Advanced Functionality

The following questions and answers provide high-level information about implementing some advanced features that SBM Composer offers.

• How can I make a workflow execute a specific transition based on the value of a field?

  You can use conditional routing, which causes the workflow to take a specific outgoing transition from a Decision step if a rule that is mapped to the transition evaluates as "true." For example, in an Expense Reporting application, you could create a rule on a Send to Controller transition that causes the workflow to execute this transition if the user selected $1000 or more for the Amount field. If the user specified an amount that does not meet this rule criteria, another outgoing transition is executed.

• What is an example of a widget I can put on a form?

  The REST Grid widget lets you access external data and display it in a tabular format in the SBM User Workspace. For example, as part of creating a product incident request, a service representative has to fill in a Product field. A REST Grid widget can be used to retrieve the product information dynamically from the company's product catalog. You can configure the widget to populate the Product field after the representative selects the product from the table that the widget displays.

• Can I design a process app that lets a user select values from a field in another process app?

  You can create an application reference to make an association in your process app to a table, field, or other design element in an application contained in another process app. For example, suppose a company has a defect management application and a knowledge base application. A technical support representative submits a technical note into the knowledge base application to provide a workaround to a problem that was submitted into the defect management application. In the defect management application item, an engineer can select the technical note item from a Single Relational field called "Associated Issue."

• What is the difference between a primary table and an auxiliary table?

  Both types of tables hold records of information, called items. Primary tables store primary items, which are routed through workflows (sets of rules about how primary items progress through a tracking system). Auxiliary tables store auxiliary items, typically information related to primary items. Auxiliary items support the progression of tracked items, but they do not follow a workflow. For example, in a Sales application, a new item is created in the "Opportunities" primary table each time a sales contact is made. The workflow requires the salesperson to select the target company from a list. The companies in the list come from the Company Name field in the "Companies" auxiliary table.