Saving the state of a client-side human service during execution

To allow runtime users to save the state of a partially completed task, you can enable the execution context to be saved. By enabling the execution context to be saved, you enable a user who starts working on a task that includes multiple steps to close the browser and resume work later without losing work.

About this task

Restriction:
  • The ability to save execution context applies only to client-side human services that are running within business process definitions (BPDs) or case instances. The execution context for client-side human services that are exposed as dashboards, stand-alone services, or URLs cannot be saved. In heritage human services, you enable users to save the execution context on the activity or step, not at the sequence-flow level.
  • To incrementally save your progress in a client-side human service that runs as a BPD or case task, you must specify the save settings at the client-side human service level. If the client-side human service calls another service, such as an integration service or a general service, and there are steps in the called service for which Save execution context is selected, the save settings in the called service are ignored. To ensure that your save settings take effect, specify them in the client-side human service itself, either on the incoming connection to the called service or on the outgoing connection.

When you save the execution context, you save the state of the client-side human service while it is being run, including the current state of the variables and the position in the service flow. You can also specify how to save any changes to the shared business objects in your client-side human service.

To enable users to save the execution context of the client-side human service, complete the following steps:

Procedure

  1. In Process Designer, open the client-side human service that you want to model in the Diagram view.
  2. In the diagram, select a point in the service flow where you want users to be able to save the current progress. For example, you can choose to allow users to save the execution context between two coaches, as illustrated in the following image, so that they can complete one page and come back to the next page later:
    This example shows the settings for saving the execution context at the sequence-flow level in a client-side human service. In the client-side human service diagram, the sequence flow between Coach1 and Coach2 is selected. In the Implementation tab for the selected sequence flow, the Save execution context for task implementation and Update shared business objects when saving the execution context check boxes are selected.
    Tip: To avoid network overhead, enable users to save the execution context only at key points in the client-side human service.
  3. In the Implementation tab, under Settings, ensure that Save execution context for task implementation is selected.
  4. If you want to save your changes to the shared business objects, select Update shared business objects when saving the execution context to save and make the changes to the shared business objects available to all the instances that are using the same business objects.
  5. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each point in the sequence flow where you want runtime users to be able to save the execution context.
  6. Click Save all to save the client-side human service configuration.
Parent topic: Modeling client-side human services