Manage Parameter Sets and Start a Business Process with a Pre-process Edit Data Form

You may run across a scenario where an end user wants to change parameter values for a parameter set each time the business process is launched. Through configuration a SDK developer or anyone familiar with the capabilities of Page Designer can provide additional parameters for the “Start process” action button to include a pre-process Edit Data Form

Using the diagram below as a guide, the red stars help to highlight the differences between starting a business process with and without a pre-process Edit Data Form. 

Step 1 -  Saving the Parameter Data - The save implementation of the Add Data Form will need to provide default values for any additional parameters managed by the pre-process Edit Data Form. One must save all the parameter values for the parameter set to support the queuing of business processes. 

Step 2 -  Starting the BP - A PreProcessEditForm is configured in this scenario. The Edit Data Form appears prior to the BP being started.  This allows the end user to modify additional parameter values that typically get each time the business process is launched. Please note that an end user will not have the opportunity to select parameters via a PreProcessEditForm when a BP is launched within a Queue. 

Step 3 -  Saving the Data from the Pre-Process Data Form - A pre-process data form is a stand alone data form that saves data to a parameter table. After the save is complete, the system launches the business process. 

Step 4 -  BP Processor Retrieves the Parameters and Crunches the Data - Using the primary key value of the parameter set which was selected by the end user prior to starting the business process, the BP will retrieve the parameters from the custom parameter table and process the data.

Note: Note:  any additional parameters managed by the pre-process Edit Data Form should be retrieved by the BP logic.

Figure: Manage parameter sets and start a business process with a pre-process Edit Data Form

Note: Pre-process Edit Data Forms cannot be invoked at run time when a business process is launched as a step within a Queue. Queues are used to set up a series of business processes to run automatically and unattended. Each step in a queue refers to a business process and a specific parameter set. Since a queue can launch a series of business processes automatically there is no opportunity for human interaction and therefore no opportunity to modify the parameters via the pre-process Edit Data Form. For more information on Queue, see Queue Processes.