ive.

• The

engine

can

be

set

up

to

operate

anywhere

on

continuum

between

processing

all

eligible

work

immediately,

to

processing

nothing

and

marking

all

transitions

as

deferred.

• Each

activity

has
a

user-‐defined

processing

cost.

You

can

set

this

cost

to

be

small

if

the

activity

merely

sets

an

item

attribute,

or

you

may

set

it

to

be

very

high

if

the
activity

performs

resource-‐intensive

operation.

If

the

result

of

completed

activity

triggers

the

execution

of

costly

function,

you

might

want

to

defer

the

execution

of

that

costly

function

to
a

background

engine.

• The

Workflow

Engine

integrates

with

Oracle

Advanced

Queues

to

carry

out

deferred

processing.

If

function

activity

has

cost

that

exceeds

the

main

threshold

cost,

the

Workflow
Engine

marks

that

activity

with

status

of

'DEFERRED'

in

the

workflow

status

tables

and

en-‐queues

the

deferred

activity

to

special

queue

for

deferred

activities.

special

queue

processor

called
the

background

engine

checks

and

processes

the

activities

in

the

'deferred'

queue.

The

order

in

which

the

deferred

activities

are

processed

are

based

on

the

first

in,

first

out

ordering

of
an

activity's

en-‐queue

time.

P2P

Interview

Preparation

-‐

by

Dinesh

Kumar

Deferred

Activity:

When

an

activity

is

deferred,

the

main

Workflow

Engine

can

then

continue

to

the

next

available

activity,
which

may

occur

on

some

other

parallel

branch

of

the

process.

If

no

other

activity

is

available

to

be

executed,

the

Workflow

Engine

returns

control

immediately

to

the

calling

application.

The
user

remains

unaware

that

processing

is

still

taking

place,

rendering

faster

execution

time.

To

defer

an

activity,

Activity

Cost

>

Threshold

Cost

The

threshold

cost

is

PL/SQL

package

variable
with

default

value

of

50

hundredths

of

second.

Set

cost

above

this

threshold

for

all

activities

that

you

don't

want

the

user

to

wait

for.

At

runtime,

the
Workflow

Engine

defers

any

thread

to

the

background

as

soon

as

it

encounters

an

activity

with

cost

higher

than

the

threshold.

Then

the

background

engine

later

identifies

the

process

as
deferred

and

continues

its

execution.

Workflow

Access

Protection:

P2P

Interview

Preparation

-‐

by

Dinesh

Kumar

• Access

protection

is

feature

that

prevents

workflow

seed

data

created

by

'seed

data
provider'

from

being

modified

by

'seed

data

consumer'.

'seed

data

provider'

-‐-‐>

any

organization

that

creates

'seed

data'

for

other

organizations

('seed

data

consumers')

to

use

in

defining

and

customizing
a

workflow

process.

− Workflow

objects

definitions

that

can

be

customized.

− Workflow

object

definitions

protected

against

customization.

Scenario:

There

are

teams

in

my

organization

Global

Team

&

Regional

Team.

Global

Team
does

development

across

all

regions

where

as

regional

team

does

development

within

their

own

region

and

not

shared

by

other.

Consider

my

organization

Global

team

using

oracle

std.

item

type

in
my

workflow

in

custom

workflow

process.

Now

my

organization

wants

to

enable

below

protections,

Identify

certain

workflow

objects

in

its

custom

workflow

definition

as

corporate

standards

that

the

regional

teams
should

adhere

to

and

not

modify.

Designate

certain

objects

in

its

deployed

process

as

customizable

for

the

regional

offices

to

alter

to

their

offices'

needs.

How

this

can

be

achieved?

By
using

Access

Protection

Feature

in

Oracle

Workflow.

Access

Protection

Features:

1. Access

Level

2. Customization

Level

3. Protection

Level

− The

combination

of

protection,

customization,

and

access

levels

make

up

the

access

protection

feature

and
determines

whether

user

can

modify

given

workflow

object.

− The

level,

in

all

three

cases,

is

numeric

value

ranging

from

to

1000

that

indicates

the

relationship

between

different
organizations

as

providers

and

consumers

of

seed

data.

The

following

ranges

of

levels

are

presumed

by

Oracle

Workflow:

0-‐9

Oracle

Workflow

10-‐19

Oracle

Application

Object

Library

20-‐99

Oracle

Applications

development

100-‐999
Customer

organization.

You

can

determine

how

you

want

this

range

to

be

interpreted.

For

example,

100

can

represent

headquarters,

while

101

can

represent

regional

office,

and

so

on.

1000

Public
P2P

Interview

Preparation

-‐

by

Dinesh

Kumar

Access

Level:

"user

of

Oracle

Workflow"

in

this

case,

represents

someone

who

is

operating

Oracle

Workflow

Builder,

or

the

Workflow

Definitions

Loader
program,

which

loads

workflow

process

definitions

from

file

into

database.

As

seed

data

provider,

you

should

always

operate

Oracle

Workflow

Builder

at

the

same

consistent

access

level

because
the

level

you

work

at

affects

the

protection

level

of

the

seed

data

you

create.

You

can

view

your

access

level

as

follows:

• In

Oracle

Workflow

Builder,

select

About

Workflow

from
the

Help

menu.

• If

you

are

going

to

run

the

Workflow

Definitions

Loader

program

to

download

workflow

process

definitions

from

the

database

to

file,

check

the

value

for

the

environment
variable

WF_ACCESS_LEVEL

on

your

workflow

server.

Protection

Level:

Whenever

you

create

workflow

object

in

Oracle

Workflow

Builder,

you

have

the

option

of

protecting

the

object

at

certain

level.

An
object's

protection

level

helps

control

whether

other

users

can

modify

the

object

based

on

their

access

levels,

by

allowing

only

users

with

an

access

level

equal

to

or

lower

than

the
object's

protection

level

to

modify

the

object.

The

protection

level

that

you

set

for

an

object

is

dependent

on

the

setting

of

the

Lock

at

this

Access

Level

check

box

and
on

your

current

access

level.

• If

you

check

the

Lock

at

this

Access

Level

check

box,

the

protection

level

for

the

object

is

set

to

your

current

access

level.

Users

with
an

access

level

higher

than

your

current

access

level

will

not

be

able

to

modify

the

object.

These

users

will

see

small

lock

on

the

workflow

object's

icon,

indicating

that
the

object

can

be

used

but

not

modified.

For

users

with

an

access

level

equal

to

or

lower

than

your

current

access

level,

the

customization

level

for

the

object

will

determine
whether

they

can

modify

the

object.

• If

you

do

not

check

the

Lock

at

this

Access

Level

check

box,

the

protection

level

for

the

object

is

set

to

1000.

In

this
case

all

users

who

are

not

restricted

by

the

customization

level

can

modify

the

object.

Customization

Level:

• Every

workflow

object,

in

addition

to

having

protection

level,

also

records

customization
level

when

you

modify

the

object

and

save

it

to

database

or

file.

An

object's

customization

level

helps

control

whether

other

users

can

modify

the

object

based

on

their

access
levels,

by

allowing

only

users

with

an

access

level

equal

to

or

higher

than

the

object's

customization

level

to

modify

the

object.

• Setting

the

customization

level

ensures

that

customizable

object
that

has

been

customized

never

gets

overwritten

during

seed

data

upgrade,

because

the

upgrade

always

occurs

with

the

Workflow

Definitions

Loader

operating

at

an

access

level

below

the

customized

object's
customization

level.

P2P

Interview

Preparation

-‐

by

Dinesh

Kumar

Workflow

Definition

Loader

(WFLOAD):

We

use

the

Workflow

Definitions

Loader

to

save

or

load

process

definitions

from

database

or

flat
file.

We

can

also

define

as

it

is

utility

that

moves

workflow

data

between

file

and

database

and

it

is

also

used

to

upgrade,

upload

and

download

the
workflow

data.

Usage:

• Normally

when

we

upgrade

our

database,

we

use

the

Workflow

Definitions

Loader

to

preserve

and

back

up

our

process

definitions

to

flat

file.

When

the

database

upgrade
is

completed,

we

use

the

Loader

program

again

to

upload

the

definitions

back

into

your

database.

• We

can

also

use

the

Loader

program

to

upgrade

our

database

with

newer

version
of

process

definition

or

to

transfer

process

definitions

to

other

databases.

Modes:

The

Workflow

Definitions

Loader

automatically

validates

the

process

definition

to

ensure

that

it

conforms

to

specific

process

design
rules.

There

are

four

modes

available

with

WFLOAD.These

are

as

follows:

1) DOWNLOAD

-‐

Download

the

WF

definitions

into

Flat

file.

2) UPGRADE

Honors

both

protection

and

customization

levels

of

data

3) UPLOAD
–

Honors

only

protection

level

of

data

[No

respect

of

Customization

Level]

4) FORCE

Force

upload

regardless

of

protection

or

customization

level

WFLOAD

Username/password

<access_level>

<Mode>

<File_name>.wft

<Item_Type>

For

Example,
WFLOAD

apps/apps

DOWNLOAD

poxwfrqa.wft

POAPWF

P2P

Interview

Preparation

-‐

by

Dinesh

Kumar

Workflow

API’s:

Below

are

some

important

API’s

frequently

used

in

workflow

development

customizations.

WF_ENGINE

API’s
WF_ENGINE. CreateProcess

CreateProcess

(itemtype

in

varchar2,itemkey

in

varchar2,process

in

varchar2

default

);

Creates

new

runtime

process

for

an

application

item.

For

example,

Requisition

item

type

may

havea

Requisition

Approval

Process
as

top

level

process.

When

particular

requisition

is

created,

an

application

calls

CreateProcess

to

set

up

the

information

needed

to

start

the

defined

process.

WF_ENGINE. SetItemUserKey

SetItemUserKey

(itemtype

in

varchar2,itemkey
in

varchar2,

userkey

in

varchar2);

Lets

you

set

user–friendly

identifier

for

an

item

in

process,

which

is

initially

identified

by

an

item

type

and

item

key.

The

user

key
is

intended

to

be

user–

friendly

identifier

to

locate

items

in

the

Workflow

Monitor

and

other

user

interface

components

of

Oracle

Workflow.

WF_ENGINE. GetItemUserKey

GetItemUserKey

(itemtype

in

varchar2,itemkey

in

varchar2)

return
varchar2;

Returns

the

user–friendly

key

assigned

to

an

item

in

process,

identified

by

an

item

type

and

item

key.

The

user

key

is

user–friendly

identifier

to

locate

items

in
the

Workflow

Monitor

and

other

user

interface

components

of

Oracle

Workflow.

WF_ENGINE. SetItemOwner

SetItemOwner

(itemtype

in

varchar2,itemkey

in

varchar2,owner

in

varchar2);

procedure

to

set

the

owner

of

existing

items.

The

owner
must

be

valid

role.

Typically,

the

role

that

initiates

transaction

is

assigned

as

the

process

owner,

so

that

any

participant

in

that

role

can

find

and

view

the

status
of

that

process

instance

in

the

Workflow

Monitor.

WF_ENGINE. StartProcess

StartProcess

(itemtype

in

varchar2,itemkey

in

varchar2);

Begins

execution

of

the

specified

process.

The

engine

locates

the

activity

marked

as

START

and

then
executes

it.

CreateProcess(

must

first

be

called

to

define

the

itemtype

and

itemkey

before

calling

StartProcess(

).

WF_ENGINE. LaunchProcess

LaunchProcess

(itemtype

in

varchar2,itemkey

in

varchar2,process

in

varchar2

default'',userkey

in

varchar2

default
'',owner

in

varchar2

default

'');

Launches

specified

process

by

creating

the

new

runtime

process

and

beginning

its

execution.

This

is

wrapper

that

combines

CreateProcess

and

StartProcess.

WF_ENGINE. SuspendProcess

SuspendProcess

(itemtype
in

varchar2,itemkey

in

varchar2,process

in

varchar2

default

'');

Suspends

process

execution

so

that

no

new

transitions

occur.

Outstanding

notifications

can

complete

by

calling

CompleteActivity(

),

but

the

workflow

does

not

transition
to

the

next

activity.

Restart

suspended

processes

by

calling

ResumeProcess(

).

ResumeProcess(itemtype

in

varchar2,itemkey

in

varchar2,process

in

varchar2

default

'');

Returns

suspended

process

to

normal

execution

status.

Any

activities

that
were

transitioned

to

while

the

process

was

suspended

are

now

executed.

WF_ENGINE. AbortProcess

AbortProcess

(itemtype

in

varchar2,itemkey

in

varchar2,process

in

varchar2

default

'',result

in

varchar2

default

eng_force);

Aborts

process

execution

and

cancels
outstanding

notifications.

The

process

status

is

considered

COMPLETE,

with

result

specified

by

the

result

argument.

Also,

any

outstanding

notifications

or

subprocesses

are

set

to

status

of

P2P

Interview

Preparation
-‐

by

Dinesh

Kumar

COMPLETE

with

result

of

force,

regardless

of

the

result

argument.

WF_ENGINE. AddItemAttr

AddItemAttr

(itemtype

in

varchar2,itemkey

in

varchar2,aname

in

varchar2);

Adds

an

empty

item

type

attribute
variable

to

the

process.

Although

most

item

type

attributes

are

defined

at

design

time,

developers

can

create

new

attributes

at

runtime

for

specific

process.

WF_ENGINE. SetItemAttrText

SetItemAttrText(itemtype

in

varchar2,itemkey

in

varchar2,aname
in

varchar2,avalue

in

varchar2);

WF_ENGINE. SetItemAttrNumber

SetItemAttrNumber(itemtype

in

varchar2,itemkey

in

varchar2,aname

in

varchar2,avalue

in

number);

WF_ENGINE. SetItemAttrDate

SetItemAttrDate

(itemtype

in

varchar2,itemkey

in

varchar2,aname

in

varchar2,avalue

in

date);

WF_ENGINE. GetItemAttrText

GetItemAttrText(itemtype

in

varchar2,itemkey

in

varchar2,aname
in

varchar2)

return

varchar2;

WF_ENGINE. GetItemAttrNumber

GetItemAttrNumber(itemtype

in

varchar2,itemkey

in

varchar2,aname

in

varchar2)

return

number;

WF_ENGINE. GetItemAttrDate

GetItemAttrDate(itemtype

in

varchar2,itemkey

in

varchar2,aname

in

varchar2)

return

date;

WF_ENGINE. BeginActivity

BeginActivity

(itemtype

in

varchar2,itemkey

in

varchar2,activity
in

varchar2);

Determines

if

the

specified

activity

can

currently

be

performed

on

the

process

item

and

raises

an

exception

if

it

cannot.

The

CompleteActivity()

procedure

automatically

performs

this

function

as

part
of

its

validation.

However,

you

can

use

BeginActivity

to

verify

that

the

activity

you

intend

to

perform

is

currently

allowed

before

actually

calling

it.

WF_ENGINE. CompleteActivity

CompleteActivity(itemtype

in

varchar2,itemkey

in

varchar2,activity

in
varchar2,result_code

in

varchar2);

Notifies

the

workflow

engine

that

the

specified

activity

has

been

completed

for

particular

item.

WF_ENGINE. ItemStatus

ItemStatus(itemtype

in

varchar2,itemkey

in

varchar2,status

out

varchar2,result

out

varchar2);

Returns

the

status
and

result

for

the

root

process

of

the

specified

item

instance.

Possible

values

returned

for

the

status

are:

ACTIVE,

COMPLETE,

ERROR,

or

SUSPENDED.

If

the

root

process

does

not

exist,

then
the

item

key

does

not

exist

and

will

thus

cause

the

procedure

to