Working with Adaptive Case Management in Process Workspace

8 Working with Adaptive Case Management in Process Workspace

Oracle Business Process Management Workspace (Process Workspace) supports the processing of cases implemented using Oracle Business Process Management's Adaptive Case Management.

About Adaptive Case Management

Adaptive Case Management supports modeling and running of ad hoc and unstructured business processes.

A case is a business process that is not rigidly predefined in the way a typical Business Process Management process is. Cases are less structured ad-hoc processes that include information, tasks, rules, and services. The tasks you perform while working on a case change as information and activities related to the case are processed. Decisions you make while managing a case can change which processes and tasks are executed.

Some examples of cases that are suitable to be modeled and run using Adaptive Case Management include:

Insurance claims
Incident investigations
Customer complaints

For additional information, see Working with Adaptive Case Management in Developing Business Processes with Oracle Business Process Management Studio.

Navigating Cases

Cases are accessed through the Case page in the Process Workspace GUI.

To access the Case page, click the Case link at the top of the GUI page.

Note:

Workspace GUI does not validate XSD or values of input arguments. Implement validator in ADF for validations.

About the Case Page

The Case page displays information for the currently selected case.

Use the Case page to:

View a list of cases and select one to view or work on.
View case details for open or closed cases.
Add comments or raise events on a case.
View case activities and their details, create new case activities, and filter the display of case activities by their status.
Link cases.
View an Audit Trail of case events. Filter the display of case events by event type. View and add new documents to a case. View and modify case data.
View or add documents to the case.
View case milestones and mark them as complete.
View case stakeholders. Add stakeholders. Add stakeholder members to stakeholders.
View user information for case details.
Close cases.

About the Navigation Bar

Use the Navigation bar (shown in Figure 8-1) to identify the current case, to move between cases, to close cases, and to get information about cases.

Figure 8-1 Navigation Bar

Description of "Figure 8-1 Navigation Bar"

The Navigation bar provides the following elements:

Element	Description
Case Listing	Click the down arrow on the Case Listing control to see a list of current cases. Click a case to navigate to it.
Status Icon	The Status icon indicates the case's status. Hover over the icon to see a text display of the case's status, for example, ACTIVE.
Case Number and Name	The case number and name are displayed in the Navigation bar.
Information Icon	Click the Information icon to display a pop-up window containing high-level details about the case. Fields displayed include: Title Identification Key Number Name Priority Category Creator Start Date State Document Folder
Add Comment	Click to add a comment to the case. Fields enabling you to add the comment are displayed directly on the Case page.
Raise Event	Click to initiate an event for the case. Fields enabling you to add the event are displayed directly on the Case page. The specific events available to be raised change depending on the composite used to create the case instance.
Refresh	Click the Refresh icon to update the case details displayed in the Case page. When you select an action from Actions, a comment window appears. You must enter a comment and click OK to update the task and refresh the task list table. Click Cancel to cancel the action.
Navigation arrows	Click the left and right arrows to navigate to the previous and next case, respectively.
Close Case	Click Close Case to mark the case instance as closed.

Using the Navigation Bar

Use the Navigation bar to move between cases, to close cases, and to get information about cases. You can also add comments and events to cases.

Selecting a Case

Use the controls in the Navigation bar (as well as those in the Case List panel) to select a case to work on. You can select a case by:

Choosing it from the Case Listing drop-down list
Choosing it from the Case List panel (visible when the Case Listing is pinned to the Case page)
Navigating to it using the Previous Case and Next Case buttons (visible when the Case Listing is not pinned to the Case page)

Figure 8-2 Case Listing Drop-down List

Description of "Figure 8-2 Case Listing Drop-down List"

See "Viewing Hidden Panels" for more information about pinning and unpinning the Case List panel.

Closing a Case

Close cases using the Close Case button on the Navigation bar.

To close a case:

Navigate to the case.
Click Close Case.

The Close Case details dialog box is displayed.
Select an outcome from the Outcome drop-down list.
Optionally enter a comment.
Click Close Case.

An information dialog box is displayed indicating the results of the close action.
Click OK.

Viewing a Closed Case

You can view closed cases.

To view a closed case:

If the Case List panel is not displayed, pin the Case Listing drop-down list to display it.
Click Advanced Search.

The Advanced Search dialog box is displayed.
Ensure that Closed is selected in the State section of the search criteria.
Click Search.

The Case List panel is updated with a list of closed cases matching the other search criteria you used in the Advanced Search dialog box.
Click the case to view.

The Case page is updated with the information for the selected case.

Adding a Comment to a Case

Add comments to a case using the Add Comment link in the Navigation bar.

To add a comment to a case:

Click Add Comment.

The comment entry controls appear at the top of the Case page.
Enter the text for your comment.
Select a permission level from the Permission drop-down list. This determines the user permission level needed to be able to view the comment.
Click Post to add the comment to the case.

Note: to close the comment controls without posting the comment, click Close.

Comments can be viewed in the Audit Trail panel. See Viewing the Audit Trail

Raising an Event on a Case

Raise events on a case using the Raise Event link in the Navigation bar. The events that are available to be raised on a case are preconfigured using Oracle Business Process Management Studio JDeveloper.

To raise a comment on a case:

Click Raise Event.

The raise event controls appear at the top of the Case page.
Select an event name from the Event Name drop-down list to specify the type of event.
Enter a comment.
Select a permission level from the Permission drop-down list. This determines the user permission level needed to be able to view the event.
Click Raise Event to add the event to the case.

Note: to close the Raise Event controls without posting the event, click Close.

Events can be viewed in the Audit Trail panel. See Viewing the Audit Trail

Viewing Case Information

Understand the panels that are available on the Case page and the kinds of information that is displayed on it, and learn how to filter the displayed information, and also how to find and view cases.

You interact with cases using the information provided on the Case page, and using the controls and links on the page to perform work related to the case, such as adding comments or events, reviewing and modifying milestones, creating new case activities and so on.

Viewing Case Instances

To view the details for a case, navigate to it using the Navigation bar. Select the case in the Case Listing control, or use the Previous Case and Next Case icons to navigate between cases.

See Navigating Cases for more information.

Figure 8-3 shows the Case page, which is divided into the following sections:

Navigation bar
Activities
Linked Cases
Details (which can display Audit Trail, Data, or Comments information)
Milestones
Stakeholders

Figure 8-3 Case Page

Description of "Figure 8-3 Case Page"

Viewing the Case List

You can view (and select) cases in two ways:

Click the Case Listing drop-down list in the Navigation bar to display a list of cases. (See Figure 8-2.)
When it is pinned to the Case page, use the Case List panel to view and select cases.

To display the Case List panel, click the Pin icon in the Case Listing window. The Case List panel includes more case details than the Case Listing control. When the Case List panel is pinned to the Case page, the Case Listing control does not appear on the Navigation bar.

To hide the Case List panel, click the Pin icon in the upper right-hand corner to un-pin it from the Case page. When the Case List panel is unpinned, the Case Listing control appears on the Navigation bar.

Viewing Hidden Panels

When the Case List panel is pinned to the page, other panels are hidden. When the Activities and Linked Cases panels are hidden, click Show Activities to display them. When the Milestones and Stakeholders panels are hidden, click Show Milestones and Stakeholders to display them.

Case List Panel

Use the Case List panel of the Case page to locate, display, and select cases. Cases are displayed in a series of sections in the panel.

Element	Description
Search Criteria	Enter the search text. The text is searched for in the following case elements: Title Identification Key Case Number
Search	Click the Search icon to search for cases using the Search Criteria.
Advanced Search	Click the Advanced Search control to display the Advanced Search dialog. The controls on the Advanced Search dialog are shown below:
Match	Use the match control to control how the criteria are used in the search. Choices include: All: Select to include cases which match all of the search criteria specified in the Advanced Search dialog box. Any: Select to include cases which match any of the search criteria specified in the Advanced Search dialog box.
Search	Click Search to search on the selected criteria. Cases matching the criteria are displayed in the Case List panel.
Title	Case title to search on.
Identification Key	Identification Key to search on.
Creator	User that created the case.
Updated by	User(s) that updated the case.
State	Select the case state(s) to search on using the check boxes. Choices include: All: Search on all states as listed: Active Closed Expired Aborted Suspended Errored Stale
Updated	Select an update day to search on. Choices include: None Today Yesterday Last Week
Due	Select a due date to search on. Choices include: None Overdue In one day In one week
Created	Select a creation date to search on. Choices include: None Today Yesterday Last Week
Sort By	Sorts the cases displayed in the Case List. Choose from: Created Date Case Number Creator Due Date
Load More Items	This link appears when there are more items than fits in the default panel size. Click to display additional items.

Sorting the Case List

Sort the cases displayed in the Case List by selecting a sort criteria from the Sort By drop-down list. When you make a selection, the cases are re-displayed in the selected order. Choose from the following sort criteria:

Created Date
Case Number
Creator
Due Date

Searching for Cases

You can search for cases using a simple search, or a more comprehensive advanced search.

Enter the search criteria in the Search Criteria entry box.
Press Enter or click the Search icon.

Using the Advanced Search

To perform an advanced search:

Click the Advanced Search arrow.

The Advanced Search dialog box appears.
Specify your search criteria in the text fields, check boxes, and selection fields in the Advanced Search dialog box as shown in Figure 8-4.
Click Search.

The Case List is updated with the results of your search.

Figure 8-4 Case List Panel Advanced Search

Description of "Figure 8-4 Case List Panel Advanced Search"

Working With Case Activities

Activities for the selected case are displayed in the Activities panel.

When the Activities panel is hidden, click Show Activities to display it.

Activities Panel

Use the Activities panel of the Case page to view activities and their details, and to initiate new activities. Activities are displayed in a series of sections in the panel.

Element	Description
Activities Filter	Select the type of activities to display. Choices are: All Available Running Completed Errored
Activities List	Activities are displayed in sections, grouped by type. If no activities of a particular type exist, the section is not displayed. Section types include: Available Running Completed Errored
Add Activities	Click to select an activity to add to the case. The choices available in the drop-down list depend on the case configuration, and whether the activity has already been added.
Load More Items	This link appears when there are more items than fits in the default panel size. Click to display additional items.

Filtering the Activities Displayed

Use the Activities drop-down list to select which activities are displayed. Choose from:

All
Available
Running
Completed
Errored

Activities for the case are displayed in their own section.

To see the details for an activity, click it.

Initiating an Activity

Activities that can be initiated are displayed in the Available section of the Activities panel. Activities that are required for a case are marked with an asterisk.

To initiate an activity, click its link in the Activities panel. Provide any required information in the dialog box that is displayed and click Initiate.

Note that, in an Activity Form, if a DateTime popup appears, only the date can be chosen. Choosing the time is currently unsupported.

Viewing Activity Details

Activities that can be viewed are displayed in the Available, Running, Completed and Errored sections of the Activities panel.

To view details for an activity, hover the mouse over its link in the Activities panel. Click More Details... in the pop-up window that is displayed.

Working with Linked Cases

Cases can be linked with other cases in order to express a relationship between them. Cases can be:

related
dependent on another case
marked as duplicates
a subcase of another case

Linked Cases Panel

Use the Linked Cases panel of the Case page to view cases linked to the current case, and to link additional cases to the current case. Linked cases are displayed in a list in the panel.

Element	Description
Link Cases	Click to link another case to the current case.
Case	Each case linked to the current case is displayed in the list under a heading expressing the type of relationship the cases have. The headings include: This case depends on - lists cases the current case depends on This case is duplicate of - lists duplicate cases of the current case This case is parent of - lists subcases to the current case Cases related to this case
Go to case	Click to go to a linked case.

Element

Description

Link Cases

Click to link another case to the current case.

Case

Each case linked to the current case is displayed in the list under a heading expressing the type of relationship the cases have. The headings include:

This case depends on - lists cases the current case depends on
This case is duplicate of - lists duplicate cases of the current case
This case is parent of - lists subcases to the current case
Cases related to this case

Go to case

Click to go to a linked case.

Linking Cases

You can link cases so that when viewing one case, other cases related to it are listed in the Linked Cases panel.

To link a case to the current case:

In the Linked Cases panel, click Link Cases.

The Link Cases dialog is displayed.
Optionally filter the list of cases in the dialog box by entering a search criteria and clicking Search.
Click a case in the list to select it.
Select the relationship between cases from the This Case drop-down.
Optionally, enter a comment in the comment text box.
Click Link.

Viewing the Audit Trail

The Audit Trail panel is displayed by default when viewing a case. If it is not visible, click the Audit Trail link below the Navigation bar to display it.

You can view only one of the following panels at a time:

Audit Trail panel
Data panel: see Data Panel
Documents panel: see Documents Panel

Audit Trail Panel

Use the Audit Trail panel to view case events, details on the users who executed the events, and to set permissions for events. Events are displayed in a series of sections in the panel.

Element	Description
Search Criteria	Enter the text to search for events by title.
Search	Click the Search icon to search for events using the Search Criteria.
All	Click to display all events.
Comments	Click to display only events that are comments. Note that comments related to all case activities are displayed.
Event	Use the event drop-down list to filter which event types are displayed in the Audit Trail panel. Choices include: Activity Lifestyle Document Milestone User Defined Data Upload
Update Permission	Click to change the user permissions for the currently selected event. If no event is selected, the Update Permission icon is disabled.
Audit Trail Details	Audit trail events are displayed as a series of sections in the Audit trail panel. Each event includes: Event type icon Event name Event timestamp Event detail summary (optionally) User information
Load More Items	This link appears when there are more items than fits in the default panel size. Click to display additional items.

Viewing Events in the Audit Trail

Case events are displayed in the Audit Trail panel. Each event is displayed in a section of the panel and includes the following information:

Event type icon
Event name
Event timestamp
Event detail summary (optionally)
User who performed the event

To see additional information about the user associated with an event, hover your mouse over the user name.

Updating Event Permissions

You can change the user permissions for an event.

To update user permissions for an event

Select the event from the Audit Trail panel.
Click the Update Permissions icon.

The Permission dialog box displays.
Select the desired permission for the event from the drop-down list.
Click Apply.

Data Panel

Use the Data panel to view and modify the data associated with a case.

The data panel only shows links to case data objects that have been instantiated. When a link is disabled, it indicates that there is no data form registered to display the case data. A case data form must be generated and deployed to enable viewing of the case data in the data panel.

If you are a developer and want more information about designing data forms, see Working with Adaptive Case Management in Developing Business Processes with Oracle Business Process Management Studio.

To view the Data panel, click the Data link on the Case page.

You can only view one of the following panels at a time:

Audit Trail panel: see Viewing the Audit Trail
Data panel
Documents panel: see Documents Panel

Working with Data Forms in the Data Panel

The specific forms, tabs, fields, and controls that appear in the Data panel are dependent on the Case project design for the case you are working on, and not pre-determined by Process Workspace.

If a Workspace user (an Administrator or a regular user) selects data as “External” in JDeveloper at design-time in Case Management, then during runtime in Workspace, the data displays as external and is disabled and you cannot edit the form for that data. The Save and Edit buttons are also disabled and you will get a message indicating that you do not have permission to edit the data.

If you are a developer and want more information about designing data forms, see Working with Adaptive Case Management in Developing Business Processes with Oracle Business Process Management Studio.

Documents Panel

Use the Documents panel to view and add documents attached to a case.

To view the Documents panel, click the Documents link on the Case page.

You can view only one of the following panels at a time:

Audit Trail panel: see Viewing the Audit Trail
Data panel: see Data Panel
Documents panel

Documents Panel

Use the Documents panel to view documents attached to the case and details on the users who uploaded them. Without an explicit Read access, you may not be able to view documents in the Documents List, but only upload documents.

You can also upload additional documents, and set permissions for the documents.

Note:

You cannot add documents to a human task using task user interface once the task is associated with a case.
If you are uploading a duplicate document, the duplicate copy is saved as Copy of <filename>. There is no error message displayed.

The case project for the case you are working on may be configured to use either database or Enterprise Content Manager-based storage. The controls on this dialog change depending on whether database or Enterprise Content Manager storage is used in the case project.

When the case project is configured to use Enterprise Content Manager, there are options to check out and check in documents. Note that check out does not actually check out and download the document - it marks the document as checked out in the Enterprise Content Manager.

Documents are displayed in a series of sections in the panel.

Element	Description
Upload File	Click to upload a new document to the case. The Upload File dialog box is displayed. The controls on this dialog change depending on whether database or Enterprise Content Manager storage is used in the case project.
Document Details	Documents are displayed as a series of sections in the Documents panel. Each document includes: Document icon Document title Document comment Creator name Timestamp Action List control
Action List	Use the Action List to choose an action to perform on the document, such as Delete.
Load More Items	This link appears when there are more items than fits in the default panel size. Click to display additional items.

Viewing Documents in the Documents Panel

Documents attached to the case are displayed in the Documents panel. Each document is displayed in a section of the Documents panel and includes the following:

Document icon
Document title
Document comment
Creator name
Timestamp

To download the document, click the Document title. A pop-up window is displayed containing the contents of the document.

Performing Actions on a Document

You can perform actions on a document attached to a case. For example, you can delete a document if you have the permissions required to do so.

To perform an action on a document

Select the document from the Documents panel.
Click the Action List drop-down list.

A list of actions available to your user account displays.
Select the desired action for the document from the drop-down list.

The action is taken immediately.

Viewing Milestones

Milestones are checkpoints that indicate the progress of the case.

Milestones Panel

Use the Milestones panel on the Case page to view case milestones, and to change the status of milestones. Milestones are displayed in a series of sections in the panel.

Element	Description
Milestone Details	Each milestone section includes: Status icon: color-coded icons are used to indicate the status of the milestone. See below for details. Milestone name Milestone status. See below for details. Timestamp (optional): includes completion information and the user who completed the milestone Comment (optional): includes comment information provided when the milestone changed.
Status icon	Color-coded icons indicate the status of the milestone: Blue: Open. Green: Completed Amber: Reopened
Milestone Status	Change the status of a milestone by selecting a value from the milestone status drop-down list. Milestones with status: Open: can be changed to Completed Closed: can be changed to Reopened (only if the milestone can be reopened). Reopened: can be changed to Completed
Load More Items	This link appears when there are more items than fits in the default panel size. Click to display additional items.

Changing a Milestone's Status

You can change the status of a milestone. For example, a milestone with status Completed can be changed to Reopened.

Note that in most cases, milestone status changes occur automatically when certain case activities happen.

To change a milestone's status

Select the desired status from the Milestone Status drop-down list.

The Comment entry dialog box is displayed.
Enter an appropriate comment for the action you are taking.
Click OK.

The milestone is updated with the new status.

Working with Stakeholders

Stakeholders represent interested parties in the case. Stakeholders can have users, groups or roles associated with them that are involved in the processing of a case. Stakeholders can also be added without members. Case elements such as activities can be restricted to certain stakeholders, and therefore, to particular users, groups or roles.

Stakeholders Panel

Use the Stakeholders panel on the Case page to view and modify case stakeholders. Stakeholders are displayed in a series of sections in the panel.

Element	Description
Add Stakeholder	Click to add a new stakeholder definition to the case. When you click Add Stakeholder, the Add Stakeholder dialog is displayed.
Edit Stakeholder	Click to edit the currently selected stakeholder in order to add a new user, role, or group. When you click Edit Stakeholder, the Edit Stakeholder dialog is displayed. At least one member must be added in order to save your changes.
Stakeholders Details	Each section in the Stakeholders details panel includes: Stakeholder name Stakeholder member icons (user, role or group) and stakeholder members (if any)
Load More Items	This link appears when there are more items than fits in the default panel size. Click to display additional items.

Adding Stakeholders

You can add new stakeholders to a case.

To add a new stakeholder

Click the Add Stakeholder button (green plus sign).

The Add Stakeholder dialog displays.
Enter a name for the new stakeholder.
Optionally, specify users, roles or groups.
Click OK.

Editing Stakeholders

You can edit a case's stakeholders (if permissions allow it).

To edit a stakeholder

Select the stakeholder you wish to edit from the Stakeholders panel.
Click the Edit Stakeholder button. The Edit Stakeholder dialog displays.
Modify the stakeholder values.
Click OK.