Day 1
Workflow Introduction
What is Workflow?
 Various tasks perform throughout the day are part of larger tasks that
involve several steps and several people working together.
 Processes, that involve multiple users and the routing of data between the
users are termed as ‘Workflows’
Workflow Components
Workflow typically consist of 4 R’s
• Rules
• Roles
• Routings
• Real Time
Workflow Components – Rules
• Rules are company's business practices captured in software.
• Rules are implemented through Functions ( written in PL/SQL Procedures or
external programs ) in Oracle Workflow
Work Flow Components – Roles
• Roles describe how people fit into the workflow.
• A role is a class of users who perform the same type of work, such as clerks
or managers.
• An example rule says all requisition should be approved by a Supervisor (a
role).
• Roles allow work to be directed to Types of people than individuals, hence
allow flexible and easier to maintain Workflows.
Work Flow Components – Routings
• Routings connect the activities in the workflow. They are the system's
means of moving information from one place to another, from one step to
the next.
• They get the right information to the right people at the right time,
enabling users to work together to accomplish the company's goals.
Work Flow Components: Real Time
• Every Activity has certain time constraints that should be satisfied to
achieve desired results of a business process.
• Any form of delay can create business issues.
• Real Time means Workflow should be able to escalate to next level, action
or role in case a certain activity is not executed in specific time, eg. if the
Department Manager doesn’t approve or reject the leave request within 48
hrs then it should be escalated to VP-HR.
Components of Oracle Workflow
• Workflow Builder
• Workflow Engine
• Workflow Definitions Loader
• Notification Systems
• Notification Worklist
• Workflow Monitor
• Business Event System
• Workflow XML Loader
• Directory Services
Additional Notes
 For example, when enter an invoice and kicking off an approval and
payment process; someone else reviews and approves it, and a third
person submits payment to the vendor. The term ‘Workflow’ refers to this
larger process.
 Almost all the business processes that are defined in Oracle Applications
involve workflow.
WF Examples
 Simple WF can be like a Leave request approval, Training enrollment for
complex WF.
 Automatically approve of purchase requisition, creation and approval of
Purchase orders, defaulting account of numbers in various expense, asset,
variance accounts.
 Workflows not only help in automating the business processes but also
improve efficiencies, productivity and identify bottlenecks in the systems
for process reengineering.
 Workflow typically eliminates the job tasks associated with controlling
paper flow, and frees people who once performed clerical functions to do
more meaningful work.
 When properly managed, workflow enables to monitor the work
organization is doing and how it is being done. It facilitates continuous
process improvement.
 Any business changes occur, proactively implement new business
processes.
Workflow Components – Rules
 Rules determine what activities are required to process business data. Our
training example includes a rule that says department managers must
approve all requests for external classes. Say in Purchase requisition more
than $1000 expenditure will require CFO approval.
Workflow Builder
• Work Flow builder is a Graphical interface to create and modify the
business process with simple drag and drop operations
It has two components –
• Navigator Window
The navigator window provides a tree structure for the workflow definition,
with the highest level being that data store.
Next is the item type, which is a grouping of workflow objects into a high level
category.
The lower levels are the workflow objects as attributes, processes, notifications,
functions, events, messages and lookup types.
• Process Window
The diagram is made up of icons representing workflow objects. A
diagram is built by dragging the objects from the navigator window and dropping
them into the process diagram window.
• A workflow builder would be used by a person to design and modify a
workflow. It is more of a designer’s tool rather than an end-user’s tool.
Workflow Builder Usage
• Using the Workflow Builder, one can create and modify all workflow
objects, including activities, item types and messages.
• At any time we can add, remove, or change workflow activities
Workflow Engine
• The Workflow Engine embedded in the Oracle server, monitors workflow
states and coordinates the routing of activities for a process.
• Changes in workflow state, such as the completion of workflow activities,
are signaled to the engine via a PL/SQL API or a Java API.
• The Workflow Engine supports workflow rules, including looping, branching
, parallel flows, and sub-flows.
Workflow Definitions Loader
• The Workflow Definitions Loader is a utility program that moves workflow
definitions between database and corresponding flat file representations.
• Workflow Definitions Loader is integrated into Oracle Workflow Builder.
• It allows opening and saving workflow definitions in both a database and
file.
• Can be used to move workflow definitions
• From a development to a production database
• To apply upgrades to existing definitions.
Notification Systems
• Electronic notifications are routed to a role, which can be an individual user
or a group of users. Any user associated with that role can act on the
notification.
• Each notification includes a message that contains all the information a
user needs to make a decision.
• The information may be embedded in the message body or attached as a
separate document.
• Oracle Workflow interprets each notification activity response to decide
how to move on to the next workflow activity.
• Web users can access a Notification Web page to see their outstanding
work items, and then navigate to additional pages to see more details or
provide a response.
Notification Worklist
• The Notification worklist is a feature that provides a list of open
notifications for a particular user. The worklist is viewable through the
oracle workflow Web Agent.
• Also Configure the notification Mailer to Send an e-mail summarizing the
outstanding notifications.
• User can view the notifications as well as respond to those that require a
response.
Workflow Monitor
• The Workflow Monitor displays an explained view of the process diagram.
• Users can get a graphical representation of their work item status.
• It also displays a separate status summary for the work item, the process
and each activity in the process.
Viewing Workflow Diagrams
Business Event System
• The Business event System is an application service that communicates
business events between systems.
• Workflow, in the business event system act as a system integration
messaging hub that communicates business event messages among
systems.
• The Business event system leverages Oracle Advanced queuing (AQ) to
send message from one system to another.
• The great flexibility in routing and processing business events, model
business process logic in powerful cross-system workflow process that are
executed by the workflow engine.
Workflow XML Loader
• The Workflow XML Loader is a utility program that transfers XML
definitions for ‘Business Event System objects’ between a database and a
flat file.
• When download Business Event System object definitions from a database,
Oracle workflow saves the definitions as a XML file.
• When upload object definitions to a database, Oracle Workflow loads the
definitions from the source XML file into the ‘Business Event System’ tables
in the database, creating new definitions or updating existing definitions as
necessary.
Directory Services
• The Directory Service is set of views that are mapped across the user tables.
• WF_USERS : Contains information on user names, display names,
notification preferences and e-mail addresses.
• WF_ROLES : Contains information on the roles of which users can be
members
• WF_USER_ROLES : Contains information on the association of users with
roles.
Workflow Builder
• Work Flow builder is a Graphical interface to create and modify the
business process with simple drag and drop operations
It has two components –
Navigator Window
Process Window
Workflow Engine
• The Workflow Engine embedded in the Oracle server, monitors workflow
states and coordinates the routing of activities for a process.
Workflow Definitions Loader
• The Workflow Definitions Loader is a utility program that moves workflow
definitions between database and corresponding flat file representations.
Notification Systems
• Electronic notifications are routed to a role, which can be an individual user
or a group of users.
Notification Worklist
• The Notification worklist is a feature that provides a list of open
notifications for a particular user.
Workflow Monitor
• The Workflow Monitor displays an explained view of the process diagram.
Business Event System
• The Business event System is an application service that communicates
business events between systems.
Workflow XML Loader
• The Workflow XML Loader is a utility program that transfers XML
definitions for ‘Business Event System objects’ between a database and a
flat file.
Directory Services
•
The Directory Service is set of views.
WF_USERS
WF_ROLES
WF_USER_ROLES
Workflow Process Components
ITEM TYPE
• Item Type simply represents various processes put together to complete a
business process.
• A grouping of all items of a category that share the same set of attributes
• For e.g.: PO Requisition is an Item Type used to group all PO requisitions
created. It is like defining a Class in Java
• Every item type has an all-uppercase internal name, which is a maximum of
eight characters long. All Oracle Workflow APIs, SQL scripts, and PL/SQL
procedures refer to the internal name when identifying an item type.
• Select the Roles tab page to specify the roles that have access to this item
type
Persistence Type:
• The persistence type controls when the run time process status information
is eligible for purging after the process is complete.
Types: Temporary, Permanent and Synchronous.
Temporary
• Temporary, specify the number of days from the time the item instance
completes before its status audit trail can be purged. After the ’n’ days
using any of the WF_PURGE APIs to purge runtime status information.
Permanent
• Permanent, the runtime status information is maintained indefinitely until
specifically purge the information by calling the procedure
WF_PURGE.TotalPerm().
Synchronous
• Synchronous, Oracle Workflow expects instances of that item type to be
run as forced synchronous processes with an item key of #SYNCH.
• Forced synchronous processes complete in a single SQL session from start
to finish and never insert into or update any database tables.
• Since no runtime status information is maintained do not normally need to
perform any purging for a process with the Synchronous persistence type.
• If required run the process with a unique item key in asynchronous mode
for testing or debugging purposes, Oracle Workflow maintain runtime
status information for that process instance.
• Purge this information by changing the item type's Persistence to
Temporary and running any of the WF_PURGE APIs. Then change the item
type's Persistence back to Synchronous.
Selector :
If item type has or will have more than one runnable process activity
associated with it, define a PL/SQL function that determines which process
activity to run in a particular situation. For example, you may have two different
requisition approval process activities associated with the same item type. The
process that Oracle Workflow executes may vary depending on how and where
the requisition originates. Your selector function would determine which process
would be appropriate in any given situation.
Activity Attribute
There are ten attribute types. The type determines what values are acceptable
and how the attribute is used.
Text - Specify the maximum length of the text attribute and an optional default
text string.
Number - Optionally provide a format mask for your number and a default value.
Format : 999 /9,999,999,999.99 / 999.99
Date - Optionally supply a format mask for the date and a default value.
Eg :MON DD YYYY, DD-MON-YY, DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI:SS, DD-MON-RRRR
Lookup Types
• A lookup type is a static list of values. These lists can be referenced by
activities and by item type, message or activity attributes. For example, an
activity can reference a lookup type for its possible result values, while a
message attribute can reference a lookup type as a means of providing a
list of possible responses to the performer of a notification.
• When define a lookup type, associate it with a particular item type.
However, lookup types are not item type specific; when you create an
activity or an attribute, you can reference any lookup type in current data
store, regardless of the item type that the lookup type is associated with.
Lookup Codes for a Lookup Type
• Enter an Internal Name with no leading/trailing spaces and a Display Name
for the lookup code. All Oracle Workflow APIs, SQL scripts, and PL/SQL
procedures refer to the internal name when identifying a lookup code.
Important: Once internal name is defined, must use below special script to
correct the internal name during design time. Do not use this script to
rename that is involved in running instances of processes.
Item Type
-> wfchitt.sql
lookup code -> wfchluc.sql
lookup type-> wfchlut.sql
• Caution: Do not include colons ":" or leading/trailing spaces in the internal
name.
Notes:-
Workflow Process Components
ITEM TYPE
Item Type simply represents various processes put together to complete a
business process.
Persistence Type:
Temporary
Permanent
Synchronous
Selector :
If item type has or will have more than one runnable process activity associated
with it, define a
PL/SQL function that determines which process activity to run
in a particular situation.
Activity Attribute:
There are ten attribute types. The type determines what values are acceptable
and how the attribute is used. Eg Text, Number and Date.
Lookup Types
A lookup type is a static list of values. These lists can be referenced by activities
and by item type, message or activity attributes.
When define a lookup type, associate it with a particular item type. However,
lookup types are not item type specific;
Lookup Codes for a Lookup Type
Enter an Internal Name with no leading/trailing spaces and a Display Name for the
lookup code.
Messages
• A message is a notification activity sends to a role in a workflow process. A
message can prompt a user for a reply or an action to take that determines
what the next activity in the process should be. The recipient of a workflow
message is called the performer.
• Select the priority of the message (High, Normal, or Low)
• Message recipients can sort their notification based on the priority
• In the subject or body of the message , specify the internal of the message
attribute and precede that internal name with and ampersand(“&”).
• Text body tab-> plain text message body
• HTML body tab-> HTML- formatted message body
• Define a result for a message when you want to send a message that
prompts for a response and then use that response as the result of its
notification activity. The result is a special ‘Respond’ message attribute with
the internal name RESULT.
• The icon for a message in the navigator tree includes a red question mark in
its bottom left corner when the message has a result defined for it.
Result for a message
• In the message property pages, chose the Result tab.
• Select the lookup type to provide the possible result values. The lookup
type associated with the message result should be the same as the result
type of the notification activity that sends the notification message.
Messages attribute:
• Specify either Send or Respond in the source field to indicate whether the
attribute should send information to the recipient or prompt the recipient
for a response, respectively. Should be the source to send for any message
attributes that include in the message subject and message body for token
substitution.
Defining a Response Attribute
• Message that prompts for a response from the recipient, then define a
message attribute with the source set to Respond.
• The Notification system use a message’s Respond attributes to generate
the response section of the notification. A message can have multiple
respond attributes. The icon for a respond attribute in the navigator tree
includes a red question mark in its bottom left corner to distinguish it from
send attributes.
Defining a Notification Activity
• Optionally specify a PL/SQL stored procedure in the function field. The
procedure is known as a post-notification function and can be used to
couple processing logic to the notification activity.
• Specify the result type that contains the possible results that the
notification can return. If the message for the notification includes a result,
then the result type of the notification activity must be the same as the
lookup type that the messages result references.
• Select the message that this notification sends.
• Select the Expand Roles check box if want to send this notification to a
multi-user role and ensure that each user receives an individual copy of the
notification. You should always select the expand roles check box for FYI type Notifications.
• In the Node tab, important properties are
• Time out
• Priority
• Performer
Defining a Timeout for a Notification
• The timeout value for a notification activity node specifies whether the
notification response must be received by a certain time.
• Choose ‘No Timeout’ if the notification does not have to be completed by a
certain time.
• Choose ‘Relative Time’ if you want the notification to be completed by
some constant relative time.
• Note : A relative timeout value of zero means there is no timeout
• Choose ‘Item Attribute ‘ if want the notification to be completed by some
relative time or date that is determined dynamically at runtime.
Defining a Dynamic Priority for a Notification
• By Default, the Notification system assigns a priority to a notification based
on the priority value set for the message associated with the notification.
• Set a new priority for an individual notification activity node that overrides
the default priority of the message it sends. At runtime, the message is
assigned the override priority.
• Can set the override priority as a constant or reference an item attribute.
The item attribute must be of type number and the following ranges apply.
• High :1-33 Normal :33-66 Low :66-99
Defining a Performer for a Notification
The Performer is the role to whom the notification to send.
Defining Function Activities
• A function activity is a step in a workflow process to perform an automated
unit of work.
• A function activity is usually defined by a PL/SQL stored procedure.
• The PL/SQL procedure for a function activity must follow a standard API.
External function Activities
• External function activities allow incorporating programs or processes other
than PL/SQL procedures as automated units of work with in a workflow
process. Eg : Businesses event system
• BES facilitates integration with external products and legacy system.
External Java function Activities
• This activity that runs a Java Program on the middle tier.
• Oracle Workflow provides an external agent called the Java function activity
agent to execute these Java programs.
• Java procedures called by external Java functions must follow a standard
API.
Assigning a cost to a function Activity
• Cost is entered in seconds are converted to hundredths of a second when
stored in the database.
• If the cost of an activity exceeds the threshold cost of the workflow engine,
the activity is deferred by the workflow engine.
To define activity details:
• Specify the internal name of the item type that owns the error process that
want to execute if an error occurs in the current activity.
• Specify the internal name of the error process.
• Specify the On Revisit value to determine how the workflow engine handles
this activity when it transitions to the activity more than once.
• Ignore : Ignores the activity after the activity has been executed once;
• Reset : Resets completed activities in a loop by executing activities in
Cancel mode before re-executing them in RUN mode.
• Loop : Re-executes activities in the loop without resetting them.
Process Activity
• New process activity manually without using the quick start Wizard. A
process activity must be defined before a business process can be
diagrammed. Process activities must be associated with an item type and
are created in the navigator tree beneath the process branch of the item
type.
• Specify the result type that contains the possible results that the process
can return.
• Select the runnable check box if this is a top-level workflow process that
can be initiated. If the runnable check box is selected, the process will
appear in the process name poplist in the initiate workflow web page, and
can sucessfully pass this process internal name in a call to the workflow
Engine API WF_Engine. Create Process. Clear the runnable check box if this
process activity can only be executed as a subprocess called by another
higher –level process.
Notes:Messages
• A message is a notification activity sends to a role in a workflow process. A
message can prompt a user for a reply or an action to take that determines
what the next activity in the process should be. The recipient of a workflow
message is called the performer.
Defining a Notification Activity
• Optionally specify a PL/SQL stored procedure in the function field. The
procedure is known as a post-notification function and can be used to
couple processing logic to the notification activity.
• Select the Expand Roles check box if want to send this notification to a
multi-user role and ensure that each user receives an individual copy of the
notification. You should always select the expand roles check box for FYI type Notifications.
• In the Node tab, important properties are
• Time out
• Priority
• Performer
Defining a Performer for a Notification
• The Performer is the role to whom the notification to send.
Defining Function Activities
• A function activity is a step in a workflow process to perform an automated
unit of work.
• The PL/SQL procedure for a function activity must follow a standard API.
External function Activities
• External function activities allow incorporating programs or processes other
than PL/SQL procedures as automated units of work with in a workflow
process. Eg : Businesses event system
External Java function Activities
• Activity that runs a Java Program on the middle tier.
To define activity details:
• Ignore : Ignores the activity after the activity has been executed once;
• Reset : Resets completed activities in a loop by executing activities in
Cancel mode before re-executing them in RUN mode.
• Loop : Re-executes activities in the loop without resetting them.
Process Activity
• A process activity must be defined before a business process can be
diagrammed. Process activities must be associated with an item type and
are created in the navigator tree beneath the process branch of the item
type.
• Select the runnable check box if this is a top-level workflow process that
can be initiated. If the runnable check box is selected.
Workflow API’s
The Workflow Engine APIs can be called by an application program or a
workflow function in the runtime phase to communicate with the engine
and to change the status of each of the activities.
These APIs are defined in a PL/SQL package called WF_ENGINE
SetItemAttrText, SetItemAttrNumber, SetItemAttrDate
Used for setting a text/Number/Date, attribute value of a workflow
instance.
GetItemAttrTextvariable Name
Used for getting an attribute value of a workflow instance.
CreateProcess
Creates a new runtime process for an application item.
SetItemUserKey, GetItemUserKey , SetItemOwner, StartProcess
,LaunchProcess
WF_CORE
PL/SQL procedures called by function activities can use a set of core Oracle
Workflow APIs to raise and catch errors.
When a PL/SQL procedure called by a function activity either raises an
unhandled exception, or returns a result beginning with ’ERROR:’, the
Workflow Engine sets the function activity’s status to ERROR and sets the
columns ERROR_NAME, ERROR_MESSAGE, and ERROR_STACK in the table
WF_ITEM_ACTIVITY_STATUSES to reflect the error.
Eg :
Exception
When others then
WF_CORE.CONTEXT (’<package name>’,
’<procedure name>’, <itemtype>,
<itemkey>, to_char(<actid>),
<funcmode>);
raise;
End <procedure name>;
The columns ERROR_NAME and ERROR_MESSAGE get set to either the
values returned by a call to WF_CORE.RAISE( ), or to the SQL error name
and message if no call to RAISE( ) is found.
The column ERROR_STACK gets set to the contents set by a call to
WF_CORE.CONTEXT( ), regardless of the error source.
CLEAR, GET_ERROR, TOKEN, RAISE, CONTEXT, TRANSLATE
WF_PURGE
WF_PURGE can be used to purge obsolete runtime data for completed
items and processes, and to purge information for obsolete activity
versions that are no longer in use.
One may want to periodically purge this obsolete data from the system to
increase performance.
Items , Activities , Notifications, Total , TotalPERM
FUNCMODE and RESULTOUT
FUNCMODE
For functions, it can be RUN or CANCEL
For notifications, it can be RESPOND, FORWARD, TRANSFER or
TIMEOUT
RESULTOUT
COMPLETE : <result>: Activity successful.
WAITING : Pending for some other activity
DEFERRED : <date>: Activity deferred till <date>
NOTIFIED : <notif_id>:<assgn_user>: Activity notified to
<assgn_user> with a <notif_id>. Externally, must be completed using
WF_ENGINE.CompleteActivity.
ERROR :<err_code> :Activity encounters an error <err_code>
Launching a WF through PL/SQL
Workflow APIs needed to launch a Workflow through PL/SQL are :
Wf_Engine.CreateProcess(
ItemType => ItemType,
ItemKey => ItemKey,
process => WorkflowProcess );
Wf_Engine.StartProcess ( itemtype => itemtype,
itemkey => itemkey );
Launch Process Activity
The Launch Process activity lets launch another workflow process from the
current process. This is a wrap up of Create Process and Start Process
APIs.This activity calls the PL/SQL procedure named
WF_STANDARD.LAUNCHPROCESS. Eg:
Wf_engine.launchprocess(itemtype=><Item Type Internal Name>
,itemkey=><Item key value>
,process=><Process Internal Name>);
Parameters for PL/SQL
When the Workflow Engine calls a stored procedure for a Function activity, it
passes four parameters to the procedure and may expect a result when the
procedure completes.
Itemtype (IN) : Internal name of the item
Itemkey (IN) : A string to uniquely identify the item type instance
Actid (IN) : ID of the activity from where this procedure is called.
Funcmode (IN) : Execution mode of the activity.
Resultout (IN OUT) : Result Type of the activity.
WF: Technical Foundation
WF_ITEM_TYPES
It stores all the Item_type definitions
WF_ITEM_ATTRIBUTES
The WF_ITEM_ATTRIBUTES table stores definitions of attributes associated with a
process.
Each row includes the sequence in which the attribute is used as well as the
format of the attribute data.
WF_ITEMS
WF_ITEMS is the runtime table for workflow processes. Each row defines one
work item within the system.
WF_PROCESS_ACTIVITIES stores the data for an activity within a specific process.
A process activity is a Modeled workflow process, which can be included as an
activity in other processes to represent a sub–process
WF_ACTIVITIES table stores the definition of an activity.
Relation Between Tables
• WF_ITEMS consists of all the definitions of each ITEM_TYPES.
• When a Workflow is launched, WF_ITEMS gets populated with a new
record for that item with the ITEM_TYPE and ITEM_KEY entered by the
user.
• The WF_ENGINE.LaunchProcess and WF_ENGINE.CreateProcess is called by
the background engine.
• All the activities for this ITEM_TYPE are read from WF_ACTIVITIES table.
• WF_ITEM_ATTRIBUTES stores all the attributes from an item. These are
prompted at the launch of a workflow.
• When attributes are read from the users, the corresponding columns in
WF_ITEM_ATTRIBUTES are inserted into WF_ITEM_ATTRIBUTE_VALUES
with a ITEM_TYPE and ITEM_KEY to uniquely identify the instance.
• These can be changed by using WF_ENGINE.SetItemAttr<datatype>
procedure and read using WF_ENGINE.GetItemAttr<datatype> function.
• WF_ITEM_ACTIVITY_STATUSES store the activity values as and when they
complete. The WF_PROCESS_ACTIVITY table provides for the INSTANCE_ID
used to identify which is the process.
• The ACTIVITY_STATUSES and the ACTIVITY_RESULT_CODE fields would
identify how each Workflow is progressing.
Views Used in Workflow
Workflow uses views for effective querying of data. These views are denormalized so as to provide a faster access to data over networks.
Some of the important views are:
• WF_ITEMS_V
• WF_ITEM_ACTIVITY_STATUSES_V
• WF_NOTIFICATIONS_VIEW
• WF_ROLES
• WF_USERS
• WF_USER_ROLES
WF_USER_ROLES
• The WF_USER_ROLES view is an intersection of the users and roles in
WF_USERS and WF_ROLES.
WF Load Command
In Oracle Apps rather than use the Submit Requests form, can also run the
Workflow Definitions Loader concurrent program from the command line by
entering the following commands:
• To upgrade—WFLOAD apps/pwd 0 Y UPGRADE file.wft
• To upload—WFLOAD apps/pwd 0 Y UPLOAD file.wft
• To force—WFLOAD apps/pwd 0 Y FORCE file.wft
• To download WFLOAD apps/pwd 0 Y DOWNLOADfile.wftitem_type
• WFLOAD APPS/vale2012@VIS 0 Y FORCE file.wft
Allowing Access to an Object
In the Access tab page, the ’Range of Editable Access Levels’ indicator bar
provides a relative indication of the range of access levels that can edit the
object.
User can access their level by clicking on Help -> About Oracle Workflow
Builder
The shaded area represents the access levels that can edit the object, while
the vertical bar represents current access level.
The indicator bar can be shaded solid green, or shaded with any
combination of solid green and crosshatch grey.
Three different types of levels define the Security of aWorkflow Item Type.
• Access Level
• Protection Level
• Customization Level.
Allow Modification to Customized Objects
“Allow modifications of customized objects” check box in the “About Oracle
Workflow Builder”
When Checked :
The range of editable access levels can appear as a combination of solid
green and crosshatch grey areas.
The levels depicted by grey crosshatches represent levels that usually
cannot modify customized objects, but can now do so because Oracle Workflow
Builder is operating in ’UPLOAD’ mode.
Upload mode means that Oracle Workflow Builder can save edits,
overwriting any protected objects that have access to modify as well as any
previously customized objects.
When Unchecked:
The range of editable access levels appears as a solid green area. This
indicates that when save your work, Oracle Workflow Builder is operating in
’UPGRADE’ mode, only saving edits to protected objects that have access to
change and leaving objects that have been previously customized untouched.
• Note: An object appears with a small red lock over its icon in the navigator
tree to indicate that it is a read–only if you are operating at an access level,
that does not have permission to edit an object, that is, access level is in a
white area of the Range of Editable Access Levels’ indicator bar.
Default Protection Levels
The following range of levels is presumed by Oracle Workflow:
• 0-9 Oracle Workflow
• 10-19 Oracle Application Object Library
• 20-99 Oracle Applications development.
• 100-999 Customer organization.
You can determine how you want this range to be interpreted.
• For example, 100 can represent headquarters, while 101 can represent a
regional office, and so on.
• 1000 Public
Customization Level
• The customization level indicates that the object can only be further
modified by someone operating at an access level equal to or higher than
the customization level.
• This ensures that a customizable object that has been customized never
gets overwritten during a seed data upgrade because the upgrade always
occurs with the Workflow Definitions Loader operating at an access level
below the customized object’s customization level.
Protection Level
• Whenever create a workflow object in Oracle Workflow Builder, have the
option of protecting the object at a certain level.
• An object’s protection level controls whether other users can modify the
object based on their access levels.
• The protection level that set for an object is dependent on current access
level.
Options in Access Level
• In the Options region, use the ‘Preserve Customizations’ and ‘Lock at this
Access Level’ check boxes to define the access levels that can modify this
object.
• The options that check in this region directly affect the values that appear
in the Levels region. This table assumes that the user setting the options
has an access level of 100.
select * from dba_objects where object_name like 'WF%' and object_type in
('TABLE','VIEW') and owner='APPLSYS';
select * from WF_NOTIFICATIONS
select * from WF_ITEM_TYPES where name='ORDERDE'
select * from WF_ITEM_ATTRIBUTES where item_type='ORDERDE'
select * from WF_PROCESS_ACTIVITIES where PROCESS_ITEM_TYPE='ORDERDE'
and instance_id=787196
select * from WF_ACTIVITIES where item_type='ORDERDE' and END_DATE is null
select * from WF_MESSAGES_tl where type='ORDERDE'
select * from WF_MESSAGE_ATTRIBUTES where message_type='ORDERDE'
select * from WF_LOOKUPS_TL
select * from WF_LOOKUP_TYPES_TL
select * from wf_items where item_type='ORDERDE'
select * from WF_ITEM_ATTRIBUTE_VALUES where item_type='ORDERDE' and
item_key='114733'
select * from WF_ITEM_ACTIVITY_STATUSES where item_type='ORDERDE' and
item_key='114733'
select * from WF_NOTIFICATIONS_VIEW where notification_id=4692807