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Untyped Task

Introduction​

Previously called "Manual Task".

The task can be used as a placeholder while modeling a case.

Properties​

General​

AttributeTypeDescriptionCategory
Model Id Text

Model Id identifies the element within the process model.

The model id, name and documentation properties can be found on any element. They are used respectively to uniquely identity the untyped task, to give it a user-friendly name and to add a free-form description.

Name Expression usage possibleTranslatable to different languagesText

The name of the element. This is the name displayed in the diagram.

Documentation Multiline Text

The documentation attribute additionally adds a description to the component.

Control​

AttributeTypeDescriptionCategory
Required Expression usage possibleBoolean

Select this option to mark the element as required (exclamation mark decorator). Required plan items must be either in the status COMPLETED, TERMINATED, or DISABLED in order for their parent stage to complete.

Check this option to mark this untyped task as required, which means that it needs to be in a terminal state in order for its parent to complete. Visually, the task will get an exclamation mark icon.

Required plan items must be in a terminal state (such as completed or terminated) in order for their parent stage to complete.

Completion neutral Expression usage possibleBoolean

Completion neutral influences the plan item's parent stage completes.

Plan items in the state AVAILABLE may prevent the parent stage (or case) from automatically completing. By checking this property, the plan item will behave neutral with respect to the completion of the parent container.

Completion neutral influences the plan item's parent stage completion.

Normally, plan item instances in the state available may prevent the parent stage (or case) from automatically completing. By checking this property, the plan item will behave neutral with respect to the completion of the parent container (i.e. it will not stop the completion).

Manual activation Expression usage possibleBoolean

Select this option to mark the element to have Manual activation (right arrow 'play' decorator).

Plan items with Manual activation move from state AVAILABLE to state ENABLED once they trigger. A plan item in state ENABLED exposes an action button that allows the user to manually start the plan item.

A manual untyped task is not automatically activated when its parent stage becomes active.

Instead, the task plan item instance will be in the available state, until the user manually uses the action to activate it, at which point it will either become a passthrough task or a wait state, depending on the blocking attribute.

Manual activation name Expression usage possibleTranslatable to different languagesText

Define the name to be used for the manual activation trigger.

Manual activation icon Expression usage possibleIcon

Define the icon to be used for the manual activation trigger.

Manual activation priority Expression usage possibleInteger

The priority for the Manual activation action

Manual activation permission groups Expression usage possibleGroup Selection

Define the groups which have access to the manual activation trigger.

Advanced configuration for manual activation. The permission groups allow to defined which groups can use the action to manually activate the untyped task plan item instance.

Manual activation permission users Expression usage possibleUser Selection

Define the users which have access to the manual activation trigger.

Manual activation channels Expression usage possibleText

Define a list of channels to expose the manual activation action.

Start form Expression usage possibleReference

An optional form shown when the event listener is manually activated.

The form that is shown when the action to manual activate the untyped task is used. If there is no form, the untyped task will immediately be activated.

In same deployment Boolean

Set it to true if the referenced definition should be referenced from within the same app deployment. Set it to false to always use the newest definition.

The Same deployment flag is used to indicate that the manual activation form model that is used is part of the same app deployment package as where the current CMMN model is in. If unchecked, the latest version is used which can come from an app that is deployed at a later point in time.

Validate start form fields (server-side) Expression usage possibleBoolean

If the start form is submitted and validate form fields expression evaluates to true, form fields are validated on the BE side according to the form model restrictions.

If the form is submitted and the flag or expression on the left-hand side evaluate to true, the form fields will be validated on the server-side according to the form model restrictions.

Repetition​

AttributeTypeDescriptionCategory
Repetition Expression usage possibleBoolean

Select this option to mark the element as repeatable (fencemark decorator). Repeatable plan items may exist more than once at run-time, each having their own life-cycle.

An untyped task can be repeatable, in which case multiple plan item instances will be created for the same task plan item, resulting in multiple passthroughs or wait states (depending on the blocking property). The repetition can be an expression, and new instances are created as long as the expression resolves to true. This can be limited using the Max instance count. The Repetition counter variable is a local variable with a value incremented by one for each new plan item instance created.

Alternatively, a Collection variable can be passed which leads to a plan item instance per element in the collection.

The element can be captured in a variable using the Element variable and its index in the collection in the Element index variable.

Repetition counter variable Text

Name of the repetition counter variable.

Don't create repetition counter variable Boolean

Enable this flag to prevent the creation of the repetition counter variable. When a variable aggregation is defined, this flag will be ignored and a repetition counter variable will be created.

Max instance count Selection:
  • unlimited
  • one

Defines the maximum number of instances for repetition. Note that this does not mean there can be only one instance ever in the lifetime of a case instance, this will limit the instances each time when the repetition is evaluated (for example when an entry sentry evaluates to true to re-enter a stage or plan item).

Collection variable Text

Variable to be used as the collection for the repetition.

Element variable Text

Variable that will be used to store the current item value for the repetition.

Element index variable Text

Variable that will be used to store the current index value for the repetition.

Variable Aggregations List

When using repetition, there is often a need to create an aggregation of the variables created and/or updated in each instance.

With variable aggregation, a JSON variable can be created that after all instances have been completed contains the summary of all the used variables. This is needed because for repetition, variables are persisted locally, to avoid clashes on the case instance level.

Alternatively, an 'overview' variable can be created while the instances are still unfinished.

Each aggregation consists of one or multiple definitions that map instance variables of one instance of the repetition to the aggregation variable.

Advanced​

Execution​

AttributeTypeDescriptionCategory
Blocking Expression usage possibleBoolean

Blocking is the default behavior where a task plan item remains active until it transitions from the ACTIVE state to another one as work on the case progresses. By marking a plan item as non-blocking, the task is immediately moved to the next state instead. This may be useful in cases where it is not desired to wait until a task fully completes. An example would be a process task with Manual activation and Repetition which can then be activated consecutively without having to wait for the completion of the last started process.

The blocking flag will indicate whether this task acts as a wait state. If checked, this means that the runtime execution will leave the corresponding plan item instance it in the active state until a trigger (typically programmatic) is received to continue.

If unchecked, the task will behave as a passthrough task without any associated logic.

Include in history Boolean

When the history level is set to "instance" or "task" level with this property it can be configured if this plan item instance should be included in the historic plan item instance data.

The Include in history flag can be used to store the historical entry of this untyped task when running with a history level that normally would not store the execution of the plan item.

Note that this flag has no effect when running with history level 'none'.

Listeners​

AttributeTypeDescriptionCategory
Lifecycle listeners List

Allows you to define lifecycle listeners for a plan item. Lifecycle listeners allow you to execute an expression, a delegate expression or a class when a plan item transitions from one state to another.

With lifecycle listeners it is possible to react to state changes of the untyped task plan item instance. Lifecycle listeners allow you to execute an expression, a delegate expression or a class when the plan model transitions from one state to another.

Reactivation​

AttributeTypeDescriptionCategory
Direct activation condition Expression usage possibleBoolean

Condition that expresses if the plan item should be directly activated when a case instance is reactivated.

Case reactivation is the the ability to reopen a finished case instance and continue with its execution. Case reactivation needs to be modeled using a reactivation listener and specific behavior can be configured for each plan item in the case model.

The Direct Activation Condition is the first condition to be evaluated during case reactivation. If checked or if there is an expression evaluating to true, the untyped task immediately gets activated, regardless of any entry sentry or condition which might be necessary to restart at a certain state of the case (e.g. a stage).

The Ignore Condition, if checked or if there is an expression evaluating to true, means that the untyped task is ignored on reactivation.

The Default Condition only gets evaluated, if the previous ones are either not checked or evaluated to false. If so, the untyped task behaves like a regular one as if the case instance was started from scratch. This means that any necessary entry sentry is considered and evaluated and the engine proceeds as normal.

Please check the Flowable documentation for more details.

Ignore condition Expression usage possibleBoolean

Condition that expresses if the plan item should be ignored when a case instance is reactivated.

Default condition Expression usage possibleBoolean

Condition that expresses if the plan item should trigger when a case instance is reactivated.

Visual​

AttributeTypeDescriptionCategory
Font size Selection:
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 14
  • 18
  • 20
  • 24
  • 36
  • 48
  • 72

The font size of the element in the diagram.

Visual properties that determine how the untyped task is shown in the diagram.

This has no impact on the runtime execution.

Font weight Selection:
  • Normal
  • Bold

The font weight of the element in the diagram.

Font style Selection:
  • Normal
  • Italic

The font style of the element in the diagram.

Font color Color

The font color of the element in the diagram.

Background color RequiredColor

The background color of the element in the diagram.

Border color RequiredColor

The border color of the element in the diagram.

List Attribute Details​

Variable Aggregations​

AttributeTypeDescription
Target (Variable / Expression) RequiredExpression usage possibleText

The name of the target variable or an expression that gives the variable name

Type RequiredSelection:
  • Default
  • Custom
Delegate Expression Expression usage possibleText

Delegate Expression to be executed when the task is activated. A delegate expression must resolve to a Java object, for instance a Spring bean. The object's class must implement either PlanItemJavaDelegate or CmmnActivityBehavior.

Class String

Fully qualified classname of a class to be invoked when executing the task. The class must implement either PlanItemJavaDelegate or CmmnActivityBehavior.

Target variable creation RequiredSelection:
  • Default
  • Create overview variable
  • Store as transient variable
Variable Definitions List

Variable Definitions​

AttributeTypeDescription
Source (Variable / Expression) RequiredExpression usage possibleText

The name of the source variable or an expression that provides the value

Target (Variable / Expression) Expression usage possibleText

The name of the target variable or an expression that gives the variable name

Lifecycle listeners​

AttributeTypeDescription
Source state RequiredSelection:
  • Any
  • Available
  • Active
  • Enabled
  • Disabled
  • Completed
  • Failed
  • Suspended
  • Closed
  • Terminated
  • Waiting for repetition
  • Async active
Target state RequiredSelection:
  • Any
  • Available
  • Active
  • Enabled
  • Disabled
  • Completed
  • Failed
  • Suspended
  • Closed
  • Terminated
  • Waiting for repetition
  • Async active
Class Text

Fully qualified classname of a class to be invoked when executing the task. The class must implement either PlanItemJavaDelegate or CmmnActivityBehavior.

Expression Text

JUEL Expression to be executed when the task is started. Expressions allow you to interact with the backend by calling services, making calculations etc. You can find more information about expressions in the documentation.

Delegate expression Text