AX1449

Setting the process initiator for plan files

When setting up a plan file process for an on-demand file group, you may want to use the process initiator in various settings. For example, you might want the process initiator to be used:

  • As the ownership assignment for a step in the process
  • As the recipient of a process notification
  • In the content of a process notification (using a process variable)

The process initiator refers to the user who started the plan file in the process. In most cases, the plan file creator and the process initiator are the same user.

Axiom Capital Tracking has default behavior that determines the process initiator for each plan file. However, in certain special cases, you may want the process initiator to be determined differently. To accommodate these special use cases, you can optionally use a column to initially set the process initiator for each plan file.

Additionally, sometimes it is necessary to change the recorded initiator for a plan file, such as when the initiator leaves the company or moves to a different position. To accommodate this situation, you can optionally change the process initiator for a plan file after it has been set.

How the process initiator is set

When a plan file is initially activated in a process, the process initiator is set as follows:

  • If the process has a designated Process Initiator Column, and that column contains a valid user name, that user is the process initiator.

  • Otherwise, the initiator is determined as follows:

    • If the plan file is being started in the process as part of creating a new plan file, the current user is the process initiator.
    • If the plan file already exists, and the recorded Created By user for the plan file is a valid user, the Created By user is the process initiator. If the Created By user is no longer a valid user, the current user is the process initiator.

Once the process initiator is set for a plan file, the only way to change it is to use Save Type 4 to modify the recorded initiator on the process. Editing the Process Initiator column does not change the recorded initiator (even if tasks are regenerated), and aborting / restarting the plan file in the active process does not clear and reset the initiator. As long as the overall process remains active, the recorded initiator for the plan file remains the same.

Using the Process Initiator Column

You can optionally specify a process initiator column for the process. If you designate a process initiator column, then the process initiator will be set to the user in the column when the plan file is activated in the process.

To designate a process initiator column, use the Process Initiator Column setting on the Process Properties tab of the plan file process definition.

Click the pencil icon to select a column from the plan code table, or a column from a related lookup table. To clear an existing column assignment, click the delete icon .

The specified column must contain values that can be resolved to valid user names in Axiom Capital Tracking. This process uses the same logic that the assignment column and assignment workbook use to resolve user names, except that role names are not considered valid matches. For more information on how user names are matched, see Assigning owners to plan file process steps.

If a process initiator column is specified in the process definition, then the process initiator is determined as follows when a plan file is activated in the process:

  • If the column value for the plan code resolves to a single valid user name, that user is designated as the process initiator.
  • If the column is blank for the plan code, then the column is ignored and the normal default behavior for determining the process initiator is used.
  • If the column value is ambiguous and could match multiple users, or if the column value cannot be matched to a valid user name, then the plan file is stalled in the process. In this case, you must correct the value in the column and then use the Process Status dialog to regenerate tasks for the plan file. This will restart the plan file in the process and properly assign the process initiator.

Once the plan file has been activated in the process and the process initiator has been set to a valid user, the process initiator value is stored within the process itself. If you edit the column value for an already-active plan file, the process initiator will not change, even if you regenerate tasks for the plan file. This means that you can delete the column assignment or change it to another column at any time, and only newly activated plan files will be affected. Existing plan files will keep the process initiator values that they were assigned when activated.

Changing the process initiator for active plan files

If necessary, you can change the recorded process initiator for an already-active plan file. The most typical use case for this is when a user leaves the organization, so you no longer want that user to receive notifications about the process or become the owner of an active task in the process. Instead, you want to designate a different user to act as the process initiator for the plan file.

To change the process initiator, you can use Save Type 4 to update the process initiator name for a particular process instance ID. In systems with installed products, the product will provide a report utility for this purpose, if the plan file processes provided with the product are designed to use the process initiator.

Administrators and process owners can view the current process initiator for a plan file using the Process Status dialog. On the Plan File View tab, look at the Initiator column.