topic Re: 'multi-instance' does not work in Alfresco Archive

'multi-instance' does not work

othmann — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 10:19:55 GMT

Hi, I'm trying to have a mail task repeated several times, in order to send many mails in a loop. Here is the BPMN task description : <serviceTask id="mailtask1" name="Mail" activiti:type="mail"> <extensionElements> <activiti:field name="to" expression="${invites[loop

Re: 'multi-instance' does not work

ronald_van_kuij — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 11:21:13 GMT

PS : It is also very annoying that the Eclipse Designer removes the "multiInstanceLoopCharacteristics" node when we update the process diagram visually. This, however, seems normal.

No it is not… please file a jira issue for this

regarding the loopcounter, I have no idea, not experimented with it yet. Someone else needs to respond to this.

Re: 'multi-instance' does not work

othmann — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 14:33:22 GMT

Done for the designer : http://jira.codehaus.org/browse/ACT-758

Re: 'multi-instance' does not work

othmann — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 14:51:25 GMT

Okay, I might get it : it is also due to the eclipse designer. When we build the deployment artifacts, it seems that the generated "process.bpmn20.xml" file does not contain the "multiInstanceLoopCharacteristis" either, as if it was re-processed. Then it is normal that the "loopCounter" variable is unknown.

I added a comment in the issue about that.

Re: 'multi-instance' does not work

othmann — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 15:16:15 GMT

No, it doesn't solve the original issue : the "loopCounter" is still unknown in the task. We have then a double issue about this :

- The Eclipse Designer removes the "multiInstanceLoopCharacteristics" when saving graphically the process or when building the deployment artifacts.
- The engine seems not take into account the node, with the "loopCounter" variable unrecognized.

Re: 'multi-instance' does not work

jbarrez — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 08:06:39 GMT

Mmm, this is tested in our testsuite. Could you create a simple test case that shows the error (eg changing the mail with something that prints out instead)?

Re: 'multi-instance' does not work

othmann — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 12:44:20 GMT

Well, I don't know if this is what you expect from such a test, but :

- I wrote a simple process :

  <process id="testProcess" name="Processus de test">
    <startEvent id="startevent1" name="Start"></startEvent>
    <serviceTask id="servicetask1" name="Service Task" activiti:class="xxxxxxxx.EchoTask">
      <multiInstanceLoopCharacteristics isSequential="false">
      <loopCardinality>5</loopCardinality>
    </multiInstanceLoopCharacteristics>
    </serviceTask>
    <sequenceFlow id="flow2" name="" sourceRef="startevent1" targetRef="servicetask1"></sequenceFlow>
    <endEvent id="endevent1" name="End"></endEvent>
    <sequenceFlow id="flow3" name="" sourceRef="servicetask1" targetRef="endevent1"></sequenceFlow>
  </process>

- The "EchoTask" does nothing but write "Hello !" in the standard output (System.out.println).
- I wrote a simple test case that deploys and starts this process.
- "Hello !" is written only once :

INFO: ProcessEngine default created
5 avr. 2011 12:42:03 org.activiti.engine.ProcessEngines initProcessEnginFromResource
INFO: initialised process engine default
5 avr. 2011 12:42:03 org.activiti.engine.impl.jobexecutor.JobAcquisitionThread run
INFO: JobAcquisitionThread starting to acquire jobs
5 avr. 2011 12:42:03 org.activiti.engine.impl.bpmn.deployer.BpmnDeployer deploy
INFO: Processing resource TestProcess.bpmn20.xml
5 avr. 2011 12:42:03 org.activiti.engine.impl.bpmn.parser.BpmnParse parseDefinitionsAttributes
INFO: XMLSchema currently not supported as typeLanguage
5 avr. 2011 12:42:03 org.activiti.engine.impl.bpmn.parser.BpmnParse parseDefinitionsAttributes
INFO: XPath currently not supported as expressionLanguage
Hello !

Am I using the "multiInstanceLoopCharacteristics" in the right way ? Shoud I try with a userTask ? Any help would be appreciated.

Re: 'multi-instance' does not work

jbarrez — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 08:39:33 GMT

I'll be damned … you are correct.
Really odd - as I'm sure we test automatics in the testsuite…

I've created http://jira.codehaus.org/browse/ACT-764, and start investigating immediately.

Re: 'multi-instance' does not work

othmann — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:31:23 GMT

Thanks a lot, let me know if I can help in any way.

Re: 'multi-instance' does not work

jbarrez — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 11:32:43 GMT

I've fixed it on trunk. there was indeed a bug that made it impossible to use multi instance on a service task that delegates to a class.
i've enhanced our test suit to cover this case - thank you very much!

Re: 'multi-instance' does not work

othmann — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 22:08:10 GMT

Yes, The previous test works now with the trunk code. Thanks !

However, the mail task still ignores any "multiInstanceLoopCharacteristics" node. For example, if we try this process as a test :

 <process id="testMultiMailProcess" name="Processus de test">
    <startEvent id="startevent1" name="Start"></startEvent>
    <serviceTask id="servicetask1" name="Service Task" activiti:type="mail">
     <extensionElements>
        <activiti:field name="to" expression="xxxxxx@xxxx.com"></activiti:field>
        <activiti:field name="from" expression="xxxxxx@xxxx.com"></activiti:field>
        <activiti:field name="subject" expression="Subject"></activiti:field>
        <activiti:field name="html">
          <activiti:expression><![CDATA[Hello !]]></activiti:expression>
        </activiti:field>
      </extensionElements>
    <multiInstanceLoopCharacteristics isSequential="false">
      <loopCardinality>5</loopCardinality>
    </multiInstanceLoopCharacteristics>
    </serviceTask>
    <sequenceFlow id="flow2" name="" sourceRef="startevent1" targetRef="servicetask1"></sequenceFlow>
    <endEvent id="endevent1" name="End"></endEvent>
    <sequenceFlow id="flow3" name="" sourceRef="servicetask1" targetRef="endevent1"></sequenceFlow>
  </process>

We only receive one mail. Why ? Isn't it in fact a delegate serviceTask ?

Re: 'multi-instance' does not work

othmann — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 11:27:18 GMT

Ok, I tried anything to make it work with no success. I added a comment on the JIRA issue about this : http://jira.codehaus.org/browse/ACT-764

Re: 'multi-instance' does not work

jbarrez — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 07:50:54 GMT

I had it fixed a while ago, but forgot to commit it. I've done that yesterday evening.

Could you recheck? Oh yeah, thanks fot the ping 😉

Re: 'multi-instance' does not work

bozon — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 11:31:19 GMT

Does the issue http://jira.codehaus.org/browse/ACT-764 fix any kind of loops for service task including loop over collection elements with 'loopDataInputRef' and 'inputDataItem'?

Re: 'multi-instance' does not work

jbarrez — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 08:11:50 GMT

It sure fixes the looping, which didnt work at all before the bugfix 🙂

What problem are you referring to ?

Re: 'multi-instance' does not work

bozon — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 11:08:03 GMT

It sure fixes the looping, which didnt work at all before the bugfix 🙂

What problem are you referring to ?

I'd like to iterate over collection of elements for java class attached to service task would be called for each element of the collection. There are 3 types of loops: by loops count, by condition and by list iteration. Does that issue fix all them and iteration over collection will work in 5.5 release?

Re: 'multi-instance' does not work

jbarrez — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 06:55:38 GMT

Yes - it should. I added some tests to verify and they all succeed.