3 Working on Process Instances in Process Workspace
Process owners can use Oracle Business Process Management Workspace (Process Workspace) to initiate and cancel process instances, search, view details, associate comments and attachments, perform bulk operations, and customize the presentation of process instances.
Initiating Process Instances in Process Workspace
To initiate a process instance, you begin with the Applications panel located at the top of the navigation pane.
To initiate a process:
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In the Process Tracking page, in the Applications panel, click the process you want to initiate.
The dialog box for that process instance appears.
Note:
If your browser has pop-up blocking enabled, then enable pop-ups for task flow servers; otherwise the application does not launch and the dialog box does not appear.
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Create any comments or add any attachments.
To add a comment:
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In the comments section, click Create. The Create Comment dialog box appears.
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Enter your comment and click OK. The comment is added at the process level.
To add an attachment:
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In the Attachments section, click Add. The Add Attachment dialog box appears.
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Select the attachment type.
If you select Desktop File, a dialog box enables you to enter the path name of the file or browse to find it. If you select URL, you are prompted for the name of the file and the URL.
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After you have specified the attachment, click OK. The attachment is added at the process level.
The process instance is initiated and is assigned to you as the initiator.
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Searching for Process Instances in Process Workspace
You can perform either a basic search or an advanced search for process instances. This section contains the following topics:
How to Perform a Basic Search for Process Instances
For a basic search, you enter all or part of the name of a process instance in the Search field.
To perform a basic search for a process instance:
Viewing the Details of a Process Instance in Process Workspace
The ability of a user to see process instances depends on the user's roles.
Table 3-2 maps the various roles to their corresponding levels of visibility.
Table 3-2 Visibility into Process Instances
Role | Visibility into Process Instance |
---|---|
Administrator—that is, a user with the WorkflowAdmin role or the Administrator role |
Can see all information related to all process instances. |
Process owner |
At any given time, can see the instance details of the process instance. |
User with a swimlane role |
Can see any unassigned instance associated with that role. |
Task assignee |
Can see the instance details of that task. |
To view the details of a process instance:
In the Process Tracking page, select an instance from the process instance list. The Work Item Details panel opens in the lower right section of the page as shown in Figure 3-1.
For information about the Work Item Details panel, see Navigating the Process Workspace Process Tracking Page.
You can also use this panel to create comments and add attachments as described in Associating Comments and Attachments with a Process Instance.
Viewing History
The History section of the Work Item Details panel includes audit details, which can be displayed in three different ways - in a list view, a tree view, or a graphical view. Select the view from the drop-down list in the upper left corner of the History as shown in Figure 3-2.
You can select the type of activity, sub-process, gateway, or event you want to view. To do this, select from the list at the top of the History section as shown in Figure 3-3.
Figure 3-3 Selecting Activities for History Details

Description of "Figure 3-3 Selecting Activities for History Details"
If you are an administrator or process owner, and if the selected activity includes an input or output payload, then you can display the input or output message for that activity. To do this, select the activity, then click either Input Message or Output Message, The message appears in a pop-up as shown in Figure 3-4.
Figure 3-4 Displaying Activity Input and Output Messages

Description of "Figure 3-4 Displaying Activity Input and Output Messages"
Associating Comments and Attachments with a Process Instance
You can associate comments or attachments with process instances.
To associate a comment with a process instance
- From the worklist, select the process instance with which you want to associate a comment.
- In the details panel, in the Comments section, click New.
- Enter your comment and click OK.
To associate an attachment with a process instance
- From the worklist, select the process instance with which you want to associate an attachment.
- In the details panel, in the Attachments section, click New. The Add Attachment dialog box appears.
- In the Description field, optionally enter a description for the attachment.
- In the Filename field, enter the path to the file, or click Browse to navigate to it.
- Click OK.
Note:
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If you add an attachment to a process instance, and later delete it from the corresponding task, then the attachment is also deleted from the process instance.
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In an environment with servers clustered for high availability purposes, file uploading is not supported in the event of a failover. If the active server shuts down, then the uploading process is not assumed by the other server, and the upload fails.
Performing a Bulk Operation in Process Workspace
You can perform Cancel as the only available bulk operation.
To perform a bulk operation:
Canceling a Process Instance in Process Workspace
Only process owners can cancel a process instance.
To cancel a process instance:
- From the Actions list at the end of the row for the instance you want to cancel, select Cancel.
- Select the instance, and from the Actions list on the toolbar of the Process Tracking page, select Cancel.
Customizing the Presentation of Process Instances in Process Workspace
A presentation is the column arrangement used when viewing instances in the Work Items panel. You can use an existing presentation or create a new one to be associated with that view. You can choose the columns that are presented in any view displayed in the Work Items panel.
To customize the presentation of a process instance:
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From the Views panel, select the view whose presentation you want to customize. The view is displayed in the Work Items panel.
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From the Work Items toolbar, click Edit Presentation. This displays the Presentation dialog box in which you can select and sort the columns in your presentation.
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From the Available Columns list, select the columns you want to include in your view and move them to the Presentation Columns list by clicking the right arrow.
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To sort the columns:
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Select an individual item in the Presentation Columns list.
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Move it into place by using the vertical arrows to the right of the list.
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Repeat for each column you want to sort.
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Click OK.
Note:
The Work Items panel displays process instances in two places: in the Process Tracking page and when using the Standard Dashboards page. You can customize the presentation of this panel as it appears in both places. However, if you first change the presentation in the Process Tracking page, and then change the presentation in the Standard Dashboards page, the latter configuration overrides whatever presentation you have configured in the Process Tracking page. When you navigate back to the Process Tracking page, the presentation is what you configured in the Standard Dashboards page.