Powerful Java API of a Process Engine

Yesterday, I attend a presentation about the Open Source > Activity BPM platform. A part of it is the Process Engine which has a Java-based API. You can find a > short tutorial about the API on the Activiti website. Of course, other available Process Engine have an API, too. For example > PAVONE Espresso Workflow, which is the core component of > PAVONElive, has a powerful Java API. This code snippet shows you how easy you can import a process definition, create a new process instance based on the process definition and complete the first task of the process.

// STEP 1: Import the process definition
// Imports the file LoanApplication.xml in the directory “c:\ProcessDefinitions”.
WfProcessDefinition wfDef = Session.importXMLProcessDefinition(“c:\\LoanApplication.xml”, “”);

// STEP 3: Initiate a process
// This step initiates a process based on the process definition called ‘Loan Application’
WfProcess process = pcsSession.initiateWfProcess( “”, “Loan Application” , “”, “”);

// STEP 4: Get the first task “Start Loan Application”
// First get all tasks which are in progress and then get the first task of this set.
Set tasks = process.getTasks ( TaskStatus.IN_PROGRESS );
Iterator iterator = tasks.iterator();
WfTask task = (WfTask)iterator.next();

// Place some operations on the task here
// … Your code …

// STEP 5: Complete the first task “Start Loan Application”
boolean success = task.complete();
if ( success == false ) {
// not successful, add error handling
return;
}

Further, you have access to several other features and all the data which will be handled by the engine.

(Source: Excerpt of the Getting Started Guide)

PAVONElive: Tip: View Resource Workloads and Availability

If you are a project manager you can be interesting to get the workload of your resources. With > PAVONElive you can do this directly in your project plan. Open the project plan of your project and add an histogram for the desired resources of your project. First, the workload for the current project will be shown as column. But you can expand the data to show the workload for all projects. A red column shows you, that the resource is overloaded during the time. If you move the tasks to another time, the columns will be customized directly.

PAVONElive: Tip: Use a Project as a Template

If you work with projects, you can use an existing project as a template for a new project. This is very useful if the existing project has a similar structure as the new project. The structure defines the tasks, summary tasks, milestones and the dependencies between the tasks. If you create a new project you can select the template which should be used. Then, the project structure of the template will be copied to the new project. If you use a project management methodology, the methodology can be represented as a template. For more information go to > PAVONElive.

PAVONElive: Tip: Printing a Project plan with header

If you like to print a project plan in > PAVONElive, you can add a header line, which contains the project name and the page number. For this, open the Print dialog, select a printer and click on Preview. In the preview pane you can click on the button to switch the page header. Afterwards you can print the project plan.

PAVONElive: Tip: Open multiple projects in a Project plan

If you work with multiple projects in > PAVONElive and like to integrate they into a grafical project plan, you can do this easily. Switch to the Projects tab and select the projects you would like to integrate in the project plan. Then select ‘Open in Project plan’ and click on ‘Go’. Afterwards the Project plan with the selected projects will be opened. The Project plan is not editable if you have loaded more than one project into it.

PAVONElive: Tip: Naming the Team

If you create an account for > PAVONElive you have to enter an user name, password and a team. The team is the name of your instance of PAVONElive. For each instance you can create your own activities, projects or processes. Further you can add/invite other users to the team. Each user have to enter the name of the team, if he wish to get access to the instance. For this, you should use an easy name of the team. If possible use only a single word without blank or other special characters.

PAVONElive: Tip: Set the Timeout

In > PAVONElive you can set the timeout in the settings. After the timeout time is reached you will logout automatically. The default timeout is after 30 minutes. If you wish to change the time, you can click on the Settings link in the right corner and enter the new time in the according ‘Logout’ field.

Video: How to resolve resource overallocations

This > video continues the > first video and shows how you structure your project plan in > PAVONElive, add links between tasks and assign resources to the project plan. Further, it gives an overview how you can resolve overallocations of resources in the project plan.

Video: How to manage new tasks, assignments and actual data

In this > video you can see how you can manage new tasks and assignments in a project. The video shows the project plan in > PAVONElive. Besides the usage of > PAVONElive you can use the functionality in an IBM Lotus Notes/Domino-based project management software (> PAVONE Project Management). In the project plan you can add tasks and resources to the tasks. Further, you see the tasks in a gantt diagram and the workload of the resources in an histogram.

PAVONElive: Software as a Service for Workflow and Project Management

Since last week > PAVONElive is available as beta version. It is a service for activity management, workflow and project management. From the > press release:

PAVONElive consists of four modular components: Workflohttps://rkremer.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post-new.phpw, project, activity, and document management.

Workflow Management optimizes enterprise business processes with a customizable web-based workflow platform with graphical modeling, simulation, and an analysis tool kit.

Document Management provides a variety of options to store, archive, categorize, and manage documents. It is a browser-based, central document management repository for all types of office documents, whether they were created in Microsoft Office, OpenOffice.Org, IBM Lotus Symphony, or other software packages.

Activities Management organizes personal and team activities quickly and intuitively. It puts the right content in the right context. This enables information discovery, re-use, and sharing in projects.

Project Management gives an overview of the current projects in the pipeline. It provides project planning, documentation, reporting, and address management functionalities. This is a straight-forward and easily managed tool kit, keeping project information current in one centralized place.

You can test it on > http://www.pavonelive.com.