topic Re: Adding candidate starters in Activiti Modeler in Alfresco Archive

Adding candidate starters in Activiti Modeler

b_schnarr — Fri, 13 Jun 2014 13:07:10 GMT

Hello at all,since the Activiti Modeler already contains Activiti specific elements, what effort is it to add candidate start users and candidate start groups? Because in my opinion, those are the last important elements missing in the Activiti Modeler. If those attributes were included, simple proc

Re: Adding candidate starters in Activiti Modeler

b_schnarr — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 10:19:37 GMT

No one?

Re: Adding candidate starters in Activiti Modeler

trademak — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 07:19:31 GMT

Hi Ben,

That's not a big effort. Our priority currently lies with the Engine, so it's more a matter of priority.

Best regards,

Re: Adding candidate starters in Activiti Modeler

b_schnarr — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 07:34:07 GMT

If it is not a big effort, could you give me a hint what I have to alter? I assume just adding the definition to the stencilset.json is not enough? Because actually, the Modeler just ignores those tags…

Thanks and best regards
Ben

Re: Adding candidate starters in Activiti Modeler

b_schnarr — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 09:32:47 GMT

If someone could give me a hint, I´d consider creating a pull request.

Re: Adding candidate starters in Activiti Modeler

trademak — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 15:09:28 GMT

Hi Ben,

It would only be a change in the stencilset.json definition for this issue. To be able to transform to BPMN XML also a JSON converter change is needed.
You can look at the usertaskassignment definition in stencilset.json as an example.

Best regards,

Re: Adding candidate starters in Activiti Modeler

b_schnarr — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 11:43:22 GMT

Hello Tijs,

thanks for your reply but I am still stuck. After the "processbase", I added those lines in the stencilset.json:

<code>
{
    "name" : "processassignment",
    "properties" : [ {
      "id" : "processassignment",
      "type" : "Complex",
      "title" : "Candidates",
      "value" : "",
      "description" : "Assignment definition for the process",
      "popular" : true,
      "complexItems" : [ {
        "id" : "assignment_type",
        "name" : "Type",
        "name_de" : "Typ",
        "type" : "Choice",
        "value" : "",
        "width" : 100,
        "optional" : false,
        "items" : [ {
          "id" : "p1",
          "title" : "Candidate users",
          "title_de" : "HumanPerformer",
          "value" : "candidateUsers",
          "refToView" : ""
        }, {
          "id" : "p2",
          "title" : "Candidate groups",
          "title_de" : "PotentialOwner",
          "value" : "candidateGroups",
          "refToView" : ""
        } ]
      }, {
        "id" : "resourceassignmentexpr1",
        "name" : "Resource assignment expression",
        "name_de" : "Zuordnungs-Ausdruck",
        "type" : "String",
        "description" : "This defines the expression used for the resource assignment.",
        "description_de" : "Definiert den Ausdruck, der fr die Zordung von Ressourcen genutzt wird.",
        "value" : "",
        "width" : 200,
        "optional" : true
      } ]
    } ]
}
</code>

Therefore, the whole "processbase" definition looks like this:

<code>
{
    "name" : "processbase",
    "properties" : [ {
      "id" : "process_id",
      "type" : "String",
      "title" : "Process identifier",
      "value" : "process",
      "description" : "Unique identifier of the process definition.",
      "popular" : true
    }, {
      "id" : "process_author",
      "type" : "String",
      "title" : "Process author",
      "value" : "",
      "description" : "Author of the process definition.",
      "popular" : false
    }, {
      "id" : "process_executable",
   "type" : "Choice",
   "title" : "Executable",
   "value" : "Yes",
   "description" : "Define if the process is executable.",
   "popular" : true,
   "items" : [ {
     "id" : "no",
     "title" : "No",
     "value" : "No"
   }, {
     "id" : "yes",
     "title" : "Yes",
     "value" : "Yes"
   }]
    }, {
      "id" : "process_version",
      "type" : "String",
      "title" : "Process version string (documentation only)",
      "value" : "",
      "description" : "Version identifier for documentation purpose.",
      "popular" : false
    }, {
      "id" : "process_namespace",
      "type" : "String",
      "title" : "Target namespace",
      "value" : "http://www.activiti.org/processdef",
      "description" : "Target namespace for the process definition.",
      "popular" : false
    } ]
}, {
    "name" : "processassignment",
    "properties" : [ {
      "id" : "processassignment",
      "type" : "Complex",
      "title" : "Candidates",
      "value" : "",
      "description" : "Assignment definition for the process",
      "popular" : true,
      "complexItems" : [ {
        "id" : "assignment_type",
        "name" : "Type",
        "name_de" : "Typ",
        "type" : "Choice",
        "value" : "",
        "width" : 100,
        "optional" : false,
        "items" : [ {
          "id" : "p1",
          "title" : "Candidate users",
          "title_de" : "HumanPerformer",
          "value" : "candidateUsers",
          "refToView" : ""
        }, {
          "id" : "p2",
          "title" : "Candidate groups",
          "title_de" : "PotentialOwner",
          "value" : "candidateGroups",
          "refToView" : ""
        } ]
      }, {
        "id" : "resourceassignmentexpr1",
        "name" : "Resource assignment expression",
        "name_de" : "Zuordnungs-Ausdruck",
        "type" : "String",
        "description" : "This defines the expression used for the resource assignment.",
        "description_de" : "Definiert den Ausdruck, der fr die Zordung von Ressourcen genutzt wird.",
        "value" : "",
        "width" : 200,
        "optional" : true
      } ]
    } ]
},
{
    "name" : "usertaskbase",…..
…….
…..
</code>

But when I open the modeler, I cannot see those new attributes. In addition, could you give me another hint what lines need to be changed in the JSON converter?
Thanks for your help and best regards
Ben

Re: Adding candidate starters in Activiti Modeler

b_schnarr — Wed, 20 Aug 2014 06:55:20 GMT

Strange…my last posting just disappeared. Ok, then once again.

Hi Tijs,

thanks for your reply. But I am still stuck. After the "processbase" definition, I added those lines here:

<code>
{
    "name" : "processassignment",
    "properties" : [ {
      "id" : "processassignment",
      "type" : "Complex",
      "title" : "Processassignments",
      "value" : "",
      "description" : "Assignment definition for the process",
      "popular" : true,
      "complexItems" : [ {
        "id" : "process_assignment_type",
        "name" : "Type",
        "name_de" : "Typ",
        "type" : "Choice",
        "value" : "",
        "width" : 100,
        "optional" : false,
        "items" : [ {
          "id" : "p1",
          "title" : "Candidate users",
          "title_de" : "HumanPerformer",
          "value" : "candidateUsers",
          "refToView" : ""
        }, {
          "id" : "p2",
          "title" : "Candidate groups",
          "title_de" : "PotentialOwner",
          "value" : "candidateGroups",
          "refToView" : ""
        } ]
      }, {
        "id" : "resourceassignmentexpr1",
        "name" : "Resource assignment expression",
        "name_de" : "Zuordnungs-Ausdruck",
        "type" : "String",
        "description" : "This defines the expression used for the resource assignment.",
        "description_de" : "Definiert den Ausdruck, der fuer die Zordung von Ressourcen genutzt wird.",
        "value" : "",
        "width" : 200,
        "optional" : true
      } ]
    } ]
}
</code>

So the whole block looks like this:

<code>
{
    "name" : "processbase",
    "properties" : [ {
      "id" : "process_id",
      "type" : "String",
      "title" : "Process identifier",
      "value" : "process",
      "description" : "Unique identifier of the process definition.",
      "popular" : true
    }, {
      "id" : "process_author",
      "type" : "String",
      "title" : "Process author",
      "value" : "",
      "description" : "Author of the process definition.",
      "popular" : false
    }, {
      "id" : "process_executable",
   "type" : "Choice",
   "title" : "Executable",
   "value" : "Yes",
   "description" : "Define if the process is executable.",
   "popular" : true,
   "items" : [ {
     "id" : "no",
     "title" : "No",
     "value" : "No"
   }, {
     "id" : "yes",
     "title" : "Yes",
     "value" : "Yes"
   }]
    }, {
      "id" : "process_version",
      "type" : "String",
      "title" : "Process version string (documentation only)",
      "value" : "",
      "description" : "Version identifier for documentation purpose.",
      "popular" : false
    }, {
      "id" : "process_namespace",
      "type" : "String",
      "title" : "Target namespace",
      "value" : "http://www.activiti.org/processdef",
      "description" : "Target namespace for the process definition.",
      "popular" : false
    } ]
}, {
    "name" : "processassignment",
    "properties" : [ {
      "id" : "processassignment",
      "type" : "Complex",
      "title" : "Processassignments",
      "value" : "",
      "description" : "Assignment definition for the process",
      "popular" : true,
      "complexItems" : [ {
        "id" : "process_assignment_type",
        "name" : "Type",
        "name_de" : "Typ",
        "type" : "Choice",
        "value" : "",
        "width" : 100,
        "optional" : false,
        "items" : [ {
          "id" : "p1",
          "title" : "Candidate users",
          "title_de" : "HumanPerformer",
          "value" : "candidateUsers",
          "refToView" : ""
        }, {
          "id" : "p2",
          "title" : "Candidate groups",
          "title_de" : "PotentialOwner",
          "value" : "candidateGroups",
          "refToView" : ""
        } ]
      }, {
        "id" : "resourceassignmentexpr1",
        "name" : "Resource assignment expression",
        "name_de" : "Zuordnungs-Ausdruck",
        "type" : "String",
        "description" : "This defines the expression used for the resource assignment.",
        "description_de" : "Definiert den Ausdruck, der fuer die Zordung von Ressourcen genutzt wird.",
        "value" : "",
        "width" : 200,
        "optional" : true
      } ]
    } ]
}
</code>

But those additions are not visible in the web modeler afterwoods. In addition, could you give me a hint want lines need to be changed in the JSON Converter? Since there are many classes, I did not succeed in finding the right place.

Thank you very much and best regards
Ben

Re: Adding candidate starters in Activiti Modeler

trademak — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 07:43:40 GMT

Sorry for the late reply. Did you add the processassignment property to the start event or the main process element in the JSON definition?

Best regards,

Re: Adding candidate starters in Activiti Modeler

b_schnarr — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 13:13:13 GMT

Added a ticket: https://activiti.atlassian.net/browse/ACT-4006

Re: Adding candidate starters in Activiti Modeler

dave_stanley — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 15:57:58 GMT

I have got this working although it took a bit of messing about modifications to BpmnJsonConverter.java at line 247 insert
<code>
if (CollectionUtils.isNotEmpty(mainProcess.getCandidateStarterUsers()) || CollectionUtils.isNotEmpty(mainProcess.getCandidateStarterGroups())) {

            ObjectNode candidatesNode = objectMapper.createObjectNode();
            ObjectNode candidateValuesNode = objectMapper.createObjectNode();

            if (CollectionUtils.isNotEmpty(mainProcess.getCandidateStarterUsers())) {
                ArrayNode candidateArrayNode = objectMapper.createArrayNode();
                for (String candidateUser : mainProcess.getCandidateStarterUsers()) {
                    ObjectNode candidateNode = objectMapper.createObjectNode();
                    candidateNode.put("value", candidateUser);
                    candidateArrayNode.add(candidateNode);
                }
                candidateValuesNode.put(PROPERTY_USERTASK_CANDIDATE_USERS, candidateArrayNode);
            }

            if (CollectionUtils.isNotEmpty(mainProcess.getCandidateStarterGroups())) {
                ArrayNode candidateArrayNode = objectMapper.createArrayNode();
                for (String candidateGroup : mainProcess.getCandidateStarterGroups()) {
                    ObjectNode candidateNode = objectMapper.createObjectNode();
                    candidateNode.put("value", candidateGroup);
                    candidateArrayNode.add(candidateNode);
                }
                candidateValuesNode.put(PROPERTY_USERTASK_CANDIDATE_GROUPS, candidateArrayNode);
            }

            candidatesNode.put("assignment", candidateValuesNode);
            propertiesNode.put(PROPERTY_PROCESS_CANDIDATE, candidatesNode);
        }
</code>
at line 518
<code>
JsonNode candidateNode = JsonConverterUtil.getProperty(PROPERTY_PROCESS_CANDIDATE, modelNode);
            if (candidateNode != null) {
                JsonNode assignmentDefNode = candidateNode.get("assignment");
                if (assignmentDefNode != null) {

                 process.setCandidateStarterUsers(getValueAsList(PROPERTY_USERTASK_CANDIDATE_USERS, assignmentDefNode));
                 process.setCandidateStarterGroups(getValueAsList(PROPERTY_USERTASK_CANDIDATE_GROUPS, assignmentDefNode));
                }
            }
</code>
and in StencilConstants.java
<code>final String PROPERTY_PROCESS_CANDIDATE = "process_candidates";</code>

in stencilset.json add a new package
<code>
{
    "name" : "process_candidatespackage",
    "properties" : [ {
      "id" : "process_candidates",
      "type" : "Complex",
      "title" : "Candidates",
      "value" : "",
      "description" : "Candidate Groups and Users",
      "popular" : true
    } ]
}
</code>
then add process_candidatespackage to the propertyPackages in the BPMNDiagram Stencil
this will use the standard assignment-popup.html and associated controller, I have made some styling tweaks to these but basically unchanged apart from removing the <code>assignment.assignee</code> text input if we are dealing with a process rather than a user task.

finally and I am not overly confident with this I have removed the toJson methods from prototype.js these were conflicting with some JSON.stringify() calls in oryx basically have included the following in app.js
<code>
if(window.Prototype) {
                delete Object.prototype.toJSON;
                delete Array.prototype.toJSON;
                delete Hash.prototype.toJSON;
                delete String.prototype.toJSON;
            }
</code>

I also noticed that oryx was serializing the properties on the canvas stencil so I have commented this out, I have not fully tested the ramifications of this but so far all is well

comented out line 9662
<code>
//if (Object.prototype.toString.call(value) === "Object") value = JSON.stringify(value);
</code>
and lines 11353 to 11357
<code>
//*
if (!(typeof value === "string") && (!prop || !prop.isList())) {
      value = JSON.stringify(value);
}
*/
</code>

hope this pushes you in the right direction

Re: Adding candidate starters in Activiti Modeler

b_schnarr — Thu, 30 Apr 2015 06:37:01 GMT

Wow, thanks for this detailed manual. Activiti developers, would it be possible to adopt this in the official distro?

Re: Adding candidate starters in Activiti Modeler

jbarrez — Thu, 07 May 2015 12:32:46 GMT

Thanks for the detailed code! Love it.

The quickest way to get it in the codebase would be if you can test it and create a Pull Request, Benjamin. Would you be able to do so?

Re: Adding candidate starters in Activiti Modeler

duke_duong — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 07:44:33 GMT

Hi Dave,

This post is long time ago, but I am facing a problem similar to this. I used your guidelines but it seems for different version (I am using Activiti Explorer 5.22). I guess that because the BpmnJsonConverter.java in 5.22 version doesn't have the getValueAsList() method. I have added the process_candidatepackage to the stencilset.json and added that package to the BPMNDiagram Stencil but it doesn't appear in the editor.

Can you explain how can the package link to the form in editor? ‌

Thanks,

Duke.