This documentation supports the 20.08 version of BMC Helix Platform.  To view an earlier version, select 20.02 from the Product version menu.

Managing processes by using the Manage Processes dashboard

While creating processes, you might want to: 

  • Run a process to check the logical flow.
  • View the process dashboard to get a quick information about processes and their respective instances and instances status.

  • Troubleshoot a process instance if a task in the process instance resulted in a system error.

    Important

    In a process, when the Call Activity element results in errors, the errors are not highlighted when you use the Manage Processes dashboard.

You can perform all these tasks by using the Manage Processes dashboard.

Manage Processes dashboard

BMC Helix Innovation Studio provides the Manage Processes dashboard where you can perform the following actions for processes:

  • View a list of all processes of an application
  • Search for a process
  • Start a process instance of a selected process
  • View process diagram of a selected process
  • View process instances of a specific process and their statuses based on a time frame
  • Search for a process instance
  • View process instances based on a criteria
  • Suspend, resume, and cancel process instances
  • Check progress of a process instance
  • Add a list of attachments or texts to a process
  • View a list of attachments or texts from a process instance

To view the Managing Processes dashboard

  1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio and navigate to the Workspace tab.
  2. Click the required application or library.
  3. Click the Processes tab.
  4. In the Process menu bar, click Manage Processes.
    The system displays the Manage Processes dashboard.

To run a process

  1. To go to the Manage Processes page, see To view the Managing Processes dashboard.
  2. From the Process list, select the process that you want to run.
    A process instance of the selected process gets started.
  3. (Optional) In the selected process, if you have added the list of attachment or text variables, you can add the attachments and texts to the process by performing the following steps:
    1. To add an attachment, click Choose file, and select the required attachments that you want to add to the process.
    2. To add a text, click Add item, and enter the text in the text box.
  4. Click Run.

To view process instances based on a time frame

The process instance list displays the process instances of all or a selected process. The list provides a summary of process instances such as context key, start date, and status of process instances. The context key is displayed as the primary column.

By default, the system displays a summary of process instances of all processes for the last one hour.

Perform the following steps to change the time frame and select a specific process to view the summary of process instances:

  1. Go to the Manage Processes page, see To view the Managing Processes dashboard.
  2. In the Process list, click the process for which you want to view the process instances.
  3. In the Time Frame box, click the required time frame or enter a custom time range for which you want to view process instances.
    The system updates the Status bar graph to display the statuses of process instances for the selected time frame. The system also updates the Process instance list to show the summary of process instances for the specified time frame.
  4. (Optional) You can view process instances for a specific status by clicking the respective status tab on the Status menu bar.

Important

The process history is available for only the last 30 days in a production environment, and for only the last 7 days in tailoring or a QA environment. Any historical data will be deleted.

To display Process ID column in the process instance list

By default, the Process ID column is not displayed in the Process instance list.

  1. Go to the Manage Processes page. For more information about the Manage Processes page, see To view the Managing Processes dashboard.
  2. In the Process instance list, click Visible Columns Three dots icon.png and select Process ID, as shown in the following image:
    process_instance_grid_configuration.PNG

To cancel, resume, or suspend a process instance

You can cancel, resume, or suspend process instances based on their current status by using the Manage Processes dashboard.

  1. Go to the Manage Processes page. For more information about Manage Process page, see To view the Managing Processes dashboard.
  2. From the All Process list, select the process for which you want to cancel, resume, or suspend a process instance.
  3. In the Process instance list, click the context key of the process instance that you want to cancel, resume, or suspend.
    The process instance details are displayed. The following image illustrates a sample of process instance details:
    Manage Process instance.jpg 
  4. As per your requirement, cancel, resume, or suspend the process instance.
    • To cancel the process instance, click Cancel.
    • To suspend the process instance, click Suspend.
    • To resume the process instance, click Resume.

To view process instances based on a criterion

You can view process instances based on a specified criteria. Once the system displays the matching process instances, you can cancel, resume, or suspend instances based on their current state.

  1. Go to the Manage Processes page, see To view the Managing Processes dashboard.
  2. In the Process instance menu bar, click Filter.
  3. Click Owner or Context Key as a criterion.
  4. Enter the value for which you want to search for the selected criteria and click search.png.

The system displays all process instances that match the value that you entered.

To change the status of a process instance

You can change the current status of process instances. You might need to change the process instance status while testing a business process that you developed. For example, if a process instance has an error status, you might want to troubleshoot why the process instance resulted in an error. If you discovered an error in the business process design, you might want to cancel the process instance that is in error.

  1. Go to the Manage Processes page; see To view the Managing Processes dashboard.
  2. Perform one of the following actions:
    • Search the process instance whose status you want to change. You can search the process instance using the context key.
    • From the Status menu bar, click the required status and search for the process instance whose status you want to change.
  3. Select the check box for the process instance.
  4. On the Process instance menu bar, click the required status.
    The system changes the status of the process instance and updates the Status bar graph.

To view the progress of a process instance

You can view the progress of a process instance. For example, if a process instance is in a suspended status, you can investigate, which task resulted in the process instance getting the suspended status.

  1. Go to the Manage Processes page, see To view the Managing Processes dashboard.
  2. Perform one of the following actions:
    • Search the process instance whose progress you want to view. You can search the process instance using the context key.
    • From the Status menu bar, click the required status and search for the process instance whose progress you want to view.
  3. Click the process instance from the Process list.
    The system displays the progress graph of the process instance. The task that is being currently executed is highlighted in green. You can click on any task to get information such as time of completion and status of the task.
  4. (Optional) To refresh the screen, you can click the refresh.png Refresh icon on the top right corner.

Defining-the-application-business-logic-through-processes

Process-designer-elements