AX1428

Customizing notification content for general process definitions

The default Step Activated and Step Reopened notifications for process definitions have default content that you can use as is, or you can customize it as desired. When defining all other notifications, the content is entirely up to you—there is no default content.

All notification content is defined in the Notification Message tab of the Edit Process Notification dialog. To access this dialog, go to the Notifications tab for the process or the Step Notifications tab for a step, and then add or edit a notification.

NOTE: If a step has inherited a notification from the process level, the content of that notification cannot be edited at the step level. You must go to the process level to edit the content of the inherited notification.

Process management supports a set of process variables that can be used to return process, step, and task information for use in notification content. For example, you can return the name of the process, the name of the step, and the due date of the step.

Notification message sections

Each notification message has two sections—the Notification Subject and the Notification Message Body. Both sections for the notification must have some content in order to be valid.

The subject is rendered as the email subject line and/or as the notification title in the Notifications task pane. The message body is the body text.

Example notification for a general process definition

Process variables

Process variables can be used in all sections of the notification message, although certain variables can only be used in certain sections. The variables use standard variable syntax in Axiom Software—for example: {StepDueDate}.

Use the Insert variable menu for the current section to insert a variable into the text. The menu displays only the variables that are currently valid for use, based on the current section, the step type, and the process type. Although you can manually type the variables, it is recommended to use the menu to ensure that you only use variables that are valid for the current section. When you choose a variable from the menu, it is displayed in plain text—for example, Due Date for {StepDueDate}.

General variables

The following variables return general information about the process and its steps.

Variable Description Notification Types
{CompletingUserComment}

The comment made by the user who completed the step.

  • This variable resolves to blank if no comment was entered.

  • If the step that was completed was a parallel subprocess or a multiple approvals step, then this variable resolves as a list of sub-steps, completing users, and comments, such as:

    Sub-step 1 name - user name - comment

    Sub-step 2 name - user name - comment

 Step Completed

{CompletingUserName}

The name of the user who completed the step.

  • If the step that was completed was a parallel subprocess or a multiple approvals step, then this variable resolves as a list of sub-steps and completing users, such as:

    Sub-step 1 name - user name

    Sub-step 2 name - user name

 Step Completed

{CurrentStepName}

Name of the current step.

All notification types

{CurrentStepDescription}

Description of the current step.

All notification types

{CurrentStepNumber}

Number of the current step.

All notification types

{DaysPastDue}

Number of days past the due date for the current step.

 Due Date Reminder, Overdue Reminder

{DaysTilDueDate}

Number of days until the due date for the current step.

 Due Date Reminder, Overdue Reminder

{OwnerFullName}

The full name of the current task owner.

 Step Activated, Step Reopened, Due Date Reminder, Overdue Reminder

{NextStepDueDate}

The due date of the next step in the process.

  • If the next step is a parallel subprocess or a multiple approvals step, then this variable resolves as a list of sub-steps and due dates, such as:

    Sub-step 1 name - due date

    Sub-step 2 name - due date

  • If the completed step was a sub-step of a parallel subprocess or a multiple approvals step, and the subprocess is still active, then this variable resolves to text such as "N/A - parallel subprocess step is not complete".

  • If the completed step was the last step in the process, then this variable resolves to text such as "N/A - the process is complete".

Step Completed, Step Rejected

{NextStepName}

The name of the next step in the process.

  • If the next step is a parallel subprocess or a multiple approvals step, then this variable resolves as follows:

    Parallel Subprocess Step Name (Comma-separated list of sub-step names)

  • If the completed step was a sub-step of a parallel subprocess or a multiple approvals step, and the subprocess is still active, then this variable resolves to text such as "N/A - parallel subprocess step is not complete".

  • If the completed step was the last step in the process, then this variable resolves to text such as "N/A - the process is complete".

Step Completed, Step Rejected

{NextStepOwner}

The owner of the next step in the process.

  • If the next step is a parallel subprocess or a multiple approvals step, then this variable resolves as a list of sub-steps and owners, such as:

    Sub-step 1 name - user name

    Sub-step 2 name - user name

  • If the completed step was a sub-step of a parallel subprocess or a multiple approvals step, and the subprocess is still active, then this variable resolves to text such as "N/A - parallel subprocess step is not complete".

  • If the completed step was the last step in the process, then this variable resolves to text such as "N/A - the process is complete".

  • If the owner is a role, then this variable resolves as a comma-separated list of all owners in the role.

Step Completed, Step Rejected

{PreviousStepName}

The name of the previously active step in the process.

  • This resolves to N/A for the first step in the process when used in Step Activated notifications.

  • If the previous step was the last-completed step of a parallel subprocess or a multiple approvals step, then this variable resolves as follows:

    Parallel Subprocess Step Name (Comma-separated list of sub-step names)

Step Activated, Step Reopened

{PreviousSubmitterComment}

The comment made by the user who completed the previously active step.

  • This resolves to N/A for the first step in the process. For other steps, it resolves to blank if no comment was entered.

  • If the previous step was a parallel subprocess or a multiple approvals step, then this variable resolves as a list of sub-steps, submitters, and comments, such as:

    Sub-step 1 name - user name - comment

    Sub-step 2 name - user name - comment

Step Activated

{PreviousSubmitterName}

The name of the user who completed the previously active step.

  • This resolves to N/A for the first step in the process.

  • If the previous step was a parallel subprocess or a multiple approvals step, then this variable resolves as a list of sub-steps and submitters, such as:

    Sub-step 1 name - user name

    Sub-step 2 name - user name

Step Activated

{ProcessName}

The name of the process (display name if defined, process name if not).

All notification types

{RecipientFirstName}

The first name of the notification recipient.

All notification types

{RecipientFullName}

The full name of the notification recipient.

All notification types

{RejectingUserComment}

The comment made by the user who rejected the step (or in the case of On Demand Process Aborted, the user who aborted the plan file in the process).

This variable resolves to blank if no comment was entered.

 Step Reopened, Step Rejected, On Demand Process Aborted

{RejectingUserName}

The name of the user who rejected the step (or in the case of On Demand Process Aborted, the user who aborted the plan file in the process).

Step Reopened, Step Rejected, On Demand Process Aborted

{StepDueDate}

The due date for the step.

Step Activated, Step Reopened, Due Date Reminder, Overdue Reminder

{TaskCount}

The count of tasks covered by this notification.

Step Activated, Step Reopened, Due Date Reminder, Overdue Reminder

Other variables

The following variables can only be used in notifications for Report Process Steps.

Variable Description Notification Types

{LinktoReport}

Link to open the specified report for the step.

 Any notification type

Note the following when using the {LinkToReport} variable:

  • If the report is form-enabled, then the hyperlink will open the file as a form or as a spreadsheet depending on the step-level setting Open Form As. For email notifications, if the step is configured to open the file as a form, then the form will be opened in the Web Client (browser) in all cases. For notifications delivered to the Notifications task pane, the option to open the form in the browser or the desktop client will be honored.

  • If the report is not form-enabled, the hyperlink opens the report as a spreadsheet in the user's default desktop client.

  • When the report is opened as a spreadsheet and the notification is sent via email, the hyperlink uses the same format as hyperlinks generated using GetDocumentHyperlink, including the differing URL format for systems using SAML or OpenID Authentication.