11 Replies Latest reply on Jul 17, 2006 3:48 PM by kukeltje

    Assigning task instances to logical group

      IIUC, it is only possible to assign task instances to an actor or a resolved list of actors. However, in certain scenarios it is very desirable to have one level of indirection, by assigning only to a logical group, whose membership can change over time.

      For instance, say I operate a helpdesk, where different groups deal with the logged issues.

      There could be hundreds of outstanding issues (task instances) at any one time, which have been generated by jBPM.

      Then I get a new member of staff, and put them in a certain group. But because the set of pooled actors was resolved at task instance creation time, this new user will not see any pooled tasks.

      Although jBPM has the concept of those groups, I think it only uses them to resolve a list of pooled actors at task instance creation time.

      ?? Have I understood that correctly ??

      I can get around this quite easily, by doing a small amount additional work through task handlers to maintain an additional database linking to groups.

      But I would like to see the ability to assign a task instance only to the group, rather than to the resolved list of actors forming that group at task instance creation time.

        • 1. Re: Assigning task instances to logical group
          kukeltje

          Simon,

          AFAIK YUC ;-) A logical group should be possible to afaik, and I hoped it would already work. I did not test it (will do now, but against 3.2-head)

          • 2. Re: Assigning task instances to logical group
            kukeltje

            Just tried it with 3.2-head. Logical groups work.

            I used a swimlane

            <swimlane name="initiator">
             <assignment expression="group(architects)" class="" />
             </swimlane>


            And a reference in the task to this swimlane. It works. Several users, all in in this group, see it in the group tasklist.... hurray



            • 3. Re: Assigning task instances to logical group

              Have you tested this on 3.1.1?

              It does not appear to work there, and many people have written about it, with no real response as yet.

              Ref: http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&t=73247&start=10

              It does appear to set the task to the groups in the db, but does not show anything in the tasklist.

              Where do you get a copy of 3.2? is it somwhat stable?

              James Ratcliff

              • 4. Re: Assigning task instances to logical group
                kukeltje

                Tested 3.2 only... read the postings!!!!

                3.2-head (head being a cvs keyword) is available in CVS.

                Is the user a member of the groups in your DB?

                • 5. Re: Assigning task instances to logical group

                   

                  "kukeltje" wrote:
                  Tested 3.2 only... read the postings!!!!

                  3.2-head (head being a cvs keyword) is available in CVS.

                  Is the user a member of the groups in your DB?


                  Yes there are two members which belong to the group, and I check teh db afterwards, and it appears there is a relation in one table from the task to the group name, but when we view the webpage, it does not show the task in the users task list.

                  I am trying to download the newest cvs version now.

                  James Ratcliff

                  • 6. Re: Assigning task instances to logical group

                    OK,
                    I have the 3.2 CVS version loaded and I built all tasks listed in the readme file.....
                    Now....
                    How can I merge this with the starter kit version, where I can pull up the webpage and use it?
                    I am confused about the structure of the directory there.

                    James Ratcliff

                    • 7. Re: Assigning task instances to logical group
                      koen.aers

                      James,

                      Merging 3.2 with a 3.1.1 starter's kit is not so easy if not impossible... The directory structure in the 3.2 branch has completely changed, as did the webapp. We expect a first alpha release of 3.2 end of the month.

                      Regards,
                      Koen

                      • 8. Re: Assigning task instances to logical group

                        Hmm, thats what I was afraid of.

                        Do you have some tentative instructions for getting the 3.2 version working then?

                        I ran the build processes per instructions, and everything seems to be compiling fine, but Im not sure how to start the server now or where to access the webapp.

                        Need to get as much as possible going on this this week, to show if the groups are working correctly, and some fo the other features.

                        Thank you for your assistance,
                        James Ratcliff

                        • 9. Re: Assigning task instances to logical group
                          kukeltje

                          What I did is just use the 3.0.9.2 gpd in eclipse 3.1.1. I created my own jboss installation with jbpm 3.2 in it. That works for what I want to do.

                          Tell me if you need more things (I did not mis anything)

                          • 10. Re: Assigning task instances to logical group

                            Im not sure really how to "create jboss isntallation"

                            I probably need some more low level help to get started, which files go where and whatnot...
                            I can compile it some with any, but I dont know where the server start codes would be or anything else really.

                            Right now I am also trying to build the GPD to get rid of a problem with the red border there.

                            James Ratcliff

                            • 11. Re: Assigning task instances to logical group
                              kukeltje

                              Sorry, jboss installation was probably a to generic comment.

                              You can install the jbpm 3.1.1 starterkit, copy the jbpm dir in the server dir e.g. make it a jbpm3.2 remove the jbpm sar and war files and just copy over the jbpm sar, war etc from your 3.2 build to their respective directories (the dirs where you removed the other files)

                              The scripts for 3.2 will be adapted (I hope) do be able to do a clean local install to a clean jboss as 4.0x server (4.04 I think)