The Branch activity node

This topic describes the purpose of the Branch node which is grouped with Control nodes in Infor Process Designer.

The Branch node is for placing if-then-else conditions into a process.

Conditions are created in JavaScript using the Designer built-in Expression Builder. To use the Branch node successfully, you do not need to be a JavaScript expert. The Expression Builder guides you through creating conditions. However, you should be familiar enough with programming and/or scripting languages to recognize basic conventions.

Here is an example of how you might use the Branch node. Suppose you want to create a process that automates approving a candidate for hire. At your site, a final approval must come from the company CEO.

For this application, your process would include a Branch activity node that would describe how the process should behave in two cases: if the CEO approves the hire and if the CEO does not.

The server reads conditions from the top of the list down and executes the first condition that is "true". After executing the condition, it moves to the next node in the process.

For this reason, the last condition should be a catch-all. Any data that does not meet the previously defined conditions should be "caught" by the last condition.

In our a simple example of automating CEO needing sign-off on a new hire, we could build in a final condition that would prevent the hire from stagnating if the CEO was not available to make the approval. The final condition could be, "if no reply from CEO after five working days, send an email to the originator of the hire request."