(Example) Create and Run a Process-Based Application with AgilePoint NX Data Entities

First, create a process-based application that specifies an entity in AgilePoint NX Data Entities as its data source.

Procedure

1. On the Application Explorer screen, click Add App.
   
   
2. On the Application Type screen, select Process Model Application.
   
   
3. Click Next.
4. On the New Application screen, in the Application Name field, enter Guess My Name.
   
   
5. Click Next.
6. On the New Process Model screen, in the Process Model Name field, enter Guess My Name Process.
   
   
7. In the Number of Swimlanes field, enter 0
   
   
8. Click Next.
9. On the Select Primary DataSource screen, select Data Entity.
   
   
10. Click Next.
11. On the AgilePoint Data Entity Configuration screen, in the Data Source Name field, enter GuessMyNameData.
    
    
12. In the Primary Entity Name list, select Person.
    
    
13. Click Finish.

    The Process Builder opens with a new process model.

    
    

Create a task with an eForm to start the process.

Good to Know

• There are other ways to start a process-based application, such as sending an e-mail or uploading a file to a data source. Submitting a form is one common type of use case.

Procedure

1. On the eForms  tab, drag the Start Task (eForms)  activity onto your process.
   
   
2. On the Start Task Configuration screen, click Add New Form.
   
   
3. On the Form Details screen, in the Form Name field, enter User Name.
   
   
4. Click Next.
5. On the Choose Form Layout screen, click Blank Form.
   
   
6. Click Finish

   The eForm Builder opens the Form Settings screen for your new eForm, User Name.

   
   
7. On the Form Settings screen, in the Form Title field, enter What is Your Name.
   
   
8. To save the changes, click Close Screen .
9. On the eForm Builder screen, click Form Data .
   
   
10. On the Data Model screen, in the dataSource, drag the PersonId variable onto your eForm.

    The PersonId is used in this example because it is the primary field for the Person entity. The primary field is always required on an eForm that use an entity as its data source.

    The purpose of this field in this example is to enter a name, and the PersonId field is not the best choice of variables for entering a person's name. The primary field is used here to keep the example as simple as possible, so that only one field is required for the example eForm. Most real-world eForms use more than one field.

    
    
11. On the Supported Controls for Dropped Node screen, click Text Box .
    
    
12. Click OK.
13. On the PersonId form control, click Edit Properties 
    
    
14. On the Field Settings - Text Box screen, click the General tab.
    
    
15. On the General tab, in the Label field, enter Enter Your First Name.
    
    
16. To save the changes, click Close Screen .
17. On the Save quick menu, click Save and Check In .
    
    

    The eForm Builder screen closes, and the Start Task Configuration screen opens in the Process Builder.

    
    
18. On the Start Task Configuration screen, select the User Name eForm.
    
    
19. Click Next.
20. On the General Configuration screen, in the Display Name, enter What is Your Name.
    
    
21. Click Next.
22. On the Participants screen, in the Details field, leave the value as Process Initiator.

    In a task that starts an application, the participant is always the process initiator. In other words, it is whatever user starts the application by completing the form. The process initiator can be referenced as a variable in other parts of the application.​​

    
    
23. Click Finish.

    The Process Builder shows the process model with the What is Your Name start task.

    
    

This example shows a second task for a process-based application.

Good to Know

• More than one task is not required for a process-based application. In this example, the second task gives an example of a simple workflow, and it gives a chance to show another way to collect data in an eForm.
• In this eForm, the form control uses a default process data variable to store the data entered in the form control, instead of an entity field.

Procedure

1. On the eForms  tab, drag the Standard Task (eForms)  activity onto your process.
   
   
2. On the eForm Configuration screen, click Add New Form.
   
   
3. On the Form Details screen, in the Form Name field, enter Guess My Name.
   
   
4. Click Next.
5. On the Choose Form Layout screen, click Blank Form.
   
   
6. Click Finish

   The eForm Builder opens the Form Settings screen for your new eForm, Guess My Name.

   
   
7. On the Form Settings screen, in the Form Title field, enter Guess My Name.
   
   
8. To save the changes, click Close Screen .
9. On the eForm Builder screen, in the Toolbox, open the Common Controls  tab.
   
   
10. On the Common Controls  tab, drag a Text Box  form control onto your eForm.

    When you add a form control to an eForm in this way, it stores the data in a default process data variable that uses the internal name of the form control as its ID. You can use this internal name ID to pass the data from this form control to other form controls or activities in your process.

    
    
11. On the Field Setting - Text Box screen, click the General tab.
    
    
12. On the General tab, in the Label field, enter Guess The First Name of The Person Who Started This App.
    
    
13. Click the Internal Name field.

    When you click this field, it completes the value based on the name you entered in the Label field.

    
    
14. To save the changes, click Close Screen .
15. On the Save quick menu, click Save and Check In .
    
    

    The eForm Builder screen closes and the eForm Configuration screen opens in the Process Builder.

    
    
16. On the eForm Configuration screen, select the Guess My Name eForm.
    
    
17. Click Next.
18. On the General Configuration screen, in the Display Name, enter Guess My Name.
    
    
19. Click Next.
20. On the Participants screen, in the Add Roles, Groups, and Users list, select Users.
    
    
21. Drag your own user name to the Details list.

    In a real-world application, you probably would not add yourself as the participant for this step. It is done this way in this example so that you can complete the application from beginning to end without the help of another user.

    
    
22. Click Finish.

    The Process Builder shows the process model with the Guess My Name standard task.

    
    

This step shows how to add basic conditional logic to a process with a Condition activity. In this example, the process is routed by comparing the values of 2 variables from the data entered on the eForms.

Procedure

1. On the Common  tab, drag the Condition  activity onto your process.
   
   
2. On the Condition Builder screen, in the Display Name field, enter Compare Names.
   
   
3. In the IF field, enter Names Match.
   
   
4. Click Edit .
   
   
5. On the Condition Builer screen, click the Process Data tab.
   
   
6. On the Data tab, click the Data Source (External) tab.
   
   
7. In the Rule Value field, drag the PersonId variable.
   
   
8. On the Data tab, click the Form Data tab.
   
   
9. In the IF field, drag the GuessTheFirstNameofThePersonWhoStartedThisApp variable.
   
   
10. In the Operator field, under String, select ==.
    
    
11. Click Finish.

    The Process Builder opens the process model with the Compare Names condition activity.

    
    
12. On your process, connect the ELSE connector to Guess My Name standard activity.

    If the value entered in Start Task eForm and Standard Task form is equal, then the process goes forward, if not it goes back to Standard Task eForm.

    
    

This step shows how to create an e-mail notification with an Email activity.

Good to Know

• There are many other ways to send notifications. This is just a simple example for a type of common use case.

  For more information, refer to Notifications.

Procedure

1. On the Common  tab, drag the E-mail  activity onto your process.
   
   
2. On the General Configuration screen, in the Display Name, enter Success.
   
   
3. Click Next.
4. On the E-mail Notifications screen, click Add .
   
   
5. On the E-mail Template Configuration screen, click the Header tab.
   
   
6. On the Header tab, in the E-mail Template Name field, enter Name Guess Success.
   
   
7. On the Process Data screen, click the System Data tab.
   
   
8. In the To field, drag the ProcessParticipantsEmails variable.

   With this variable, all users who participated in the process will get the e-mail. This is just one simple example using one of many built-in variables. You can specify the e-mail addresses for one user, groups, or other recipient lists.

   
   
9. Click the Content tab.
   
   
10. On the Content tab, in the Subject field, enter You Guessed Correctly!
    
    
11. On the e-mail body, enter, The name was
    
    
12. On the Process Data panel, click the Data Source (External) tab.
    
    
13. Drag the PersonId variable onto the e-mail body, so the text says, "The name was ${/pd:AP/pd:dataSource/pd:APDataEntity/pd:GuessMyNameData/pd:Person/pd:PersonId}."

    This will show the value of the form control on the Start Task eForm in the e-mail.

    
    
14. Click OK.
15. On the E-mail Notifications screen, click Finish.
    
    

    The Process Builder opens the process model with the Success e-mail activity.

    
    

Next, publish the application so people can use it.

Procedure

1. On the Save quick menu, click Save and Check In .
   
   

   The Process Builder closes, and the Application Explorer opens.

   
   
2. On the Application Explorer screen, click Check In .
   
   
3. On the Check In Pending Changes screen, click Check In.
   
   
4. On the Application Explorer screen, click, click Publish .
   
   
5. On the Publish Application screen, click Publish.
   
   
6. On the Information screen, click Close.

   This example does not show security settings. For more information, refer to Change Application Permissions (App Builder).

   
   

   The Application Explorer screen shows.

   
   

This step shows how to run the application. You can use this example to test your own applications. If the application is used by other people, they can also start the application with this example.

Procedure

1. In the AgilePoint NX Portal, click Work Center .
   
   
2. On the Work Center screen, click My Applications .
   
   
3. On the My Applications screen, click the Guess My Name Process application.
   
   

   The eForm for the Start Task shows.

   
   
4. On the Enter Your First Name field, enter Jane.
   
   
5. Click Submit.
   
   

   The My Applications screen shows.

   
   

This example shows how to complete a task from the task list.

Good to Know

• In this example, you are the participant for both tasks. This is so that you can complete all of the tasks without help from another user. In most real-world use cases, this task would go to a different user, who would open the task in his own task list.

Procedure

1. On the Work Center screen, click Inbox .
   
   
2. On the Inbox screen, click the My Tasks tab.
   
   
3. In the Task Name column, click Guess My Name > Open Task.
   
   

   The eForm for the Standard Task opens.

   
   
4. In the Guess The First Name of The Person Who Started This App field, enter Jane.
   
   
5. Click Submit.
   
   

   The My Task tab opens.

   
   
   If the data matches, the participant specified in the Standard Task participant list gets an e-mail.

   
   

To see the data you entered in the eForm that is stored in Data Entities, do the procedure in this topic.

Procedure

1. On the AgilePoint NX Portal, click Build Apps .
   
   
2. On the Application Explorer screen, click Data Entities.
   
   
3. On the Data Entities screen, click Entities.
   
   
4. On the Entities screen, click Person.
   
   
5. On the Person entity details screen, click the Data tab.

   All data that has been entered in the Person entity shows, including the data from your eForm.