Predefined User Activities

A user activity defines part of a user-defined process in a workflow process step. For a workflow to run, all user activities must be valid (contain no errors) and enabled (active).

User activities allow you to develop and store standard and frequently used activities. They are configured in isolation, can be reused in various subprocesses, and have the capability of taking input and output parameters. When a user activity is used by a workflow or subprocess, it cannot be deleted. It also cannot be edited if a workflow that uses the activity is running. A subprocess may be composed of several user activities.

When user activities are used in a subprocess, they cannot be changed; they are read-only (as indicated by the lock symbol next to the activity). You can perform basic tasks, such as change the local name and bind parameters, but the internal process cannot be edited. If you want to make a change to a user activity so that it is reflected in all subprocesses that use this activity, you can edit the original activity by selecting it from the User Activities resources folder in the Navigator.

You can also choose to make a local copy of a user activity if you decide that the global version does not fully meet the needs of the subprocess. When you make an activity local, you can make changes that are reflected only in the current copy of the activity. The User Activities list does not change.

In addition, if you have created a user activity specific to a subprocess and you want to re-use it in other workflows, you can make the activity global, which adds it to the User Activities list. However, you cannot make a local user activity global if it has references to data outside the user activity (excluding data passed into parameters). The user activity must be self-contained for it to work as a global activity.

User activities are displayed in the toolbox of the workflow editor after they are created in the User Activities resources folder. If you add a category to the user activity, it is displayed under this category; otherwise, it will be listed as Uncategorized. A user activity can have multiple categories assigned to it.