Replacement variables in people assignment criteria and task descriptions

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Replacement variables in people assignment criteria and task descriptions

When used in descriptions for people assignment criteria and human tasks, replacement variables can be used to represent context variables that will be fully resolved in the runtime environment.
To use a replacement variable in a template, encapsulate it in '%' signs, for example, %htm:task.originator%.

Using percent signs within variable names is not allowed.
If you want to use a percent sign in a string within the replacement variable, then you will need to use two percent signs (“%%”) instead of one.
Variables can contain XPath expressions. If an XPath expression contains a “%” sign, it must be escaped as specified by XML (using %).

Replacement variables for people assignment criteria and descriptions in human tasks can contain the contents of variables and messages. In addition resolved people assignment criteria of sibling inline tasks can be used from other inline tasks.
Available expressions differ depending on whether it is a stand-alone, or an inline human task.

Stand-alone human tasks

The following table lists all expressions that are available for human tasks that are not embedded inline in a process, or stand-alone. When these expressions are used inside descriptions as well as people assignment criteria, they must be enclosed in '%' characters.

A list of all expressions that can be used in stand-alone human tasks.
Type of variable Expression Description
Staff Variables htm:task.originator the user ID of the originator of this task instance
htm:task.owner the user ID of the owner of this task instance
htm:task.starter task starter name
htm:task.administrators list of task administrators
htm:task.potentialOwners list of potential task owners
htm:task.editors list of task editors
htm:task.readers list of task readers
htm:task.potentialStarters list of potential task starters
htm:task.potentialInstanceCreators list of potential creators

Task variables htm:task.property.customPropertyName value of the task's custom properties
If that only the string value of properties can be evaluated. For binary custom properties, the query string will be evaluated.
htm:task.displayName default task display name
htm:task.description default task description
htm:task.instanceID task instance id
htm:input.[part][\XPath]
(or htm:input.part[\XPath])
data from task's input message is provided using XPath expressions
(Process Server messages usually have a single part, in which case the part name does not have to be specified. When using messages with multiple parts then the syntax in parenthesis has to be used. Also see the notes below.)
htm:output.[part][\XPath]
(or htm:output.part[\XPath])
data from task's output message is provided using XPath expressions
(Process Server messages usually have a single part, in which case the part name does not have to be specified. When using messages with multiple parts then the syntax in parenthesis has to be used. Also see the notes below.)
If that task instances have no default message.

Escalation variables htm:escalation.description default escalation description
htm:escalation.expectedTaskState escalation's expected task state
htm:escalation.instanceID a string representation of the escalation instance id
htm:escalation(escalationName).receivers escalation receivers
htm:escalation.property.customPropertyName value of escalation's custom properties
If that only the string value of properties can be evaluated. For binary custom properties, the query string will be evaluated.

You can use either %htm.input.\XPath% or %htm.output.\XPath% to refer to input or output parameters of the operation defined for a task interface.

For example, the WSDL code shown below defines a task interface comprising of an operation with one input parameter ( input1) and one output parameter ( output1). In this case, the expressions %htm:input.\input1%, %htm:output.\output1% can be used to reference the defined parameters.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<wsdl:definitions xmlns:tns="http://variables/variablesInterface" xmlns:wsdl="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" name="variablesInterface" targetNamespace="http://variables/variablesInterface">
  <wsdl:types>
    <xsd:schema targetNamespace="http://variables/variablesInterface" xmlns:tns="http://variables/variablesInterface" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
      <xsd:element name="operation1">
        <xsd:complexType>
          <xsd:sequence>
            <xsd:element name="input1" nillable="true" type="xsd:string"/>
          </xsd:sequence>
        </xsd:complexType>
      </xsd:element>
      <xsd:element name="operation1Response">
        <xsd:complexType>
          <xsd:sequence>
            <xsd:element name="output1" nillable="true" type="xsd:string"/>
          </xsd:sequence>
        </xsd:complexType>
      </xsd:element>
    </xsd:schema>
  </wsdl:types>
  <wsdl:message name="operation1RequestMsg">
    <wsdl:part element="tns:operation1" name="operation1Parameters"/>
  </wsdl:message>
  <wsdl:message name="operation1ResponseMsg">
    <wsdl:part element="tns:operation1Response" name="operation1Result"/>
  </wsdl:message>
  <wsdl:portType name="variablesInterface">
    <wsdl:operation name="operation1">
      <wsdl:input message="tns:operation1RequestMsg" name="operation1Request"/>
      <wsdl:output message="tns:operation1ResponseMsg" name="operation1Response"/>
    </wsdl:operation>
  </wsdl:portType>
</wsdl:definitions>
In addition, expressions like %htm:input.part[\XPath]%, and %htm:input.part[\XPath]% can be used to refer to input and output parameters associated with the different WSDL message parts defined for a task operation. Currently, only single-part messages are generated, so it can only be used on expressions that exclude message part names.

For example, the expressions %htm:input.operation1Parameters\input1%, %htm:output.operation1Result\output1% are valid and equivalent to %htm:input.\input1%, %htm:output.\output1% .
It is expected that XPATH will point to objects of type String, or String List. In general, and object will be replaced by what the toString() method returns.

Inline human tasks

In addition to the expressions in the previous table, a human task that is embedded inline in a process can also use the expressions listed in the following table for staff resolution. If , that the description of an inline human task is resolved by the Business Flow Manager (BFM) and must therefore be modeled to use the syntax described in the previous section.

A list of the expressions that can be use with inline human tasks.
Type of variable Expression Description
Process variables wf:variable.VariableName\[part][\XPath] 'VariableName\[part][\XPath]' is passed to BFM to resolve the variable/expression.
wf:property.customPropertyName The 'customPropertyName' is passed to the BFM to resolve the custom property.

Inline staff variables wf:process.starter The starter of the process.
wf:process.administrators The administrators of the process.
wf:process.readers The readers of the process.
wf:activity(activityName).potentialOwners The potential owners of either the current activity or the activity named in brackets
wf:activity(activityName).owner The owner of the activity named in brackets
wf:activity(activityName).editors The editors of either the current activity or the activity named in brackets
wf:activity(activityName).readers The readers of either the current activity or the activity named in brackets

If that inline staff variables which refer to sibling activities can only be resolved if the referred activity is also an inline human task and is already started at the point in time when the staff resolution happens.
As with stand-alone tasks, it is expected that XPATH will point to objects of type String, or String List. In general, and object will be replaced by what the toString() method returns.

Replacement variables and context variables

Related concepts:
Replacement variables in process and activity descriptions
Replacement variables in staff e-mails
Replacement variables for escalation duration expressions

Type of variable	Expression	Description
Staff Variables	htm:task.originator	the user ID of the originator of this task instance
	htm:task.owner	the user ID of the owner of this task instance
	htm:task.starter	task starter name
	htm:task.administrators	list of task administrators
	htm:task.potentialOwners	list of potential task owners
	htm:task.editors	list of task editors
	htm:task.readers	list of task readers
	htm:task.potentialStarters	list of potential task starters
	htm:task.potentialInstanceCreators	list of potential creators

Task variables	htm:task.property.customPropertyName	value of the task's custom properties If that only the string value of properties can be evaluated. For binary custom properties, the query string will be evaluated.
	htm:task.displayName	default task display name
	htm:task.description	default task description
	htm:task.instanceID	task instance id
	htm:input.[part][\XPath] (or htm:input.part[\XPath])	data from task's input message is provided using XPath expressions (Process Server messages usually have a single part, in which case the part name does not have to be specified. When using messages with multiple parts then the syntax in parenthesis has to be used. Also see the notes below.)
	htm:output.[part][\XPath] (or htm:output.part[\XPath])	data from task's output message is provided using XPath expressions (Process Server messages usually have a single part, in which case the part name does not have to be specified. When using messages with multiple parts then the syntax in parenthesis has to be used. Also see the notes below.)
	If that task instances have no default message.

Escalation variables	htm:escalation.description	default escalation description
	htm:escalation.expectedTaskState	escalation's expected task state
	htm:escalation.instanceID	a string representation of the escalation instance id
	htm:escalation(escalationName).receivers	escalation receivers
	htm:escalation.property.customPropertyName	value of escalation's custom properties If that only the string value of properties can be evaluated. For binary custom properties, the query string will be evaluated.

Type of variable	Expression	Description
Process variables	wf:variable.VariableName\[part][\XPath]	'VariableName\[part][\XPath]' is passed to BFM to resolve the variable/expression.
	wf:property.customPropertyName	The 'customPropertyName' is passed to the BFM to resolve the custom property.

Inline staff variables	wf:process.starter	The starter of the process.
	wf:process.administrators	The administrators of the process.
	wf:process.readers	The readers of the process.
	wf:activity(activityName).potentialOwners	The potential owners of either the current activity or the activity named in brackets
	wf:activity(activityName).owner	The owner of the activity named in brackets
	wf:activity(activityName).editors	The editors of either the current activity or the activity named in brackets
	wf:activity(activityName).readers	The readers of either the current activity or the activity named in brackets