Setting an expiration period determines how long a work item can remain at an activity, and what happens to the work item when the expiration period passes. The flow designer can choose to send the work item to the next point in the flow, to send an e-mail to a designated recipient or both. The Dynamic Expiration option is only available for the following EPX activities: Manual, Automatic, Decision Point, Anonymous and Work Item Merge.
The Dynamic Expiration option may also be set by custom code, which must be a subclass of the BaseSendAction class. This custom code is invoked prior to sending the work item to the next activity if the fully qualified class name is specified in the Send Action Class field.
To configure the Dynamic Expiration option, a work item type will be created to serve as an example:
Create a Work Item Type with a string field called Date and with a value of MM-dd-yyyy HH:mm as a guide on the date format. In this example the Work Item Type will be called DynamicExpiration.
Generate a viewer using the Date field in the DynamicExpiration work item type.
On the activity you created, right-click on the activity’s icon, and then select Properties in the shortcut menu. Add the viewer you generated on the Viewers tab. For information on how to add a viewer, refer to Using the Work Item Viewer Dialog.
Click on the Expiration tab.
Select the Expiration Period check box. Specify whether the expiration should occur after a specific period , or whether the expiration should occur after a specific date and time.
Where to go next...
If you selected Specific Period, proceed to the next step.
If you selected Dynamic Date, proceed to step 7.
If the expiration will be set at a Specified Period, set the work item’s expiration period by entering values, either by typing or by clicking the up and down arrows. Enter a value in at least one of the four boxes.
Note: When entering a value in the Seconds box, the value must be at least 15 seconds.
If you set an expiration period of less than 60 seconds, then you will experience a delay in the actual work item expiration period. By default, the Control Manager checks for expired work items every 60 seconds. Therefore, a work item with an expiration period of less than 60 seconds could remain idle for up to an extra minute before its expiration is registered with the Control Manager.
The expiration polling interval can be reduced by modifying the value of the control.expiredWorkItem.interval setting in <EPX>\bin\config.properties (in the Control Manager Properties section), but before doing so you should consider the impact that this change will have on the performance of your system.
Proceed to step 9.
If the expiration will be set on Dynamic Date, the Work Item Key and Date Format fields will be enabled. Type in the key that you will use to obtain the actual date and/or time of expiration in the Work Item Key box. In this example, type in DynamicExpiration.Date wherein DynamicDate is the work item type you created and Date is the string field in the work item type.
Select or modify the format of the date by either choosing one from the dropdown list or entering an alternative (the value in the combo box is editable). The Date Format is where the user will select the format of the date that is stored in the key specified in the Work Item Key field. In this example we will use the default format MM-dd-yyyy HH:mm.
The Format Test label contains the current date and/or time formatted using the format selected in the Date Format field. Each time a new format is selected, this value is updated to reflect the newly selected format.
Refer to the Appendix for the available date formats and time zones.
If you want to automatically send the expired work item to the next point in the flow, select the Send Work Item check box.
Important: The work item cannot go to another activity in a flow that needs manual intervention to select an actor (including activities containing selection roles). For example, the work item can go to an All Split Activity because these splits specify that all actors following the split receive the work item. If the Split Activity is a Some or One split, however, manual intervention is required to choose an actor. Because the work item cannot automatically proceed to a specific actor, it remains at the activity.
If you plan to use a DPA to handle the work item, then you must select Send Work Item so that on expiration, the work item will be sent to the DPA. Based on the rules set for the DPA, the proper action will be initiated.
If you want to notify one or more participants, groups, or roles after a work item has expired, select the Send E-mail check box. In the E-mail table, right-click to add one or more e-mail recipients from the E-mail address selection dialog.
Note: Participants will receive the e-mail notification if their e-mail address had been entered on the E-mail tab of the User editor, even if the Notify by E-mail option on that tab was not selected. For more information on entering e-mail addresses for users and participants, see the Administration guide.
To remove a recipient from the E-mail table, right-click the recipient’s name, and then click Delete in the shortcut menu.
You may use custom code to have a work item perform actions or tasks prior to sending the work item to the next activity. If you need to use a custom code, click on the Custom Action tab and type in the fully qualified class name for the custom code in the Send Action Class field.
Refer to the section Customizing Send Action Class for detailed instructions on how to create the custom code.
Note: The Send Action Class field is only available for the following EPX activities: Manual, Automatic, Anonymous, Iteration, Work Item Purge and Decision Point. This would mean that the Send Action Class field can function independently and can be used without the Dynamic Date feature.
Either the Send Action Class field on the Custom Action tab, or the Work Item Key field on the Expiration tab must have valid entries if Dynamic Date is selected on the Expiration tab.