Customizing the IDM Integration Workflows

You can use the advanced features on the IDM Document Workflows form, along with the Application Event System (AES) background tasks, to customize the predefined workflows or to add new document workflows.

These are some cases where you might want to edit or add a document workflow:

  • Your users want to find POs based on the PO Contract number, so you want to add that as an attribute for search and retrieval of documents in Document Management. You can add as an attribute any value that exists in the referenced IDO for the workflow.
  • Your Purchase Order Reports form has a personalization that includes a new field, and you want to users to be able to filter on that field. The personalized report form still uses the standard background task name. In this case, you could append the property name of the new IDM attribute to the IDOPropertyList on the standard workflow record.
  • Your invoicing document has been customized with a non-standard background task name. You want to use that background task in the workflow, instead of the standard name.
  • You want to add a workflow for another report background task that is not in the current predefined list of workflows.

Use this process:

  1. Open the IDM Document Workflows form.
  2. Create a new workflow record. (If you are just adding an attribute to an existing workflow, or just changing the background task name to your custom task name, then just copy the existing workflow record and clear the Active field for the existing record.)
  3. Click Advanced to view the advanced setup fields.

    The information in these fields defines the metadata that the Application Event System (AES) uses to extract values from the background task parameters. The values are passed to Document Management through an API.

  4. Specify this information, as needed for your workflow:
    Note: For an example that shows how some of these fields are used, see IDM Document Workflow Example.
    Display
    Select the options for the sections you want to show on the form:
    • Key Text values resolve into AES event variables that can be referenced by additional Key Text variables. Up to 15 values or formulas can be defined as Key Text. You can show 5 values at one time.
    • Finish Text values resolve into AES event variables that can be referenced by additional Finish Text variables. Up to 15 values or formulas can be defined as Finish Text. You can show 5 values at one time.
    • IDO values are used to define the data source (vIdoName) of the lookup that is used to set Document Management attribute values in vIdoPropertyList and filter in vIdoFilter.
    • Document values are used to define how the document will be stored in Document Management: the Document Management document type, the entity type, and the description to use for this document.

      A matching document type, entity type and description must be defined in Document Management.

    vKeyText (01-15)
    Select the set of key text fields you want to show (01-05, 06-10, 11-15). When the fields are shown, define an AES-like function in each field, as needed. AES evaluates the function, or series of functions, that are defined in the first field and places the value in an event variable called KeyText01. If there is a function in the second field, that function is evaluated and its value is placed in an event variable called KeyText02, and so on.
    vFinishText (01-15)
    Select the set of finish text values you want to show (01-05, 06-10, 11-15). When the fields are shown, define the AES event variables to reference.You might use finish text in cases where, if a certain value is present in the document, you do not want to send the document to AES. In these cases, the process is finished, or adjourned.
    vFinishExpression1, vFinishOperator, and vFinishExpression2
    Finish Text values can be used to “finish,” or adjourn, the AES event if the condition evaluates to True. For example, if FinishText01 is defined to extract a specific value, you could instruct AES to adjourn before adding content to Document Management if FinishText01 = “REPRINT ”.

    If literals are used for either of the finish expression variables, they must be enclosed in double quotes in order for AES to interpret their values correctly.

    The operator is typically in the form of equality operators such as =, >=, or <>.

    Some workflows include Finish Text that triggers an AES TaskPostPerform event with a Notify action. The action notifies users who generated a range of reports that the documents were not sent to Document Management because the start and end values of the report range were not the same. If Send External Notifications is selected for the user on the Users form, the notification is also sent as an email.

    vIDOName
    Specify the name of the IDO that contains the information that you want to provide as attribute values.
    vIDOFilter
    Specify as an AES function, which is similar to C# string.format(), to create a filter on the IDO. The filter looks in the IDO for a specific record.
    vIDOPropertyList
    Specify a list of IDO properties that belong to that IDO listed in vIdoName. Any IDO property name is valid including, UET properties.

    Subcollections can be used to populate multi-value attributes (MVA). Individual members of subcollections can be included, for example, SLCoItems.Item.

    Note: The Document Management document type that you specify in vExtDocName must include attributes that exactly match the names of the IDO properties in this list. This allows the Document Management document to be tagged with the IDO property values for filtering.
    vExtDoc Name
    Specify the Document Management document type that is used to store the submitted document. If this is a new document type, you must also add it in Document Management.
    vExtMsgEntity
    Specify the entity type that is broadcast in a JSON message from SyteLine forms where this document should be available in the Related Information context app.
    vExtDocDescription
    Specify an AES function that creates a meaningful document description that includes the KeyText variable values.
  5. Save your changes.
  6. If you are setting up a document flow for a report that is not currently in the workflow list, you probably want the document to be available in the Related Information context app when certain related SyteLine forms are displayed. (For example, you might want the Chargebacks form to show CS_SalesInvoice documents for a specific project in the Related Information pane.) Determine which SyteLine forms should include the documents, and then ensure that the web container messages for those forms are set up appropriately. The StdObjectSelectCurrentCompleted form event handler must pass the entity type and at least one of the key values (in our Chargebacks example, the InvNum) associated with the document type.
  7. If your customization sends a new type of report or document to Document Management, follow these steps in Document Management:
    • Set up a new document type in Document Management that matches the vExtDocName value specified in the workflow.
    • Set up attributes for the new document type. You must always include the Accounting Entity, Entity Type, Location, and Description attributes. You can add other attributes that are specific to this document type. These attributes must exactly match the IDO properties specified in the SyteLine document workflow for that document type.
    • Set up an Access Control List (ACL) for the new document type.
    • Set up bundling rules, if needed, to associate related documents with this document type.
    • Set up a Business Context Model (BCM) for the new document type that maps the contextual information passed by SyteLine forms to variables that the Related Information context app expects to see for this document type.

    For more information about these steps, see the Infor Operating Service Administration Guide.

  8. If your customization modifies one of the predefined documents to send additional metadata, set up any new attributes in the ACL for the document type in the Document Management application. This ensures that the new metadata value is available to users in Document Management and in the Related Information context app. You must also add the new attribute ID to the IDOPropertyList.
  9. In SyteLine, open the Document Management Document Workflows form again and select your new or modified background task record. Click Active to activate the workflow.
  10. In SyteLine, generate the document for which you added or modified a workflow. Verify that the document is available in Document Management and in the Related Information context app.
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