AX1398

Completing the current process task in a form-enabled plan file

Form-enabled plan files can be part of a plan file process. If you want to allow the current step owner to complete the process task from within the plan file, you can configure a Button component in the template to provide this functionality.

This provides similar functionality to the Desktop Client option that allows users to complete the current task when they save the plan file. In the forms environment, the user is not prompted on save, but instead must click a designated button on the form if they want to complete the task.

Requirements and limitations

The ability to complete the current process task is available for form-enabled plan files as follows:

• You can use a Button component in the form to allow users to complete the current process task. There are two button behavior options for plan file processes:

  • Submit Process, which is equivalent to Mark step as complete for Edit Plan File tasks and Approve for Approval tasks
  • Reject Process, which is equivalent to Reject for Approval tasks

  These button behaviors are only valid for use within the form-enabled plan file, to complete the current task. The buttons are not available for use in any other form context (for example, you cannot create a form task pane for use with a regular plan file and use the buttons in the task pane). If the plan file uses embedded forms, the buttons must be located in the parent template, not in one of the child utility forms.

• When a user clicks one of these buttons, a form update and a save-to-database always occur before the Process dialog displays. The Save on Submit option for the button does not apply and is ignored in this circumstance.

• If the plan file uses a data context for save locking, the save lock is immediately released when the user completes the process task using either button behavior. If the user still has permission to save data after completing the process task, the user must manually re-acquire the save lock.

Setting up process buttons for a form-enabled plan file

To allow users to complete the current process task in a form-enabled plan file, you must add two Button components to the form. This is done at the template level so that all plan files built from the template have access to these buttons. The Button Behavior for one button should be set to Submit Process, and the button behavior for the other button should be set to Reject Process.

When either of these behaviors are selected, one additional component property becomes available for the button: Redirect on Process Change. This setting determines what occurs after a user has used the button to complete the current process task:

• By default this option is disabled, which means the user is returned to the plan file after completing the task.
• If enabled, the user is redirected to the Process Routing page for the plan file after the current process task is completed.

Additionally, you may want to use a formula to determine the label for the Submit Process button, so that it reads something like "Submit plan file" for an edit task and "Approve plan file" for a review task (the GetProcessInfo function can be used for this purpose). The label for the Reject Process button should read something like "Reject plan file".

Button behavior for end users

The buttons are active in the Axiom form as follows:

• If no plan file process is currently active for the plan file, or if the user is not the current step owner, then the buttons are hidden in the plan file.
• If the user is the current step owner of an edit step, then only the Submit Process button is visible and active. The Reject Process button is hidden.
• If the user is the current step owner of an approval step, then both buttons are visible and active.

The following is a summary of the button behavior within an Axiom form, so that you have a better understanding of the user experience.

1. The user clicks one of the process buttons to complete the process task for the current plan file.

2. An update is performed for the Axiom form, including a save-to-database. This process is automatic and cannot be disabled in the button configuration.

   If a save-to-database cannot be performed for the current step (for example, if it is an approval step without edit rights), then the save-to-database will not occur and no error will display.

3. The Process Action dialog displays. The user can enter a comment for the step. In the following example, the user is submitting the plan file to complete an edit task.

   

4. If the user clicks OK, the dialog is dismissed and the process task is completed. What happens at this point depends on whether Redirect on Process Change is enabled for the button:

   • If enabled, the plan file is closed and the user is automatically redirected to the Process Routing page for the plan file, where they can see that the plan file has been advanced to the next stage (or rejected backward if applicable).

   • If disabled, the user is returned to the plan file and no further feedback is provided to the user.

     At this point, the user is no longer the step owner of the plan file (unless they are also the owner for the next or prior step) and therefore they can no longer save data unless their security permissions explicitly permit it.

   If the user clicks Cancel, no process change occurs and the user is returned to the plan file.

NOTE: If Save and validate plan file before advancing to next step is enabled for the current step, and Process Plan Files with Utilities is enabled for the file group, then utility processing is performed for the plan file before the step is completed. If the utility processing fails, the step is not completed. If the utility processing succeeds, the step is completed as normal.