XPages is Workflow's new best friend

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XPages Are Workflow's New Best Friend
Qian Liang | Advisory Software Engineer @ CDL
Stephan Wissel | NotesSensei

© 2013 IBM Corporation

Please note:

IBM’s statements regarding its plans, directions, and intent are subject to change or withdrawal
without notice at IBM’s sole discretion.
Information regarding potential future products is intended to outline our general product direction
and it should not be relied on in making a purchasing decision.
The information mentioned regarding potential future products is not a commitment, promise, or
legal obligation to deliver any material, code or functionality. Information about potential future
products may not be incorporated into any contract. The development, release, and timing of any
future features or functionality described for our products remains at our sole discretion.

Performance is based on measurements and projections using standard IBM benchmarks in a
controlled environment. The actual throughput or performance that any user will experience will
vary depending upon many factors, including considerations such as the amount of
multiprogramming in the user's job stream, the I/O configuration, the storage configuration, and the
workload processed. Therefore, no assurance can be given that an individual user will achieve
results similar to those stated here.

2 © 2013 IBM Corporation

Agenda

 Workflow, history, overview key considerations
 XFlow – Workflow integration for XPages
 XFlow and the big boys: Activiti & IBM Business Process Manager


Who we are

 Qian Liang – China Development Lab  Stephan H. Wissel
Advisory Software Engineer NotesSensei

 THE MAN who brought you Xflow  XPages advocate (www.wissel.net)
(and other Xpages goodness)  Stackoverflow XPages expert


#XpagesFlow


Agenda

 Workflow, history, overview key considerations
 Workflow for XPages – Workflow integration for XPages (WXP)
 WXP and the big boys: Activiti & IBM Business Process Manager


Everything is workflow!

Business Logic

Workflow components

 Provide information
 Validate information

 Transform data

 Make decisions

 Approve Most popular

 Notify

 Archive


Workflows are complicated!


Really?


Most of them …


The best ever ...


Wouldn't it be wonderful
if business users could
define their own flows?


Rise of the workflow engines


Workflow Engines

 Code libraries (subforms)
─ Notes Document library template
 Platform engines
─ Fully self contained code
─ Configurable
─ e.g. Lotus Workflow
 Orchestration engines
─ High level of automation
─ External to platform
─ e.g. IBM BPM
─ Activiti


Role Resolver

 Sample rule:
“Every project expenditure above
500$ must be approved by the project
manager and the project controller”
 Roles run across organisational
hierarchies
 Role resolving is an art
─ Early (on submission)
─ Late (when a specific step is due)
─ Delegation settings
─ Unavailability of role holder
─ Inaction of role holder


Workflow standards*

18 © 2013 IBM Corporation *Good we have so many of them!

The WfMC Reference model

19 © 2013 IBM Corporation * Check the references for more

Workflow for XPages – Open Source project on OpenNTF.org


Take 1


Design objectives

 Lightweight engine
 Simple workflows build in
 Extensible to connect to other WorkFlow engines
 Easy to add to an XPages application


The plan

Build a
comprehensive
API 2012

Provide simple
We are looking at this!
Implementation
2013

Link to other
WF engine(s)


com.ibm.xsp.xflow


API

 IWorkflowContextFactory: Workflow engine adapter need to implement this
interface to supply workflow context
─ public IWorkflowContext createWorkflowContext(final FacesContext context, final
AbstractWorkflow workflow, final DataSource dataSource, final Object data) : This method will be
called when a workflow context is needed in a XPage.

─ public void setWorkflowInfo(String server, String port, String url, String endpoint,
IIdentityResolver idResolver, IRoleResolver roleResolver, String actionHandler) : This method
will be called when the WorkflowContextFactory created. All the information set here come from
xml files under WebContent/WEB-INF/workflow folder.


Installation


The SimpleWorkflow control

 Usage
─ Add following library dependency:
com.ibm.xsp.extlib.library and
com.ibm.xsp.xflow.library
─ Drag SimpleWorkflow control into Xpage
─ In properties of SimpleWorkflow control, define
process(see right snapshot)
─ Develop form in XPage
─ In XPage, we can use bean “workflowContext" to
access workflow information
─ We can also add wkWorkflowActions control to
XPage which will show an action bar with
workflow actions on it
─ Define identityResolver which can map between
workflow user id and Notes id;
─ Define roleResolver which can resolve role name
to workflow user id;


The SimpleWorkflow control


Workflow actions


The Sample Application

 The sample application is called: End of Year Review. It is an application to
help evaluating employee's work in a year. It contains the following
workflow:
─ At the beginning of year, employee create an objective for a year
─ Manager approve/reject employee's objective
─ At the end of a year, employee create a self assessment for the year
─ Manager evaluate employee's assessment and give a evaluation result.

Create an Create self
Employee
objective assessment
reject approve reject
End
submit submit approve
Evaluate Evaluate
Manager objective assessment


Workflow for XPages – Open Source project on OpenNTF.org


Take 2


Activiti

 A light-weight workflow and Business Process Management (BPM) Platform
 A super-fast and rock-solid BPMN 2 process engine for Java
 Open-source and distributed under the Apache license


BPMN 2.0

 Current publication
 Complete
 Online editor


Activiti API

 Java API
 Rest API


Activiti integration

 There are several configurations to integrate Activiti server

Rest API
Domino Tomcat
Workflow App Activiti Server

Rest API
Domino Domino
Workflow App Activiti Server

Domino
Workflow App
Activiti Server


Activiti integration architecture

Domino server for Applications Domino server for workflow engine

XPages Server

XPage Rest API
Activiti Server

Activiti Adaptor

RDBMS


BPM 2.0 source
 XML (Schema by OMG)
 Uses UEL for conditions
 Contains layout information for
the flow chart
 Can contain form information


Task & Form definition


Conditions in UEL


Workflow Control for Activiti

 Usage <workflow>
<server>yourFullServerName</server>
─ Add following library dependency: <port>80</port>
com.ibm.xsp.extlib.library and com.ibm.xsp.xflow.library
<url>http://yourFullServerName/activiti-
─ Create a workflow engine definition file in rest/service</url>
WebContent/WEB-INF/workflow/*.workflow, file name is <workflowengine>com.ibm.xsp.xflow.ac
the engine name. File content likes right. tiviti.ActivitiWorkflowContextFactory</
─ Drag Common Workflow Control into XPage workflowengine>
─ In properties of Common Workflow Control, define </workflow>
– processId: process id defined Activiti server
– workflowEngineName: workflow engine name
defined by above step
─ In XPage, we can use bean “workflowContext" to access
workflow information
─ We can also add wkWorkflowActions control to XPage
which will show an action bar with workflow actions on it
─ (Option)Define identityResolver which can map between
─ (Option)Define roleResolver which can resolve role name


Architecture

XPage Lotus
Connection
Profile
Connector

Social
Common Workflow API Profile
Connector
Workflow
People/Role
Engine Adapter
Adapter Lotus
Workflow
Org
Connector

Simple Activiti IBM Lotus ...
Workflow BPM BPM Workflow ....
Engine Connector Connector Connector


Source code structure

 com.ibm.xsp.xflow
─ API definition
 com.ibm.xsp.xflow.lib
─ Custom control, UI related control implementation, there are three controls: SimpleWorkflow,
CommonWorkflow and WorkflowActions
 com.ibm.xsp.xflow.domino
─ Simple workflow engine implementation based on Domino
 com.ibm.xsp.xflow.lombardi
─ IBM BPM Lombardi workflow engine adaptor
 com.ibm.xsp.xflow.activiti
─ Open source workflow engine Activiti adaptor


API

 IWorkflowContext: main interface between XPages and workflow engine, in
XPage, we can use this API to get/set information from/to workflow engine for
process instance attached to current XPage
─ public String getCurrentStep(): return current step name
─ public String getCurrentStepLabel(): return label of current step
─ public String getRequester(): get requester id
─ public String[] getActions(): get current step action names
─ public String[] getActionLabels(): get labels of current step actions
─ public String getLocale(): return locale
─ public boolean isInitiated(): whether current process instance is initialized
─ public boolean isRunning(): whether current process instance is running
─ public boolean isCompleted(): whether current process instance is completed
─ public boolean isReadonly():
─ public void setWorkflowData(HashMap data);
─ public HashMap getWorkflowData();
─ public void executeAction(String name) throws WorkflowException;


IBM BPM

 A integrated platform of workflow process modeling, development, process
analysis/optimize etc
─ Shared Model
─ Process Snapshot
─ Authoring Environment
─ Process Playback
─ Process toolkit
 IBM BPM formerly known as Lombardi


IBM BPM - Architecture


IBM BPM – Lombardi integration

Domino server for Applications IBM Websphere Server

Rest API
XPage IBM BPM Server

IBM BPM Adapter


Workflow Control for IBM BPM

 Usage <workflow>
<server>yourFullServerName</server>
─ Add following library dependency:
com.ibm.xsp.extlib.library and com.ibm.xsp.xflow.library <port>80</port>
<url>http://yourFullServerName/activiti-
─ Create a workflow engine definition file in rest/service</url>
WebContent/WEB-INF/workflow/*.workflow, file name is <workflowengine>com.ibm.xsp.xflow.lo
the engine name. File content likes right.
mbarid.LombardiWorkflowContextFact
─ Drag Common Workflow Control into XPage ory</workflowengine>
─ In properties of Common Workflow Control, define </workflow>
– processId: process definition id defined Lombardi
server
– workflowEngineName: workflow engine name
defined by above step
─ In XPage, we can use bean “workflowContext" to access
workflow information
─ We can also add wkWorkflowActions control to XPage
which will show an action bar with workflow actions on it
─ (Option)Define identityResolver which can map between
─ (Option)Define roleResolver which can resolve role name


Status

 Latest version under legal review
(standard OpenNTF release process)
 Activiti version first
 IBM BPM integration via IBM Software
service agreement
 Planning for the next version


Plans*

 Collect your feedback
 Publish updated WXP on OpenNTF
 Provide more samples, controls
 Integrate with visual workflow editor
 Submit patches back to Activiti
 Domino as workflow repository

*Plans are not set in stone, see disclaimer

What we have shown today

 Everything is workflow
 WXP, you new best WFB

(Workflow Buddy)
 WXP Extensibility API


Q&A
#XpagesFlow


Thank you for listening!


Resources

 http://www.openntf.org/P/Workflow%20for%20XPages
 http://www.wfmc.org
 http://www.workflowpatterns.com/
 http://www.e-workflow.org/
 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?reload=true&arnumber=994737
 http://www.cloud-uestc.cn/cloudflow/home.html
 http://www.bpmn.org/
 https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=wsbpel
 http://www-01.ibm.com/software/integration/business-process-manager/
 http://www.activiti.org/


Legal disclaimer
© IBM Corporation 2013. All Rights Reserved.
The information contained in this publication is provided for informational purposes only. While efforts were made to verify the completeness and accuracy of the information contained in this publication,
it is provided AS IS without warranty of any kind, express or implied. In addition, this information is based on IBM’s current product plans and strategy, which are subject to change by IBM without notice.
IBM shall not be responsible for any damages arising out of the use of, or otherwise related to, this publication or any other materials. Nothing contained in this publication is intended to, nor shall have
the effect of, creating any warranties or representations from IBM or its suppliers or licensors, or altering the terms and conditions of the applicable license agreement governing the use of IBM software.
References in this presentation to IBM products, programs, or services do not imply that they will be available in all countries in which IBM operates. Product release dates and/or capabilities referenced
in this presentation may change at any time at IBM’s sole discretion based on market opportunities or other factors, and are not intended to be a commitment to future product or feature availability in any
way. Nothing contained in these materials is intended to, nor shall have the effect of, stating or implying that any activities undertaken by you will result in any specific sales, revenue growth or other
results.
Performance is based on measurements and projections using standard IBM benchmarks in a controlled environment. The actual throughput or performance that any user will experience will vary
depending upon many factors, including considerations such as the amount of multiprogramming in the user's job stream, the I/O configuration, the storage configuration, and the workload processed.
Therefore, no assurance can be given that an individual user will achieve results similar to those stated here.
All customer examples described are presented as illustrations of how those customers have used IBM products and the results they may have achieved. Actual environmental costs and performance
characteristics may vary by customer.
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XPages is Workflow's new best friend

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