is 100%. This value cannot be changed.
    • Where there are multiple routes, the total of the route weights should be less than or equal to 100%; each route weight should be 0% to 100% inclusive.

      If the workflow definition is designed so that occasionally there are no true routes (the work item terminates), you can simulate that by making the total of the route weights less than 100%. For example, if the total of the route weights is 90%, this work item terminates and the workflow does not run to completion in 10% of the cases.

    • Where there are multiple routes and all true routes can be taken (an AND-split), each route can have a route weight of 0% to 100%. For example, for a step with three possible routes, one of the routes could be true in 90% of the cases, another route true in 65% of the cases, and the third route true in 45%.
  5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 above for each step in the workflow.
    Tip: If the workflow definition contains submaps, display each submap to define the properties for the steps they contain.
    Note: All workflow data field values are ignored in the simulation. That means that field values used to control routing conditions, timers, and other conditions in the workflow are not used in the simulation. For example, if the workflow definition uses field values to specify the number of times a loop should execute, the statistics returned by the simulation for that step will not reflect the expected values. The simulation uses only the step duration and the route weight values set for the workflow simulation properties as described in the procedure above.


Last updated: October 2015
workflow_properties.htm

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