emc it process centre bpm portal user's guide · process template in the ide that reflects the...

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EMC® IT Process CentreBPM Portal

User’s GuideP/N 300-004-618

REV A02

IT Process Centre BPM Portal User’s Guide2

Copyright © 2006 - 2007 Savvion Corporation. All rights reserved.

Published October, 2007

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Table of Contents

PrefaceAudience.......................................................................................................................................................6Information on ITPC Documentation ............................................................................................................7Conventions Used in this Manual .................................................................................................................8Product Support Contact Information ...........................................................................................................8Where to Get Help........................................................................................................................................8Your Comments ............................................................................................................................................9

Chapter 1—An Overview of ITPCITPC Components ...................................................................................................................................... 11How ITPC Works ........................................................................................................................................12ITPC User Types ........................................................................................................................................14

Chapter 2—Getting StartedLogging In...................................................................................................................................................16Using Themes ............................................................................................................................................18Exploring BPM Portal .................................................................................................................................20

Page Layout ............................................................................................................................................20Keyboard Shortcuts.................................................................................................................................21Using Filter Bars......................................................................................................................................22

Global Filters.....................................................................................................................................22Sorting a Column.....................................................................................................................................22Navigating Through the List ....................................................................................................................23Drilling Down ...........................................................................................................................................23Selecting Rows........................................................................................................................................24Printing ....................................................................................................................................................24

Finding ITPC Details...................................................................................................................................24Getting Support ..........................................................................................................................................24Accessing Help...........................................................................................................................................24Logging Out ................................................................................................................................................24

3

Chapter 3—Basic OperationsSpecifying a Date........................................................................................................................................25Searching Users .........................................................................................................................................26Working with Attachments ..........................................................................................................................28

Using the Java Applet Interface ..............................................................................................................28Attaching a Document.......................................................................................................................28Updating Documents ........................................................................................................................30Removing Attached Documents .......................................................................................................31Updating Documents Accessed by Multiple Users ...........................................................................31

Using the JavaScript Interface ................................................................................................................32Attaching a Document.......................................................................................................................32Updating Documents ........................................................................................................................34Removing Attached Documents .......................................................................................................34Updating Documents Accessed by Multiple Users ...........................................................................34

Chapter 4—Introduction to the Home ModuleWhat’s New ................................................................................................................................................35Home Module Features ..............................................................................................................................36

Chapter 5—Managing Your TasksUnderstanding Available and Assigned Tasks............................................................................................39

Available Tasks........................................................................................................................................39Assigned Tasks .......................................................................................................................................39

Understanding Delegated Tasks.................................................................................................................40Assigned Tasks...........................................................................................................................................41

Viewing Task Details ...............................................................................................................................41Updating Tasks .................................................................................................................................42

Reassigning Tasks ..................................................................................................................................42From the Task List Page ...................................................................................................................42From the Task Details Page..............................................................................................................42

Completing Tasks ....................................................................................................................................43From the Task List Page ...................................................................................................................43From the Task Details Page..............................................................................................................43

Making Tasks Re-available......................................................................................................................44Getting the Next Available Task ..............................................................................................................44

Available Tasks...........................................................................................................................................44Viewing Task Details ...............................................................................................................................45

Assigning Tasks to Self .....................................................................................................................45Completed Tasks ........................................................................................................................................45

Chapter 6—Working with My InstancesViewing Process Status ..............................................................................................................................48

Tabular View............................................................................................................................................48Flow View ................................................................................................................................................49

Printing Flow View ............................................................................................................................50Exporting Flow View .........................................................................................................................50

Dataslots View.........................................................................................................................................51

BPM Portal User’s Guide 4 Contents

Managing Worksteps..................................................................................................................................51From the Flow View.................................................................................................................................52From the Tabular View ............................................................................................................................53

Activated Workstep ...........................................................................................................................53Suspended Workstep........................................................................................................................54

Removing Your Own Instances ..................................................................................................................54

Chapter 7—Using ApplicationsViewing the Application Details...................................................................................................................56Creating an Application Instance................................................................................................................57

Chapter 8—Using ModelsViewing the Published Documents .............................................................................................................59

Chapter 9—Managing Profile and FavoritesManaging Profile.........................................................................................................................................60Using Favorites...........................................................................................................................................62

Chapter 10—Setting PreferencesManaging Filters .........................................................................................................................................63

Adding Filters ..........................................................................................................................................65Copying Filters ........................................................................................................................................67Modifying Filters ......................................................................................................................................68Deleting Filters ........................................................................................................................................68

Specifying Delegation Settings ...................................................................................................................69Managing your Calendar ............................................................................................................................70

Setting your Calendar..............................................................................................................................70Editing from the Calendar View Page .....................................................................................................71

Marking Holidays ..............................................................................................................................71Unmarking Holidays..........................................................................................................................72

Editing from the Calendar Details Page ..................................................................................................73Managing Working Time ...................................................................................................................75Managing Non-working Time ............................................................................................................76

Glossary

Index

BPM Portal User’s Guide 5 Contents

Preface

This guide is part of the documentation set for IT Process Centre (ITPC).

AudienceThe range of ITPC modules creates the opportunity for four types of users, summarized in the following table:

Table 1 ITPC User Types and Responsibilities

User Type ResponsibilitiesITPC User Responsible for carrying out specific business tasks using ITPC applications.

Examples include:

• An office administrator submitting an online purchase request.

• HR personnel scheduling interviews for a potential hire.

• A sales representative responding to a customer request.

• An engineer reviewing a trouble ticket reported by a customer.

ITPC Manager Responsible for automating business processes in a particular business domain. BPM Portal’s Management module serves as the primary interface to ITPC for the ITPC Manager, enabling the manager to monitor, analyze, and control business processes. Also uses the Process Modeler for modeling and simulation.

Application Developer Responsible for creating customized applications for implementing business processes and developing interfaces associated with tasks. ITPC application developers may work closely with ITPC business managers to define the requirements of an application, and determine the business processes.

ITPC Administrator Responsible for configuring ITPC components, managing user/group profiles, and administering ITPC applications and utilities.

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Information on ITPC DocumentationIT Process Centre (ITPC) documentation contains information for the entire range of ITPC users. In the following table, we recommend the guides that are most relevant to each type of user.

Table 2 ITPC Documentation

If you are the… Read the…ITPC User BPM Portal User’s Guide

Quick Start GuideTerminology GuideTutorial Guide

ITPC Manager BPM Portal Manager’s Guide BPM Portal User’s GuideTerminology GuideTutorial Guide

Application Developer API Reference Guide Application Developer’s GuideBizLogic Developer’s GuideBizPulse User’s GuideBizSolo User’s GuideBPM Portal Manager’s GuideBPM Portal User’s Guidea

BPM Studio User’s GuideClustering GuideCustomization GuideManaged Adapters GuideQuick Start GuideTerminology GuideTutorial GuideWeb Services Developer’s Guide

a. Demonstrates how to thoroughly test ITPC applications.

ITPC Administrator BizPulse User’s Guideb

BPM Portal Administrator’s GuideBPM Portal Manager’s GuideBPM Portal User’s GuideInstallation GuideManaged Adapters GuideTerminology GuideTroubleshooting Guide for Administrators

b. Refer to the sections detailing BizPulse Admin.

Preface 7 Information on ITPC Documentation

Conventions Used in this ManualThis document uses the following conventions and terminology notations.

Product Support Contact InformationIf the product documentation does not provide a solution to your specific issue, or if you need clarification on the issue, please contact the EMC Product Support Team. You can contact the team through the Internet, e-mail, telephone, or by postal mail.

To enable us to quickly answer your questions, please have the following information available:

• Your name, installation site address and the license key for EMC software.

• Your ITPC version and build number.

• Your operating system, application server and browser, with version and service pack details, if any.

• Your database management system and version, and information on JVM and JDBC used.

Where to Get HelpEMC support, product, and licensing information can be obtained as follows.

Product information — For documentation, release notes, software updates, or for information about EMC products, licensing, and service, go to the EMC Powerlink website (registration required) at:

http://Powerlink.EMC.com

Technical support — For technical support, go to EMC Customer Service on Powerlink. To open a service request through Powerlink, you must have a valid support agreement. Please contact your EMC sales representative for details about obtaining a valid support agreement or to answer any questions about your account.

Table 3 Conventions in this Manual

Convention Purposebold Indicates titles of command buttons, check boxes, options, lists, dialog

boxes and portal page names.

bold italic Represents notes that alert you on specific ITPC elements and similar advisory information.

italic Indicates directory paths, file names and book titles.

monospace Represents code segments or examples.

backward slash “\” Indicates the path in Windows environment. For UNIX environment, replace with forward slash “/”

ITPC_HOME or %ITPC_HOME% Represents the installation directory of ITPC.

Preface 8 Conventions Used in this Manual

http://powerlink.emc.com

Your CommentsComments and suggestions about our product documentation are always welcome.

To provide feedback:

1 Go to: http://Powerlink.EMC.com

2 Click the Feedback link.

Preface 9 Your Comments

http://softwaresupport.EMC.com

Chapter 1

An Overview of ITPC

IT Process Centre (ITPC) is a comprehensive business process management platform, that enables companies to quickly transform their business processes into flexible and manageable Web applications, distributed over intranets, extranets, and the Internet.

Figure 1 ITPC Overview

ITPC addresses every stage in the business life cycle: Define, Integrate, Deploy, Monitor, Analyze, Improve, and Control. By adopting an end-to-end approach, ITPC incorporates all the key elements required to meet the ever-changing demands of e-business while providing customers with confidence for e-business success. Providing integrated management tools, ITPC lets customers monitor operations proactively, modifying automated processes on the fly based on changing external operations online.

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ITPC ComponentsITPC is a suite of integrated components that enables you to easily build intranet, extranet, and Internet applications and manage your e-business. ITPC consists of the following components:

Figure 2 ITPC Components

Table 4 ITPC Components

Component DescriptionBPM PortalHome

The Home module of BPM Portal is the primary interface for ITPC Users, enabling them to interact with ITPC applications. Users can complete entries to various tasks and applications, and link to the support infrastructure required to achieve these tasks.

BPM Portal Management

The Management module enables ITPC Managers to query, report on, and control processes and resources, and is only visible to ITPC Managers.

BPM Portal Administration

The Administration module enables ITPC Administrators to modify configuration parameters, manage user/group access control, and install/uninstall ITPC applications.

Web Services This component allows ITPC application developers to; a) publish their applications as Web services, and b) find and convert other available Web services on the Internet into ITPC applications.

BizSolo This component provides a framework for developing and implementing Web-enabled workflow applications.

BPM Studio This is the primary application development tool for ITPC, which provides an Eclipse-based integrated development environment in which users can create ITPC applications, processes, Web applications, and rule files.

Process Modeler

This tool is used to design templates for basic business processes, and to run simulations of processes and individual worksteps. Users can also save or retrieve processes from the ITPC process repository.

An Overview of ITPC 11 ITPC Components

How ITPC WorksThe following figure provides an overview of the interaction between ITPC components.

Figure 3 How ITPC Works

BizLogic This is a flexible, lightweight, scalable workflow process engine for intranets, extranets, and the Internet.

BizPulse This open, event-driven rule engine is used to formulate and enforce policies in business applications.

Table 4 ITPC Components

Component Description

An Overview of ITPC 12 How ITPC Works

The following explanations correspond with the labels shown in Figure 3, and describe how the components operate.

A. BPM Studio and/or Process Modeler provide an integrated development environment (IDE) for ITPC, where you can design and deploy business processes. The application developer designs a process template in the IDE that reflects the business flow and other business process requirements. ITPC then generates an *.spt or *.swt file for the process template. If desired, business rules for the process template can be defined using the Rule Editor, a BizPulse component that is launched with BPM Studio.

B. The Web Container specifies a run time environment for servlet-based portals that include the BPM Portal, BizSolo and Web Services. The BPM Portal provides user interfaces for the Home, Management, and Administration modules.

C. Once the process template is defined, ITPC Administrators use the Administration module to install the process on the BizLogic server. ITPC Administrators can also configure ITPC components, manage user/group access control, and publish ITPC applications as Web services. Once installed, users access applications through servlets that pass the requests over an RMI/IIOP connection to the BizLogic server within an EJB Container.

D. The EJB Container provides a run time environment that executes and manages Java-based program components that run on the server side of a client/server network. Within the EJB Container are the BizLogic server and BizPulse server.

E. The BizLogic server writes events to event tables in the database. Each BizLogic process uses JDBC to connect to database server as well as store events in the database. Within the BizLogic server, BizStore uses JDBC to connect to the database server process and retrieve the events deposited by the BizLogic process. BizStore interprets the events and populates the process tables. These populated tables are used by BPM Portal modules.

F. Once the process template is installed as an ITPC application, ITPC Users use the Home module to access applications, obtain information to perform their tasks, and launch the application to start process instances from the BizLogic server.

G. Once the process template is installed as an ITPC application, ITPC Managers use the Management module to (depending on access privileges) launch the application to start process instances, monitor execution of process instances, and create reports. Servlets receive manager requests and pass them onto the BizLogic server over an RMI/IIOP connection. ITPC Managers use the Report Builder to define management reports that retrieve information through JDBC to the database server.

H. BizPulse is a rule-based event/message processing server that loads application rules and executes them against the BizLogic and/or external events/messages. This server persists data in the database for recovery and with the help of JDBC connects to the database.

I. Managed Adapters exchange information between ITPC applications and external applications by converting ITPC-specific protocol to the protocol of an external system such as a database or ERP system. When users add a Managed Adapter to a workstep, they can define complex mapping between ITPC dataslots and adapter inputs/outputs of the external application. At run time when the workstep is executed, the Managed Adapter sets the adapter inputs and configuration, and maps the outputs to the appropriate output dataslots.

J. BizSolo is a run-time component that executes the presentation flows. This component provides a Model, View, Controller (MVC) paradigm for developing presentation flow-based applications and executing them in a Web container.

An Overview of ITPC 13 How ITPC Works

K. ITPC’s Web Services component allows BizLogic and BizSolo applications to be published as Web services.

L. The relational database management system serves as a persistent store for all ITPC data storage needs. The BPM Portals and servers connect to DBMS using the JDBC driver.

ITPC User TypesThere are four user types within ITPC:

• ITPC Users. ITPC Users use ITPC applications to coordinate specific business tasks with another department within their company, with another company within their organization, and/or with a business partner in another organization. The Home module in BPM Portal serves as the primary interface in which ITPC Users run ITPC applications.

• ITPC Managers. ITPC Managers are typically experts in a particular business domain, such as Quality Assurance or Human Resources. They might need to work with managerial personnel from other groups in automating some of the business procedures that these groups share. The Management module in BPM Portal serves as the primary ITPC interface for business managers to coordinate and integrate business processes, enabling them to exchange information with each other, and to share functionality over such standard communication protocols as the Internet or e-mail.

• ITPC Application Developers. ITPC Application Developers are responsible for analyzing business processes and developing interfaces associated with tasks or processes creation. Application Developers are often not domain experts themselves, but work closely with ITPC Managers to define the business process and determine the requirements of an application. Application Developers use BPM Studio or Process Modeler to define the business process; the resulting process template file is tested, simulated, deployed and run as an ITPC application.

• ITPC Administrators. ITPC Administrators are responsible for configuring ITPC components, managing user/group profiles and access control, and installing/uninstalling ITPC applications. The Administration module in BPM Portal serves as the primary ITPC interface for ITPC Administrators to administer ITPC applications.

All ITPC user types can communicate by using one or more ITPC applications and/or by communicating between ITPC applications and external applications. Examples include:

• A QA Department manager requesting the Human Resources Department to approve the hiring of a QA Engineer.

• HR personnel coordinating interview scheduling with a regional office in another state.

• Engineers collaborating with a business partner’s Engineering Department to develop specifications for an application.

An Overview of ITPC 14 ITPC User Types

Chapter 2

Getting Started

IT Process Centre (ITPC) provides primary Web-based user interface in the form of BPM Portal. It is a complete portal through which you can interact with ITPC applications.

When you log into BPM Portal, it displays the Home module tab for all users, irrespective of your user type and your user permissions. As an application user, you can display and modify tasks assigned to you, and manage your preferences. It also displays other tabs in addition to Home. However, access to other modules depends on your user type and permissions.

If you have ITPC Manager rights, the Management module is also available to you, where you can query, report, and control processes and resources for users.

If you also have administrative rights, in the Administration module, you can modify configuration parameters controlling ITPC operations, manage ITPC components, and install/uninstall applications.

Note: Though all modules are shown to you in the figures, you can access only those modules for which you have access rights.

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Figure 4 Overview of BPM Portal

This chapter describes how to log into and out of the BPM Portal, the screen layout, and how to explore the Home module’s interface. As the interface is uniform for all modules, this information is helpful for other modules also.

Logging InTo access BPM Portal and use it, you need to log in to it. Your ITPC Administrator typically adds you as a new ITPC User, and assigns you a User Name and Password. To log in to BPM Portal, you need to use this User Name and Password.

As an ITPC User, view your tasks and instances.

As a Business Manager, control your processes and resources.

As an Administrator, configure and manage components and users.

Getting Started 16 Logging In

To log in to BPM Portal:

1. Start the Login page according to your platform:

If you are logging in for the first time, then the Login page will be displayed as shown in the following figure.

Note: If you log in after a session timeout, then an appropriate message is displayed on the Login page.

Figure 5 BPM Portal Login Page

Note: If you are using a theme other than the default one, then the screens will look different than shown in this document. For more details, see Using Themes on page 18.

Table 5 Logging in to BPM Portal

Using... Perform the following...Windows 2000/XP

From the Start menu choose Programs > EMC > ITPC 2.1 > Login to BPM Portal if you are using the installation machine. Otherwise enter http://machine_name.domain.com:port_number/sbm/bpmportal/login.jsp in your browser.

UNIX Enter http://machine_name.domain.com:port number/sbm/bpmportallogin.jsp in your browser.

Getting Started 17 Logging In

2. Type your User Name and Password, and click Login.

BPM Portal authenticates your User Name and Password and by default, displays the Task List page, as shown in the following figure.

Figure 6 Task List

As a typical ITPC User, you will have access only to the Home module. Other modules to which you may have access are displayed along with Home, as additional tabs depending on your user type and user permissions.

Note: You can change your password any time by using Home > Profile.

Using ThemesITPC provides five predefined themes for BPM Portal and for applications in the portal. Your ITPC Administrator can select one of these themes as the presentation for your portal; and can select the same or another theme for the presentation used by applications in the portal.

Getting Started 18 Using Themes

Figure 7 Themes

All figures in this document are displayed with theme05, which is the default theme. For more details, see Customization Guide.

theme05

theme01 theme02

theme03 theme04

Getting Started 19 Using Themes

Exploring BPM PortalWhen you log in to the BPM Portal for the first time, you will see the default Home tab, with the Task List page listing tasks assigned to you, as shown in Figure 8.

Note: Use the Profile menu to select the language you prefer and use the Preferences menu to select a filter that sets the page's display. After configuring the Home tab, your selections are displayed the next time you log in to BPM Portal.

Page Layout

The terminology used for a typical BPM Portal page is explained below.

Figure 8 Default Home Page

The main areas of a page are:

• Global links: Located at the top right corner of every page, these links are available at all times during the session.

• Module tabs: For your convenience, features of different modules are grouped in sections. All features of a particular group are located in its own Module tab.

• Module menus: Each tab has a set of specific menus.

• Page name: This shows the current page name. At the right side, a welcome message is displayed with the date when you logged in.

• Link trail: This shows the pages you navigated through to reach the current page. You can click any link in the link trail and go back to that page. If you click a link in the link trail without first saving

GlobalLinks

ModuleTabs

ModuleMenus

PageName

CommandButton

Workspace

Getting Started 20 Exploring BPM Portal

contents of the current page, the data in the current page will not be saved.

• Workspace: Your data is displayed in this area. Generally it is displayed in one of the following ways:

• Form: This lets you interact with the portal. Typically, forms contain text boxes, check boxes, and options that help you enter data. Forms can be in read-only or editable mode depending upon the contents and access privileges.

• List: This lets you view your data in a tabular format. Typically, lists contain filter bars, search options, and page controls that manage which data is displayed and how it should be displayed.

• Command buttons and Links: The commands that help you interact with the data are represented by buttons. Buttons that help you accomplish some task but do not change the data values are typically located below the link trail. The links are located beside the buttons. Buttons that operate on the data shown in the current page and change their values are located below the workspace.

Keyboard Shortcuts

BPM Portal provides the following keyboard shortcuts to access its various module menus and menu options.

Table 6 Keyboard Shortcuts

Module Keys Menu / Menu OptionHome CTRL+SHIFT+T My Tasks

CTRL+SHIFT+M My Instances

CTRL+SHIFT+H My Alerts

CTRL+SHIFT+S Applications

CTRL+SHIFT+D Dashboard

CTRL+SHIFT+O Profile

CTRL+SHIFT+F Preferences > Filters

Management CTRL+SHIFT+I Overview > Instances

CTRL+SHIFT+A Overview > Applications

CTRL+SHIFT+R Reports > My Reports

CTRL+SHIFT+N Instance Manager > Instances

CTRL+SHIFT+K Instance Manager > Tasks

CTRL+SHIFT+W Instance Manager > Worksteps

CTRL+SHIFT+C Balanced Scorecard > Console

Administration CTRL+SHIFT+V System > Log Viewer

CTRL+SHIFT+U User Management > Users

CTRL+SHIFT+G User Management > Groups

CTRL+SHIFT+Q User Management > Queues

CTRL+SHIFT+P User Management > Permissions

CTRL+SHIFT+E User Management > Delegate Settings

CTRL+SHIFT+L Applications > BizLogic

CTRL+SHIFT+Z Applications > BizSolo


As a typical ITPC User, you will have access only to the Home module. Other modules to which you may have access are displayed along with Home, as additional tabs depending on your user type and user permissions.

You can customize these shortcuts by adding a new one or changing an existing one as per your requirement. For more details, see the Customization Guide.

Using Filter Bars

A filter allows you to reduce clutter and focus on the relevant data by displaying only selected data in the workspace.

Use the Filter bar (see following figure) to apply a filter. Specify values by selecting them from the lists and/or entering them in the text boxes, and then click Go. The combination of these values forms a filter.

Figure 9 Filter Bar

Global Filters

ITPC now provides global filters for most common filtering conditions. They are:

• Overdue Tasks

• Tasks Due Today

• Tasks Due This Week

• Tasks Due This Month

• Tasks Due This Quarter

• Tasks Due This Year

• Critical Priority Tasks

• High Priority Tasks

You can select a global filter as your default filter from the Home > Profile menu. Alternately, you can use it as required.

Sorting a Column

If a column header is underlined, you can click it to sort the listed items on that column header. A downward pointing triangle beside the column header indicates that items are sorted in descending order. To sort them in ascending order, click the column header again.


Figure 10 Column Sorting

Navigating Through the List

The paging controls allow you to navigate through pages of the current list. These controls are located immediately above and below the list.

Figure 11 Paging Control

The number of items to be displayed per page is specified by the ITPC Administrator in the Administration module. For more details, refer to the “Using the ITPC Configuration Interface” section of the BPM Portal Administrator’s Guide. If the total number of items cannot be displayed in a page, then the exceeded items are displayed on the subsequent pages.

If the number of pages are 10 or less, then all page numbers up to the last page are displayed below the list. You can click a page number to display the corresponding page. If the number of pages is more than 10, then click Next> to access the set of next 10 pages. Similarly, you can click <Previous to access the set of previous 10 pages. The total at the far right of the paging controls represents the total number of items in the list across all pages.

Drilling Down

If more information is available about an item in the list, then such an item is displayed with a hyperlink. You can click the hyperlink to drill down to the next level of data and view details of that item.

Figure 12 Drilling Down


Selecting Rows

You can select one or more rows of items from the list of items displayed on the current page by clicking their respective check boxes in the first column. To select all rows in the current page, select the check box in the header row. Selection of rows is indicated by changing color of selected rows.

Figure 13 Rows

To clear a particular row, click its check box again. If you select the check box in the header row and then clear a check box of a row; then the check box in the header row is cleared.

Printing

The Print icon ( ) displays the contents of the current page in a printable format. You can use your browser’s print feature to print it.

Finding ITPC DetailsTo quickly find out the application server, database type and its version, ITPC version and its build number you are using, click About from the global links. It displays all these details in a pop-up window. You will need this information while contacting the ITPC support team.

Getting SupportIf you do not find the solution to your problem in the product documentation, then you can contact the support team. Click Support from the global links (or on the BPM Portal Login page) to launch your default mail tool to send a mail to the support team.

Accessing HelpYou can access online help by clicking Help from the global links. The help is launched in a separate browser window. BPM Portal provides context-sensitive help, displaying the help topic that is relevant to the current module.

Logging OutTo quit BPM Portal, click Logout on the global links. After a successful logout, BPM Portal automatically displays the BPM Portal Login page.

Getting Started 24 Finding ITPC Details

Chapter 3

Basic Operations

This chapter explains the basic operations you perform while using BPM Portal. You can perform some or all of these operations in various BPM Portal screens. However, all these operations may not be available in each BPM Portal screen.

Specifying a DateYou can enter a date (and time) in the various text boxes involving a Date (for example, Due Date, Start Date, End Date) by directly typing it. Alternatively, you can click the Select Date icon ( ), which is generally located next to a Date box, to specify a date, as shown in the following steps:

1. Click the Select Date icon ( ) beside the Date box. For a blank Date box, the Select Date window displays the current month’s calendar and by default, highlights today’s date and the current time.

Figure 14 Specifying a Date

2. To select a date from the displayed month, click the desired date. The selected date and time is displayed in the Date box.

To select today’s date, click Today.

25

3. To display the calendar for another month, use the single arrows provided above the days of the week. Click the arrow pointing right for the next month, or the arrow pointing left for the previous month. Alternatively, to select any other month, you can click and hold the mouse on either of the arrows and then drag it to the desired month.

4. Similarly, to display the calendar for another year, click the double-arrow pointing right for the next year, or the double-arrow pointing left for the previous year. Alternatively, to select any other year, you can click and hold the mouse on either of the double-arrows and then drag it to the desired year.

5. To change the default time, click the hour and minute boxes in the Time section, to increment the value by 1 unit. Alternatively, to decrement the value, hold down SHIFT and then click the respective boxes. To change the value by multiple units, point to the respective boxes and then drag to the right to increment or to the left to decrement the value.

If the ITPC Administrator has set a 12-hour clock, then click AM or PM to switch betweeen these values.

Note: By default, the Select Date window displays the calendar with each week starting Sunday. To change this setting to another day of the week, click the day in the calendar header.

Searching UsersYou can enter a user name in the various text boxes involving Users (for example, User Name, Reassign, Delegated to) by directly typing it. Alternatively, you can click the Search User icon ( ), which is generally located next to a User text box, to search for a user, by performing the following procedures:

1. Type a user name in the User Name text box. When the Search User icon ( ) is displayed beside the text box, click on it to open the Search Users page, where you can search for the users.

Basic Operations 26 Searching Users

Figure 15 Searching Users

2. You can also search for the users by specifying either the user name, or the first name or the last name. If you specify the group name, it will search for the users in that group, otherwise it will search in all groups.

3. After typing the user name, first name, last name, and optionally, group, click Go. You can also use the * as a wild card. Type in the first letter and then the asterisk (example, a*) and all users beginning with that letter will display. It also works for portions of names; e.g., type in *son and all names ending in son (Jackson, Peterson, etc.) will be displayed. Type Mc*son and users such as McPherson and Mcwilliamson will be displayed.

BPM Portal lists all the users satisfying your search criteria. You can navigate through this list as explained in the Navigating Through the List on page 23.

4. To go directly to the list of users starting with a particular letter, click that letter in the Quick Search bar.

5. Depending on the page and current operation, BPM Portal allows you to select one or more users. Select users by clicking the options in the first column of those users, and then click Add. The selected users’ user names are entered in the User Name text box.

Note: Depending on the page and current operation, the Add & Continue button may also be available. Click this button to add the current user and continue adding more users.

Searching for a group is similar to searching for a user. While searching for a group, you need to specify the group name in the Group Name box by directly typing it. Alternatively, use the Search Bar to locate the specific group by performing a procedure similar to the one explained above for searching the users.

Basic Operations 27 Searching Users

Working with Attachments BPM Portal enables you to attach, update, and remove documents associated with entities such as tasks. For instance, you can use this feature to circulate a resume as a part of a hiring review process, or to circulate one or more functional specifications associated with a design approval process.

Note: The ability to attach documents is not part of every task—the application must be designed to enable this feature.

The ITPC administrator at your organization can configure your system to use either the JavaScript or Java applet interface styles for the document attachment feature. This section describes both user interface styles. Java applet is the default interface.

Your ability to attach, update, and remove documents depends on the type of workstep that stores the document. The possible cases are summarized in the following table:

Whether an attached document will be in read-only or read/write mode, depends upon the settings specified while defining the document dataslot. For more information, see the “About Document Dataslots” section of the Application Developer’s Guide.

You may attach any kind of file (.doc, .xls, .pdf, .gif, .html) as long as the file is located in your computer. When you open an attachment, the BPM Portal lets the browser identify the associated application.

Note: The default setting for document attachment size is 5 MB. Contact your system administrator if you want to increase this size to attach larger documents.

Using the Java Applet Interface

The examples shown here are demonstrated with BPM Portal with Java Applet Interface.

Attaching a Document

You may attach a document using the Java applet interface, either while starting an application (from the ITPC Application page) or while completing a task (from the Task Details page).

1. Click the File(s) button in the Document field as shown in Figure 16.

BPM Portal displays a pop-up menu with available document options.

Table 7 Attachment Update Options

If the attachment is... You can...Read-only View attached documents, but you cannot attach new documents, nor

can you delete or update existing attached documents. You can, however, save a copy on your computer.

Read/write Attach, remove, and update documents.

Basic Operations 28 Working with Attachments

Figure 16 Attaching a Document Using the Java Applet Interface

2. Choose Add File(s) from the pop-up menu.

BPM Portal displays the Attach Document window, enabling you to move through drives and folders.

3. Select a file and then, click Open.

BPM Portal adds the file to the pop-up menu, as illustrated in Figure 17.

Figure 17 Attached Files Appear on the Pop-up Menu

4. You can attach additional documents if the task allows for multiple attachments.

See the BPM Studio User’s Guide for more information on attaching multiple documents.

Click to find file to attach

Name of attached file


NOTE: Documents attached are uploaded at the time the task is created, completed or saved.

Updating Documents

You can update a document attached to a task from the Task Details page. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Click the File(s) button.

BPM Portal displays a pop-up menu of attached documents.

2. Select and open the document to update from the pop-up menu.

3. Modify the document and save your changes.

BPM Portal automatically uploads the updated document to the BPM Portal server when the task is saved or completed. It is not necessary to manually reattach the document. However, you must save your updated document (Word, Excel, etc.) in order to access it from the pop-up menu.

NOTE: A document is uploaded to your system only when the task is created, saved or completed. Accessing the document from the pop-up before saving the updates yields the original attached document, not your updated document.


Removing Attached Documents

You can remove a document attached to a task from the Application Details page. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Click the File(s) button.

BPM Portal displays a pop-up menu of attached documents.

2. Select the document you wish to remove.

3. From the submenu, choose Remove and then select Yes to the confirmation question as shown in the following figure. BPM Portal removes the selected document.

Figure 18 Removing Attached Documents

Updating Documents Accessed by Multiple Users

BPM Portal allows multiple users to concurrently update the contents of their attached documents with or without other users seeing their modifications or edits. The ability to see other users’ document modifications depends on one of two types of document attachments. These are as follows:

• Unprotected. Allows a document that is updated and reattached by one user to be viewed, updated or removed by another user who is completing the same task.

• Protected. Allows users to update and reattach documents without other users viewing their modifications.

Note: When you create a Document dataslot in BPM Studio, you can set the Editable by Author Only check box to prevent other users who also receive the attachment from either seeing or altering the changes you made to the document. When a user reattaches his/her updated document, the user's name appears in front of the file name (for example, robin_filename.doc). Refer to the BPM Studio User’s Guide for more information on document attachment user capabilities.

All changes to the document attachment will become visible only when the document is unprotected.

Select Yes to remove file


An ITPC user can send a confidential document to multiple ITPC users by attaching it to a task as a protected document. Each of these recipient ITPC users will receive that task in their respective Task List page.

Each of them can individually access that task, open the document, make necessary changes and save it in their local directory. They can then attach the modified document to the same task and mark that task completed. At any time, none of the recipient ITPC users can see other users’ document even though they will be accessing the same task and same copy of the document attached to it.

When all the recipient ITPC users complete their respective tasks, a new task is added in the originator’s Task List page. This task has all the recipient ITPC users’ modified documents as attachments. To help the originator identify the sender of the document, BPM Portal automatically prefixes the user name of the sender and an underscore, to each modified file name (for example, robin_filename.doc).

With this feature, BPM Portal provides you collaboration without compromising the confidentiality.

Using the JavaScript Interface

The examples shown here demonstrate BPM Portal with JavaScript interface.

Attaching a Document

You may attach a document using the JavaScript interface, either while starting an application (from the ITPC Application page) or while completing a task (from the Task Details page).


1. Click the File(s) button in the Attach Document field, as shown in the following figure.

Figure 19 Creating a Task that Supports Document Upload

BPM Portal displays a window enabling you to select and attach the document from the local or network directory.

2. Click Browse to select the file to attach. Select a file and click Open in the Choose file window. The path of the selected file is displayed in the Find File text box. You can click Reset to clear this path. Note that, when you click Reset, only the path of the last selected file is removed from the Find File text box. Any previously attached files are not removed. You have to remove them explicitly. For more information, see Removing Attached Documents on page 34.

3. Click Add to attach the document.

The file is added in the Existing Document(s) table in the window, as illustrated in Figure 19.

4. You can attach additional documents if the task allows for multiple attachments. Otherwise, you can attach only a single document.

See the BPM Studio User’s Guide for more information on attaching multiple documents.

5. Click Close.

BPM Portal navigates back to the previous page.

Note: Documents attached using JavaScript are uploaded to the BPM Portal server immediately.

2–Click to find file

1–Click to open window

4–Click Done after file is attached

3–Click to attachfile


Updating Documents

You can update a document attached to a task from the Task Details page. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Click File(s). BPM Portal displays a window showing the list of attachments, as illustrated in the following figure.

Figure 20 Attached Documents

2. Click a document to update it.

If the document is read/write, you must save the document to your local file system and reopen the file in order to modify or edit it. Your changes are reflected in your saved document and not in the original BPM Portal document attachment. If the attachment is read/write, you must reattach your modified and saved document to the task in order to pass your changes along in BPM Portal. The Delete icon is displayed only for the document with read/write attachment option.

If your attachment is read-only, you will not be able to reattach the document to the task if you modify it.

Removing Attached Documents

To remove attached documents from a task, complete the following steps:

1. Click File(s).

BPM Portal displays the attachment window, as illustrated in Figure 20.

2. Click Delete button next to the document to remove it.

BPM Portal removes the document from the list.

NOTE: You cannot delete an attached file from a task if the attachment option is read-only. An example is shown in the following figure. See Table 7 for more details.

Figure 21 Read-only Documents Window

Updating Documents Accessed by Multiple Users

You may also use the JavaScript interface, which allows multiple users to concurrently modify the contents of their attached documents with or without others seeing the modifications. The basic principles of updating documents accessed by multiple users, using the JavaScript interface are same as that of using the Java Applet interface. For more details, see Updating Documents Accessed by Multiple Users on page 31.


Chapter 4

Introduction to the Home Module

The Home module allows you to work on your tasks and create instances of installed applications. This chapter describes the new features introduced in EMC IT Process Centre (ITPC) 2.1, and lists the basic features of the Home module.

What’s NewITPC provides the following new features in the Home module:

• Make task re-available to the group

o Removes the task from your Task List.

o Adds the task to the Available Tasks list for the original group.

For more information, refer to Making Tasks Re-available on page 44.

• Get the next available task

o Adds the task to your Task List.

o Removes the task from the Available Tasks list.

For more information, refer to Getting the Next Available Task on page 44.

• View Completed tasks

o Maintains record of completed tasks for reference.

• View and edit estimated resource usage

o After the task is completed, the resource information is stored.

o While completing the task, the actual work time information can be provided optionally.

o The resource information is used to compare actual data to simulation results.

For more information, refer to the BPM Studio User’s Guide, and Completing Tasks on page 43.

35

• Remove your own process instances

o Better control over process instances created by you.

For more information, refer to Removing Your Own Instances on page 54.

• Global Filters

o Include typical filters such as All tasks due today and All critical tasks.

o Support to default filter selection.

For more information, refer to Managing Filters on page 63.

• Business Calendar

o Select your default business calendar.

o Edit your calendar to accommodate individual variations in working and non-working time.

For more information, refer to Managing your Calendar on page 70.

Home Module Features As a ITPC User, the Home module presents you the following information and capabilities:

• View and manage your tasks:

o View a list of tasks assigned to you.

o View a list of group tasks that are available to you.

o View a list of tasks that are delegated and assigned or available to you.

o Attach documents to tasks.

o Complete, save and reassign tasks that are assigned or available to you.

For more information, refer to Managing Your Tasks on page 37.

• Work with ITPC applications

o Display information about applications.

o Create application instances.

o Monitor the status of application instances created by you.

For more information, refer to Working with My Instances on page 46 and Using Applications on page 55.

• Update your personal user information

For more information, refer to Managing Profile and Favorites on page 60.

• Set your Preferences:

o Sort and filter the displayed lists on a number of criteria.

o Define your delegation preferences.

For more information, refer to Setting Preferences on page 63.

BPM Portal User’s Guide 36 Home Module Features

Chapter 5

Managing Your Tasks

When you log in to the BPM Portal for the first time, you will see the Tasks List page. By default, the Task Status list displays Assigned option, and the Tasks List page lists all the assigned tasks. Other options from the Task Status list display tasks that are:

• Assigned to you.

• Available to you.

• Delegated and assigned to you.

• Delegated and available to you.

• Completed by you.

The following figure shows the Task List page listing the assigned tasks.

Figure 22 Task List Page

37

The main menu options in this page are:

• My Tasks

• My Instances

• Applications

• Models

• Profile

• Preferences

• Favorites

The Task List page displays information about your active applications and assigned, available and delegated tasks. By default, it displays all your tasks and the following information about each task:

In addition to the default columns, you can add dataslots as columns using the Access tab in the Dataslot properties dialog box in BPM Studio. For more information, see the Tasks Column option in BPM Studio User's Guide. These dataslot columns are sortable; that means, you can sort the contents of this page based on this column header. For more information, see Sorting a Column on page 22. This helps to quickly locate instances based on the application specific dataslot values.

You can also select a specific application from the Application list in the Filter bar and click Go to display the tasks for that application. In this case, the Application column as described in Table 8 above is not displayed.

To manage the contents of the list, you can either filter or sort them. You can use filters to list the tasks of a particular application or status or any combination of these. Additionally, you may also apply a common or application-specific filter. Application-specific filters are displayed as options in the Filter list when you select the corresponding application in the Application list. For more information on application-specific filters, see Adding Filters on page 65.

Table 8 Task List Information

Column DescriptionCheck box The box you check to select a task to be completed. Click the Complete button to mark

the tasks you completed. The check box is displayed for the available tasks. You need to assign it and then mark completed.

No. The running number of the item in the list.

Make Re-available

An asterix in this column denotes that the task was originally available to the group you belong to, was assigned to you, and can be made re-available to the original group.

Application The name of the application to which the task belongs to.

Instance The specific instance of the application to which the task belongs to.

Task The name of the current active task. This task name is also a hyperlink that links to the application, which enables you to complete the task.

Creator The name of the ITPC user who created the task.

Priority The priority of the task: Low, Medium, High, or Critical.

Assigned Date The date the task was assigned.

Due Date The date the task is due for completion. If a task is over due, then its details are displayed in red. Additionally, a flashing red dot is shown in this column.

BPM Portal User’s Guide 38

ITPC now provides global filters and you can make any of these filters as your default filter. For more information, see Global Filters on page 22.

To navigate through the pages, you can use the paging controls. For more details about these operations, see Exploring BPM Portal on page 20.

From the Task List page, you can perform the following operations:

• View task details, as described in Viewing Task Details on page 41.

• Modify the task details, as described in Updating Tasks on page 42.

• Reassign the tasks to another user, as described in Reassigning Tasks on page 42.

• Mark tasks completed, as described in Completing Tasks on page 43.

• Make tasks re-available to the original group, as described in Making Tasks Re-available on page 44.

• Get the next available task as described in Getting the Next Available Task on page 44.

Understanding Available and Assigned TasksThe difference between the Available tasks and Assigned tasks is described below.

Available Tasks

In the process template definition, when a task is assigned to a group with the Any option, it is available to, and can be performed by, any member of the group. These tasks are displayed in the task list as Available tasks.

You can assign the task to yourself. Alternately, a group member (usually the Manager or Lead) with access to the Management module, can assign the task to you.

For more information on making tasks available to a group of valid users, refer to the BPM Studio User's Guide.

In the Task List page, from the Task Status drop-down list, select Available to display all the tasks available to you. See Available Tasks on page 44 for more details.

Assigned Tasks

These are the tasks specifically assigned to you, in any one of the following ways:

• Individual Static assignment

When your name is included as the performer of a task in the process template definition itself, the task is always assigned to you for any instance of the process. This is called as static assignment. The static assignment changes only when the process template is changed and re-installed.

• Individual Dynamic assignment

Dynamic assignment occurs when the dynamic value of a dataslot is used. In the process template definition, for performer of a task, the dataslot name preceded by the @ symbol is used to display the value of the designated dataslot at run time. For example, "@Creator" as the value for “Assignee” makes the creator of the instance as the Assignee.

BPM Portal User’s Guide 39 Understanding Available and Assigned Tasks

The dynamic assignment can change from instance to instance and can also reflect changes made at run time.

• Group–All assignment

In the process template definition, when a task is assigned to a group with the All option, it gets assigned to all the members of the group. If you belong to the group, the task is assigned to you.

• Group–Any self-assignment

In the process template definition, when a task is assigned to a group with the Any option, it is available to all the members of the group. If you belong to the group, it is available to you. You can then assign the task to yourself.

• Group–Any manager-assignment

In the process template definition, when a task is assigned to a group with the Any option, it is available to all the members of the group. If you belong to the group, it is available to you. A group member (usually the Manager or Lead) with access to the Management module, can assign the task to you.

In the Task List page, from the Task Status drop-down list, select Assigned to display all the tasks assigned to you. See Assigned Tasks on page 41 for more details.

Understanding Delegated TasksWhile some tasks are directly assigned to you or available to your group, some tasks may be routed to you by delegation. When another user chooses you as a delegate, all the tasks are routed to you during the defined delegation period and for the selected applications.

• Delegated (Assigned): A task is included in this list when any ITPC user delegates it to you, and the task is in Assigned state. For example, User1 delegates the following tasks to you during a defined period for all the applications:

o Task1 is originally assigned to User1. It appears as Assigned for User1. When delegated to you, Task1 will appear as Delegated (Assigned) to you.

o Task2 performer is Group1 with All option, and User1 is a member of Group1. Then Task2 appears as Assigned to User1. When delegated to you, Task2 will appear as Delegated (Assigned) to you.

In the Task List page, from the Task Status drop-down list, select Delegated (Assigned).

• Delegated (Available): A task is included in this list when any ITPC user delegates to you, and the task is in Available state. For example, User1 delegates the following task to you during a defined period for all the applications.

o Task3 performer is Group1 with Any option, and User1 is a member of Group1. Task3 then appears as Available to User1. When delegated to you, Task3 will appear as Delegated (Available) to you.

In the Task List page, from the Task Status drop-down list, select Delegated (Available).

Delegated (Assigned) and Delegated (Available) tasks are handled in the same way Assigned and Available tasks are handled. See Assigned Tasks on page 41 and Available Tasks on page 44 for more details.

BPM Portal User’s Guide 40 Understanding Delegated Tasks

Assigned TasksThis section describes the assigned tasks. You can view the details of the assigned tasks, update them, reassign them, or mark them complete.

In the Task List page, from the Task Status drop-down list, select Assigned to display all the tasks assigned to you as shown in Figure 22 on page 37.

Viewing Task Details

In the Task List page, click the task name hyperlink in the Task column. The Task Details page is displayed as shown in the following figure.

Figure 23 Task Details Page

This page has the following command buttons:

• Complete: Allows you to mark the current task completed.

• Save: Allows you to save the changes in the current task details.

• Reset: Allows you to discard the changes you made in the current task details.

• Cancel: Allows you to discard the changes you made in the current task details and go back to the previous page.

• Reassign: Use the Search Creator ( ) feature to locate another ITPC user and click Reassign to assign the task to that user.

From the Task Details page, you can perform the following operations:

• Modify the task details, as described in Updating Tasks on page 42.

• Reassign the tasks to another user, as described in Reassigning Tasks on page 42.

• Mark the tasks completed, as described in Completing Tasks on page 43.

BPM Portal User’s Guide 41 Assigned Tasks

Updating Tasks

You can modify the task details without marking it complete, and you can complete it at a later time.

1. In the Task Details page shown in the Figure 23 on page 41, enter or change the data as necessary.

You can attach, update, and remove documents associated with tasks. For more details, see Working with Attachments on page 28.

NOTE: You can also attach a document while starting an application. For more information, see Creating an Application Instance on page 57.

2. Click Save. BPM Portal updates the task details in ITPC, but does not mark the task as completed. The task remains in your Task List. Once a task is saved, other users with access privileges can also view the changes.

Reassigning Tasks

You can reassign your task to another person either in the Task List page or in the Task Details page.

From the Task List Page

To reassign a task from the Task List page:

1. In the Task List page, select the task that you want to reassign to another user. If you want to reassign many tasks to the same person, you can also choose multiple tasks. For more details about this operation, see Selecting Rows on page 24.

2. Specify a user name in the Reassign text box. You can reassign a task only to a single user. Alternately, you can search for a user to whom you can assign and add it. For more information, see Searching Users on page 26.

NOTE: The ability to reassign a task may not be available in some applications if custom forms are used. In some cases, the Reassign option is disabled in the process template.

3. Click Save. BPM Portal reassigns the current task to the new user, but does not mark the task as completed. The task is removed from your Task List and added in the assigned user’s Task List. Once a task is saved, other users with access privileges can also view the changes.

From the Task Details Page

To reassign a task from the Task Details page:

1. In the Task Details page shown in the Figure 23 on page 41, enter or change the data as necessary.

2. Specify a user name in the Reassign text box. You can reassign a task only to a single user. Alternately, you can search for a user to whom you can assign and add it. For more information, see Searching Users on page 26.

NOTE: The ability to reassign a task may not be available in some applications if custom forms are used. In some cases, the Reassign option is disabled in the process template.


3. Click Save. BPM Portal reassigns the current task to the new user, but does not mark the task as completed. The task is removed from your Task List and added in the assigned user’s Task List. Once a task is saved, other users with access privileges can also view the changes.

Completing Tasks

After you have finished working on a task assigned to you, you can mark it as completed. You can mark a task completed either in the Task List page or in the Task Details page.

Note: Normally, a task assigned to a group appears as an Available task in the task list of all team members. The actual team member to complete the task is marked as the performer.

While this is a transparent operation, this task may still appear on the Task List of other team members until they refresh their displays. Other team members attempting to complete the same task will receive a message informing them that the task has already been completed.

Team members who open their Task List after the original user has completed the task, will not see the task in their Task List.

From the Task List Page

Marking a task completed from the Task List page:

1. In the Task List page, select the task that you want to mark completed. You can also choose multiple tasks. For more details about this operation, see Selecting Rows on page 24.

2. Click Complete. BPM Portal marks the task as completed. The task is removed from your Task List. You can simultaneously mark multiple tasks completed. To do this, in the Task List page, select multiple tasks and then click Complete. BPM Portal marks all the selected tasks as completed.

Note: When you mark a task as completed from the Task List page, you cannot update the task details.

From the Task Details Page

Marking a task completed from the Task Details page:

1. In the Task List page, click the task name hyperlink in the Task column. The Task Details page is displayed.

2. Enter or change the data as necessary.

3. Click Complete. BPM Portal marks the task as completed. The task is removed from your Task List.

Note: For some applications, collecting runtime resource data is enabled. At run time, the resource data is included in the Task Details page. While completing the task, you need to provide the actual time required to perform the task as the Work Time. This real-time data can then be compared to data generated during simulations.


Making Tasks Re-available

In certain instances, a task is available to your group with the Any option, and you or your manager assign it to you. However, you may not be able to work on the task for some reason and may want to re-assign the task to another member of the group. You may be able to identify a particular member of the group, or you may want to make it available to the entire group again. The Home module provides a feature of making the task re-available to the original group which can be considered as re-assigning to a group.

To make tasks re-available:

1. In the Task List page, the tasks that can be made re-available are marked with an asterix in the Make Re-available column. Select the tasks you want to make re-available.

2. Click Make Re-available. BPM Portal makes the task available again to the original group. It will appear in the Available Tasks list for the group. The task is removed from your Task List.

Getting the Next Available Task

In some special scenarios, the number of available tasks can be large, and the group size can also be very large. Since all the group members see the same list of Available tasks, there could be many conflicts when they try to choose the same task.

The Home module provides an option to manage such possible conflicts by providing the feature of getting the next available task. When a group member chooses this option, the next available task from the list of all available tasks is assigned to him, and removed from the Available Tasks list.

In the Task List page, click the Next Available Task link. The task is assigned to you and removed from the Available Tasks list. The Task Details page is displayed as shown in the following figure.

Figure 24 Next Available Task Details Page

The task is already assigned to you, and you can update the details. However, cancelling it will not make it re-available. To make this task re-available, you need to carry out the procedure described in Making Tasks Re-available on page 44.

You can also select a specific application from the Application list in the Filter bar and click Go to display the tasks for that application. Note that the Status selection need not be Available. When you click the link Next Available Task, the next available task for that specific application is assigned to you and removed from the Available Tasks list.

Available TasksThis section describes the Available tasks. You can view the available tasks, update them, and assign them to yourself.

BPM Portal User’s Guide 44 Available Tasks

In the Task List page, from the Task Status drop-down list, select Available to display all the tasks available to you as shown in the following figure.

Figure 25 Available Tasks List Page

You can also select a specific application from the Application list in the Filter bar, and click Go to view Available tasks for that application.

Viewing Task Details

In the Task List page, click the task name hyperlink in the Task column. The Task Details page is displayed as shown in the following figure.

Figure 26 Available Task Details Page

For information about updating and reassigning an available task, see Updating Tasks on page 42 and Reassigning Tasks on page 42.

Assigning Tasks to Self

When a task is assigned to a group with the Any option, it is available to all the members of the group. If you belong to the group, it is available to you. Then you can assign the task to yourself.

1. In the Task List page, click the task name hyperlink in the Task column. The Task Details page is displayed as shown in the above figure.

2. Enter or change the data as necessary.

3. Click Assign to me. The task is assigned to you, and removed from the Available Tasks List.

Completed TasksIn the Task List page, from the Task Status drop-down list, select Completed to display all the tasks completed by you.

The Completed Tasks list shows the records maintained in BizStore. Since BizStore periodically purges this list, only the latest 400 records are displayed.

BPM Portal User’s Guide 45 Completed Tasks

Chapter 6

Working with My Instances

When you create application instances in EMC BsuinessManager (ITPC), those instances are considered as instances owned by you and are displayed in the My Instances page.

Click the My Instances menu to open this page displaying the status of the application instances started by you, as shown in the following figure.

Figure 27 My Instances Page

46

By default, it displays the following information about each application:

Note: You need the requisite permission to see the Process Status View. For more details, see BPM Portal Administrator’s Guide.

To manage the contents of the list, you can filter and sort them. You can use filters to list the instances of a particular application or of a particular status or any combination of these. Additionally, you may apply common or application-specific filter. To navigate through the pages, you can use the paging controls. For more details about these operations, see Exploring BPM Portal on page 20.

From the My Instances List page, you can view the process instance status as a flowchart or as a table. This operation is explained further in the following section.

Table 9 My Instances List Information

Information DescriptionApplication The name of the application.

Instance The specific instance of the application.

Task The name of the current active task.

Performer The names of the users / groups who are currently working on the specified task of the application. Click the performer hyperlink to send an e-mail to the performer of the task.

PSV Tabular View

Click the icon in this column to display the tabular view of the Process Status Viewer for each application.

PSV Flow View Click the icon in this column to display the flow view of the Process Status Viewer for each application.

Priority Priority level as determined by the user initiating the application. It can be Low, Medium, High, or Critical.

Assigned Date The date the task was assigned.

Due Date The date the task is due for completion. If a task is overdue, then its details are displayed in red. Additionally, a flashing red dot is shown in this column.

BPM Portal User’s Guide 47

Viewing Process StatusYou can see the process status in two modes; either in a tabular view or in a flow view. Both these views represent the same data and allow you to perform the same operations.

Tabular View

In the My Instances List page, click the PSV Tabular View icon ( ) to display the process status view of the specific application in the form of a table. Alternatively, in the flow view of the Process Status Viewer page shown in Figure 29 on page 49, click the Tabular View link to display the process status view of that application in the form of a table. The Process Status View page is displayed with worksteps in tabular format as shown in the following figure.

Figure 28 Process Status Viewer - Tabular View

The name of the instance is displayed below the link trail.

The Tabular View displays the Start workstep as the first workstep at the top of the list. It is followed by the completed worksteps ordered by the completion time. They are followed by the activated worksteps, and then suspended worksteps sorted on activation time. The End workstep is displayed as the last workstep.

The workstep status is marked in the table. It also uses color coding as explained in Table 10 on page 49.

You can click the Show All button to view the workitem details for that workstep. Depending on the current status of the workstep, you can change some of its details. These details are explained in the Table 11 on page 51.

BPM Portal User’s Guide 48 Viewing Process Status


• Save: Allows you to save the changes in the current process.

• Reset: Allows you to discard the changes you made in the current process.

• Cancel: Allows you to discard the changes you made in the current process and go back to the previous page.

From the Tabular View page, you can perform the following operations:

• View process status in a flow view, as described in Flow View on page 49.

• View/update the dataslots, as described in Dataslots View on page 51.

Flow View

In the My Instances List page, click the PSV Flow View icon ( ) to display the process status view of the specific application in the form of a flowchart. Alternatively, in the tabular view of the Process Status Viewer page shown in Figure 28 on page 48, click the Flow View link to display the process status view of that application in the form of a flowchart. Click Edit to display the flowchart in editable mode, as shown in the following figure.

Figure 29 Process Status Viewer - Flow View

The instance is displayed below the link trail.

The workstep color coding indicates its status as explained in the following table.

Table 10 Workstep Color Coding

Workstep Color... Indicates...Green Completed workstep

Orange Suspended workstep

Yellow Activated workstep

Gray Inactive workstep


You can also refer to these color codes by clicking the Note ( ) icon in the right corner of the workspace.

From the Flow View page, you can perform the following operations:

• Print the current Flow View, as described in Printing Flow View section.

• Export the current Flow View, as described in Exporting Flow View section.

• View process status in a tabular view, as described in Tabular View on page 48.

• View/update the dataslots, as described in Dataslots View on page 51.

You can click Cancel to go back to the My Instances page.

Printing Flow View

Click the Print icon ( ) to open the Print dialog window. Specify appropriate settings in this window, and click OK to directly print the current Flow View. The Flow View is printed with a page title and page number.

Exporting Flow View

Click the Export icon ( ) to open the Export dialog window as shown in the following figure.

Figure 30 Export Flow View

Specify appropriate directory and a filename in this window, and click Save to export the current Flow View to JPEG format.


Dataslots View

In the Flow View or Tabular View page, click View Dataslots. The View Dataslots page is displayed.

Figure 31 View Dataslots Page

The View Dataslots page displays the dataslot information for the current application instance.

The name of the instance is displayed below the link trail.

This page has following command buttons:

• Save: Allows you to save the changes in the current process.

• Reset: Allows you to discard the changes you made in the current process.

• Cancel: Allows you to discard the changes you made in the current process and go back to the previous page.

You can enter or change the data as necessary. You can also attach, update, and remove documents associated with tasks. For more details, see Working with Attachments on page 28.

Managing WorkstepsYou can view the details of a workstep and the workitems of the current workstep. Depending on the status of a workstep, you can perform the following operations on it:

Table 11 Managing Worksteps

Workstep Status

Applicable Operations

On Workstep On WorkitemsCompleted Rollback. You can apply a rollback to

Activity, Adapter, Agent, and Subprocess worksteps.

---

BPM Portal User’s Guide 51 Managing Worksteps

From the Flow View

Click the PSV Flow View icon ( ) in the My Instances List page. If you are already in the Tabular View, click the Flow View link.

The Flow View is a scaled down version of BPM Studio. You can perform many BPM Studio operations in this mode such as adding worksteps, modifying workstep properties, viewing dataslots, and changing performers. However, before you attempt editing the current instance, note that:

• The selected process instance must be Active and that none of the worksteps should be in the Suspended state.

• All Active worksteps in the process instance must be human-performed worksteps.

• The edited process instance can run concurrently with the original process instance, or the original process instance can remain Suspended.

From the Flow View, you can:

• Modify the properties of any Inactive workstep by double-clicking it.

• Add a workstep to the process instance.

• Remove an Inactive workstep.

• Drag and drop existing predefined adapters that are present in the Performers list, or that have been created elsewhere and added to the Performers list.

• Provide support for Swim Lanes for Performers, after the swim lanes were added in the Designers.

Note that while you are editing the current process instance, you are not allowed to:

• Remove worksteps that are in Active, Suspended or Completed state.

• Add or delete dataslots.

• Modify dataslot metadata and values.

• Add or delete performers.

• Define new adapters or subprocesses.

• Drag and drop Managed Adapters from the Task pane.

• Add Rollback to an activity.

• Specify header and footer for a workstep.

• Modify properties for an Active or Completed workstep.

Activated Suspend Add / Modify / Delete Performers

Reassign / Complete / Remove / No Action

Suspended Resume ---

Inactive --- ---

Table 11 Managing Worksteps

Workstep Status

Applicable Operations


• Save any modifications if the process instance is Suspended or has a Suspended workstep.

• Use versioning with dynamic process instances.

• Connect to a server and retrieve the list of processes already installed.

• Connect to WSDL and select the method for a new Web Service.

• Complete tasks by email. When the dynamic process instance is dynamically created, the performers of the activated human-performed tasks are not notified about their tasks.

Note: You can modify any process instance only once. If further modification is attempted, a warning message is displayed.

For more details, refer to the BPM Studio User’s Guide.

Note: If you want to display the Flow View without any BPM Studio features, you need to add bpmportal.pieditor.override parameter in the bpmportal.conf file, and set its value as TRUE.

From the Tabular View

In the Flow View page, click the Tabular View link. In this page, you can update the status of a workstep and a workitem.

Activated Workstep

In the Process Status Viewer - Tabular View page, an Activated workstep’s name and status is shown in yellow.

Figure 32 Workstep Details for an Activated Workstep - Tabular View

1. Change the Priority of the workstep, if needed.

2. From the Action drop-down list for the workstep, select Suspend to suspend the current workstep. Its status changes to Suspended.

3. Click Show All to view the workitems comprising the current workstep. The Show All button works as a toggle. After you click it, it shows the Workitem(s) table and changes to Hide All. In the Workitem(s) table, you can perform the following operations on the individual workitems:


a. In the Performer box, enter the user name or group name. Alternately, you can click the Edit Performer icon to launch the Search Users window, where you can search for a user/group to whom you can assign and add it. For more information, see Searching Users on page 26.

b. From the Action drop-down list for that workitem, select an option to specify the action to be taken on that workitem. You can select Update, Complete, Reassign, or Remove to take the respective actions, or select the blank option not to take any action.

4. Click Save to save the changes you made in the worksteps and workitems.

Suspended Workstep

In the Process Status Viewer - Tabular View page, a Suspended workstep’s name and status is shown in orange.

Figure 33 Workstep Details for a Suspended Workstep - Tabular View

1. From the Action drop-down list for the workstep, select Resume to resume the current workstep. Its status changes to Resumed.

2. Click Show All to view the workitems comprising the current workstep. The Show All button works as a toggle. After you click it, it shows the Workitem(s) table and changes to Hide All.

3. Click Save to save the changes you made in the worksteps.

Removing Your Own InstancesYou can remove instances that were created by you, giving you a better control over your own instances.

1. In the My Instances page, select the instances you want to remove.

2. Click Remove. The selected instances are removed.

BPM Portal User’s Guide 54 Removing Your Own Instances

Chapter 7

Using Applications

In to the BPM Portal, you can view the ITPC applications installed by your administrator and currently available to you. Click the Applications menu to open the page as shown in the following figure.

Figure 34 Applications Page

This page displays information about the installed ITPC applications that are available to you. By default, it displays all available Applications and the details of each application as listed in the following table.

To manage the contents of the list, you can sort the columns. To navigate through the pages, you can use the paging controls. For more details about these operations, see Exploring BPM Portal on page 20.

Table 12 Application List Information

Field DescriptionApplication Installed applications such as Approval, Hiring, and Assignment.

Description Brief description of the application or a link to a page describing the application.

Information Additional information or instructions, as provided in the Application Overview page in the Management module (Management > Overview > Applications).

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From the Applications page, you can perform the following operations:

• View an Application’s details, as described in Viewing the Application Details.

• Create an instance of a ITPC application, as described in Creating an Application Instance on page 57.

Viewing the Application DetailsTo view the details of an application, follow these steps:

1. In the Applications page, click the application name hyperlink in the Application column, whose details you want to view. The Application Details page is displayed. An example of this page is shown in the following figure.

Figure 35 Application Details Page

The application name is displayed below the link trail. The details of the application are displayed in the workspace.


• Create: Allows you to create an instance of the current Application.

• Reset: Allows you to discard the changes you made in the current Application’s details.

• Cancel: Allows you to discard the changes you made in the current application details and go back to the previous page.

BPM Portal User’s Guide 56 Viewing the Application Details

Creating an Application InstanceTo create an instance of an application:

1. In the Applications page, click the application name hyperlink in the Application column, that you want to launch. The Application Details page is displayed. An example of this page is shown in the Figure 35 on page 56.

2. Enter or change the data as necessary. You can attach, update, and remove documents associated with the application. For more details, see Working with Attachments on page 28.

Note: You can also attach a document later while working on a task of an application. For more information, see Updating Tasks on page 42.

3. Click Create to launch an instance of the current application.

The created instances are considered as instances owned by you and are displayed in the My Instances page. For more information, refer to Working with My Instances on page 46.

BPM Portal User’s Guide 57 Creating an Application Instance

Chapter 8

Using Models

To view the Models page, click the Models menu. This page lists details of the published models, as shown in the following figure.

Figure 36 Models Page

The Models page displays information about the published models. By default, it displays all available models and the details of each model as listed in the following table.

To manage the contents of the list, you can sort the columns. To navigate through the pages, you can use the paging controls. For more details about these operations, see Exploring BPM Portal on page 20.

From this page, you can see the published documents.

Table 13 Application List Information

Field DescriptionName The name of the model.

Version Version number of the model.

Author Name of the author of the model.

Description Additional information or instructions about the model.

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Viewing the Published DocumentsTo view the published documents of a model, follow these steps:

1. In the Models page, click the version number hyperlink in the Version column of the published model, whose documentation you want to view. The Process Documentation page is displayed on a separate window. An example of this page is shown in the following figure.

Figure 37 Process Documentation Page

2. Scroll down or click the links, displayed in the left frame of the browser, to view the details of the published model under the following sections:

• Process Properties

• Workstep

• Dataslots

• Performer

• Notes applicable to the process

• Simulation Data

3. After viewing the process documentation, close the window.

BPM Portal User’s Guide 59 Viewing the Published Documents

Chapter 9

Managing Profile and Favorites

Managing ProfileTo view the Profile page, click the Profile menu. This page lists details of your personal profile, as shown in the following figure.

Figure 38 Profile Page

The Profile page displays your user name in read-only mode and other details in editable mode. In this page, you can update the following details:

• First Name

• Last Name

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• Password

• Email

• Phone

• Language: ITPC supports English (United States) language.

• Default Filter: The filter selected here will always be applied to the Task List page by default. You can select from the list of Global Filters or from My Filter, the list of filters you created from the Home > Preferences > Filters menu. Application-specific filters are listed as options in this drop-down list, only when you select the corresponding application in the Application list.

• Start Page: You can select a page to be displayed when you login, from the drop-down list.

• Hide Default Columns: Select the default column(s) that you want to hide from the view to reduce clutter.

• Application: Select an application as your default application from the drop-down list. In all pages containing Application drop-down list, this application will be displayed as your default application.

To view and edit your personal details:

1. In the Profile page, enter or change the data as necessary. The fields marked with a red asterix are required fields.

2. Click Save to save the changes.

BPM Portal displays the Profile page reflecting the updated data.

Note that for an external User Management Systems such as LDAP, the user details can be updated only in the external system, and not in ITPC. However, details specific to ITPC can be updated from the Profile page.

The following figure shows a sample Profile page for LDAP user management system, where you can update all details except for user information.

Figure 39 Profile Page for External UMS

BPM Portal User’s Guide 61 Managing Profile

Using FavoritesThe Favorites menu options allow you to access the frequently used links specified for your group by your ITPC Administrator. The Display Name specified in the Add Favorites page in the Administration module while creating a favorite link, is shown as a Favorites menu option. Click this menu option to access the link. BPM Portal launches that link in a separate browser window. These links may include popular Web applications, ITPC applications, internet and/or intra-net sites.

BPM Portal User’s Guide 62 Using Favorites

Chapter 10

Setting Preferences

The Preferences menu options allows you to create your own filters, specify delegation settings, and select your calendar. Your filters are listed in the Filter drop-down list on other pages. You can optionally delegate all or some of your applications to one or more users.

The Preferences menu contains the following options:

• Filters

• Delegate Settings

• Calendars

Managing FiltersEMC IT Process Centre (ITPC) provides predefined Global Filters for the most common filtering conditions. Your ITPC Administrator can add Admin Filters, that can be used across your organization. In your filter list, both the Global Filters and the Admin Filters appear as Global Filters.

In addition to these, you can also create filters to suite your own requirements. Such filters are listed as My Filters.

All these filters are listed in the Filter drop-down list on other pages. The Global Filters are accessible to all users, while My Filters are accessible only to the user who creates them. Therefore, the list of My Filters may vary from user to user.

As a ITPC user, you can use all the types of filters. You can also copy them to be used as your own filters. However, you cannot edit or delete the Global Filters.

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To view the Filter List page, click Home > Preferences > Filters. This page lists the filters created by you, as shown in the following figure.

Figure 40 Filter List Page

The Filter List page displays information about the available filters including the filters defined by you. It displays all filters created by you and the following information about each filter:

To manage the contents of the list, you can filter and sort them. You can use filters for all applications or for a particular application. To navigate through the pages, you can use the paging controls. For more details about these operations, see Exploring BPM Portal on page 20.

From the Filter List page, you can perform the following operations:

• Add a new filter, as described in Adding Filters.

• Copy an existing filter, as described in Copying Filters on page 67.

• Modify an existing filter, as described in Modifying Filters on page 68.

• Delete a filter as described in Deleting Filters on page 68.

Table 14 My Application List Information

Information DescriptionApplication The name of the application for which the filter is created.

Filter The name of the filter.

Description Additional information about a filter.

Filter Type Type of filter: Global Filter / My Filter. Only My Filter type filters are editable.

BPM Portal User’s Guide 64 Managing Filters

Adding Filters

To remove clutter and focus on your work, you can limit the tasks displayed in your Task list by defining your own filters.

To define filters:

1. In the Filter List page, click Add Filter. The Add Filter page is displayed. This filter can be used for all applications.

You can also define an application-specific filter. The Application drop-down list in the Filter List page lists the currently installed applications. Select the application you want and click Add Filter to create a filter specific to the selected application.

Note: Application-specific filters are displayed in the Filter bar and the Profile page only when you select the corresponding application.

An example of the Add Filter page is shown in the following figure.

Figure 41 Add Filter Page

2. Click the Name tab. Specify the name and description for the filter.


3. Click the Filtering tab to display filtering conditions as shown in the following figure:

Figure 42 Add Filter Page - Filtering Tab

4. You can specify the filtering expression on this page.

a. Select the opening brackets you need.

b. Select the Dataslot that you want to use.

c. Select the operator from the Test drop-down list.

d. Specify the value of the dataslot on which the operator is to be used. The options in the Value column depend on the dataslot you select.

e. Select the closing brackets you need. If you building a nested expression, then you can select the blank option from the drop-down list, and continue building your expression.

f. Select the logical operator if you want to continue building your expression. If you have reached the end of expression, select the blank option from the Logic drop-down list.

g. To add more rows and continue building your expression, click Add 5 Rows. To remove unwanted rows, select their respective check boxes in the first column, and then click Delete Rows.

h. After you have completed building the expression, click Preview Filtering Expression, to view the complete expression. Your expression is displayed in a window. Click Close to close the window.

5. Click the Sorting tab. You can specify the sorting order on this page shown in the following figure.

Figure 43 Add Filter Page - Sorting Tab

6. Select the dataslots and their respective direction of sorting.


7. Click Save to save the current filter definition and go back to the previous page.

Click Save & Add New to save the current filter definition and reload the current page to continue adding another filter.

Click Reset to discard your changes.

Click Cancel to close the window.

The filters you create here are available under My Filter in the Default Filter list in the Home > Profile menu, from where you can select your default filter. They are also available under My Filter in the Filter list in the Home > My Tasks menu, where you can select the current filter.

Copying Filters

For your convenience, you can copy an existing filter and if needed, modify it to define a new filter. To copy an existing filter:

1. In the Filter List or Filter Details page, click Copy Filter. The Copy Filter window is displayed. An example of this page is shown below.

Figure 44 Copy Filter Page

2. Select the name of the existing filter that you want to copy from the Filter drop-down list.

3. Specify a name for the copied filter in the Save a Copy as text box.

4. Click Save to save the copy of the selected filter as the specified name.

5. Typically after a filter is copied, you may want to modify the definition of the newly created copy. In the Filter List page, click the copied filter name link, opening the Filter Details page as shown in Figure 45 on page 68. Make changes as required and click Save to save the modified filter.


Modifying Filters

The filters you have created are listed as of type My Filter, and have hyperlinks to open them. You can modify only these filters. The filters listed as of type Global Filter are not editable.

To modify a filter, follow these steps:

1. In the Filter List page, click the filter name hyperlink in the Filter column, that you want to modify. The Filter Details page is displayed. An example of this page is shown in the following figure.

Figure 45 Filter Details Page

2. You can modify the details of the current filter on the Name, Filtering, and Sorting tabs. For more details, see steps 3 - 16 in the Adding Filters on page 65.

3. Click Save to save the current filter definition and go back to the previous page.

Note: You can copy a filter while modifying another filter. To do this, click Copy Filter in the Filter Details page. For more details, see Copying Filters on page 67.

Deleting Filters

You can only delete filters of type My Filter. To do so, follow these steps:

1. In the Filter List page, select the filter that you want to delete. For more details about this operation, see Selecting Rows on page 24.

2. Click Delete. BPM Portal deletes the selected filter and it is removed from the list.

Note: You can simultaneously delete multiple filters. To do this, in the Filter List page, select multiple filters and then click Delete. BPM Portal deletes all the selected filters.


Specifying Delegation SettingsWhile working on your assignment, if you realize that you will be unable to perform your tasks, then you can delegate all or some of your applications to one or more users. You can keep your delegation preferences defined, and you need not manually reassign your individual tasks.

To view the Delegate Settings page, click Home > Preferences > Delegate Settings. This page displays your current delegate settings, as shown in the following figure.

Figure 46 Delegate Settings Page

1. In the Delegate Settings page, specify the user name to whom all your tasks should be delegated, in the Delegate all tasks to text box.

Alternatively, for each application, you can specify the user name to whom that application should be delegated. If needed, you can search and add users for delegating all tasks or delegating application-wise tasks. For more details, see Searching Users on page 26.

2. Select the check box in the Disable Delegation column, if you want to disable delegation of tasks in a particular application. Select the check box in the Disable Delegation column header to disable delegation of all the tasks in all the application, that would be assigned to you.

NOTE: You can delegate only at application level, and not at a specific task level. All the tasks in an application will be delegated to the specified user.

3. Specify the start and end dates of delegation period in the Start Date and End Date text boxes.

Alternatively, click the Date Selector icon ( ) to set the respective start date or end date. For more details, see Specifying a Date on page 25.

The delegation settings are valid only for the specified period. If you want to delegate for a different period, you need repeat this procedure. For example, consider that you have defined one set of delegation for June 15, 2005 - June 29, 2005. Now if you want to define delegation settings for June 29, 2005 - July 5, 2005, you need to repeat the procedure.

4. Click Save to save your settings.

BPM Portal User’s Guide 69 Specifying Delegation Settings

Delegation is normally used when you plan your absence for an anticipated period of time. In case of unplanned absence, your ITPC Administrator can delegate your tasks.

If your task list contains tasks assigned to you and tasks delegated to you, and if you want to delegate your tasks to another performer, then only the tasks assigned to you, can be delegated. Tasks delegated to you cannot be re-delegated to the other performer. However, your ITPC Administrator can delegate those tasks to another performer. Refer to BPM Portal Administrator’s Guide for more information.

Managing your CalendarTypically, your calendar is set by your administrator, and used for all your due date calculations. For more information on defining a calendar, refer to BPM Portal Administrator’s Guide. You can also edit it to accommodate the individual variations in working and non-working time.

In case no calendar is assigned by your administrator, you can select your own calendar from the list of calendars available in the system.

Setting your Calendar

If the administrator has not set any calendar for you, you can set your own calendar.

1. Click Preferences > Calendars. The list of available calendars is displayed as shown in the following figure.

Figure 47 Calendar List Page

2. Choose a calendar and click Select Calendar. The selected calendar is set for you. The next time you go to the Preferences > Calendar option, this calendar will be displayed.

BPM Portal User’s Guide 70 Managing your Calendar

Editing from the Calendar View Page

1. Click Preferences > Calendars. Your calendar is displayed as shown in the following figure.

Figure 48 Calendar View Page

2. Select the Month and Year from the drop-down lists. The calendar for the selected month and year is displayed with weekends and holidays (if any).

The Holidays for the Selected Year table lists all the holidays in the chronological order. You can click the date of a holiday to display the calendar of the month in which that holiday falls.

3. You can click a working day to mark it as a holiday as described in Marking Holidays on page 71. You can also click a holiday to make it a working day as described in Unmarking Holidays on page 72.

4. Click the Calendar Details link to go to the Calendar Details page. From this page you can edit the calendar properties as described in Editing from the Calendar Details Page on page 73.

5. Click the Calendar List link to go to the Calendar List page as shown in Figure 47 on page 70. You can now select another calendar from a list of calendars available in the system.

NOTE: When you go to the Calendar List page, the default settings of your calendar are restored.

6. Click Restore Default Calendar to restore the calendar to its original settings.

Note: The first time you edit your business calendar, a copy of the calendar is created and subsequently used for computing due dates for tasks assigned to you. However, this copy is not added to the calendar list.Any changes made in this copy are not reflected to other users using the same calendar.

Marking Holidays

1. In the Calendar View page, select the Month and Year from the drop-down lists. The calendar for the selected month and year is displayed with weekends and holidays.


2. Click the working day that you want to mark as a holiday. The Mark Holiday window is displayed.

Figure 49 Mark Holiday Window

3. Specify the Name for the holiday.

4. Choose the Type as a full day holiday, or first or second half of the day as a holiday.

5. Click Save to mark the holiday.

Click Reset to reset the form and remove the information you just entered.

Click Cancel to cancel the action and close the current window.

The new holiday is added to the list of holidays for the selected year and the corresponding date is marked as a holiday on the Calendar View page.

Unmarking Holidays

1. In the Calendar View page, select the Month and Year from the drop-down lists. The calendar for the selected month and year is displayed with weekends and holidays.

2. Click the holiday you want to unmark. The Holiday Details window is displayed.

Figure 50 Holiday Details Window

The Date, Name, and Type are displayed as read-only.

3. Click Unmark Holiday to remove the holiday.

Click Cancel to cancel the action and close the current window.

The holiday is removed from the list of holidays and the corresponding date is marked as a working day on the Calendar View page.

Note: To change the details of a holiday, you need to unmark it first and then mark the day as holiday with the required details.


Editing from the Calendar Details Page

1. Click Preferences > Calendars. The Calendar View page is displayed as shown in Figure 48 on page 71.

2. Click the Calendar Details link. The following page is displayed.

Figure 51 Calendar Details - General

3. In the General tab, edit the relevant data:

a. Edit Description.

NOTE: Do not use the special characters <, >, ‘, “, %, ;, +, \ and | for the description.

b. Select the geographical time zone to be used for the business calendar from the Time Zone drop-down list.

c. Define the Year Range for the business calendar by selecting the from the From and To drop-down lists.

d. Define the Regular Business Hours by selecting from the Start Time and End Time drop-down lists.

e. Define the Mid-Day Break by selecting from the Start Time and End Time drop-down lists. Mid-day Break hours are considered as non-working time.


4. Click the Working Time tab. The following page is displayed.

Figure 52 Calendar Details - Working Time

You can define working time if you want to specify business hours different than the regular business hours defined in the General tab. For more information, see Managing Working Time on page 75.

5. Click the Non-working Time tab. The following page is displayed.

Figure 53 Calendar Details - Non-working Time

If you want to specify a holiday or weekend, you can define it in the Non-working Time tab. For more information, see Managing Non-working Time on page 76.

6. Click Save to update the calendar.


Click Cancel to return to the Calendar View page. From this page you can mark or unmark holidays as described in Editing from the Calendar View Page on page 71.


7. Click Restore Default Calendar to restore the calendar to its original settings.

Managing Working Time

1. In the Calendar Details page, click the Working Time tab to display working time details as shown in Figure 52 on page 74.

2. To add to the list, click Add Working Time. The following window is displayed.

Figure 54 Add Working Time Window

a. In the Day/Date panel, specify whether you want to add working time for a specific day of the week or a specific date by selecting the Day or Date option. Then depending on your selection, specify the day of the week from the Day drop-down list, or specify the date by selecting appropriate values in the Year, Month and Date drop-down lists.

When you add a working time, it takes priority over the regular business hours for that day. Hence, while defining the working time, you may also need to include the regular business hours. For example, if your regular working hours on a particular day are 09:00 to 18:00, and you want to indicate additional working hours from 18:00 to 20:00, you should define the working time as 09:00 to 20:00.

b. Define the working hours by selecting from the Start Time and End Time drop-down lists.

c. Click Save to add the new working time and return to the previous page.

Click Save & Add New to save the current working time and continue adding another working time.


Click Cancel to cancel the action and exit the current window.

The new working time is added in the Working Time list.

NOTE: The non-working time has priority over the working time. Working time defined for a weekend or holiday is not considered while calculating the due date.

3. To edit working time, click the existing working time Day or Date. The Working Time Details window is displayed as shown in the following figure.

Figure 55 Working Time Details Window


a. Edit details as required.

b. Click Save to update the working time and return to the previous page.


Click Delete to remove the working time entry.


The working time is updated in the Working Time table.

NOTE: If you change the working hours of the existing entry, it is saved as the same working time entry in the list. If you change the day or date, it is saved as a new working time entry in the list.

4. To delete one or more working time entries, select from the list, and click Delete Working Time. A confirmation prompt is displayed. After you confirm, the selected entries are removed.

Managing Non-working Time

1. In the Calendar Details page, click the Non-working Time tab to display non-working time details as shown in Figure 53 on page 74.

2. To add to the list, click Add Non-working Time. The following window is displayed.

Figure 56 Add Non-working Time Window

a. Specify a Name for the non-working time.

b. Select appropriate options from the other panels depending on the type of holiday you want to define.

c. Click Save to add the new non-working time and return to the previous page.

Click Save & Add New to save the current non-working time and continue adding another non-working time.



The new non-working time is added in the Non-working Time list.


3. To edit non-working time, click the existing non-working time Name. The Non-working Time Details window is displayed as shown in the following figure.

Figure 57 Non-working Time Details Window

a. Edit details as required.

b. Click Save to update the new non-working time and return to the previous page.


Click Delete to remove the non-working time entry.


4. To delete one or more non-working time entries, select from the list and click Delete Non-working Time. A confirmation prompt is displayed. After you confirm, the selected entries are removed.


Glossary

This is a listing of common ITPC terminology. For a full version of terms used in IT Process Centre (ITPC) documentation, refer to the Terminology Guide in the ITPC_HOME\docs folder.

A | B | C | D | E | G | H | I | K | M | P | R | S | T | U | W

ACL ManagerIn EMC BusinessManager (EBM), Access Control List Manager provides a finer, more precise control over user access rights for resources and actions.

Activity WorkstepIn ITPC, the basic unit of work; must be performed by one or more human performers (valid individual user, multiple users or user group).

AdapterA Java class that integrates remote, third party classes and actions with ITPC. An adapter can automate certain functions and tasks performed by a remote server or other external systems.

AdministrationA module in BPM Portal enabling the administrator to perform such tasks as installing/uninstalling applications, modifying configuration parameters controlling ITPC operations, and manage ITPCITPC users, groups and access control.The Administration module is visible only to ITPC users who have permissions to access it.

ApplicationIn ITPC, an application is an installed, executable business process that automates a business flow.

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Balanced ScorecardA management application in the Management module that measures performance by analyzing how an organization’s business activities help it achieve its strategic goals. The Balanced Scorecard provides an analysis from a range of perspectives.

BAMBusiness Activity Management combines Business Process Management with strategic and analytical information on specific business performance indicators, providing real-time status information and identifying critical events to assist senior management in making informed business decisions.

BizLogicAn ITPC component that provides a flexible, lightweight, scalable workflow process engine for intranets, extranets, and the Internet.

BizPulsean ITPC component that provides an open event-driven rule engine to formulate and enforce policies in business applications.

BizSolo an ITPC component that enables users to develop customizable, sophisticated presentation flows for business processes, install them as Web applications, and execute them on their Web browsers.

BizStoreAn open repository of rich e-business information collected from different ITPC modules.

BPELBPEL (Business Process Execution Language) for Web services is an XML-based language designed to enable task-sharing for a distributed computing or grid computing environment - including across multiple organizations - using a combination of Web services.

BPMNBPMN (Business Process Modelling Notation) provides businesses with the capability of defining and understanding their internal and external business procedures through a Business Process Diagram giving organizations the ability to communicate these procedures in a standard manner.

BPM Portalan ITPC component that offers users, managers, administrators and developers a unified, customizable portal for single sign-on access to all ITPC functionalities to which they are granted permission.

BPM Studioan ITPC component that is an Integrated Development Environment for ITPC and enables ITPC users to develop and deploy an ITPC application without leaving the development environment.

Business Calendaran ITPC feature that accurately calculates the Due Date of tasks, and provides support for multiple business calendars across different time zones.

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Glossary 79 Glossary

Business FlowThe logical sequence of process activities, related to one another by a triggering activity, to achieve an outcome. It represents a business process that begins with a commitment and ends with the termination of that commitment. In ITPC, business flow includes workflow (the flow of all human-performed activities), integration flow (the flow of activities performed by systems) and presentation flow (from a user’s viewpoint, the flow of data from one Web page to the next).

Business LogicThe control flow and information flow among worksteps that define a business process.

Business ObjectA representation of an activity in the business domain, including its name, definition, attributes, behavior, relationships and constraints.

Business ProcessA process involving multiple worksteps in the form of operations, interactions and notifications performed by a user, group of users, an external adapter, or a script. Examples of internal business processes are purchasing, expense reporting, help desk, and time card. External processes may include order processing, sales, and customer service.

Business Process ManagementThe concept of guiding work activities through a multi-step business process in order to improve performance and reduce costs within and across functional business units.

Business RuleA combination of elements, including validation edits, logon verifications, database lookups, policies and transformations, that represent an enterprise’s way of doing business.

ClusterIn ITPC, an integrated set of multiple, electronically connected but physically separated servers. This loosely coupled group of nodes collaborate to provide shared access to the services that each node hosts. To other systems, the cluster appears as a single system.

Control FlowThe sequences of worksteps and workstep conditions, as defined in a process template in BPM Studio or Process Modeler.

Dashboardan ITPC feature that provides a graphic overview of the status of several business processes on a single Web page, enabling users to monitor the progress of each process. Users can view business processes across all applications or for a selected application.

DataslotA data placeholder that persists through the entire process and defines the information flow of the business process. Dataslots are associated with processes, where they can add information into (Input type) or out of (Output type) worksteps, and appear as editable or read-only fields on a user’s interface.

Expression Editoran ITPC tool that enables users to define complex conditional expressions within a Decision workstep to support their business requirements.

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GroupIn ITPC, an entity that has as members valid users or other groups who perform related work and have authorized access to specific components.

Heatmapan ITPC feature that provides a convenient, graphical tool for managers to visually locate the bottlenecks in the process execution. It helps managers to get an overview of the status of the currently active instances, identify suspended instances, and analyze the history of the completed instances.

HomeA module in BPM Portal through which users interact with ITPC. Using the Home module, users complete entries to various tasks and applications, update profile, set preferences, and link to the support infrastructure required to achieve these tasks. The Home module is the primary interface for ITPC application users.

Infopad In ITPC, a data structure used to capture business metrics, typically displayed as a table with one or two dimensions.

InstanceAn individual object within a specific class. In ITPC, a self-contained unit that is created each time you use a process template to run an ITPC application.

ITPC ApplicationAn application is an implementation of a business process. It can contain one or more process templates, performers, adapters, customized forms or rules. An application can be deployed, installed and run on BizLogic servers. In ITPC, an application is an installed, executable business process that automates a workflow.

ITPC Web Servicesan ITPC component that allows ITPC application developers to; a) publish their applications as Web Services, and b) find and convert other available Web Services on the Internet into ITPC applications.

KPIKey Performance Indicator, used in the Balanced Scorecard system, that provides the data translating enterprise goals into a set of measurable objectives.

Management A module in BPM Portal enabling the managers to query, report, and control processes and resources for users of ITPC. The Management module is visible only to ITPC users who have permissions to access it.

Managed Adapter In ITPC, a Managed Adapter is an implementation of an adapter interface that facilitates data exchange between ITPC processes and external applications.

Migration

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The process of moving from the use of one operating environment to another operating environment that is typically seen as improvement. Migration can involve moving to new hardware, new software, or both. It may involve a new application, another type of database, or a redesigned network. Migration is also used to refer simply to the process of moving data from one storage device to another. ITPC supports data migration as well as application migration.

PAMProcess Asset Management recognizes that a company’s processes are a unique asset and provides a structure that organizes, stores, and secures process data, enabling users to retrieve information on any of the company’s processes.

PerformerAn entity that executes a workstep. Depending on the workstep type, the performer can be a human user, a group of users, an adapter or other external performer, or a script.

Presentation FlowThe flow of information and user input from one interface to the next. Typically related to a single Activity workstep in the process and generated in a BizSolo environment.

Process EngineOrchestrates the execution of business processes and also coordinates conversations among process engines based on public processes, which forms the backbone of global business collaboration.

Process ModelerA stand-alone component that enables users to design templates for basic business processes and store or retrieve them from the EMC central process repository, and to design and run simulations of processes.

Process Refreshan ITPC feature for replacing the installed process without versioning, facilitating the running process instances to refresh and seamlessly adapt to the new workflow.

Process RepositoryA central place (can contain several databases) in which a group of processes is stored and maintained in an organized way, and can be accessed to retrieve information.

Process TemplateIn ITPC, a model of business flow that includes worksteps, connectors and dataslots. After users deploy and install it as an application in the ITPC directory structure, they can use the application to create process instances.

RollbackIn ITPC, a feature that restarts the workflow from a workstep previously selected as the rollback point in the process, performed automatically in the event of a failure.

RoleThe actions and activities assigned to a valid ITPC user who is a member of a group. In ITPC, only members of a group can be assigned a role. A role indicates the relationships of the user in a group context.

Rule WizardAn interactive utility that enables ITPC users to quickly develop rules that can be applied to a business process.

Swim Lanes

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Used in workflow diagrams to organize complex processes across functional boundaries. For example, seen as horizontal lines on a process map, swim lanes can be used to place individual task steps into different categories that depend on task ownership.

TaskIn ITPC, a performer is assigned one or more workitems that the performer sees as tasks. There are two types of tasks: Assigned, which are assigned specifically to you; and Available, which are available to be performed by you or other members of your user group.

UserIn ITPC, a valid human performer with authorized access to specific modules.

WorkflowThe logical sequence of activities performed by human performers, typically in a BPM Studio or Process Modeler environment. Workflow includes the tasks, procedural steps, organizations or people involved, required input and output information, and tools needed for each activity in a business process.

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Index

AActivated Workstep 53Add File(s) 29adding

filter 65Application

Creating an Instance 57viewing details of 56

application-specific filters 38, 65attached documents

adding 28removing 31, 34updating 30

attaching a document 28

BBasic Operations

accessing help 24drilling down 23getting support 24logging out 24navigating through the list 23printing 24searching users 26selecting rows 24sorting a column 22specifying a date 25using filter bars 22working with attachments 28

BPM Portal 15Administration module 15Home module 18, 22Logging in 17Management module 15Page Layout 20

browser 17

CCalendar 70

Editing from Calendar Details 73Editing from Calendar View 71Marking Holidays 71Non-working Time 76Setting 70Unmarking Holidays 72Working Time 75

changingfilter 68

completingtasks 43, 44

configuring interface styles 28Conventions in ITPC documentation 8copying

filter 67Customer support 8CWMP Administrator 62

84

Ddataslots

viewing 51defining

filter 65Defining default filter 61delegate assignment 69deleting

filter 68Disable Delegation 69documents

attaching 28attachment size 28

duplicatingfilter 67

FFavorites

using 62Filter

copying 67defining 65deleting 68modifying 68

Filter List 64Filter types

My filter 63

Iinterface styles 28ITPC

conventions in documentation 8documentation list 7user types 6

JJava applet interfaces 28JavaScript 33JavaScript interfaces 28

LLanguage 61

Mmanaging

dataslots 51

worksteps 51Models 58

viewing published documents 59modifying

filter 68multiple users 31My Filter 63

Ooperations on

Workstep 51

Ppassword 18, 61performer 39personal details

viewing 61Preview Filtering Expression 66Process Status

viewing 48Product Support Team 8Profile 60

Rread/write

attached document 28document 34

read-onlyattached document 28attachment 34

reassigningtasks 42

removingfilter 68Own Instances 54

removing attached documents 34

SSuspended Workstep 54

TTask List 38, 43Task types

Assigned 39Available 39Completed 45

BPM Portal User’s Guide 85 Index

Delegated 40Tasks

assigning Task to self 45completing 43, 44getting the Next Available Task 44making re-available 44reassigning 42updating 42viewing details

Assigned tasks 41Available tasks 45

Themes 18

UUNIX 17updating

attached documents 34Tasks 42

user name 18User Profile 61User types 14using

favorites 62

Vviewing

Application details 56dataslots 51personal details 61Process Status 48Published documents 59

viewing process statusFlow view 49Tabular view 48

WWindows 2000/XP 17Workstep

Activated 53managing 51operations on 51Suspended 54

Workstep color coding 49

BPM Portal User’s Guide 86 Index