Adding a case activity

An activity in a case is a discrete task that can be completed by a person or a system as part of that case. Typically a case has a number of activities. You add an activity in a case type and classify it as either is required or optional, and also define the order in which activities are performed by setting preconditions, and add implementation logic.

1. Open the case type for which you want to add an activity and switch to the Activities page.
2. Decide whether the activity is required or optional and create the activity in the appropriate section.

   Option	Description
   Required	A required activity must be completed before the case can complete. A required activity can be started automatically or manually as soon as the case is created or after preconditions are met for the activity. For example, your solution for credit card disputes has a case type for claims with supporting documentation. You can create a required activity for a claim review as soon as supporting documentation for a claim is added to the content store.
   Optional	An optional activity is created as needed. An optional activity can be started automatically, or manually as soon as the case is created or after preconditions are met for the activity. For example, your solution for automobile claims has a case type for automobile accidents. You can create an optional activity that can be manually started for the rental car task.

3. Enter a name for the activity and optionally add a description in the Documentation field.

Next, define the behavior of the activity, in the Behavior section of the General page.

4. Define how the activity is started:

   Option	Description
   Automatically	The activity starts automatically when a case is created or when the preconditions are met for the activity.
   Manually	The activity must be started by a user. You can define preconditions that must be met to put a manual activity into Ready state. However, the activity does not start until the case worker decides to manually start the activity.

5. The behavior section provides another way to set an activity as required or optional. If you change the setting here, the activity moves into the appropriate section.
6. If the activity can be invoked multiple times, select Repeatable. You can mark an activity to repeat when there is a property change or when a document-filing precondition is defined for the activity. An activity that is marked as repeatable can occur multiple times during the lifetime of the case it is part of and can cause new activities to be created and repeated. Activities can be repeated as needed, even if the activity already completed.
7. You can hide activities from users in Process Portal. If the activity is a background activity that users should not see, select Hidden. Hidden activities can be started automatically or manually as soon as the case is created or after the preconditions are met for the activity. The activity does not appear in the Activities section in the Process Portal, but assigned users can view and work with resulting tasks in the Process Portal task lists. Typically, hidden activities are automatic but they can also be manual. A manual hidden activity can be started only programmatically, by using the ActivityInstance.start() method. For more information, see JavaScript API for IBM Process Designer and REST API for the Activity Instance (Ad Hoc) Resource.

Define when the activity is ready to start by setting preconditions. Activities can start automatically after all the preconditions are met or manually by a user after all the preconditions are met. If you do not set any preconditions, automatic activities start as soon as the case is launched and manual activities must be started by a user. See Setting preconditions.

8. Define the implementation for the activity and map the data if it is required.