Web Methods Workflow Concepts Guide 6.5.1

8/3/2019 Web Methods Workflow Concepts Guide 6.5.1

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webMethods Workf lo

Concepts Gu

VERSION 6

webMethods, Inc.

South Tower

3877 Fairfax Ridge Road

Fairfax, VA 22030

USA

703.460.2500

http://www.webmethods.com


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webMethodsAdministrator,webMethods Broker,webMethodsDashboard,webMethodsDeveloper,webMethodsFabric,webMethodsGlue,webMethods Installer,webMethodsIntegrationServer,webMethods Mainframe,webMethodsManager,webMethods Modeler,webMethodsMonitor,webMethodsOptimize,webMethodsPortal,webMethodsServicenet,webMethods TradingNetworks,andwebMethodsWorkflowaretrademarks ofwebMethods,Inc.webMethodsandthewebMethods logoareregisteredtrademarksofwebMethods,Inc.

AcrobatandAdobeareregisteredtrademarks,andReaderisatrademarkofAdobeSystemsIncorporated.Amdocsisaregisteredtrademark,andClarifyCRMisatrademarkofAmdocs.AribaisaregisteredtrademarkofAriba,Inc.BEA,BEAWebLogicServer,Jolt,andTuxedoareregisteredtrademarks,andBEAWebLogicPlatformisatrademarkofBEASystems,Inc.ActionRequestSystem,BMCSoftware,PATROL,andRemedyareregisteredtrademarksofBMCSoftware,Inc.BroadVisionisaregisteredtrademarkofBroadVision,Inc.ChemeStandardsandCIDXaretrademarksofChemicalIndustryDataExchange.

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Allothermarksarethepropertyoftheirrespectiveowners.

Copyright2005bywebMethods,Inc.Allrightsreserved,includingtherightofreproductioninwholeorinpartinanyform.

Document ID: WF-CG-651-20051130


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Con

webMethods Workfl ow Concepts Guide Version 6.5.1

C o n t e n t s

About This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Document Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Additional Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 1. What is webMethods Workflow? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

How webMethods Workflow Helps Manage Business Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Types of Scenarios webMethods Workflow Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

webMethods Workflow: Key Benefits ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

... and Key Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Graphically Designed Workflows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Time-Based Management of Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Designing User Interfaces to Complete Human Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Project Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Integration with Existing Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 2. webMethods Workfl ow Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

webMethods Workflow Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

webMethods Workflow Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

webMethods Broker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

webMethods Workflow Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Process Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Distribution Control Service (DCS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

My webMethods Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Authentication Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Portfolio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Log Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Server Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Resource Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

webMethods Workflow Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Business Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Workflow Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Workflow Inbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

My webMethods Business Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

webMethods Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Administrative Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


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C o n t e n t s

4 webMethods Workf low Concepts Guide Version 6.5.1

Workflow Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Workflow Administrator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Workflow Generator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Components of a Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Workflows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Implementation Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

webMethods Workflow Logic Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Routers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Timers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Calendars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Joins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Comparators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Assigners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Plug-ins and External Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Launchers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Notifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Workflow Project Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Chapter 3. webMethods Workfl ow Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Planning Workflows: A Top-Down Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Top-Down Methodology and webMethods Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Reusing Workflow Components to Accommodate Growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Creating Workflows: Basic Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Documenting Projects and Workflows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41


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About This G


A b o u t T h i s G u i d e

ThisguidedescribesthebenefitsofusingwebMethodsWorkflow,thearchitecturea

components

of

webMethods

Workflow,

and

the

methodology

to

use

to

effectively

creaandmanageworkflowprocesses.

D o c u m e n t C o n v e n t i o n s

Convention Description

Bold Identifieselementsonascreen.

Italic Identifiesvariableinformationthatyoumustsupplyorchangebasedonyourspecificsituationorenvironment.Identifiestermsthefirsttimetheyaredefinedintext.Alsoidentifiesserviceinputandoutputvariables.

Narrow font IdentifiesstoragelocationsforservicesonthewebMethodsIntegrationServerusingtheconventionfolder.subfolder:service.

Typewriter

font

Identifiescharactersandvaluesthatyoumusttypeexactlyormessagesthatthesystemdisplaysontheconsole.

UPPERCASE Identifieskeyboardkeys.Keysthatyoumustpresssimultaneouslyarejoinedwiththe+symbol.

\ Directorypathsusethe\directorydelimiterunlessthesubjectisUNIXspecific.

[] Optional

keywords

or

values

are

enclosed

in

[].

Do

not

type

the[]symbolsinyourowncode.


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A b o u t T h i s G u i d e


A d d i t i o n a l I n f o r m a t i o n

ThewebMethodsAdvantageWebsiteathttp://advantage.webmethods.comprovidesyouwithimportantsourcesofinformationaboutthewebMethodsIntegrationPlatform:

Troubleshooting Information.webMethodsprovidestroubleshootinginformationformanywebMethodscomponentsinthewebMethodsKnowledgeBase.

Documentation Feedback.ToprovidedocumentationfeedbacktowebMethods,gototheDocumentationFeedbackFormonthewebMethodsBookshelf.

Additional Documentation. AllwebMethodsdocumentationisavailableonthewebMethodsBookshelf.
http://advantage.webmethods.com/http://advantage.webmethods.com/troubleshootinghttp://advantage.webmethods.com/troubleshootinghttp://advantage.webmethods.com/troubleshootinghttp://advantage.webmethods.com/troubleshootinghttp://advantage.webmethods.com/troubleshootinghttp://advantage.webmethods.com/docfeedbackhttp://advantage.webmethods.com/docfeedbackhttp://advantage.webmethods.com/docfeedbackhttp://advantage.webmethods.com/docfeedbackhttp://advantage.webmethods.com/docfeedbackhttp://advantage.webmethods.com/Bookshelfhttp://advantage.webmethods.com/Bookshelfhttp://advantage.webmethods.com/Bookshelfhttp://advantage.webmethods.com/Bookshelfhttp://advantage.webmethods.com/Bookshelfhttp://advantage.webmethods.com/Bookshelfhttp://advantage.webmethods.com/Bookshelfhttp://advantage.webmethods.com/Bookshelfhttp://advantage.webmethods.com/docfeedbackhttp://advantage.webmethods.com/troubleshootinghttp://advantage.webmethods.com/


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C H A P T E R

1W h a t i s w e b M et h o d s Wo r k f l o w ?

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

How webMethods Workflow Helps Manage Business Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Types of Scenarios webMethods Workflow Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

webMethods Workflow: Key Benefits ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

... and Key Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


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C H A P TE R 1 W h a t i s w eb M e t h o d s Wo r k f l o w ?


O v e r v i e w

ThewebMethodsintegrationplatformenablesyoutoautomateanentireenterprisebyintegratingyourcompanyscoreinformationsystemsandpeoplewiththoseofyour

businesspartners.Withalmostanyautomatedprocess,yourbusinessinevitablyhastransactionsthatrequirehumanintervention(forexample,anorderneedingapprovalorcreditissuesneedingresolution).webMethodsWorkflowhelpsyoustreamlineyour

businessprocessesbyintegratingthesehumaninteractionswithautomatedbusinessstepswithinthewebMethodsintegrationplatformandensuringthattherightpeoplegettherightdataattherighttime.

webMethodsWorkflowallowsbusinessusersanddesignerstocreateavisualrepresentationofacompanysbusinessrulesandthenusethoserulestodefineaseriesoftasksandtheinformationthatflowsamongthem.Designerscanthencreateuserinterfacesthatworkflowparticipantsusetoviewandcompletetheirtasks.YoucanuseworkflowsindividuallyorconnectthemtootherprocesseswithinthewebMethodsplatformtoconstructlargersolutions.

H o w w e b M et h o d s W o r k f l o w H e l p s M an a g e B u s i n e s s P r o c e s s e s

Businessprocessmanagementrepresentstheabilitytomodel,integrate,manage,andoptimizeinteractionsbetweenthefollowingintegrationcomponents:

Mainframes

Databases/Datawarehouses

Internalsystemsandapplications

Tradingpartners

Webservices

Workflow


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Ty p e s o f S c e n a r i o s w e b M e t h o d s W o r k f l o w A d d r e s s e s

webMethodsWorkflowaddressesamyriadofbusinessscenarios.AnyprocessthatinvolvespeopleanddataisacandidateforwebMethodsWorkflowsolutions.Someexamplesinclude:

Human validation. Inmanybusinessscenarios,itisimportantforapersontoverifyinformationbeforeabusinessprocesscontinues.

Example:Verificationofpaymentinformationincludedwithanorder

Data exception handling. Evenwithinautomatedprocesses,errorscanoccur.Theseerrorsmustberaisedtothosepeoplewhocancorrectthem,sothatprocessingcancontinuewithminimumdisruption.

Example:Updatingbatchinformationthatwasformattedincorrectly

Process exception handling ("i ntelligent business"). Withinanybusinessprocess,

conditionsarise

that

alter

the

normal

course

of

business.

When

these

emergencies

happen,itiscriticaltoprovidetherightinformationtothepeoplewhoneedtomakedecisionstodeliveroncommittedbusinessoperations.

Example:Choosinganalternativesupplysourceforoutofstockmaterial

Multiple step processes. Completingcomplextransactionswithinabusinessnormallyinvolvestaskssharedbymanypeopleanddepartments.

Example:Completinganemployeechangerequestbyreceivingtherequiredapprovalsfromtheemployee,theemployeesmanager,andHumanResources

Escalations and approvals. Withinorganizations,manydecisionsrequirechecksandbalances.

Example:Identificationofakeycustomerandreceiptofapprovalfrommanagementtoprovideasalesdiscounttothatcustomer

Collaborative processes. Manyprocessesrequireiterativecollaborationbetweenpartnersorbetweendepartmentswithinanorganizationtocompletetheoverallobjective.

Example:Multiplepartyadjustmentandacceptanceofapartdesign

Progression and time-based management. Efficientorganizationsrequiretheabilitytomanagetimeacrossallaspectsofabusiness.

Example:Certainordersrequireprocessingwithinfourbusinesshours(MondaythroughSaturday,8:00a.m.to4:30p.m.)

Composite applications. Manycompanieshavebeenforcedtointegratemultipledatasourceswithintheirorganizationsandseekwaystocomposeintegrated,extendedapplicationswithoutadditionaldevelopmentoftheapplicationinfrastructure.


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webMethods Workflow: Key Benef


Example:AllowinguserstocreateandviewanintegratedsingleviewofthecustomacrossmultipleERPsanddepartments

w e b M et h o d s W o r k f l o w : K e y B e n e f i t s . . .

webMethodsWorkflowprovidesseveralbenefits:

Access to key systems. Forworkflowstoscalebeyonddepartmentalusage,theymubeabletoplugintothesystemsoftheoverallenvironment.webMethodsWorkfloallowsforsolutionsinvolvingpeopleandsystemsthatextendtoallaspectsoftheenterprise.

Customized user interfaces. webMethodsWorkflowDesignerenablesdesignerstocreuserinterfacesand,usingdraganddroptechniques,connectelementsontheinterfacestothedataonwhichtheyoperate.Businessuserscancustomizetheseinterfacestomatchtheirprocessanddatarequirements,withoutcoding.

Sophisticated change management capabilities. Workflowalsoprovidesflexibilityinthwaybusinessusersmanagechangestotheproject,includingallowinguserstodepenhancedversionsofprojectsandmigrateorupgradeontonewworkflowinstanc

. .. and K ey Capab i l i t i es

UsingwebMethodsWorkflow,businessuserscancreatesophisticatedmultistepworkflowsthatincludebothpeopleandapplications.Withintheseworkflows,designcancreatetaskstorepresentuserinteractionwiththesystem,definebusinessrules,ancontroltheflowofstepsthroughouttheoverallintegrationsystem.

webMethodsWorkflow

provides

the

following

key

capabilities:

Graphicallydesignedworkflows

Timebasedmanagementofinformation

Capacitytocreateuserinterfaces

Projectmanagementfeatures

Integrationwithexistingapplications


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G raph i ca l l y Des ig ned Work f l ows

ThewebMethodsWorkflowDesigner enablesuserstocreateworkflowmodelsgraphicallybydragginganddroppingneededcomponents,withoutcoding.ThefollowingillustrationshowstheDesignerinterfacewithanexampleworkflow.

Creating wor kflows with webMethods Workflow Designer

UsingelementswithinWorkflowDesigner,designerscan:

Assign tasks within a workflow to roles. Designerscontrolthedistributionofinformationinatypicalworkflowbaseduponstaticanddynamicuserinformation.Toensurethataworkflowcanprogresssmoothly,designerscanassigntaskstoaroleratherthantoaspecificindividual.Designerscanassignindividualstosingleormultipleroleswithinandacrossworkflows,aswellastakeintoaccountschedulingissuessuchascalendarsandabsences.Definedroleshelpcategorizeusers(forexample,CustomerServiceRepresentative).Theserolesalsoestablishanorderinwhichinformationflowstothembasedongroup,reportingstructure,customattributes(forexample,spendinglimit),andmorecomplexlogicaloperationsthatcombineseveraloftheseelements.

Control business processes in the workfl ow. Businessuserscandefinebusinessrulestocomparekeyinformation,establishdecisioncriteria,assignresponsibilities,imposetimeconstraints,andmanageexternalevents.Thesebusinessrules,usedindividuallyorlinkedtogether,helpanalystscontrolthebusinessprocesstowhichtheworkflowrefers.


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... and Key Capabi


Reuse elements. Designerscanreuseeachelementoftheworkflow,includingindividualtasks(stepsinaworkflow),businessrules,andeventheworkflowsthemselves.

T ime-Based Management o f I n fo rmat ionWhenstepsinaprocessinvolvepeople,itiscriticaltobeabletomanagetime.WithwebMethodsWorkflow,designerscanapplycustombusinesscalendarstotimebasedscenarios.Youcandefinetimecriteriawithinthecontextofabusinessdayordifferen

businessdaysacrossvariousboundaries(forexample,manufacturingcalendarschedules).Youcanalsoscheduletimeouts,escalations,rerouting,andnotificationsrelativetothecalendarsonwhichyourbusinessruns.

Des ign ing User In te r f aces to Comple te Human Tasks

UsingWorkflowDesigner,userinterfaces,calledtaskviews,canbecreatedthatallow

persontocompleteataskinabusinessprocess.

webMethods Workflow user interface

Forexample,designerscancreatetaskviewstocollectinformationfromseveralsourcordefineawizardthatguidestheWorkflowparticipantthroughvariousdecisions.Thdesignercancustomizethesetaskviewsforeachroleinvolvedinaparticulartask(fo


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example,createtwoviewsofapurchaseordersothatamanagerandasubordinateseedifferentpartsofthepurchaseorder).DesignerscandesigntheseviewstodisplaytoWorkflowparticipantsasJavapanelsorasHTMLpages.

Inaddition,WorkflowDesignerallowsdesignersto:

Maintain component-centric design. Designerscanreuseeachelementofthedesigneduserinterfaceacrossmultipleworkflows.

Ensure compliance with business process rules. Theuserinterface,andthereforetheuser,canworkdirectlywiththedatathatisprocessedwithinataskandtheworkfloweventsthattriggerthetask.Thisconnectionhelpsensurethatyourbusinesscanmeetthebusinessrulesthathavebeenestablishedfortheoverallprocess.

Perform dynamic data interactions. BecausetaskviewsandtheirunderlyingdataareintegratedwiththewebMethodsintegrationplatform,designerscandesignthetaskviewstodynamicallyupdatewithinformationfromthewebMethodsintegrationplatformorinitiatebyeventsoccurringthroughouttheintegrationplatform.

Move information data easily and quickly. DesignerscandraganddropanypieceofavailabledatainthewebMethodsintegrationplatformontospecificuserinterfaceelements.webMethodsWorkflowmanagesthedataflowtoandfromeachwebMethodsWorkflowobject.

Pro jec t Management

Enterpriseshandlealargenumberofprocessmodelsorworkflows.Thestructureofthesemodels(includingtheirconstituentbuildingblocks,thebusinesslogic,andinterfacestoexternalsystems)canbecomplex,requiringthedevelopmentandintegrationeffortsofateamofbusinessanalysts,designers,andsupportpersonnel.Managingthedevelopment,

integration,testing,anddeploymentofsuchcomplexprojectsneedsanefficientprojectmanagementtool.webMethodsWorkflowprojectmanagementfunctionhelpsyoutrackyourprojectstaskassignments,schedule,progress,andcompletion.

UsingtheWorkflowprojectmanagementfeature,businessuserscancreate,edit,version,anddeleteprojects.Duringprojectcreation,businessuserscanassignattributestotheprojectsuchasprojectname,description,creatorsname,projectdeadline,andeditpolicy.

Specifically,theprojectmanagementfunctionallowsbusinessusersto:

Organizetheprocessandtaskflowdesignworkintoindividualprojects.

Addorremovebusinessanalystsordevelopersassignedtoworkonaproject.

Editexistingassignments.

Setcompletiondeadlinesforassignmentsinaproject.

Createversiondesigntimeworkflowmodels.

Checkcomponentsinandoutofthesystem.


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... and Key Capabi


Importandexportprojects.

Deployandactivateprojectsintoanenvironment.

I n t eg r a t i on w i t h E x i s t i ng A pp l i ca t i onsBusinessuserscanintegrateworkflowswithexistingcustomapplicationsusingthewebMethodsWorkflowClientAPI.ThisAPIenablesbusinessuserstostartworkflowfromotherapplications,aswellasaccessinformationaboutactiveworkflowsandexecworkflowtasks,bysharingthefollowingbetweentwoormorecustomapplications:

Nameofauserorroleandthelistoftasksassociatedwiththeuserorrole

Databeingpassedtoandfromthetask

Taskpropertiesthatcontrolthetimingandexecutionofthetasksuchashowtohandletaskcompletion,failure,andcancellation

Forqueuedtasks,theAPIalsoenablesadministratorstodynamicallychangetheprioanddistributionrulesofthetask.


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C H A P T E R

2w e b Me t h o d s Wo r k f l o w C o n c ep t s

webMethods Workflow Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

webMethods Workflow Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Components of a Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Workflow Project Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


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webMethods Workflow Archite


webMetho ds B roker

webMethodsBrokerprovidesthecoremessaginginfrastructureofwebMethodsWorkflow.webMethodsWorkflowcomponentsactasaclienttothemessaginginfrastructuretocoordinatewebMethodsWorkflowactivityacrosstheplatform.

Database

webMethodsWorkflowrequiresanRDBMStostoreuserandconfigurationinformatialongwithcriticalruntimeandmonitoringinformation.webMethodsWorkflowusesRDBMSforwriteoperations,primarilyreadingbackdataonlyafterrestartorsystemfailure.Whentheuserdeploysaproject,webMethodsWorkflowgeneratestablesthatsupporttheruntimeoperationofthecreatedworkflows.webMethodsWorkflowsusthedatabasecentersaroundguaranteeingreliabilityandoptimizingthedatathatpasthroughthesystem.Assuch,itisnotnecessaryorappropriatetoquerythedatabasetablesdirectly.

webMethod s Work f l ow Server

TheserversideofwebMethodsWorkflowconcernsthefollowingcomponents:

ProcessServer

DistributionControlService(DCS)

MywebMethodsServer

AuthenticationService

PortfolioService

LogService

ServerManagerService

ResourceService

Process Server

TheProcessServerinterpretstheruntimeworkflowmodelsgeneratedthroughtheWorkflowDesigner.ThewebMethodsWorkflowadministratorcanreplicatetheProceServerforadditionalscalability.TheProcessServerisresponsiblefor:

Managingtransactions(committingandrollingbackchanges)andprocesscontro(starting,suspending,resuming,andstoppingaworkflow)

Savinginformationrelatedtotheworkflow

Controllingtheflowoftheworkflowfromcomponenttocomponent(suchastasktimers,andjoins)


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C H A P TE R 2 w e b M e t h o d s W o r k f l o w C o n c e p t s


Generatingthedataandeventsinterpretedbythemonitoringsystem

Distribution Contro l Service (DCS)

TheDistributionControlService(DCS)interpretstheprocessandtaskflowofthe

workflowmodelstoreacttoworkflowinputs.Italsodirectstasks,whicharethehumanactionsrequiredinaworkflow,totheappropriatequeues(orInboxes)oftheWorkflowparticipantswhoconnecttowebMethodsWorkflowtoviewandactonthelistoftasksintheirinboxes.

TheDCSisresponsiblefor:

Providingrolesbasedaccesstoworkflowtasks

Dispensingtaskstobecompleted

InteractingwiththeProcessServertocoordinatetheinitiationandcompletionofWorkflowparticipantsinteractionswiththesystem(tasks)

Generatingdistributionrelateddataandeventsinterpretedbythemonitoringsystem

My webMethods Server

ThewebMethodsIntegrationPlatformprovidescentralizedusermanagementwithMywebMethodsServer.YoucannowintegrateWorkflowintoasitecentralsecuritysystem,suchasLDAP.

InwebMethods6.5.1,theWorkflowMonitorhasbeenenhanced,andisnowpartofMywebMethodsBusinessMonitoring.YouuseMywebMethodstomonitorprocesses,includingworkflows,andtomanageWorkflowtasks.Inaddition,MywebMethodsincludesanadditionalWorkflowInboxoption,calledMyInbox.

Authentication Service

Workflowauthenticationcanbeconfiguredinthreeways:MywebMethodsServer(default),localWorkflowsecurity,orintegratedwithanyexternalsystemviathepublicsecurityAPI.

TheAuthenticationservicemanagesusersofthewebMethodsWorkflowsystem(designers,administrators,andWorkflowparticipants)andgroupsoftheseusers.ThisservicevalidatestheuserIDsandpasswordssuppliedbyuserswhentheyaccesswebMethodsWorkflow,andallowsaccessbasedonrolerelatedauthorizations.

TheAuthenticationservicealsoassociatesenduserswithenterprisewiderolesthatare

configuredwithin

the

webMethods

Workflow

system.

The

Authentication

service

supportstheleveragingofexternalsystemsforuserauthenticationandtheretrievalofrolebasedinformation.Inaddition,theservicecontainsapublicAPItoassistinintegratingtocentralsecuritysystemssuchasLDAP.


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w e b M et h o d s W o r k f l o w To o l s

webMethodsWorkflowprovidestoolsthatallow:

Businessuserstoeasilycreatepowerfulprocesses

Administratorstosupportlargeproductionsystems

WhenauserlogsintowebMethodsWorkflow,atoolbarcalledtheWorkflowClientManagerdisplaystoprovideaccesstotheWorkflowtools:Users,Designer,Inbox,Generator,andAdministrator.

Workflow Client Manager

NotallusershaveaccesstoallofthewebMethodsWorkflowtools.Thebuttonsausersees

intheWorkflowClientManagerdependonthetoolsthatuserhasbeenauthorizedtouse.

Bus i ness Too ls

webMethodsWorkflowprovidesthebusinessuserwithtoolstohelpspeedthecreationanddeploymentofnewworkflows.Withthesebusinesstools,userscancreateandmonitorsolutionscreatedwithwebMethodsWorkflow.Inaddition,thesebusinesstoolsalsoenabledeveloperstocreatetheuserinterfacesthatallowWorkflowparticipantstoperformthehumaninteractionthatisrequiredinabusinessprocess.

webMethodsWorkflowtoolsforbusinessusersareDesignerandInbox.Inaddition,businessuserscanuseMywebMethodsBusinessMonitoringandwebMethodsMonitortomonitoractivityacrossthewebMethodsintegrationplatform.

Note: TheWorkflowUserstoolisonlyavailableinalocalsecurityenvironment.

Users Designer Inbox Generator Administrator


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webMethods Workflow T


webMethods Workflow business tools

My webMethodsBusiness Monitoring

Designers create, generate,and deploy workflows and tasksusing Workflow Designer.

WorkflowDesigner

WorkflowInbox

Workflow participants use theWorkflow Inbox to view, activate,and process any tasks assigned tothem (or to their assigned role).

Using My webMethods BusinessMonitoring, an administrator canview workflows in progress oradjust queued and active tasks.

Administrators can also usewebMethods Monitor to monitoractivity across the webMethods

integration platform.

webMethodsMonitor

1

2

3


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Workflow Inbox

TheWorkflowInboxiswhereWorkflowparticipantsviewandcompletethelistoftasassignedtothemoraroletheyareplaying.Forexample,aWorkflowparticipantmighapproveapurchaseorderorassignacustomerrequest.TheWorkflowInboxcanbeeit

aJava

application

that

presents

aJava

based

task

panel,

aWeb

URL

for

the

Workflow

participanttonavigateusingaWebbrowser,orMyInboxinMywebMethods.

My webMethods Business Monitoring

MywebMethodsBusinessMonitoringprovidesbusinessmanagersandsystemadministratorswithspecificinformationaboutwebMethodsWorkflowactivities,includingwhoiscurrentlyworkingonanactivetaskwithinwebMethodsWorkflow,wrolesareactinguponworkflowinformation,andwhatpendingtasksarecurrentlyineuserorrolesqueue.Basedonthisinformation,businessmanagersandsystemadministratorscanadjustworkflowactivityasneeded,suchasstoppingorresumingworkflowsandrequeueingorreassigningtasks.

BusinessprocessmonitoringinMywebMethodsallowsyoutomonitorotherprocessbesidesworkflowsandtasks.Formoreinformation,refertoGettingStartedwithMywebMethods.

webMethods Monitor

InadditiontothewebMethodsWorkflowtools,abusinessusercanalsousethewebMethodsMonitortomonitorprocessactivityacrosstheenterprise.webMethodsMonitorallowsyoutomonitorprocessesrunninginallcomponentsofthewebMethoplatform.

webMethods Monitor


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webMethodsWorkflowlogsinformationtotheMonitortoprovideaprocesscentricviewoftheendtoendbusinessprocessacrosstheenterprise.FormoreinformationaboutwebMethodsMonitor,seethewebMethodsMonitorUsersGuide.

Adm in i s t r a t i ve Too lswebMethodsWorkflowprovidesadministratorswiththetoolsthattheyneedtosupportaproductionwebMethodsWorkflowsystem.

webMethodsWorkflowtoolsforadministratorsareUsers,Administrator,andGenerator.

webMethods Workflow administrative tools

Workflow Users

AdministratorsusethewebMethodsWorkflowUserstooltocreateuseraccountsandgroupsandtoassignusersandgroupstoroles.

AdministratorscreateuseraccountsforallusersthataccessthewebMethodsWorkflowsystem:

Designers,whodevelopworkflows

Administrators,whomanageandsupportthewebMethodsWorkflowsystem

Workflowparticipants,whoareendusersthataccesswebMethodsWorkflowtoviewandactupontasksthatareassignedtothem(forexample,accountants,salespersons,andmanagers)

Administratorsassigneachusertoaspecificgroup.TheAuthenticationservice(described

in

webMethods

Workflow

Architecture

on

page 18)

uses

this

group

designation

to

determinethetoolstowhichtheuserhasaccess.Forexample,theAnalystgroupcanaccessWorkflowDesignerandWorkflowMonitor.

Using the Workflow Users tool, anadministrator creates user accounts,determines which Workflow tools auser can access, and assigns usersto groups and to roles they willassume during workflow execution.

WorkflowUsers

WorkflowGenerator

Using the Workflow Generator, anadministrator can view a record ofthe projects that have been placedinto quality assurance or productionenvironments and activate anddeactivate versions of a project.

WorkflowAdministrator

Using the Workflow Administrator,an administrator can view, start,and stop the run-time services ofthe webMethods Workflow systemand their properties and logs.


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Administratorsalsoassignuserstoroles.DesignersdefinerolesastheycreateworkflotodeterminehowtaskswithinaworkflowaredistributedtoWorkflowparticipants.Whendefiningtheroles,thedesignercanalsodefineattributesfortherole(forexampapprovallimitforapurchaseorder).Whentheadministratorassignsuserstoroles,thadministratoralsosetsthevaluesoftheroleattributesfortheuser(forexample,theu

fillingtherolecanapprovepurchaseordersof$5,000orless).Asingleuser,ifnotassignedtoagroup,canbeassignedtomultipleroles(forexample,oneroletoinitiatepurchaseordersandanotherroletoapproveinvoices).

Workflow Administrator

AdministratorsusethewebMethodsWorkflowAdministratortomonitorandcontrolruntimeservicesandserversofthewebMethodsWorkflowsystem.UsingWorkflowAdministrator,anadministratorcan:

Viewservicesandserversbyhost(allhostedbyaspecifichost).

Start,stop,orrestartallorselectedservicesandservers.

Viewthepropertiesofaselectedservice,suchashostname,hostIPaddress,RMIregistryport,orinstancename.

Viewtheactivitylogofaselectedserviceorserver.

ViewtheAdministratorLogthatshowstheoverallactivityoftheWorkflowAdministratortool.

Viewhostsbyserviceorserver(allhostsforaspecificserviceorserver).

Defineglobal,oralias,namesforIntegrationServersandbrokerstomakeiteasiersharethesecomponentsacrosstheintegrationplatform.

FormoreinformationaboutthewebMethodsWorkflowservicesandservers,seewebMethodsWorkflowServeronpage 19.

Workflow Generator

ThewebMethodsWorkflowGeneratorenablesadministratorstodeploygeneratedprojectstoqualityassuranceandproductionenvironments,toviewarecordoftheprojectsthathavebeendeployed,andtoactivateanddeactivateversionsofaproject.


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C o m p o n e n t s o f a W o r k f l o w

DesignersusetheWorkflowDesignertocreateaworkflow,incorporatingthefollowing

maincomponents:

Workflows

Documents

Tasks

Controllers

Roles

Implementationmodules

UnderstandingthesecomponentsandusingthemtogetherallowsbusinessuserstocreateeffectiveworkflowsolutionspoweredbythestrengthofthewebMethodsintegrationplatform.

W or k f l ow s

Aworkflowdefinesandcoordinatestheactions(tasks)thatpeople(Workflowparticipants)needtocompleteduringabusinessprocess.Coordinatingtasksincludesdeterminingthe:

Right time to assign a task to a person. Typically,Workflowassignstaskswhenitreceivesinformationitneedstoactonintheformofadocument(forexample,apurchaseorder).

Right people to whom to assign the task.Whendesignersdesigntheworkflow,theyassignthetaskstovariousrolesthatrepresentjobfunctionsinyourorganization.Peopleinyourorganizationfilltheseroles.

Atruntime,whenabusinessprocessrequireshumanaction(forexample,apurchaseorderisreceivedthatneedsapproval),thesystemdistributestaskstotheWorkflowparticipantswhofilltheroleandwhocancompletethetask(forexample,managerswhocanapprovethepurchaseorder).WorkflowparticipantsaccesstheirWorkflowInboxtoseetheirlistofpendingtasksandreviewinformation,supplydata,ormakeadecisionaccordingly.

ThefollowingillustrationshowsanexampleofaworkflowinwebMethodsWorkflowDesigner.


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Components of a Work


Example workflow

Aworkflowcombineshumanandautomatedstepsandtheirdecisionpoints.Todefinthesestepsanddecisionpoints,designersaddtasksandotherlogiccomponentsintoworkflow.Theconnectionsbetweenthesecomponentsdeterminethebasicflowofactiintheworkflow.Often,workflowsconsistofadditionalnestedworkflowswithinthemthismanner,businessuserscanreusecomponentsandeasilycreatelargersolutionsfrexistingwork.

Roles

RolesareenterprisewidedefinitionsofjobfunctionsperformedwithinanorganizatioEachroledefinitioncanhaveassociatedattributesrelatedtothatjobfunction(forexample,aPurchasersrolemighthaveattributesoflocationandspendinglimit).AWorkflowparticipantcanfillmorethanoneroleatanypointinthebusinessprocess(example,aWorkflowparticipantcanplaytheroleofbothManagerandCustomerServRepresentative).

Whendesigningaworkflow,adesignerusesrolestodeterminehowthesystemdistributestaskstoWorkflowparticipants.Toassigntasks,thedesignerdefinesadistributionruleforatasktodeterminewhichWorkflowparticipantsshouldreceivettaskandinwhatorder.Designerscandefinesimpledistributionrules(forexample,distributeatasktooneperson)ormorecomplexrulesthataresometimesrequiredtodeterminetherightpersontoperformaworkflowtask.


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Examplesofdistributionrulesforanorderentrytaskmightinclude:

Distributethetasktoacustomerservicerepresentative.

Distributethetaskfirsttoacustomerservicerepresentativetoentertheorderandthentoamanagertoapprovetheorder.

Distributethetaskonlytomanagerswithinaspecificgeographicalregionwhohaveaspendinglimitgreaterthanthetotalamountoftheorder.

Documents

Documentsarethebusinessprocesselementsthatholdthedatathatthesystempassesthroughaworkflow.Documentsareakintophysicaldocuments,suchasapurchaseorderoraninvoice,andsupportmodelinginformationflowthroughanenterprise.

BusinessuserscancreatedocumentdefinitionswithinthewebMethodsWorkflowDesignerorthroughotherpartsofthewebMethodsplatform.Documentscontainfields

thatrepresenttheindividualelementsofadocument.Forexample,aworkflowforanorderapprovalmightuseadocumentthatincludesfieldssuchas:

Whoissubmittingtheorder

Whatitemisbeingordered

Whattheitemcosts

Documentsonlyneedtocontaindatathattheworkflowrequirestoperformitsprocessing.

Businessuserscannestdocumentstocontainotherdocuments(forexample,acreditreportcontainingacustomerdocument).Atruntime,thesystemfillsdocumentfieldswithinformationthatmaycomefromuserinput,databases,ERPs,orotherenterprisedatasources.

Tasks

Ataskrepresentshumaninteractioninabusinessprocess.AtaskisaunitofworkthataWorkflowparticipantmustcompletebeforethebusinessprocesscanproceed.

Tasksconsistofthefollowingelements:

Eventdefinitionsthatdefinehowthesystemistoprocessthetask

Adata

controller

that

handles

the

data

that

flows

in

and

out

of

the

task

Userinterfacepanels(taskviews)thatpresentinformationtoWorkflowparticipantsandpassdataanddecisionsfromaWorkflowparticipantbacktotheworkflow


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Whendesigningtaskviews,thedesignercreatesauserinterfacethatrepresentsthebusinesslogicwithinaprocess(forexample,thecriteriausedtoapproveaninsuranceclaimprocessandwhattodowhentheclaimisapproved).TaskviewsenableaWorkfparticipanttoviewinformationintextfieldsortablesandsupplyinformationbyselectitemsfromdropdownlists,selectingradiobuttons,selectingcheckboxes,typingdat

textfields,orclickingstandardbuttons(forexample,SubmitorApprove).ThedesigndesignsthetaskviewtoopenwithinanapplicationasaJavapanelorinabrowserasHTMLpage.Thedesignerthenlinks,orwires,datafromdocumentsinthetaskdatacontrollertospecificelementsinthetaskview(forexample,wiretheOrderNumberdfieldtoatextfieldontheuserinterface).SuchwiringwilldirectwebMethodsWorkflotopopulatethetaskviewwithruntimedataandrecordchangesmadebytheWorkflparticipantbacktothetaskdatacontroller.

Eachtaskcancontaindifferenttaskviewsthatpresentdifferingsetsofuserinterfaceelementsoractionsbasedonsomecriteria,suchastheroleoftheWorkflowparticipanForexample,thesystemmightpresentataskviewtoamanagerthatcontainsallaccoinformationforacustomer,includingtheaccountbalance,whereasthetaskviewthe

systempresents

to

the

managers

subordinate

might

only

contain

asubset

of

that

information.

Atruntime,WorkflowparticipantsopentasksfromtheirWorkflowInboxestodisplathetaskview.ThetaskviewmaypresentinformationforaWorkflowparticipanttoreview,fieldsinwhichtheparticipantcansupplydata,ordecisionstheparticipantmmake.AnyinformationtheWorkflowparticipantsuppliesinthetaskviewgoesbackitheworkflowintheformofadocument,whichthesystemmakesavailabletothenexstepinthebusinessprocess.

AWorkflowparticipantdisplaysataskviewinoneoftwoways:

From an Inbox menu. DesignerscandesignaworkflowsothataWorkflowparticipa

initiates

the

workflow

using

a

menu

that

designers

add

to

the

Workflow

Inbox.

Foexample,aWorkflowparticipantsInboxmightcontainamenuitemtoallowtheparticipanttosubmitanexpensereport.WhentheWorkflowparticipantselectsthmenuitem,thesystemdisplaysthetaskviewthedesignerdesignsfortheexpensreport.

By selecting a task in the Inbox. IfaworkflowdistributesatasktoaWorkflowparticip(basedondistributionrules),thesystemaddsthetasktothatparticipantsWorkflInbox.WhentheparticipantselectsataskfromtheInbox,thesystemdisplaysthetview.

InadditiontotheWorkflowInboxes,designerscanalsoembedinboxeswithinacustoapplicationusingthewebMethodsWorkflowClientAPI.


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C on t r o l l e r s

Acontrollerholdsreusablesetsoflogic,suchasacalculationorapresetqueryagainsttheplatform,sobusinessuserscanreusethislogicinotherworkflowsortasks.Forexample,aworkflowmightrequireaWorkflowparticipanttosupplyacustomernumberandthen,

basedonthatcustomernumber,retrievethecustomersinformationanddisplaythatinformationtotheWorkflowparticipant.TheactofretrievinginformationcouldinvolveseveralinteractionswithinthewebMethodsintegrationplatformtoretrievealltheappropriatecustomerinformationandthenreturnonlyasubsetofelements.Whilethislogiccouldbeincorporateddirectlyintotheworkflow,placingitintoacontrollerallowsforotherworkflowsandtaskstoeasilyreusethiswork.

Otherexamplesofoperationsthatbusinessuserscancombineandreusethroughcontrollersincludelaunchinganotherworkflow,reusingtimedsetsofactions,ornotifyingusersofstatuschanges.

Imp lementa t i on Modu les

Therearethreewaystoinitiateaworkflow:

Byanexternalevent,suchasreceivingapurchaseorderfromatradingpartnerwhich,inturn,initiatesanorderapprovalworkflow

ByaWorkflowparticipantwhoselectsamenuoptionintheInbox

Byanotherworkflowthatexecutesalaunchertostarttheworkflow

Animplementationmodule,whichhandlesthecommunicationbetweenaworkflowandtherestofthewebMethodsintegrationplatform,isonlyneededwhenaworkflowistobeinitiatedbyanexternalevent.

Businessuserscanuseimplementationmodulestocreateaspecificimplementationofaworkflow.Forexample,anorderapprovalworkflowmightimplementedeitherbyapprovinganinternalpurchaseorderforofficesuppliesorapprovingapurchaseorderreceivedfromatradingpartner.Theactionstoapprovetheorderarethesameineachinstance;whatdiffersisthepurchaseorderdocumentthatneedstobeapproved.

ImplementationmodulessubscribetothedocumentsthataworkflowwillneedtoindicatethattheworkflowistoreceivethedocumentswhentheyarriveinthewebMethodsplatform.Similarly,implementationmodulesidentifythedocumentsthatcontaintheinformationthattheworkflowwillprovide,orpublish.

Usingimplementationmodules,businessuserscanreuseandintegrateworkflowsacross

theextended

enterprise

and

link

them

to

larger

business

processes

that

span

various

businesspartners,systems,andapplications.ImplementationmodulespassdataacrossthewebMethodsplatformbypublishingorsubscribingtodocumentsthatflowtoandfromthewebMethodsBroker.Thesedocumentscansignalthebeginningorcompletionofworkflowsandcarrydatabetweenthebusinessstepsinaworkflow.


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w ebMe t hods W or k f l ow Log i c C om ponen t s

ThelogicwithinaworkflowisgovernedbythefollowingwebMethodsWorkflowlogcomponents.Youplacethesecomponentswithinaworkflow,forexample,tobranchaworkflow,tosetatimertodeterminewhentostartatask,toassignvaluestofieldsin

document,ortocomparevaluesoffieldsinadocument.

Routers

Routersusesophisticateddecisionsteplogictosplitaworkflowintodifferentbranchebasedonaspecificconditionordecision.Typically,thebranchingtakesplacebasedonvaluesoffieldsinadocument.Forexample,afteraWorkflowparticipanthascompletetasktoreviewafinancialproposal,aworkflowcanbranchoffinthreeseparatedirecti

basedontheoutcomesoftheproposalreview:Approve,Reject,orRequestAdditionaInformation.Designerscannestmultiplecomparatorswithinaroutertocreateendlescombinationsofroutinglogicprimarilybasedonbusinessrulesandbusinessdata(documents).

Timers

Timersgeneratebusinesseventsbasedonatimeoutoruponconditionsdefinedasare

ofbusinesscalendars.BusinessuserscanusetimerstocontrolprocessandtaskexecutTimerscan:

Generatealerts.

Providedelaysinprocessesandtasks.

Setandtrackdeadlinesforprocessandtaskcompletion.

Theabilitytomimicthetimeconstraintsbusinessesplaceupontheirpeople,system,aprocessesisanimportantaspectofcreatinganoverallbusinessprocess.webMethodsWorkflowallowsthisconcepttobeintegratedintoanylogicalflowofstepsoroperatioThisflexibilityallowsmultipletypesoftimebasedcontrolstobeplacedonworkflow

ensuremoreefficientprocessing.

Routers Assigners

Timers PluginsandExternalComponents

Calendars Launchers

Joins Notifiers

Comparators


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webMethodsWorkflowhasseveralwaystodefinetime:

Elapsed Time.Theamountoftimebetweentwopoints,normallytheinitiationandcompletionofatask.Anexampleofelapsedtimewouldbemonitoringthelengthofcustomerserviceorsalescalls.Whentheoptimaltimeisexceeded,theworkflowcan

sendawarning

to

the

user

or

to

another

resource

within

the

company.

Scheduled Time. Amomentintimerelativetoaspecificevent.AnexampleofscheduledtimeiswhenatimerissettonotifytheQAmanagerthreehourspriortotheweeksendthatthereareunresolvedgoodsatIncomingInspectiontobedisposedof.

Absolute Time. Aspecificmomentintime.Forexample,absolutetimewouldbeusedwhenacertaincalendareventwasapproachingandnoticehadtobegiventousersofthisimpendingevent,suchasscheduledplantmaintenance.

Calendars

Calendarshelpadjustforworkingtime(forexample,a9:00a.m.to5:00p.m.workday)versusabsolutetime.webMethodsWorkflowcanrequiretaskstobecompletedwithinaspecificamountoftime(forexample,4hours)orwithinacertainperiodoftimemeasured

byacustomcalendar(forexample,in4workinghours,where9:00a.m.to3:00p.m.representsanormalworkingday).

Calendarsoftenrepresentdifferentsegmentsoftime(forexample,differingcalendarsforthehomeofficeversusthemanufacturingfacility).Combinedwithtimers,calendarscan

beusedtoscheduleandstarteventsthataffectaworkflowsprocessing(forexample,starttaskAiftaskBdoesnotcompletewithinacertainamountoftime,asdefinedbythecalendar).

JoinsAjoinisapointinthecontrolflowwheretwoormoreparallelprocessesortasksjointoformacommonthreadofcontrol.Joinskeepaprocessopenuntilalltheneededinformationarrives.Adesignershouldincludeajoininaworkflowwhentwopiecesofdataarerequiredbeforeaprocesscancontinue(forexample,waitfortheinvoiceandtheadvancedshipnoticebeforepresentingtheapprovalscreentothefinanceclerk).

Comparators

WithinWorkflow,youcanapplyacomparatortocompareeitherfixedordynamicvalues.Comparatorscanbeconnectedtogetherornestedformorecomplicateddecisionpathssuchasifthentypecomparisons.Withcomparators,comparisonscanbemadewith

constantvalues(forexample,Total>10,000),betweenvariablesintheprocess(forexample,Total


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Assigners

Workflowusesassignerstostaticallyordynamicallysetvaluesoffieldsindocumentstarepassingthroughtheworkflow.Assignersaresimilarinusagetocomparators,excetheyaremeanttosetspecificdataelementvaluesratherthancomparethem.

Plug-ins and External Components

webMethodsWorkflowprovidestheabilitytoaccessservicesandinformationfromthwebMethodsintegrationplatformthroughtheuseofpluginsandexternalcomponents.Pluginsandexternalcomponentsaccessexternalresourcessuchasnetwork,Broker,IntegrationServerservicestobringdataorJavacodeintoaworkflow.webMethodsWorkflowincludesthreetypesofpluginsandcomponents:

Integration Server components.IntegrationServercomponentsinvokeanintegrationserviceatacertainpointintheexecutionoftheworkflow.Forexample,anIntegratServercomponentcouldbecreatedtoinvokeaservicethatgatherscredithistoryfranoutsidecreditratingagency.

Broker components.BrokercomponentscanpublishandsubscribetoBrokereventssupportrequestreplytransactions.Forexample,aBrokercomponentcouldbeadtoaprojecttoobtainorderhistorydatafromanexternalsystemsuchasSAP.AtathatcallsthecomponentmightincludeanOrderHistorybuttonwhich,whenclickinvokestheBrokertogetthehistoryfromtheexternalresourceandreturnittothuser.

Java plug-ins.JavapluginsallowdesignerstousecustomJavacodeinaworkflow.example,aJavaplugincouldbecreatedtolaunchotherapplicationsthatperformspecialvalidationonauserinterfacefieldwithinatask(forexample,ensurethenumbersenteredinafieldareavalidlicensekey)orperformothercustomlogic.

Youusepluginsandexternalcomponentsbyaddingthemtoaworkflow,task,orcontroller.

Launchers

ThelauncherisawebMethodsWorkflowcomponentthatisusedtostartaparallelworkflowwithinaproject.Forexample,acreditcardprocessingscenariomightflagcertaintransactionsforverificationandadditionalscrutinyalthoughitshouldnotinterruptthecontinuationofthemainworkflow.Alauncherwouldinitiatethisnewworkflowwithoutdisruptingtheflowofthecurrentone.

Notifiers

Anotifiersendsanasynchronousemailmessagetoaspecifiedemailaddress.ThenotifierisaninformationalupdatetoWorkflowparticipantsinformingthemthatapredefinedeventhasoccurred.


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Wo r k f l o w P r o j e c t M an a g e m e n t

Tohelpyoumanagethedevelopmentanddeploymentofyourworkflows,webMethodsWorkflowsupportsprojects.Aprojectcontainsoneormoreworkflowsandworkflowcomponents(forexample,implementationmodules,tasks,andcontrollers).Designersshouldplaceworkflowsofrelatedpurposeinthesameproject.Forexample,adesignermightplaceaworkflowinvolvingOrderCreationandanotherinvolvingOrderApprovalwithinthesameproject.

Businessuserscanversionandbranchprojects,releasethemtoaproductionenvironment,andimportandexportthemtoandfromoneinstanceofwebMethodsWorkflowtoanother.


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C H A P T E R

3w e b Me t h o d s W o r k f l o w Me t h o d o l o g y

Planning Workflows: A Top-Down Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Creating Workflows: Basic Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Documenting Projects and Workflows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


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C H A P TE R 3 w e b M e t h o d s W o r k f l o w M e t h o d o l o g y


P l an n i n g Wo r k f l o w s : A To p - Do w n M et h o d o l o g y

AspartofthewebMethodsintegrationplatform,webMethodsWorkflowallowsbusinessanalyststographicallydesignprocessmodelsinatopdownfashionandinawaythatincorporatesinformationandactivitiesthatextendacrosstheentireenterprise.Aftertheseprocessmodelsandtheirassociatedapplicationsaredesignedandtested,theycanbedeployedinrealtimewithoutinterruptingtheenterpriseoperation.

Thetopdowndevelopmentmethodologyandthegraphicaltoolsfordesigningandimplementingenterpriseworkflowmodelsarenotnew.Businessanalystsanddesignershavebeenusingthemformanyyearsbecausetheyarefamiliarwithmodelingtechniquessuchasstructure,dataflow,andentityrelationshipdiagrams.Onedrawbackinconsideringtheseasseparatetools,however,isthatthedesignphaseisinvariablyonlylooselytiedtotheimplementationphase.Nomatterwhichmethodologyisusedorwhichprojectmanagementandqualityassurancedisciplinesareemployed,disparityexists

betweenthebusinessanalystsprocessmodelsorrequirementspecificationsandthefinalimplementation.Suchdisparity,combinedwiththerapidintroductionofinnovative

technologicaladvancementsinbothhardwareandsoftware,oftenresultsinapplicationredesign,patchedproducts,and,toooften,outrightcancellationandlossofinvestment.

ThewebMethodsintegrationplatformaddressesthisproblembyprovidingbusinessanalystswithgraphicaltoolsthatsupporttheconceptsthatanalystsaremostfamiliarwith:processesandtasks.Thesegraphicaltoolsallowbusinessuserstodesign,andimplementendtoendsolutionswithouthavingtoedittheunderlyingsourcecode.

webMethods Integration platform combines design and implementation tools

webMethods Integration

Platform

DesignTools

AnalysisTools

ImplementationTools


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Planning Workflows: A Top-Down Methodo


Top-Down Method o log y and webMethod s Work f l o w

Inatopdownmethodology,businessanalystsstartdefiningworkflowsattheirhighelevels.BusinessanalystsanddesignerscanapplythisdesignmethodologybyusingthwebMethodsWorkflowDesignerto:

DesignthebusinessprocessesusingwebMethodsModeler.

Identifythetasksrequiredtocompletetheprocesses.

Graphicallydesigntheflowoftasksandtheirrelatedviews.

Definetherelevantbusinessdocuments.

Identifytheroleswhowillparticipateintheworkflows.

IncorporatepartsofanoverallendtoendbusinessprocessacrossallwebMethodintegrationplatformcomponents(mainframes,databasesanddatawarehouses,internalapplications,Webservices,tradingpartners,andworkflows).

ThewebMethodsWorkflowDesignersgraphicaleditorsallowalloftheseactionstobperformedandwebMethodsWorkflowgenerates,compiles,andpackagesthecodefoyou.Inaddition,webMethodsWorkflowfitsintotheoveralltopdowndeploymentmethodologyofthewebMethodsintegrationplatform.

R eus i ng Wor k f l ow C om ponen t s t o A cc om m oda t e Gr ow t h

Asanorganizationsinitiativesspanbeyondtheinitialprojects,acombinationoftopdownmethodologyandwebMethodsWorkflowsreusablecomponentsgreatlysimplithegrowthandexpansionoffutureprojects.

webMethodsWorkflow

provides

three

integral

components

that

business

users

can

re

asprojectsgrow:workflows,tasks,andcontrollers.BecausewebMethodsWorkflowseparatesdesigncomponentsfromtheflowofdata,thesecomponentshaveanevengreaterpotentialforreuse.

Iftherearevariationsinthedetailsofaworkflowortask,businessanalystscangraphicallyredesignthemodels,assignthemdifferentnamesorversionnumbers,anredeploytheminrealtimewithoutinterruptingtheoperationofthecurrentworkflow


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C r e at i n g W o r k f l o w s : B a s i c S t ep s

Tocreateaworkflow,businessusersperformthefollowingbasicstepsusingWorkflowDesigner.

1 Createaprojectifonehasnotalreadybeencreated.Youcancreateanewprojectoruseanexistingone.

2 Createanimplementationmoduleandaddoneormorehumansteps.Assigntheinputdatathattriggerstheworkflowtoexecuteandoutputdatathatmaybereturned.

Creating a workf low using Workf low Designer

Whenyouinitiallyaddanewtasktoaproject,thetaskisjustashellthatyouneedtocomplete.Youcompleteataskby:

CreatingWorkflowdocumentsthatdefinethedatayourtaskwillneed

CreatingtherolesoftheWorkflowparticipantsthatwillbeinvolvedintheworkflow

Addingthecontrollersandlogiccomponentsthatdefinetheactionsandsequenceofstepsthatthetaskswillexecute

Assigningrolestotasks

Create a project.

Create documents.Create roles.Add tasks, controllers, and logic components.Assign roles to tasks.Create the data flow.Create the control flow.Create task views.Link data from documents to task views.

1

Create animplementation

module.2

a)b)c)d)e)f )g)h)

Note: YouusewebMethodsModelertodesignanenterprisewidebusinessprocessmodel.WhenyouincludeWorkflowstepsinyourModelerprocessmodel,Modelerautomaticallycreatestheshellofataskforyouandplacesitinaproject.Modeleralsogeneratesanimplementationmoduletosubscribeto,andpublish,thedocumentsthattheworkflowneeds.


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Documenting Projects and Workf


Creatingthedataflowtospecifyhowdatapassesthroughtheworkflowfromstepstep

Creatingthecontrolflowtodefinehowaworkflowproceedsasitsstepsexecute,connectingtheoutputactionsofoneworkflowsteptotheinputactionsofanothe

CreatingthetaskviewsthatWorkflowparticipantsusetoviewandcompletetask

Linking,orwiring,datafromdocumentstothetaskviews

Formoreinformationaboutthesesteps,seethewebMethodsWorkflowUsersGuide.

D o c u m e n t i n g P r o j e c t s a n d W o r k f l o w s

Documentationisimportantforlongrangemaintenanceofanysoftware.However,itperhapsthemostneglecteddisciplineinmanycorporateITenvironments.

Thedaytodayoperationsofenterprisesprimarilydependontransactionprocessingapplicationssuchasorderentry,ordershipping,billing,purchaseorder,accountspayable,inventorymanagement,andpayrollmanagement.Theseapplicationshavebdeveloped,patched,redesigned,andrehostedoversomanyyearsthatfewdevelopenowunderstandthem.Maintainingsuchlegacyapplicationsisalsodifficultbecauseimostcasesnodocumentationexists.Inadequatetoolsandhumanresources,schedulepressure,andsimplythelackofadisciplinedapproachtoapplicationdevelopmentreinincompleteorinadequatedocumentationinmanyenterprises.

ThewebMethodsWorkflowDesignerresolvesthedocumentationproblemintwowa

Process models describe themselves. Theprocessmodelspictoriallyillustratevirtualallofthedetailsofanenterpriseworkflowandthereforerepresentasignificant

portionof

the

documentation.

After

the

models

are

designed

and

deployed,

whendesignerslaterneedtounderstandtheworkflowtheysimplylookattheprocess

model;zoomintoitsmultiplelevels;browsethroughtheresources,events,andattributes;andreviewthedatamappingandpaneldesign.

Documentation attached with th e workflows. Inaddition,theWorkflowDesigneralsoallowsuserstoannotateeverycomponent,resource,attribute,andprojectforaworkflow,includingtheimportedcomponents.Thedocumentationresideswhereismostrelevant:withitsimplementation.


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I


I ndex

Aabsolute time, defined 34

accounts, users 26

adding workflows with Workflow Designer 40

administrative tools 26

See also business tools

Workflow Administrator 27

Workflow Generator 27

Workflow Users 26

Administrators

assigning user to group 26

assigning user to roles 27using Workflow Administrator 27

using Workflow Generator 27

using Workflow Users 26

alerts 33

API, Workflow Client 15

architecture of webMethods Workflow 18

assigners, defined 35

assigning

user to group 26

user to roles 27

asynchronousactivate with launcher 35

message and notifier 35

Authentication service

architecture component 20

using group designation 26

B

branches, and routers 33

Broker plug-ins 35

business calendars 13

Business Monitoring 25business process

and tasks/human interaction 30

management, defined 8

rules. See business rules

business rules

and flow 9and graphical definition of workflows 12

business tools 22

Business Monitoring 25

See also administrative tools

webMethods Monitor 25

Workflow Designer 24

Workflow Inbox 25

C

calendars

and timers 33custom 13

defined 34

comparators, defined 34

components

logic, of webMethods Workflow 33

of architecture 18

of webMethods Workflow system 19

of workflows 28

containers

routers 33

tasks 30control flow

creating 41

defined 41

controllers

creating with Workflow Designer 24

defined 24, 32

conventions used in this document 5

coordinating tasks 28

creating

control flow 41

document definitions 30task views 41

workflow, steps to 40

workflows, elements of 28


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I n d e x


D

data flow, defined 41

data wiring

defined 31

of tasks 31database architecture component 19

decision points, in workflow process 29

definitions

absolute time 34

assigner 35

business process management 8

calendar 34

comparator 34

control flow 41

controller 24, 32

data flow 41data wiring 31

documents 30

elapsed time 34

implementation module 24, 32

join 34

launcher 35

notifier 35

plug-ins 35

role 29

routers 33

scheduled time 34task view 41

tasks 24, 30

timer 33

workflows 9, 28

designers

defining roles 27

defining tasks 27

designing

task views 31

user interface (UI) 13

diagram ofcreating a workflow 40

example workflow 29

integration components 9

webMethods integration platform combines analysis, design,

and implementation tools 38

webMethods Workflow administrative tools 26

webMethods Workflow architecture 18

webMethods Workflow business tools 23

webMethods Workflow toolbar 22


Distribution Control Service (DCS) 20

documentation

additional 6

conventions used 5

feedback 6

for projects and workflows 41

maintenance of with Workflow Designer 41

documents

defined 30

definitions, creating 30

subscribing, when defining implementation module 32

dragging elements to data wire 31

dynamic data interactions 14

E

elapsed time, defined 34

elements

of the graphical definition of workflow 12

of workflow. See also components of workflow 28

reusing 13

enterprise workflow models, and top-down methodology 38

existing applications, integrating with 15external event

and implementation modules 32

to initiate workflow process 32

G

generating alerts with timers 33

graphical definition

elements of 12

of workflows 12

of workflows and time-based management 13

graphical user interface (GUI)and workflows 12

designing 13

group, users assigned to 26


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I


H

hosts, viewing with Workflow Administrator 27

HTML pages, and data wiring task views 31

human interaction

in workflow 29intervention in business transactions 8

represented by tasks 30

I

implementation modules

creating 32

defined 32

initiating workflow by external event 32

implementation modules, creating with Workflow Designer 24

Inboxes

accessing task views via 31and initiating workflows 32

Workflow Inbox 25

initiating workflows 32

integration

webMethods platform 8

with existing applications 15

Integration Server component 35

Introduction to webMethods and Workflow 8

J

Java panels, and data wiring task views 31

Java plug-in 35

joins, defined 34

L

launchers

defined 35

initiating workflows 32

Log service 21

logic components

assigners 35

calendars 34

comparators 34

joins 34

launchers 35

notifiers 35

of webMethods Workflow 33

plug-ins 35

routers 33

timers 33

logic, reusable sets 32

M

messaging infrastructure, webMethods Broker 19

Modeler, creating workflow shell 40

Monitor

webMethods 25

Monitoring

Workflow 25

multiple comparators, nested in routers 33

My webMethods Business Monitoring 25

My webMethods Server 20

N

notifiers, defined 35

P

parallel processes and joins 34

passwords, and Authentication Service 20

plug-ins

Broker 35

defined 35

Integration Server component 35

Java 35

Portfolio, architecture component 21

process models, creating in Modeler 40

Process Server 19

program code conventions in this document 5

project management

functionality 14

tasks 14

projects, creating 40

properties, viewing with Workflow Administrator 27

R

RDBMS 19

repository, Portfolio as 21

Resource service 21


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I n d e x


reusability

and top-down methodology 39

sets of logic, controller as 32

reusing

elements 13

implementation 32

role-based access and distribution 12

roles

defined 29

defined by designers 27

in workflows 29

users assigned to 27

routers, defined 33

run-time services, Workflow Administrator 27

S

scheduled time, defined 34

Server

My webMethods 20

Server Manager 21

servers

Process Server, architecture component 19

Server Manager 21

viewing with Workflow Administrator 27

services

Authentication 20

Log 21Resource 21

run-time and Workflow Administrator 27

viewing with Workflow Administrator 27

shell, workflow 40

splitting branches with router 33

starting workflows 32

subscribing to documents, when defining implementation module

32

T

task viewsaccessing via Inboxes 31

creating 41

defined 41

designing 31

HTML pages 31

Java panels 31

user interface 24

tasks

and information flow 8

coordinating 28

created with Workflow Designer 24

defined 24, 30

designers defining 27

human interaction 30

multiple step processes 10

project management functionality 14

view. See also task views 41

time-based management 13

timers, defined 33

tools 18, 22

administrative 26

business 22


Workflow Inbox 25

top-down methodology

and reusability 39

workflows 39

tracking deadlines with timers 33

troubleshooting information 6

typographical conventions in this document 5

U

updating workflows dynamically 14

user IDs, and Authentication Service 20

user interface (UI)

See also graphical user interface (GUI) 13

designing 13

task view 24, 31

user management 20

users

accounts created by Administrators 26

group assigned to 26

roles assigned to 27

V

viewing

hosts with Workflow Administrator 27

services and servers 27


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