IBM BPM, V8.0.1, All platforms > Create processes in IBM Process Designer > Designing process interactions for business users > Configure a role-based business user interface

Exposing a human service

In addition to implementing the activities in a business process definition (BPD), the human services created in Process Designer in IBM Process Designer can also be used to customize the Process Admin Console or to create a custom dashboard for IBM Process Portal. The exposure settings for a service depend on its intended purpose.


Procedure

  1. In IBM Process Designer, open the human service that you want to expose and go to the Overview tab.

  2. In the Exposing section, click the Select button next to the Exposed to field to choose the participant group whose members can view and use the exposed service. To create a new participant group, click the New button. To remove an assigned participant group, click the X icon next to the Expose to field.

  3. Specify an exposure type from the Exposed as field, selecting from one of the following options.

    Exposing options
    Option Description
    Not Exposed This is the default option and is the setting that you should use for services that implement the activities within a BPD. When this option is selected, the Exposed to setting is not used.
    Administration Service Makes the service available to members of the selected participant group as a separate page in the Process Admin Console in the Server Admin capabilities. A new category is added to the menu and that category has the same name as the process application that contains the service. The name of the individual page in the new category matches the service name.
    Startable Service Enables members of the selected participant group to launch the service from the Launch sidebar in Process Portal.
    Dashboard

    Makes the service available to members of the selected participant group in Process Portal from the Dashboards menu. The dashboard item has the same name as the exposed service.

    If you want to expose the dashboard outside of Process Portal, generate a portlet that you can deploy to a portal server by clicking Create a Portlet from the Dashboard.

    URL Makes the service available from a URL.
    If you expose a human service (either as an administration service, a startable service, a dashboard, or a URL) it is also exposed as a URL to members of the selected participant group. The URL is composed of the name of the host on which IBM Process Center Server or Process Server is installed and the port designated for the server during IBM BPM installation, as well as the acronym for the process application in which the service resides.

    For example, if you expose a service named MyService, you can access it from the following URL:

    http:// host_name: port/teamworks/executeServiceByName?processApp= acronym&serviceName=MyService[&snapshotName= snapshot_name]

    The parameter snapshotName is optional if the exposed service is contained in the current working version when operating on a Process Center Server, or if the exposed service is contained in the default snapshot when operating on a Process Server. Otherwise, specify the snapshotName parameter to run the version of the exposed service contained in the required snapshot.

    The URL can contain additional parameters in the following format:

    &tw.local. variableName= value
    These parameters are input variables to the exposed service.

    On a Process Center server:

    • If the snapshot name is not specified in the URL, the version of the exposed service that will be run is the one contained in the current working version of the default track

    • If the snapshot name is specified in the URL, the version of the exposed service that will be run is the one contained in the specified snapshot

    On a process server:

    • If the snapshot name is not specified in the URL, the version of the exposed service that will be run is the one contained in the default snapshot

    • If the snapshot name is specified in the URL, the version of the exposed service that will be run is the one contained in the specified snapshot

    In Process Portal:

    • When launching a human service from the Dashboards menu in Process Portal, the version that is launched is the current working version of the human service if this version is exposed. Otherwise, if there is an active snapshot in which the human service exposed, then the snapshot version is launched. If the current working version is not exposed and there are multiple active snapshots in which the human service is exposed, then the latest snapshot version is launched.

    In a portlet on an external portal server:

    • You can export only one valid snapshot when you generate a portlet for a dashboard.

    • When the portlet communicates back to IBM BPM, that snapshot must be active.

Configure a role-based business user interface


Related tasks:
Building a Human service
Create a participant group
Activating snapshots for use with IBM Process Portal


Related information:
Generate portlets for human services exposed as dashboards