Exact Synergy Enterprise

RequestFlow service in Exact Synergy Enterprise

Menu path

Not applicable.

Introduction

The RequestFlow service allows users to emulate the behavior of a request page in Exact Synergy Enterprise. The RequestFlow service encapsulates the whole Workflow engine of Exact Synergy Enterprise. It allows users to perform multiple request actions, such as create, approve, realize, process, and reject. It is also tied to the standard request business component in Exact Synergy Enterprise. Thus, the standard request validation is also implemented into the RequestFlow service.

What version are you using?

The information in this document is based on product update 253.

Roles and rights

Not applicable.

Technical information

Data contract

From the data contract, these are the few main “Complex type” definitions that will be used:

Action_InputType

Used when setting request actions, such as Approve, Reject, Realize, and Process.
Used when calling the Action function.

Request_InputType

Used when trying to retrieve or open a request.
User passes in the ID of the request.
Used when calling the RetrieveAll and OpenNew functions.

Request_OutputType

Data returned using this data type when Action, RetrieveAll, and OpenNew functions are called.
Consists of four properties:
o    Actions — List of request actions that user can execute for a certain request.

o    Request header

§ Information on the request’s definition.

§ ID of the request.

§ Request type and request type description.

§ Current status of the request.

§ Number of attachments in this request.

o    Flow — The request flow information, such as:

§ the number of stages of the request,

§ current actor,

§ current request stage,

§ next actor, and

§ date of approval.

o    Request

§ The fields of a request.

§ Contains information whether the field is mandatory, editable, or a browser.

§ Value of each request field.

Browser_OutputType

Used to describe the results returned by a browser of the request.
Results (which contains the Browser_ColumnInfo and Browser_Row) will be returned in this data type when the Browse function of the RequestFlow service is called.

Browser_ColumnInfo

The detailed column information returned by the browser via the Browser_OutputType. The information returned are:
o    BaseName — The field name that will be used in the query for filtering.

o    DataType — The data type of the column.

o    IsQuickSearch — To determine if the column is a quick search column (that uses Enterprise Search logic in Exact Synergy Enterprise, for example Document and Request browsers).

o    IsSearchable — To determine if the column allows filtering with filter criteria (when IsQuickSearch is true, there will only be 1 column having IsSearchable is true).

o    IsVisible — To determine if the column is allowed to be visible in the browser.

o    Name — The name of the column.

o    SelectionValues — The selection values if the column supports selection values (drop-down box).

Browser_Row

The values for all the rows returned by the browser via the Browser_OutputType are based on the Browser_ColumnInfo.

RequestData

Used to describe information and attributes of each request fields.
Has the following properties:
Several things to note about the properties:
o “LeadingFields” property — This property indicates if the field has dependency on another request field.

o “DisplayValue” and “DisplayDescription” properties — These two properties are used to construct the “description” of a browser field.
For example, in a request viewed in Exact Synergy Enterprise, you will see the following description of an Account browser field:

o Here, the “DisplayValue” will describe the value displayed in the Account browser field. In the example above, the account code “2000000071” will be the value of the DisplayValue property.

o The “DisplayDescription” is used to describe the browser field.

Functions in RequestFlow service

The RequestFlow service has the following functions:

A) Open New

To create a new request.
The input parameter is request type number.
Returns data in the form of Request_OutputType.

B) Retrieve All

To retrieve an existing request.
The input parameter is the ID of the request.
Returns data in the form of Request_OutputType.

C) Action

To execute request actions, such as:
o    Submit

o    Save

o    Draft

o    Delete

o    Approve

o    Realize

o    Process

o    Reject

o    Assign

o    Assume

o    Remark

o    Clear remark

o    Done remark

o    Resubmit

o    Reopen

o    Mark as read

o    Mark as unread
The following request actions are not supported:
o    Rebuild

o    Print SMS report

o    Create word merge letter

o    Create word merge email
Standard request business component validations applies.
A user can delete a request only if he has the rights to delete it. The same applies for any other actions.

D) Browse

To retrieve browser results for a browser field of a request.
The following are the input parameters:
o    Request type number.

o    Property name (name of the browse field).

o    Batch size (to determine the paging size of the returned results).

o    Session ID (used for paging purpose).

o    Leading fields values (to inform the server whether the browser field has dependency on another field).

o    SearchColumns (to provide the filter criteria to the browser to filter on the browse result).
Returns data in the form of Browser_OutputType.

Scope of the RequestFlow service

The main purpose of the RequestFlow service is to replicate or emulate the Workflow module and features in Exact Synergy Enterprise. In order to do that, it is important to reuse existing codes and functions that have been implemented such as Exact Connectivity Layer, Exact Workflow engine, and Request business component validations.

The diagram below describes how the RequestFlow service is implemented:

As of product update 252, most of the major features and core functions of the Workflow have been covered. However, certain features of the module and enhancements on the Workflow are still incomplete. The request features for the following modules or solutions are not covered yet for the RequestFlow service as more refactoring work are needed.

At this moment, the following features are not covered:

Solution-specific features — Professional Services Automation (PSA) and Service Management (SMS).
Module-specific features — CRM, HRM, IIR, Mail merge, and SDK fields.
SOAP format.