AX1606
You can optionally designate a grouping column for a plan file process definition, so that the plan files in the process can managed by groups. For example, the plan files in the process may belong to several different entities, and you want to manage the process by entity.
When using a grouping column, you can:
- Start the plan files in each group at different times
- Designate owners for each group
- Filter the Process Status dialog by groups
- Filter the Process Directory page by groups
This feature is only available for standard file groups. It does not apply to on-demand file groups, because in that case plan files are started in the process as they are created.
IMPORTANT: If plan files are started in the process at different times, the step due dates must be relative instead of static. For example, instead of designating a due date of 5/5/2020, the due date would be set to something like "7 days after the step is started".
Configuring a process to use groups
To enable managing a process by groups, complete the Process Grouping Options section on the Advanced Properties tab of the plan file process definition.
Click the pencil icon 
to select a column for each setting. To clear an existing column assignment, click the delete icon 
.
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
|
Grouping Column |
The column that defines the groups for the process. You can select any column on the plan code table. For example, if the column is |
|
Group Owner Column |
Optional, but strongly recommended. The column that defines the owners of each group. This option is only available if the designated grouping column is a validated column. If it is, then you can select any string column on the lookup table. For example, if grouping column The specified column must contain values that can be resolved to valid user or role names in Axiom. This process uses the same logic that the assignment column and assignment workbook use to resolve user and role names. For more information on how user names are matched, see Assigning owners to plan file process steps. For more information on how group ownership and overall process ownership works when using groups, see Process ownership when using groups. |
Before the process has been started, you can change or clear the grouping column or the group owner column at any time. However, once the process has been started, the grouping column cannot be changed.
Process ownership when using groups
When using a grouping column with a plan file process, it is recommended but not required to designate group owners using the Group Owner Column. If a group owner column is used, the user listed in that column for each group becomes the official group owner. If a role is listed, all users in that role become official group owners.
Group owners can do the following:
- Start and stop their assigned groups.
- Manage the plan files in their assigned groups. This includes completing tasks, moving plan files to different steps, regenerating tasks, and activating or aborting plan files in the process. The Process Status dialog is filtered to only show plan files in the user's assigned groups.
- Receive admin notifications about the plan files in their assigned groups, such as when a plan file in the group stalls in the process.
If you do not have a designated group owner column, then the overall process owner (as defined on the Process Properties tab) performs all group management. If the overall process owner is a role, then all users in that role become potential group owners, and each user's security permissions determine which groups and plan files they can manage. This is more difficult to set up, because it means that the plan file filters for each process owner must exactly line up with the groups you want them to manage, with no permission gaps and no permission overlap. Additionally, the overall process owners receive all admin notifications for the process, including notifications about groups and plan files that they may not have access to. This is why it is strongly recommended to use a group owner column to determine group management, so that the group owners are limited by the process to only managing their designated groups.
Administrators can always manage all groups and all plan files.
Security for group owners
The designated group owners must have plan file permissions that grant access to the plan files in the groups that you want them to manage. For example, if the grouping column is Entity, and you want user jdoe to manage the process for Entity 1, then user jdoe must have a plan file permission set that grants at least read-only access to all plan files in Entity 1. Simply being designated as group owner will not allow the user to manage these plan files; they must also have security access to the plan files.
If a group owner does not have access to all plan files in a group, then they cannot start or stop the group in the process. However, if the group is already started, the group owner can manage the plan files that they have access to within the group.
Group owners can have security permissions to other plan files that do not belong to their assigned groups. Plan files outside of the user's assigned process groups do not display in the Process Status dialog, and the user will not be able to perform process administration actions on those plan files.
It is recommended that the overall process owner be an administrator or a user with access to all plan files in the process, so that they can truly manage the overall process. However, if the overall process owner does have a plan file filter that limits access to plan files, that filter is also applied to the Process Status dialog.
Users designated as group owners or process owners must also have the following security permissions:
- At least read-only access to the lookup table that holds the group owner column.
- At least read-only access to the plan file process definition.
Process notifications
If a user is a designated group owner, then that user only receives notifications for their assigned groups. This applies to admin notifications about the process, and to custom notifications that use the Process Owner recipient type.
For example, if user jdoe is the group owner of Entity 1, and a plan file that belongs to Entity 1 stalls in the process, user jdoe will receive an admin notification about that plan file. However, the other group owners will not receive this notification, because the stalled plan file is not part of their group.
Overall process owners receive all admin notifications, and all custom notifications that use the Process Owner recipient type. Notifications are not filtered based on the process owner's plan file permissions. For example, if a plan file in Entity 1 stalls, all overall process owners will receive this notification, regardless of whether they have the required plan file permissions to manage that plan file.
Save Type 4 to Axiom.ProcessActions
When using Save Type 4 to Axiom.ProcessActions, group owners can only perform administrative actions on tasks for plan files in their assigned group. Administrators and overall process owners can perform administrative actions on all tasks in the process. This is true even if the process owner has a plan file filter that limits their access to plan files in the file group.
Starting groups in the process
When using groups, you can start each group in the process independently. As long as the overall process is started, each group can be started at any time.
Groups can be started by administrators, overall process owners, and group owners:
- Administrators can start any group.
- Overall process owners can start any group where they have security access to all of the plan files in that group. Note that process owners may see other groups if they have access to at least one plan file in that group, but they cannot start those "partial" groups.
- Group owners can only start their assigned groups. Group owners must have security access to all of the plan files in their assigned groups.
The overall process can be started using the normal methods, such as by using the Start Process link in the plan file process definition. When starting the overall process, you are also prompted to optionally start one or more groups in the process (depending on which groups you have access to). Note that the Group Owner column shown in the following example dialog is only present if the process has a designated group owner column.
When you click OK, the overall process and the plan files in any selected groups are started. The plan files in the other groups are not started, and remain at a status of Not Started. If you do not choose any groups, then no plan files are started in the process at this point.
In the previous example screenshot, the user is an administrator or process owner with access to all groups, so all groups are listed. If the user starting the process only has access to one group, then this dialog does not display and the single group is started automatically.
You can start any of the unstarted groups later using the Process Status dialog. The behavior of the Process Status dialog depends on whether you have access to one group or multiple groups.
NOTE: If a plan file in an unstarted group is started separately (by selecting the plan file in the Plan File View tab and using Activate plan files), this does not cause the group to be flagged as started. The only way that the group status becomes started is if an administrator, process owner, or group owner explicitly starts the group. Therefore, if plan files are started separately, it is possible for most or all of the plan files in a group to be started but the group still has a status of not started.
One group
If you are a designated group owner of only one group, then the Process Status dialog is automatically filtered to show just that group. If the group has not yet been started, the Process Status dialog shows the process as inactive for that group. You can click the Start process button in the toolbar to start the process for your group.
The Process Status dialog is also automatically filtered for one group if you are an overall process owner with a plan file filter that exactly aligns with one group.
Multiple groups
If you are a designated group owner for multiple groups, then you will see a new tab in the Process Status dialog named Process Groups. This tab can be used to start groups in the process as needed.
To start a group, click Start Groups. You are prompted to select the groups that you want to start in the process. If one or more groups are already selected in the Process Groups grid (and those groups are not yet started), those groups are selected by default.
Administrators can always see and start all groups. If an overall process owner has access to plan files in multiple groups, the Process Status dialog is filtered to only show those groups.
Managing plan files in the Process Status dialog
When a process has a defined grouping column, the behavior of the Process Status dialog depends on whether you have access to just one group or multiple groups.
One group
If you are a designated group owner of only one group, then the Process Status dialog is automatically filtered for that group. The group name is shown at the top of the dialog. You are not given the option to view other groups, and the Process Groups tab does not display. All actions in the dialog only apply to plan files in the current group.
Example Process Status dialog for one group
The Process Status dialog is also automatically filtered for one group if you are an overall process owner with a plan file filter that exactly aligns with one group.
Multiple groups
If you are the designated group owner for multiple groups, then the Process Status dialog shows the plan files for all relevant groups. A summary of the currently shown groups displays at the top of the dialog.
You can optionally filter the dialog to only show plan files for a particular group. Filtering the dialog by a group can make it easier to review and manage plan files for that group. For example, you may need to move plan files for a particular group, or regenerate tasks for a particular group.
To filter the dialog by group:
- Click View status for a specific group.
- In the Choose Process Groups dialog, select the group that you want to view, and then click OK. Only one group can be selected at a time.
Changing the current group shown in the Process Status dialog
The dialog is now filtered to only showing the plan files and status of the selected group. If you want to clear that group and go back to showing all available groups, click Clear selected group.
Administrators can always see all groups and can optionally filter the dialog by any group. If an overall process owner has access to plan files in multiple groups, the Process Status dialog only shows the groups that the user has access to.
Stopping groups in the process
When using groups, you can optionally stop individual groups in the process, instead of stopping the entire process for all groups.
When you stop a group in the process, you are really just aborting those plan files in the process. The overall process itself remains active. If the group is later restarted, the plan files are re-activated within the same overall process instance, and their previous process history is retained.
Groups can be stopped by administrators, overall process owners, and group owners:
- Administrators can stop any group, and can stop the overall process.
- Overall process owners can stop any group where they have security access to all of the plan files in that group. Note that process owners may see other groups if they have access to at least one plan file in that group, but they cannot stop those "partial" groups. If the process owner has access to all plan files in the process, then they can also stop the overall process.
- Group owners can only stop their assigned groups. Group owners must have security access to all of the plan files in their assigned groups.
You can use the Process Status dialog to stop groups in a process. The behavior of the Process Status dialog depends on whether you have access to one group, multiple groups, or all groups.
NOTE: Only the Process Status dialog provides the ability to stop groups in the process. If you use the Stop button in the Manage Processes dialog instead (Manage > Process Management > Current Processes), it will attempt to stop the entire process.
One group
If you only have access to one group (or if you have filtered the Process Status dialog to only show one group), then you can use the Stop process button on the Process View tab to stop the plan files in that group.
Multiple groups
If you have access to multiple groups but not all groups, then you can do either of the following:
-
Click the Stop process button on the Process view tab.
OR
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Click the Stop Groups button on the Process Groups tab.
In both cases you are prompted to select the groups that you want to stop in the process. When using the Process Groups tab, if you already have one or more groups selected in the Process Groups grid, then those groups are selected by default in the Stop Process Group dialog.
All groups
If you have access to all groups in the process, then you can stop the entire process or stop certain groups.
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To stop the entire process, click the Stop process button on the Process View tab. The dialog must not be filtered by group in order to stop the entire process. If it is filtered by group, then this action will only stop the current group.
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To stop certain groups in the process, click the Stop Groups button on the Process Groups tab. You are prompted to select the groups that you want to stop in the process. If you already have one or more groups selected in the Process Groups grid, then those groups are selected by default.
