Intalio : how to dynamically set task metadata

In this post, I'll explain how you can dynamically set values to the task metadata. By doing so, you'll be able to have absolute control of your tasks on runtime : dynamically assigning a task to one/several users, one/several user groups, defining a deadline, etc, would be a piece of cake.

To illustrate my point, let's define a real simple and basic process (its design shouldn't be a problem for you at all but if you're not familiar with the Intalio designer yet, just leave a comment and I'll send the whole sample project to you) :

1° Sample process

Two important things here :

• for this post purpose, I didn't waste my time creating an elaborate AjaxForm for the task. Actually, I've simply created an empty form. So, don't waste yours neither if you're only trying to replicate the process.
• as you can see on the screenshot, there's a warning mark on the form. The reason is that I did not assign the task to any user or group, given I am going to show how you can dynamically assign a task. For those who absolutely can't bear to have warnings in their project, just go ahead and assign a static user/group, the result will be the same.

2° Setting value on task metadata

Task metadata can have a value dynamically set through the mapper : set the focus on the node that is creating the task (in the example process, that is the red surrounded node) and open the Mapper view :

Then, expand the "createTaskMsg" root element and you'll see all the task metadata to which you can dynamically set a value. In this example, I've assigned the task to 2 users : examples/ewilliams and examples/msmith.

Note that in my example, though the users are set through the mapper, it is rather static because I used a static value. But this can be done dynamically because the value that is set to the userOwners element can be retrieved from a web service, a DB datasource, a message that is defined with an XSD, ...

3° Running the example

Executing this process will yield the following result in the UI-FW console :

Logged in as "intalio/admin":

Logged in as "examples/msmith":

Logged in as "examples/ewilliams":

 

By the way, in this example, you've probably noticed how convenient it is to have a column in the task list showing the users to whom a task has been assigned ... This feature could be very useful once you need to implement hierarchies among users and user groups.

4° Adding an actual dynamic metadata


Now that we've seen how values can be set to task metadata, let's add an actual dynamic metadata. In the process view, we'll map the String element that comes as input to the process when it is executed to the task deadline element : 

 

Now, let's start the same process from the BPMS console and as input, we'll provide the following value : 2011-12-31T11:00:00 (correct format for datetime type is yyyy-MM-ddThh:mm:ss)

As a result, the "examples/ewilliams" and "examples/msmith" users will have a task that must be completed by 11:00 December 31 2011.