Using custom forms to perform workflow tasks

To configure that a workflow task may only be executed from an external application form:

  1. In your application, implement a screen that hosts the task form. To retrieve the task details based on a task ID, you can use the exposed ION Process APIs.
    You must ensure that this application form has these features:
    • It can retrieve the IFS Person ID of the user currently logged in from Infor User Management, also known as IFS.
    • It can call the ION Process APIs from endpoint process/user in the ION services suite in ION API.
    • The task actions are represented by buttons on the form as configured in the workflow model. When the user clicks one of these buttons, the task is closed with the correct value for the selected action.

      Example:

      • A Task is configured with two action buttons: Approve with value 1 and Reject with value 0.
      • These buttons must be displayed on the form. The button default labels or translated labels can be displayed as the form’s buttons.
      • For example, if the user clicks Approve, the value 1 must be used in the API call to close the task.
    • The form is accessible through an Infor Ming.le drillback and it can receive at least one parameter containing the task ID. This ID is required to retrieve the details of the correct task to show on the form.
  2. Create a view definition file for the application that contains the form. In this view definition file, specify the view definition for the drillback to the form. Upload this file in Infor Ming.le in the Manage Drillbacks section from the Administration Settings.

    For more details about managing applications and their drillback files, see the Infor Ming.le online help.

    Example of a view definition for a form:

    <View name="LinkToForm" level="OTHER" standard="no">
        <description>Link to open a task form</description>
        <parameter name="ID1" required="yes">FormId</parameter>
        <parameter name="ID2" required="no">Theme</parameter>
        <parameter name="ID3" required="yes">TaskId</parameter>
    </View>
  3. In the Workflow Modeler, create a drill back and select the view that is defined for the form. In the Parameters column, map the view input parameter that is meant to contain the task ID to the <ACTIVITY_ID> placeholder.
  4. Create a workflow step of type Task or Task Chain with all properties. Create this step in the same way, as you would do for a normal user task. On the Content tab, select the Use Custom Form check box and select the drill back to the form. At runtime, the placeholders in this link are replaced with the actual values. The parameter that is mapped to the <ACTIVITY_ID> placeholder is replaced with the id of the current task.
Note: 
  • If a custom form is used for a Task chain, the same form is presented for each approval task.
  • An error is displayed in these situations:
    • The link to the application form is not correct.
    • The application that hosts the form is not running when a user opens the details of this task in the Task List widget.

    The error message contains the task ID which can be used for troubleshooting. Alternatively, the user can move the pointer over the task icon to see the task ID.

    The system administrator can look up this task in the Manage Activities page in ION Desk and view its details. If required, the system administrator can also find the workflow instance for this task and cancel it.

  • You cannot use custom forms for Alerts and Notifications.
  • The Use Custom Form flag and the URL link are not included in the Sync.PulseTask BOD.