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    Home Paris Now Platform Capabilities Now Platform capabilities Process Automation Designer Process Automation Designer lanes and activities

    Process Automation Designer lanes and activities

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    Process Automation Designer lanes and activities

    In Process Automation Designer, an activity represents one step in your overall business process. You can sequence many activities together in a lane, which represents one stage in your process.

    Lanes

    A lane represents one stage in your business process. Use lanes to sequence process activities in an order that makes sense for your cross-enterprise workflow. A lane is made up of many sequenced activities that are grouped in a logical way. In the Process Automation Designer design environment, you can add a lane to your process by clicking + Add new lane.

    The visual separator for your lane depends on the start rule that you select. For example, choosing for Lane 3 to start immediately after Lane 2 causes the visual separator to appear as dotted lines. Choosing for Lane 4 to start with Lane 3 causes the visual separator to appear as a chevron. For more information, see Lane and activity properties.

    Start digitizing your business process by organizing the stages of your process into lanes.

    Activities

    In Process Automation Designer, an activity represents one step in your overall business process. In the system, an activity is one instance of an activity definition. For more information on activity instances and activity definitions, see the Process Automation Designer architecture and activity definitions.

    Adding an activity to your process

    In the Process Automation Designer design environment, you can add an activity to a lane by clicking + Add an activity, which causes the activity picker to appear. In the activity picker, you can search for an activity to add or select one from the list of Common Activities. To choose an activity for a custom application, first select the application and then select the activity from the resulting list within the picker.

    Figure 1. Process Automation Designer activity picker
    In the activity picker, search for or select an activity to add to your process.

    If there isn't an activity that fits your use case, you can create your own activity definition to add to the activity picker. For more information, see create an activity definition.

    Interactive and Non-Interactive activities

    Activity categories include:

    Interactive Activities
    When an interactive activity runs, it prompts a user for input in a Workspace playbook experience. For more information, see Interactive activities.
    Non-Interactive Activities
    When a non-interactive activity runs, it runs entirely behind-the-scenes and requires no user input. For more information, see Non-Interactive activities.

    Lane and activity properties

    In the properties panel, you can add names, descriptions, and start rules to the lanes and activities in your process. Click the show or hide properties panel icon (Show or hide properties panel icon) to show or hide the basic properties for your currently selected lane or activity. If you don't select an activity or lane, your process definition's properties appear in the configuration panel instead. The basic properties for each lane and activity include:

    Label
    You can enter a display name for your lane or activity. This name appears in any user-facing view of your process definition, such as a Workspace playbook.
    Note: Keep your lane and activity names brief, as the system truncates long names.
    Description
    Optionally, enter a description for your activity or lane. This description only appears within Process Automation Designer and isn't visible in user-facing views of your process definition.
    Start Rule
    Select a rule for when your activity or lane should start running, from the following options:
    • After Previous: Your activity or lane starts running when the immediately preceding activity or lane has a state of Skipped or Complete.
    • Immediately: Your activity starts running as soon as its lane starts running. Your lane starts running when your process definition is triggered. Your activity or lane doesn't depend on the state of any preceding activities.
    • With Previous: Your activity or lane starts running when the immediately preceding activity or lane starts running.
    Add a name, description, and start rule for each lane and activity in your process.

    Activity inputs

    Each activity has inputs that you can configure. Activity inputs are data that you provide so that the activity runs and performs its function appropriately. For example, the Instruction activity when a Message input, whose data displays a message within a Workspace playbook card. You can view each activity's inputs by opening the properties panel for the activity and clicking Configure activity. On the Configure your activity screen, the activity's inputs appear in the Variables section under Inputs.

    You can configure the inputs for your activity by selecting Configure activity on the properties panel.

    Creating static and dynamic values for activity inputs

    You can add static data to an input by entering text next to the label for the input. To add dynamic data to an activity input, click the data pill picker icon (Data pill picker icon) and navigate, or dot-walk, to the data pill whose dynamic value you want to use when your activity runs. You can select dynamic data from fields in the input record. If your activity has a start rule of After Previous, you can also select dynamic data from the outputs of other activities in your process. For more information on dot-walking to related fields and records on the Now Platform, see selecting fields on related tables using dot-walking.

    Figure 2. An example using static and dynamic data for the Message input
    Add dynamic data to an activity's input by dot-walking to the appropriate field using the data pill picker
    Note: You can dot-walk to fields in a Reference but not in a Document ID or Sys ID.

    The inputs for interactive activities typically provide data that renders in a playbook for a Workspace agent to interact with. The inputs for non-interactive activities can render in a playbook but don't require any user input in order to run. For more information, see Interactive activities and Non-Interactive activities.

    Editing activity inputs and outputs

    You can change the default inputs and outputs for an activity definition by selecting the Activity actions icon (Activity actions icon) on an activity, and then selecting Edit subflow in Flow Designer or Edit action in Action Designer. For more information on how to work with the default inputs and outputs for activities in Process Automation Designer, see Create an automation plan.
    Note: You must have the appropriate user roles to access Flow Designer and Action Designer. For more information, see Flow Designer roles.

    Design considerations

    Refer to these design considerations when working with lanes and activities:
    Keep Now Platform state models in mind when designing your process
    Some record types already have state models that describe their life cycle. Use any existing state model as a template for the design of your process. For more information, see State Management.
    • Interactive activities

      An interactive activity prompts a user for input in a Workspace playbook experience when your process runs.

    • Non-Interactive activities

      A non-interactive activity runs entirely behind-the-scenes on the Now Platform® and doesn't require any user input.

    • Create Task activity

      Create a task record from previously gathered or generated data.

    • Instruction activity

      Display a simple message to guide end users through your process.

    • Placeholder activity

      Display an activity card in Process Automation Designer only that indicates what a future activity does.

    • Activity definitions

      Activity definitions describe how the activities in your process definition get the data that they need when your process runs.

    • Activity executions

      Activity execution records provide runtime information about activities in a process definition, such as the activity's current state and associated record.

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      Process Automation Designer lanes and activities

      • Save as PDF Selected topic Topic & subtopics All topics in contents
      • Unsubscribe Log in to subscribe to topics and get notified when content changes.
      • Share this page

      Process Automation Designer lanes and activities

      In Process Automation Designer, an activity represents one step in your overall business process. You can sequence many activities together in a lane, which represents one stage in your process.

      Lanes

      A lane represents one stage in your business process. Use lanes to sequence process activities in an order that makes sense for your cross-enterprise workflow. A lane is made up of many sequenced activities that are grouped in a logical way. In the Process Automation Designer design environment, you can add a lane to your process by clicking + Add new lane.

      The visual separator for your lane depends on the start rule that you select. For example, choosing for Lane 3 to start immediately after Lane 2 causes the visual separator to appear as dotted lines. Choosing for Lane 4 to start with Lane 3 causes the visual separator to appear as a chevron. For more information, see Lane and activity properties.

      Start digitizing your business process by organizing the stages of your process into lanes.

      Activities

      In Process Automation Designer, an activity represents one step in your overall business process. In the system, an activity is one instance of an activity definition. For more information on activity instances and activity definitions, see the Process Automation Designer architecture and activity definitions.

      Adding an activity to your process

      In the Process Automation Designer design environment, you can add an activity to a lane by clicking + Add an activity, which causes the activity picker to appear. In the activity picker, you can search for an activity to add or select one from the list of Common Activities. To choose an activity for a custom application, first select the application and then select the activity from the resulting list within the picker.

      Figure 1. Process Automation Designer activity picker
      In the activity picker, search for or select an activity to add to your process.

      If there isn't an activity that fits your use case, you can create your own activity definition to add to the activity picker. For more information, see create an activity definition.

      Interactive and Non-Interactive activities

      Activity categories include:

      Interactive Activities
      When an interactive activity runs, it prompts a user for input in a Workspace playbook experience. For more information, see Interactive activities.
      Non-Interactive Activities
      When a non-interactive activity runs, it runs entirely behind-the-scenes and requires no user input. For more information, see Non-Interactive activities.

      Lane and activity properties

      In the properties panel, you can add names, descriptions, and start rules to the lanes and activities in your process. Click the show or hide properties panel icon (Show or hide properties panel icon) to show or hide the basic properties for your currently selected lane or activity. If you don't select an activity or lane, your process definition's properties appear in the configuration panel instead. The basic properties for each lane and activity include:

      Label
      You can enter a display name for your lane or activity. This name appears in any user-facing view of your process definition, such as a Workspace playbook.
      Note: Keep your lane and activity names brief, as the system truncates long names.
      Description
      Optionally, enter a description for your activity or lane. This description only appears within Process Automation Designer and isn't visible in user-facing views of your process definition.
      Start Rule
      Select a rule for when your activity or lane should start running, from the following options:
      • After Previous: Your activity or lane starts running when the immediately preceding activity or lane has a state of Skipped or Complete.
      • Immediately: Your activity starts running as soon as its lane starts running. Your lane starts running when your process definition is triggered. Your activity or lane doesn't depend on the state of any preceding activities.
      • With Previous: Your activity or lane starts running when the immediately preceding activity or lane starts running.
      Add a name, description, and start rule for each lane and activity in your process.

      Activity inputs

      Each activity has inputs that you can configure. Activity inputs are data that you provide so that the activity runs and performs its function appropriately. For example, the Instruction activity when a Message input, whose data displays a message within a Workspace playbook card. You can view each activity's inputs by opening the properties panel for the activity and clicking Configure activity. On the Configure your activity screen, the activity's inputs appear in the Variables section under Inputs.

      You can configure the inputs for your activity by selecting Configure activity on the properties panel.

      Creating static and dynamic values for activity inputs

      You can add static data to an input by entering text next to the label for the input. To add dynamic data to an activity input, click the data pill picker icon (Data pill picker icon) and navigate, or dot-walk, to the data pill whose dynamic value you want to use when your activity runs. You can select dynamic data from fields in the input record. If your activity has a start rule of After Previous, you can also select dynamic data from the outputs of other activities in your process. For more information on dot-walking to related fields and records on the Now Platform, see selecting fields on related tables using dot-walking.

      Figure 2. An example using static and dynamic data for the Message input
      Add dynamic data to an activity's input by dot-walking to the appropriate field using the data pill picker
      Note: You can dot-walk to fields in a Reference but not in a Document ID or Sys ID.

      The inputs for interactive activities typically provide data that renders in a playbook for a Workspace agent to interact with. The inputs for non-interactive activities can render in a playbook but don't require any user input in order to run. For more information, see Interactive activities and Non-Interactive activities.

      Editing activity inputs and outputs

      You can change the default inputs and outputs for an activity definition by selecting the Activity actions icon (Activity actions icon) on an activity, and then selecting Edit subflow in Flow Designer or Edit action in Action Designer. For more information on how to work with the default inputs and outputs for activities in Process Automation Designer, see Create an automation plan.
      Note: You must have the appropriate user roles to access Flow Designer and Action Designer. For more information, see Flow Designer roles.

      Design considerations

      Refer to these design considerations when working with lanes and activities:
      Keep Now Platform state models in mind when designing your process
      Some record types already have state models that describe their life cycle. Use any existing state model as a template for the design of your process. For more information, see State Management.
      • Interactive activities

        An interactive activity prompts a user for input in a Workspace playbook experience when your process runs.

      • Non-Interactive activities

        A non-interactive activity runs entirely behind-the-scenes on the Now Platform® and doesn't require any user input.

      • Create Task activity

        Create a task record from previously gathered or generated data.

      • Instruction activity

        Display a simple message to guide end users through your process.

      • Placeholder activity

        Display an activity card in Process Automation Designer only that indicates what a future activity does.

      • Activity definitions

        Activity definitions describe how the activities in your process definition get the data that they need when your process runs.

      • Activity executions

        Activity execution records provide runtime information about activities in a process definition, such as the activity's current state and associated record.

      Tags:

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