Facts

A fact is an object with certain business data. Each time a routing slip assignee sets the outcome of a task, instead of automatically routing the task to the next assignee, the task service performs the following steps:

Asserts facts into the decision service
Executes the advanced routing ruleset

Rules can test values in the asserted facts and specify the routing behavior by setting values in a TaskAction fact type.

Table 29-11 describes the fact types asserted by the task service.

Table 29-11 Fact Types Asserted By the Task Service

Fact Type Description

Fact Type	Description
`Task`	This fact contains the current state of the workflow task instance. All task attributes can be tested against it. The task fact also contains the current task payload. This fact enables you to construct tests against payload values and task attribute values.
`PreviousOutcome`	This fact describes the previous task outcome and the assignee who set the outcome. The previous outcome fact contains the following attributes: `actualParticipant`: The name of the participant who set the task outcome (for example, `jstein`) `logicalParticipant`: The logical name (or label) for the routing slip participant responsible for setting the task outcome (for example, `assignee1`) `outcome`: The outcome that was set (for example, approve or reject) `level`: If the previous participant was part of a management chain, then this attribute records their level in the chain, where 1 is the first level in the chain. For other participant types, the value is -1. `totalNumberOfApprovals`: The total number of users that have now set the outcome of the task.
`TaskAction`	This fact is not intended for writing rule tests against it. Instead, it is updated by the ruleset, and returned to the task service to indicate how the task should be routed. Rules should not directly update the `TaskAction` fact. Instead, they should call one of the RL functions described in Action Types. These functions handle updating the `TaskAction` fact with the appropriate values.

Task

This fact contains the current state of the workflow task instance. All task attributes can be tested against it. The task fact also contains the current task payload. This fact enables you to construct tests against payload values and task attribute values.

PreviousOutcome

This fact describes the previous task outcome and the assignee who set the outcome. The previous outcome fact contains the following attributes:

actualParticipant: The name of the participant who set the task outcome (for example, jstein)
logicalParticipant: The logical name (or label) for the routing slip participant responsible for setting the task outcome (for example, assignee1)
outcome: The outcome that was set (for example, approve or reject)
level: If the previous participant was part of a management chain, then this attribute records their level in the chain, where 1 is the first level in the chain. For other participant types, the value is -1.
totalNumberOfApprovals: The total number of users that have now set the outcome of the task.

TaskAction

This fact is not intended for writing rule tests against it. Instead, it is updated by the ruleset, and returned to the task service to indicate how the task should be routed. Rules should not directly update the TaskAction fact. Instead, they should call one of the RL functions described in Action Types. These functions handle updating the TaskAction fact with the appropriate values.

Some fact types can only be used in workflow routing rules, while others can only be used in workflow participant rules. Table 29-12 describes where you can use each type.

Table 29-12 Use of Fact Types

Fact Type	Can Use in Routing Rules?	Can Use in Participant Rules?
`Task`	Yes	Yes
`PreviousOutcome`	Yes	No
`TaskAction`	Yes	No
`Lists`	No	Yes
`RoutingSlipObjectFactory`	No	Yes
`ResourceListType`	No	Yes
`ManagementChainListType`	No	Yes
`ResourceType`	No	Yes
`ParameterType`	No	Yes
`AutoActionType`	No	Yes
`ResponseType`	No	Yes