ACTIVITY AND MESSAGE INBOXES

Use this screen to view activities that you should complete in workflows. You can assign activities to yourself, start activities, or complete activities. You can also use this screen to view messages, notifying you that other users have completed workflow activities. You can also delete these messages.

Use this screen to monitor workflow activities and messages. You can set up inbox options to refresh the lists and notify you when there are new activities and messages. In accordance with the settings of your inbox options, the database will be polled automatically for new activities and messages. The activities and messages are sorted by Date/Time and then Priority.

You can also receive activity and message notification through e-mail. When an activity needs to be completed, you will receive a message in your e-mail system. The following items will be included in the e-mail message:  workflow name, case, case value list, activity name, role, user ID, and priority.

You will also receive an e-mail message when the activity is complete. The following items will be included in the e-mail message:  workflow name, case, case value list, completed activity name, completed option name, completing user ID, completing user name, completion date, and priority. If a Workflow message is routed through e-mail, it is automatically removed from the message inbox.

To use an e-mail system to receive notification of activities and messages, complete the e-mail section of the System Settings screen in Costpoint System Administration. Also, you must activate e-mail on a user-by-user basis in the Maintain Users screen in Costpoint System Administration.

All users associated with roles in defined workflows should use this screen. You may want to keep this screen active, so that you will be notified of your new workflow activities.

Enter information into the following screens before using this screen: Define Case Labels, Define Role Filtering, Define Roles, and Define Workflow Models. You also must start a workflow case using either the Initiate Case or Maintain Case screens.

Activities Tab

This non-editable tab displays the list of activities that you should complete for an in-progress workflow. It also displays activities that have been routed to your user ID (if the role is filtered) or to a role that you are associated with (includes all roles that you were associated with when you started the screen).

An activity is routed to the activity inbox when the prerequisites to the activity have been completed for the workflow case. An activity will be displayed in the activity inbox until the activity is completed or until the activity is assigned to only another user.

You can assign activities to yourself, start activities, or complete activities. The Activities tab is always active.

Workflow

This field displays the current workflow.

Activity

This field displays the action you should perform.

Activity Type

This field displays whether the activity is required or optional.

Date/Time

This field displays the date and time that the activity was routed. If there are no prerequisites to this activity, the activity was routed when the workflow case was initiated. If there are prerequisites to this activity, the activity was routed when the prerequisite activities were completed.

Priority

This field displays the importance of completing this activity and displays a value between 1 and 100 (1 is the highest priority, 100 is the lowest).

Case

This field displays the unique numeric identifier for the instance of the workflow.

Case Values

This field displays the labels and values that define the instance of the workflow. You should perform the activity for the related key values displayed here. If you start an activity related to a Costpoint function, you can start the Costpoint function with these values.

Role

This field identifies the workgroup to which the activity has been assigned. You are a user associated with this role. If the activity is assigned only to you, this field will be blank and your user name will be displayed. If the role is filtered, the activity was routed only to users within the role related to the filter value of the workflow case. In this case, this field will be blank and your user name will be displayed. If the activity is not assigned only to you, the activity may be displayed in other user's activity inboxes (and e-mail, if available).

User

This field displays your user name. If a value is displayed, the activity is either assigned to you and/or the role is filtered. If the activity is assigned to you, the Assigned checkbox will be checked. If a value is not displayed, the activity was routed to a role and the activity is not assigned to you.

Assigned

This checkbox is selected when the activity is assigned only to you. If this checkbox is selected, the activity does not display in other user's activity inboxes. If this checkbox is not selected, the activity may display in other users' activity inboxes.

Assign

Select this pushbutton to assign the selected activity only to you. The activity will be removed from other users' activity inboxes. You will be responsible for completing this activity. The Role value will be cleared and your user name will be displayed. The Assigned checkbox will be selected.

Instructions

Select this pushbutton to view the case labels and values as well as the instructions for the selected activity.

Start

Select this pushbutton to start the selected activity. The date and time you start the activity will be audited. If a Costpoint function is associated with this activity, the function will be launched. If someone else already started the activity, you will be prompted to re-start the activity. Start the activity only if you are certain another user is not completing the activity. If the activity was originally routed to a role or multiple users, you will be prompted to assign the activity to yourself only. If you assign the activity to yourself only, the activity will be removed from other users' activity inboxes. You will be responsible for completing this activity. The Role value will be cleared and your user name will be displayed. The Assigned checkbox will be checked.

If there are options associated with this activity within different Costpoint functions, you must select which option you want to start.

Complete

Select this pushbutton to complete the selected activity, by opening the Complete Activity screen. To use this screen, see documentation for the Complete Activity screen.

If there are options associated with this activity, you must select which option you would like to complete. The date and time you complete the activity will be audited.

The activity will be removed from your Activity Inbox. If this activity completes the prerequisites for other activities in the workflow model, those activities will be routed to Activity Inboxes (and e-mail if available). If roles were defined in the workflow model to notify upon completion of this activity, a message will be routed to Message Inboxes (or e-mail if available).

Messages Tab

This non-editable tab displays the list of messages notifying you of completed activities. A message will be displayed in the message inbox until you delete the message or the in-progress data for this workflow case is purged.

The Messages tab is always active.

Workflow

The completed activity is a part of the workflow displayed here.

Completed Activity

This field displays the action performed.

Completed Option

If there are multiple options to complete this activity, this field displays the option chosen. If there were no multiple options, this field is blank.

Date/Time

This field displays the date and time the activity was completed.

Priority

This field displays the importance of completing this message and displays a value between 1 and 100 (1 is the highest priority, 100 is the lowest).

Case

This field displays the unique numeric identifier for the instance of the workflow.

Case Values

This field displays the labels and values that define the instance of the workflow.

Completed By

This field displays the name of the user that completed the activity.

Delete

Select this pushbutton to delete this message from your Message Inbox.

Refresh

Select this pushbutton on the toolbar to refresh the active inbox from the database. If the activity inbox is active, the Activity Inbox will be refreshed from the database. If the message inbox is active, the message inbox will be refreshed from the database.

INBOX OPTIONS

ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS

COMPLETE ACTIVITY

Table Information

Changes to this screen update the following tables:

WF_ACTIVITY_INBOX

WF_AUDIT       

WF_MSG_INBOX

WF_USER_PREF